What? I have been learning a little bit more about digital stories. This week in class we learned how to use photo story. It was really easy to use, I was amazed at how easy it was. I expected to have more of a difficult time with the digital story. To be honest I was a little intimidated with the whole thing. I thought I was going to have a hard time finding all the things to put together. After going over photo story, I was able to see that it was actually quite simple. I even messed around with movie maker from Microsoft which was even better for entering in the sound and having it coordinate with the pictures. I don't know why I was worried about doing the story before hand.
So what? Well, I think the digital story is a great way of doing things to get students attention. It may not teach the whole story of a subject, but it definitely is a way to show the students the material with some emotion involved. I have had a fun time learning about the tools that are necessary to make a good digital story. It is not really that difficult to do a digital story. I thank with even a little more practice one could become quite efficient at it and could do a digital story for almost any topic that may be presented. It is a great way of showing material and having the students see it in a different aspect. Everyone likes movies and stories, right?
Now what? I have a goal of using much of what I have learned in the class. I want to use technology in my future classroom. I do understand that it is a supplemental use of knowledge, and I will not be able to use the all the things all the time. I will use digital stories on the topics that may be boring to most of the students. I could use it for Social Studies in sixth grade. In field we used actually thought about doing a digital story about Rome. We decided not to do it because it seemed like to big of a task for one lesson. We ended up doing a PowerPoint instead. Now that I think about it, the digital story would have been just as good. I will use one sometime in the near future in my classroom.
Video I think I have watched this video before, I did like it. I couldn't help thinking about how cool it would be if I walked through my house and ordered everyone around like he did. I think we are what we make ourselves in this day and age. In the past we could have slid by without really giving anything much of a try. If we did not want to do something with technology, we did not. Today there is no way we can do that. We need to jump at any opportunity to learn everything that will benefit our own future. Good video though!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Field Experience 3
I have finished my field work at Edgemont Elementary School with cooperating teacher, Mr. Jennings. He was very informative on the technological view of teaching. He has been on the tech training staff at his school for many years, so some of the things he was doing in the classroom was amazing. He would assign his students a report that would be due on a given date, and he would let his students explore options on on the web. His classroom was unique because he was able to have Macs in the classroom. Each student had to share the computer with one other student. This made it possible for Mr. Jennings to effectively show the students what needed to be done. One thing in particular that made the computers even better was the method of sharing what Mr. Jennings had on his laptop with all the monitors in the classroom. It was difficult for some of the students to see the smart board on the wall so they were able to view what the teacher was showing directly in front of them on the screen. Each student could see what was being done on the board and it would be seen on the screen as well. For one of my lessons I had a website about ancient Rome that the students needed to view. Mr.Jennings was able to place it in a folder on the desktop of each student. We did it the day before the lesson was taught. When it came time for the students to view the website, each student clicked on the folder and the site came up on every screen in the classroom. I could have all the class view the page and split up into groups to do the project I prepared for them to do.
I know it is not possible for all the classrooms to have computers like Mr. Jennings' class, but I can see how the technology really helps students to be better learners. Mr. Jennings gave an assignment to do a comic book about a made up superstar. The class was engaged in doing the project, all but one I heard liked it and was really excited about the assignment. The assignment was to take pictures that could be used in the comic and write the comic all on the computer. Mr. Jennings did not have to explain how to do it because the class already knew anything there was to know about the computer and it's programs. It amazed me how the students knew how to do the things they were required to do. I would not know how to do many of these things. This is why it is so important for the teachers to experience technology classes in order to learn what these students are learning in the classroom. I will be prepared to do what is required of me to be one step ahead of the students in my future classroom.
Video: Cyber Summit on 21st century skills
This is not hard for me to believe after I have seen what is going on in the today's classroom. I see the students involvement much more than if the technology was not there. In class we have had many videos showing how technology is going to be in all the classrooms while we are a teacher. We have to remember that we are preparing students for jobs that are not even created yet. How can a teacher teach skills that are not invented yet? It is all about teaching the basics and having them grow them into what that will be someday. Technology is the only way we are going to be able to accomplish the task at hand. Teach a child computer basics and have them master them and they will be unstoppable later.
