Reflective Post

Looking Back:

It has been a crazy six weeks packed with lots of valuable information and new skills to use during my teaching career and finishing school at FSW. One of the best tools I will use all the time is Delicious. Using Delicious to bookmark all the great websites and information found online in one place made it so easy to go back and refer to it at any time throughout the course. The most successful collaborative project was the lesson plan. My group members and I all did a wonderful job communicating in a timely manner and brought great ideas to the final lesson plan. I thought this was a great way to get experience on how it may be when planning for a real lesson plan involving my grade level team. I thought the Wiki page involving a team was a little more difficult. It was the first group project of the semester and due to the short timeline had to be finished quickly. I wish I would have had more time to communicate with my group working on a program I have never used before. On a positive note having the instructor monitor your progress and even your communication helped cleared up answers quicker and pushed teammates that were less active be known. The textbook was a great tool to use in learning all about technology in the classroom and the pros and cons of using it. Reflecting on the digital blog post gave me a chance to read the material and instead of doing a standard test or questionnaire about the material I was able to express what I learned in my own words and use great technology tools to enhance it! 

Moving Forward:

Although the course was intense and finishing all work on time and well took dedication and time I enjoyed all the learning I accomplished in just six weeks. I would recommend Professor Coleman and EME 2040 to anyone interested in Education as a major. The teacher web page I created at the end of the course will be used many times in the future for my resume and edited for my real class I hope to teach. I thought this was a great idea to incorporate for the students and parents as well. 

Resources:
 Lyon, N. (2015, June 21). Untitled Infographic. Retrieved June 21, 2015, from https://magic.piktochart.com/output/6730165-untitled-infographic  

DIGITAL BLOG POST #F - CHAPTERS 11 & 12

Assessment in Teaching and Learning:
     Student assessment is very important to use as an educator and a student. Assessing a student's progress helps the teacher keep track of the students progression or lack thereof. As a teacher, we are evaluated every year by our administrators to see the progress we make as teachers. As every system, there are always flaws. For an example teachers that teach at a school were the majority of the student population is ELL or have no English speaking parents at home are at a disadvantage. These students could make little gains due to either or both circumstances. The student taking these tests that teacher progress is based off may not be good test takers. AlthougbI believes assessments are necessary for the educator and student it should not be the sole contributor to whether or a not a student should fail or pass a grade or what salary amount should be given to a teacher.

Technology in the classroom:
     Technology has so many advantages in the classroom, from assisting ELL, DD, and students with other labels with all the assistive technology available. Technology can also be used help keep track of student progress and assign different skills and challenges accordingly. These are great tools that make it easier on the educator and productive for the student so when they do use technology it is in an appropriate way every time. I love all the tools I have used already in this course and have discovered while researching in this course. There are awesome online tools that adapt to the students skill level while still making the activity fun and exciting. I plan to use many of these tools no matter what grade level I may teach and share the knowledge not only with my co-workers but parents as well.

Technology Being Available to Every Student:
    That statement is every teacher's dream come true! During this course we are finding and using so many great online tools that will help us as educators and for our future students, but the fact still remains that every student will not have the access to technology that we dream sometimes. Demographics has a huge impact on this. Some families can not afford technology at home and neither can the schools. The PTO is unable to make up for this as well sometimes. Grants of donations of older models of technology would be a great start. I hoping one day every student will have some sort of device at home and school!


Technology Quiz

DIGITAL BLOG POST #E - CHAPTERS 4 & 9

Academic Content:

What we can teach in the classroom is not up to us anymore. The school day is now based off the state test that is given at the end of each year. Although teachers collaborate or make their own lesson plans most of the time the lesson plans are given to you as well. Again these lesson plans are based off the state testing. Some of these lessons will "guide" you on how many days you may have to  teach a certain lesson with little room to spare. I agree there should be certain things across the board that needs to be taught, but the option for a little creativity or giving your students more time on an area they might be struggling in is slim. This system is great for new teachers like me that might feel better with a little more guidance, but overall sometimes will not match up with the demands from the students. 

Technology in Lesson Planing:

Technology in lesson planning is great! The technology used to help enhance and share lesson planning is great too! In my experience,  I have seen teams use the same set of lesson plans for everyone and either one team member or the team itself creates them. Other times the teams will split subjects and make lessons just for that subject and swap or they can each make their own. There so many great sources to use online as well to help complete or even make your lesson plans. Teachers pay teachers is a great website that teachers can use to download pre-made lessons or lesson ideas that coordinate with the grade level and standards. The internet opens up the doors for  teachers to share their great lesson plans or ideas that really worked for them and maybe you as well.

Video in the Classroom:

Sometimes this can turn into a sticky subject for some people. Some beliefs might say unplug while you are school or embrace the technology-driven world. I think videos are a great add on and idea to implement in the classroom. In the ESE Pre-K classroom now we use videos of books we read like Goodnight Moon to deliver the story in more than one form. The  teacher might  read the book first then show the video that corresponds with it. It is a great way to keep the students attention without asking them to stare at just you for the duration of time. Videos are great for transition times too. It is a way to capture everyone's attention while the teacher or class regroups for the next activity or part of the day i.e, lunch, music, outside time. Videos can be used in many ways educationally and this generation is full of videos and watches them all the time, why should we fight how the future is living.




Resources:

Lyon, N. (2015, June 8). Copy of Explain Any Topic. Retrieved June 9, 2015, from https://prezi.com/vblxeumwtddn/copy-of-explain-any-topic/#

Maloy, Robert,Verock-O’Loughlin, Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

TeachersPayTeachers.com - An Open Marketplace for Original Lesson Plans and Other Teaching Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2015, from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

DIGITAL BLOG POST #D - CHAPTERS 6 & 10

Budget, Budget, Budget. That is one word that will be thrown around a lot in the school system. You do not have enough for this or that or your PTO may not be as involved or able to raise money like you would hope. This is especially true for schools that are Title I or low-income schools. So how can we expand the children's knowledge beyond a textbook and the four classroom walls?.... The technology of course!

I think it is amazing how far technology can take you literally! Our students can explore and travel places that economically may never be available at home or at school. It is almost like our own 21st-century magic school bus. I think is it truly amazing where virtual field trips have taken students and what they are able to see. I would love to use these virtual field trips in my own classroom hopefully exciting the students about the world or what might be available locally.

WebQuests are also another amazing tool to help students explore the internet for education and teach them how to explore responsibly. I would like to teach a second or third grade which the WebQuests would be perfect for. It takes an ordinary lesson and turns it into research, independent thinking and conclusions.

The internet is also great for language translation and having so many resources with more that one language option. I can find stories online with multiple languages that would help my ELL students. Communication between parents perhaps could be easier and more convenient if you do not have to find a translator every time.

Finally, Differentiated Learning is something every teacher needs to know about. This is great for small group work. You can split the students in small groups according to their skill level and moderate the workload accordingly. Students with learning disabilities can benefit from differentiated learning. During the small groups, I teach currently in Pre-K and I either expand the lesson or minimize them to the appropriate goals set for the students. This technique gives each child a chance to succeed in the skill you trying  to teach without going beyond them and making the time unproductive.

All of these tools are great to use in the classroom and while some Ip already use I plan to use all these online tools when I become an educator myself. The internet and technology sources expand beyond the classroom which is great!

Resources: 

Lyon, N. (2015, June 5). Let's get ready for school! by nmlyon22 on Storybird. Retrieved June 5, 2015, from http://storybird.com/books/lets-get-ready-for-school/?token=z4hh45wsue

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin, Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.