Kan-ed Reflection

I do not think that I could have found a website to be more resourceful than Kan-Ed. I had heard of Kan-ed before, but never really took the time to look into what it had to offer. I am relieved to have discovered such a jackpot website for lesson plans, standards, and activities.
Kansas Education Resource Center or KERC is such a wonderful outlet for lesson planning. Especially because we are starting to do our "Chunks" in Core Teaching Skills and several of my classmates and I are having a hard time using 'more with less' in our descriptions of the standards, benchmarks, indicators, etc. KERC is so great because it has all of the subjects needed for elementary teachers aligned with all of the Kansas Standards. I will most definitely be using KERC as a resource while planning my future lessons.
netTrekker was another great outlet that I discovered that has an infinite amount of lesson ideas, assessments, quizzes, and interactive activities for teachers to use and incorporate in the classroom. I know personally I have been worried about what specifically I will have to teach, and how I can do so in a fun, interactive way. netTrekker most definitely answered several of my lesson idea questions and will be a resourceful tool in my future brainstorming sessions for lessons.
Thinkfinity is a great resource for teachers to join blogs, find widgets, and current resources that are applicable to everyday life. For example, each day there is a link that shows you the day in past history, and how to incorporate this day into your lessons. I think I will find this site more useful when I am actually in the classroom teaching rather than still in my education blocks.

Kan-ed is truly a wonderful resource that I will be using from now and through my teaching career.

My Avatars!

 

Podcast #6: Various NEIT 2010 Reflection, Global Education, Conference, and FocusManifest.com

In this blog, three technology experts are discussing Google docs and how iPads are being used to edit files, and use as a word-based word documents.
Taking notes, using functions throughout the days are also qualities of the iPads within the schools. Typing on the iPad is if someone did not learn how to touch type, they are much more comfortable on the iPad.
They also discussed the difference of touch screen mobile phones and how surprisingly easily they are working to edit and create documents.

The evidence that iPads are becoming more and more useful in the classroom keep showing up in almost each podcast I am listening to. The endless possibilities of using the iPad for language, special education, person first languages and functions, international connections, etc...are only a tiny tiny part of all that the iPad has to offer.

Learning how to type on the iPad is also a feature that can allow students to upload, edit, and create documents for projects and assignments. Students who have writing problems or learning disabilities can assess their prior knowledge on iPads, create study guides, or even research information. Over all I think that the iPad if available to teachers can and should be utilized in the classroom as much as possible.

About Me Animoto

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Animoto Reflection

Usually when entering into a new technological adventure, I am a little weary of my understanding of what I need to be doing, and how quickly I could catch on.

When I first saw the Animoto videos, I was very intimidated by how fancy and well put together they looked. I was nervous that I was not going to be able to understand exactly how to do these small projects.

Thankfully, to my surprise, I was able to catch on relatively quickly to the Animoto videos and create a couple extra projects that I am excited about.

 Along with my 'About Me' and 'My Philosophy' videos, I also made a sweet (if I do say so my self) slide-show of some of my sisters' wedding photos. I also was able to compile some volleyball action photos to make a fun 30-second slide show. I am excited about this new discovery and look forward not only to use it in my courses at Kansas State, but also in my future classroom. :)

This will be such a useful tool in grabbing my students attention about subjects by using interactive pictures, songs, and templates that are more exciting than a standard slide show. Animoto is also simple enough to where young students can use it in groups for assessment over a lesson, or just for fun in the classroom. 

Podcast #5: Learning in Hand #24 Project Based Learning

 

Tony Vincent describes applications on iPods that allow for maximum technology-based application in the classroom. Through podcast, websites and apps, students are given resources that will aid in their interest of subjects, and allow for more exciting lessons. 

Tony shows a United States Government slide show with pictures and narration example that a teacher could implement in his/her classroom. This slide show was created with the SonicPics apps. He was able to create a 5 minute slide-show with 4 main concepts and open ended questions. Using these project-based learning strategies can spark students interest and also give them a model of what they themselves will be doing for the lesson.

Tony does a great job in showing how the apps work, and giving step by step directions for teachers to access and apply these concepts in their own classrooms. I, personally was not aware of these applications, and sparked several creative ESL lessons from simply watching this podcast. Using visual audio presentations can allow for students of all different learning types to be catered to, and understand the assignment more thoroughly.