I know it is not possible for all the classrooms to have computers like Mr. Jennings' class, but I can see how the technology really helps students to be better learners. Mr. Jennings gave an assignment to do a comic book about a made up superstar. The class was engaged in doing the project, all but one I heard liked it and was really excited about the assignment. The assignment was to take pictures that could be used in the comic and write the comic all on the computer. Mr. Jennings did not have to explain how to do it because the class already knew anything there was to know about the computer and it's programs. It amazed me how the students knew how to do the things they were required to do. I would not know how to do many of these things. This is why it is so important for the teachers to experience technology classes in order to learn what these students are learning in the classroom. I will be prepared to do what is required of me to be one step ahead of the students in my future classroom.
Video: Cyber Summit on 21st century skills
This is not hard for me to believe after I have seen what is going on in the today's classroom. I see the students involvement much more than if the technology was not there. In class we have had many videos showing how technology is going to be in all the classrooms while we are a teacher. We have to remember that we are preparing students for jobs that are not even created yet. How can a teacher teach skills that are not invented yet? It is all about teaching the basics and having them grow them into what that will be someday. Technology is the only way we are going to be able to accomplish the task at hand. Teach a child computer basics and have them master them and they will be unstoppable later.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Fieldwork 2
I will not be using the What so what and Now what format because I used a a lot of the some things last time, I hope that will be ok. I am enjoying my field experience. My teacher uses technology in his classroom a lot. It is one of the classrooms in the school that has Macs in the classroom. The computers are shared between two students. It is kind of hard because the screens are in the way and the name tags are not visible. I do not know the student' names yet because of it. I do get to see the teacher do most of the instruction with technology. He will use the Internet to show pictures and maps, he also uses the permithion board to do the math. He has problems set up in a folder on his laptop. He will pull up the program and write with the designed marker. He is able to cross things out and erase things and redo them. I want one in my room when I do my teaching.
I did use some technology during the first lesson I taught. I looked up the websites previously when I was preparing my lesson on Roman Geography. I fould a fun interactive map that showed the Roman Empire and the growth throughout time. It went great with the lesson I was trying to teach. We have created a couple of PowerPoint's to assist with other lessons we did. I am having fun learning about the different ways that technology can be used in the classroom, it is amazing what the students know and the things they are able to do. The students in Mr. Jenning's class have done digital stories in the past. We wanted to do something like that with the students, but it looks like the time does not permit us to do it. I will continue to be observant and learn some things which might aid me in my teaching in the future, there are many things that can be done in the classroom with a computer or technological device.
Video
I was not amazed by the video because of what I have been seeing in the classroom these past weeks. Mr. Jennings will tell the students will open a PowerPoint and create a presentation on the planets. He told them to make an ad for each planet and try to sell it to someone. I am really impressed by what I am seeing there with those presentations. I do not believe, however, that the Wii is a learning tool in the classroom. I think it may be great to improve hand eye movement, but there should be a boundary in the schools. I believe there is other ways to stimulate the brain. I do agree with some of the things that can be done in schools with the use of technology, Parents should try and get all these things to become available to our students in our schools.
I did use some technology during the first lesson I taught. I looked up the websites previously when I was preparing my lesson on Roman Geography. I fould a fun interactive map that showed the Roman Empire and the growth throughout time. It went great with the lesson I was trying to teach. We have created a couple of PowerPoint's to assist with other lessons we did. I am having fun learning about the different ways that technology can be used in the classroom, it is amazing what the students know and the things they are able to do. The students in Mr. Jenning's class have done digital stories in the past. We wanted to do something like that with the students, but it looks like the time does not permit us to do it. I will continue to be observant and learn some things which might aid me in my teaching in the future, there are many things that can be done in the classroom with a computer or technological device.
Video
I was not amazed by the video because of what I have been seeing in the classroom these past weeks. Mr. Jennings will tell the students will open a PowerPoint and create a presentation on the planets. He told them to make an ad for each planet and try to sell it to someone. I am really impressed by what I am seeing there with those presentations. I do not believe, however, that the Wii is a learning tool in the classroom. I think it may be great to improve hand eye movement, but there should be a boundary in the schools. I believe there is other ways to stimulate the brain. I do agree with some of the things that can be done in schools with the use of technology, Parents should try and get all these things to become available to our students in our schools.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Field Experience 1
What? I am doing my field work right now for three weeks. I am working with Mr. Jennings at Edgemont Elementary in Provo. I have enjoyed my time observing so far. I have seen some great things during my time there so far; the classroom I am in is a technology room.
So what? The students in the class have a mac for every two students. They do a great amount with technology in the class. During the time we have been there we have not seen much use of the technology, however the teacher has explained some of the things that he did with them during the year. Some of the things have been fun to listen to. The teacher is good,but he seems to be way too chill for our good. I hope that I am able to see some techie things done in the classroom because of the setup he has there in his classroom. We are preparing for our digital stories in class; he showed us some of the digital stories the sixth grade students were able to do for an assignment. The class seemed to know what they were doing and the projects looked good. It made me start thinking about how I would use digital stories in my future classroom.
Now what? Right now I have planned to listen and observe in the classroom so that I will get some ideas for the future. I hope to see some things which will give me some ideas on how to use technology in the classroom. I will use digital stories in my room; just in noticing how these sixth grade students used their computers to make digital comic books. It will be fun especially when the students are able to do the work by themselves. Our teacher also has the students use the computer to look up word meanings and vocabulary. It kind of makes me think the teacher is lazy. but I do see how technology makes the teacher's job easier. I will use it with that in mind.
Video Do you teach or do you educate?
I definitely a future educator; this is why I decided to come back to school to get a job in education. I want to make a difference in the lives of my students. I hope that all teachers want to do the same thing. It is hard to think someone will take all the effort in being a teacher and not do it for the correct reasons. Education is much better than just learning the subjects in the classroom. It is a wonderful thing we all do for the children of the world.
So what? The students in the class have a mac for every two students. They do a great amount with technology in the class. During the time we have been there we have not seen much use of the technology, however the teacher has explained some of the things that he did with them during the year. Some of the things have been fun to listen to. The teacher is good,but he seems to be way too chill for our good. I hope that I am able to see some techie things done in the classroom because of the setup he has there in his classroom. We are preparing for our digital stories in class; he showed us some of the digital stories the sixth grade students were able to do for an assignment. The class seemed to know what they were doing and the projects looked good. It made me start thinking about how I would use digital stories in my future classroom.
Now what? Right now I have planned to listen and observe in the classroom so that I will get some ideas for the future. I hope to see some things which will give me some ideas on how to use technology in the classroom. I will use digital stories in my room; just in noticing how these sixth grade students used their computers to make digital comic books. It will be fun especially when the students are able to do the work by themselves. Our teacher also has the students use the computer to look up word meanings and vocabulary. It kind of makes me think the teacher is lazy. but I do see how technology makes the teacher's job easier. I will use it with that in mind.
Video Do you teach or do you educate?
I definitely a future educator; this is why I decided to come back to school to get a job in education. I want to make a difference in the lives of my students. I hope that all teachers want to do the same thing. It is hard to think someone will take all the effort in being a teacher and not do it for the correct reasons. Education is much better than just learning the subjects in the classroom. It is a wonderful thing we all do for the children of the world.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Digital Story 1
What? This week we learned about digital stories. I was interested in seeing what a digital story was because I had seen clips of them in other classes. They looked like they would be very difficult to do and that they would take a long time to accomplish. I learned that digital stories are stories that are told with pictures. They have tell a story that may be emotionally catching. Something that will catch attention yet teach about the chosen subject as well. I was glad to see that it is something that I will be able to do. I am still a little bit nervous about doing it, I feel that I do not have much experience in doing voice overs and movie clips. It will be interesting to see what we come up with.