Tony's discussion about the importance and applicability in the classroom through technology and apps is something that I completely agree with. Students who take advantage of these in the classroom through project based learning will be able to understand and apply their knowledge of technology in most all of their courses.

This podcast was extremely helpful in understanding the benefits, and true necessities of implementing more technology based facilitation in the classroom.

Podcast #4: 0079 TCT Your name? Yeah, it's not in this podcast. So Listen

Helen and Anna discuss several different resources for teachers!

Streamlining real time goals in the classroom and contextualizing them for the technology savvy generation. Many of these applications allow students to do more hands on learning.

Tech Forum: Presentation on mobile devices in the classroom. Using cell phones and websites in the classroom vs. banning them.

Apps such as: Education Jargin Generator, iTunesU, several websites. These apps are more teacher based resourced rather than

Science Geek was a website that was mentioned as a resource for teachers to use for science projects, lesson ideas, and jump start students in being interested in science.

One Word is a website that allows for a jump start brainstorming site where teachers can set up and students can participate in a one-minute blog or sentence splash that students can use as prompts. Getting students to just write the first thing that comes to their minds is also a good way for teachers to use to assess students' knowledge on a certain set of vocabulary words. 

Four firefox add-ons instructify.com

Ad block plus--removing ads from pages: this would be beneficial for students to stay on task and not be distracted from all of the ads on the websites they use.

Image Zoom--re-size a picture and zoom in would be beneficial for students who need a little help from glasses or contacts and is easy right on the page to enlarge the image.

Dictionary tool-tip--double click on any word and a dictionary and thesaurus entry will show up. This is very helpful for visual learners who need to see the words in order to understand and

Pronounce--an add in that will pronounce words that the students do not know how to pronounce them. This tool would be extremely beneficial to ESL (my concentrations) classroom when phonemes get misconstrued and language aid is needed. I would love to use this in my classroom.

All of these resources discussed in the podcast were extremely helpful and beneficial for future teachers. I look forward to bookmarking them and saving them to use in my future teaching lesson planning, micro-teaching, and implementing in my future classroom. I enjoyed very much how they brought out the positive and negative aspects of all of these resources and use their prior experiences to aid in our discovery of new applications! :)

Podcast #3 : #148 iPads with Peter Smith

Peter Smith is the Middle School head at St. Andrews in Savannah, Georgia. In this podcast (148) he discusses about how his school has been upgrading their technology by integrating; iPads, interactive white boards and a complete instructional over-hall. 100 mac books 40 iPads.

iDiscover is the name of the program and was initiated in June and  implemented in August. The school owns all of the devices and have technology packages. They use these additions as library books, renting them out and updating them. Overall the Discovery method was most important in this implementation of the iPads. The recognition that technology is constantly changing, and sometimes mistakes will be made in using these technologies is necessary in order for everybody to be on board and for the overall implementation to be a success. 

I think that the implementation of this discovery package is a huge step for St. Andrews Middle School. Personally, I was a little skeptic of the size of the steps taken from having access to 6 to 7 PC machines, to having a technology package full of macbooks, iPads and a google amount of applications to use in the classroom.

The fact that this school has been able to implement these technologies and allow the students and parents to meet at an understanding in using them academically is quite an accomplishment for having only two months to prepare. I really think it was important for the school and students to be on board that these tools are just that--technologies to aid in learning rather than entertainment devices. The no game policy went over better than I had expected it to with these young students. 

Many of the applications seem extremely beneficial and can be used in countless ways in the classrooms. From ABC's to stock market simulations, the iPads and macbooks have raised the curriculum standards within St. Andrews. As a teacher, I would be very excited to use this discovery program because it allows for students to be trained as young as kindergarten in technology and its' endless uses in the classroom.  

Just as I was trained to read out of books and answer questions on paper, these students will be able to grow up using these technological advances so that school work on sick days is not as overwhelming, and they will still be able to actively participate in their classrooms. 

I think that St. Andrews is right on track to making its necessary advances in technology and in turn in their academic progress.

Fun with Words Reflection

I did not think that there would be such an extensive and creative tool for using the fun with words resource. I had such a good time customizing my wordles and making them visually attractive and interesting. I think that this is a great tool for teachers to use with their students in reviewing vocabulary, unit reviews, or having a wordsplash over a new subject or idea. It most definitely grabs students' attention and can be a fun interactive way to incorporate technology into the classroom as well.

Here are my fun with words creations...