So what? Digital stories can be a great way of teaching a subject that may be hard to teach verbally or with any other form of instruction. The reason it would be a great is because a picture tells a thousand stories. I think anything students can look at will only help them to learn and understand better. It is good to show students visual aids to teach. If a student can learn by watching a movie, imagine how a student will learn watching nothing but facts about the subject they are trying to learn. I believe that a little effort can go a long way with students. It may take a lot of work to put a digital story together, but when it is all said and done the students will learn a great deal about the subject being taught. It brings emotions into learning, something that is hard to do otherwise. I felt some feelings toward the digital stories we saw in class, especially the one about Abraham Lincoln. Could there be any better way of teaching that particular subject? By actually hearing the address being read and seeing the pictures made the experience enjoyable for me. I learned a lot about that topic in the three minutes it played for.
Now what? I would like to say I will be a professional digital story creator, but I seem to take too long for things like that. I spend the whole unit making the thing and would still not have it done for the time I wanted to use it. I don't know how efficient it would be for me to try using it. I will borrow others, however, I do hope to use them because I see great learning potential in it. I will use the information we learn in class to better understand the creation process of a digital story, when I actually learn how to do one and if I am any good at it, I will use them in my future classrooms. If I was drawn into a story about Abraham Lincoln and learned so much in the minutes with that, I will surely use them in my classroom to show emotion and portray the use of feelings to aid in learning.
Video NASA Digital Story
I liked the digital story about NASA, I thought it was well prepared and had a lot of thought put into it. I did find myself thinking that the words were used too much in the story. I did like the part where he stopped talking and brought in Kennedy's speech. The flow of the audio went well with the pictures that were being presented. I liked it and I hope I will be able to do something compared to that in quality of work shown. I know more about the space program from watching this segment than my whole life of watching TV and listening to news and reading. It is affective and should be used in the classroom for sure.
So what? Digital stories can be a great way of teaching a subject that may be hard to teach verbally or with any other form of instruction. The reason it would be a great is because a picture tells a thousand stories. I think anything students can look at will only help them to learn and understand better. It is good to show students visual aids to teach. If a student can learn by watching a movie, imagine how a student will learn watching nothing but facts about the subject they are trying to learn. I believe that a little effort can go a long way with students. It may take a lot of work to put a digital story together, but when it is all said and done the students will learn a great deal about the subject being taught. It brings emotions into learning, something that is hard to do otherwise. I felt some feelings toward the digital stories we saw in class, especially the one about Abraham Lincoln. Could there be any better way of teaching that particular subject? By actually hearing the address being read and seeing the pictures made the experience enjoyable for me. I learned a lot about that topic in the three minutes it played for.
Now what? I would like to say I will be a professional digital story creator, but I seem to take too long for things like that. I spend the whole unit making the thing and would still not have it done for the time I wanted to use it. I don't know how efficient it would be for me to try using it. I will borrow others, however, I do hope to use them because I see great learning potential in it. I will use the information we learn in class to better understand the creation process of a digital story, when I actually learn how to do one and if I am any good at it, I will use them in my future classrooms. If I was drawn into a story about Abraham Lincoln and learned so much in the minutes with that, I will surely use them in my classroom to show emotion and portray the use of feelings to aid in learning.
Video NASA Digital Story
I liked the digital story about NASA, I thought it was well prepared and had a lot of thought put into it. I did find myself thinking that the words were used too much in the story. I did like the part where he stopped talking and brought in Kennedy's speech. The flow of the audio went well with the pictures that were being presented. I liked it and I hope I will be able to do something compared to that in quality of work shown. I know more about the space program from watching this segment than my whole life of watching TV and listening to news and reading. It is affective and should be used in the classroom for sure.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Podcast and vidcast
What?
A podcast is an audio file which can be downloaded to the Internet or placed on the computer with some sort of audio recording device. A vidcast is an mp4 or video based upload to the Internet. These tools can be used to show many different things on the website. They can be used to help explain what is trying to be shown on the Internet.
So what?
I have not really ever placed content on the Internet in the past. I was introduced to blogging and face book, which I have posted comments on here and there but never really did much of anything else with technology on the web. It is handy to use technology in the classroom to do anything that will make the classroom a better place for the students to learn. With podcasts a teacher could show the information in class on the web for the students who are not there during a class time, or that may have a question with the material explained. Parent would be able to see what is being taught in class. There would be no excuse for the students to not have the homework done.
Now what?
I don't know if I will be using it a lot in my classrooms. I don't know how I feel about children not getting work one because they missed the class time. If they don't take the opportunity to do the things that will get them the grade, then they should not ave parents have the information to get the work done for them. I believe in class participation in some degree. If I were to use podcast and vidcast, I would need to take the time for preparation and I would also need to make sure everything was exactly perfect each and everyday for all the parents to read. I don't know if it would be good to do that everyday, but I surely could do that some days of the year. It would be good to do for special projects that are worked on in class. I will us it some, but even Doc Waters has stopped doing it all the time. Great idea for someone who has all the time in the world, but the lesson plans still have to be created an lives have to be lived.
Video: Why let our students blog
I would like blogging if I could type faster and more efficiently. I like the idea of creating a journal for all the items that have been learned in class. It is hard to find the time to do it in a journal by writing. I guarantee that writing in a book would take much longer for me to get the information on the paper than for me to type it even though I am slow at typing. It is fun to read what is happening in the classroom from the students' perspectives. I like how it said that it broadens the classroom. It is great for reflection and fun. My wife reads her friend's blog an laughs every time doing it. Blogging is great for education, and all students need to take time to think about what they are learning in class everyday anyway.
A podcast is an audio file which can be downloaded to the Internet or placed on the computer with some sort of audio recording device. A vidcast is an mp4 or video based upload to the Internet. These tools can be used to show many different things on the website. They can be used to help explain what is trying to be shown on the Internet.
So what?
I have not really ever placed content on the Internet in the past. I was introduced to blogging and face book, which I have posted comments on here and there but never really did much of anything else with technology on the web. It is handy to use technology in the classroom to do anything that will make the classroom a better place for the students to learn. With podcasts a teacher could show the information in class on the web for the students who are not there during a class time, or that may have a question with the material explained. Parent would be able to see what is being taught in class. There would be no excuse for the students to not have the homework done.
Now what?
I don't know if I will be using it a lot in my classrooms. I don't know how I feel about children not getting work one because they missed the class time. If they don't take the opportunity to do the things that will get them the grade, then they should not ave parents have the information to get the work done for them. I believe in class participation in some degree. If I were to use podcast and vidcast, I would need to take the time for preparation and I would also need to make sure everything was exactly perfect each and everyday for all the parents to read. I don't know if it would be good to do that everyday, but I surely could do that some days of the year. It would be good to do for special projects that are worked on in class. I will us it some, but even Doc Waters has stopped doing it all the time. Great idea for someone who has all the time in the world, but the lesson plans still have to be created an lives have to be lived.
Video: Why let our students blog
I would like blogging if I could type faster and more efficiently. I like the idea of creating a journal for all the items that have been learned in class. It is hard to find the time to do it in a journal by writing. I guarantee that writing in a book would take much longer for me to get the information on the paper than for me to type it even though I am slow at typing. It is fun to read what is happening in the classroom from the students' perspectives. I like how it said that it broadens the classroom. It is great for reflection and fun. My wife reads her friend's blog an laughs every time doing it. Blogging is great for education, and all students need to take time to think about what they are learning in class everyday anyway.
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