Blog C

Standard One of the Maine Standards for Initial Teacher Certification mentions teachers making lessons meaningful to students. Students are attracted to technology and love the fact that computers let them play games and listen to music. If students love technology so much, why not include it in their education and possibly have them enjoy that as well?

Students can have numerous learning experiences that repeat information that they will never retain. If a teacher is able to make learning fun, exciting, and meaningful, maybe students will learn more and understand more information. Students enjoy using computers and other technologies in the classrooms. They enjoy being able to create things and learn different aspects of technology.

There are many projects in the classroom that students are able to create through technology and I think that they would benefit greatly from most of them. All of the projects that we did in this class would be beneficial to students and they all involve technology. We also did a lot of projects that involved technological and non technological aspects. Flat Stanley is a perfect example of this. Students are able to create a paper version of themselves or Stanley and then they are able to involve their loved ones and create a wonderful and educational final project. This would be great for kids!

Technology is also very useful in including students that have different learning abilities. Students that are unable to hear can use different types of technology to help them learn and be able to retain just as much information as everyone else. The fact that students with deafness are unable to speak limits their classroom involvement, however having technology in the class that is able to transmit words into speech would allow them to participate and feel as if they are just as much a part of the class as everyone else is. Students that are blind would also be able to benefit from technology in the classroom because there are so many different types of technology that are available for them to be able to take part in classroom activities with all of the other children.

I still believe that having technology as a teacher resource is a great idea as well. If a student asks you a question and you need to look up the answer, it is a lot easier to do if you are able to hop onto a computer and look it up rather than flip through an encyclopedia and waste time. So much time is wasted searching for answers when they are right at the tip of your fingers.

Basically, technology is a wonderful resource for both teachers and students. Everyone in a classroom is able to benefit from it and I think that everyone is able to enjoy it. Technological objects, such as SMART boards, are fantastic because they are interactive and allow everyone to have a great time learning in the classroom. Technology is definitely something that classrooms can benefit from and I believe that more technology should be included in classrooms.

Math/Science Pre-Test

Hello Jessica K. and Carly S!!

Hi! My name is Sam. I live in Maine and I am 19 years old. I have a mom and dad, two sisters, and four nieces. Both of my sisters are older than me and they are both married with daughters. I also have a lot of pets! What is your family like?

I like to spend time with my friends and I love to take pictures! What do you like to do for fun?

I am going to school to become a teacher. Do you like school? What is your favorite subject?

ACTEM Conference

1. SMARTboards
I love these! I had heard of them but I had never seen one before. They seem great! They allow students to be active in the classroom and the teacher is able to transition seamlessly between lessons. The SMARTboard seemed like a fantastic way to incorporate technology into the classroom and still have the teacher lead the class.
http://smarttech.com/

2. Senteo Student Response System
This was a really new idea to me. The presenter allowed us to use this system so that we could get an idea about what the system actually was. This remote control system eliminates paper and pencils and allows students to get excited about test taking. It also gives students instant feedback on their test results and gives them a great sense of accomplishment.
http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Products/Senteo/

3. Geogebra
This was a great way to incorporate technology into math. I know that I am not the biggest fan of mathematics and I would have loved something this helpful when I was in elementary school. It seems like a great way to include technology in the learning process. I also like the idea of putting Geometry and Algebra together.
http://www.geogebra.org/cms/

4. Jing
Jing was an interesting way to test students or to at least see that they did their work and how they did it. It allows students to capture what they do for math work online by recording their work and their voice so that they can explain how they did what they did. This seems like a good idea, but I do not think that I would use this in my classroom.
http://www.jingproject.com/

5. Literactive
This was one of the presenters favorite websites that are designed for students. I love this website!! I really like the idea of using technology to help students learn how to read or just read better. I think that reading is the most important thing that students need to learn and technology is something that students love to use. So why not combine them?! Using technology to help students read is a great idea and this website seems like a love of fun!
http://www.literactive.com/Home/index.asp

6. CREST
This project-based learning was a really interesting idea. This involves having teachers and students be involved in the learning process and deciding, together, which projects they will work on. They also focus on local industries and work on projects that are local so that the students are involved in their communities.
http://crest.islandinstitute.org/

7. Iknowthat.com
This website is great in the fact that it allows students to use the internet (which is something that they use daily, anyway) and still be able to learn. They learn through interactive websites and have a great time while learning.
http://www.iknowthat.com/com

8. Magnetic Poetry
I love magnetic poetry! I had this in my class when I was in elementary school and everyone loved it! I actually had it in my classes all through high school. To have it online is really cool, but I really prefer magnetic poetry in person. it just seems more fun and there are so many things that you can do online that are like magnetic poetry, so this is definitely something that is better not virtual.
http://www.magneticpoetry.com/magnet/

9. Curriki
This is a really great resource. It had lesson plans and student worksheets that I can use and I know that I will be able to use this resource mutliple times throughout my career.
http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome

10. My Reaction to the Conference
I really enjoyed this conference and I think that going to conferences when I have my own classroom will be very worth while. For my first conference, this went very well. I learned a lot of valuable information and I received a list of websites that are going to be very useful to me when I have my own classroom.

Colonial New England Webquest

My overall interest in this webquest is to have students study Colonial New England.

1. Build a city!

1. Topic: Have students explore how cities in Colonial New England were established.

2. Grade Level: Sixth Grade

3. Task: The King has ordered that a new city be developed in New England. You and your partners must design this city and get it up an running to please the King. Good Luck!

4. Roles (at least 3):

   1. The Architect - You design all of the buildings in your city.

   2. The Mayor - You establish all of the laws in your city.

   3. The Treasurer - You decide how much money goes to what areas of your city.

2. Be a colonist.

1. Topic: Research the daily lives of the colonists and use this information to help you in your quest.

2. Grade Level: Sixth Grade

3. Task: You are living in Massachusetts and all of the taxpayers are getting frustrated with how they are being treated. How are you dealing with this? What is your reaction to the way that the King is treating you? Write a journal entry and express your feelings.

4. Roles (at least 3):

   1. The Wealthy Man - How is your mistreatment affecting you? How are you dealing with this?

   2. The Poor Man - How are you dealing with the way that life is?

   3. The Wealthy Woman - What are doing during this difficult time? How is everything affecting you and your husband?

   4. The Poor Woman - How are you coping with this? What going on in your mind?

   5. The Wealthy Child - How is this affecting your life? Are your parents acting differently?

   6. The Poor Child - What is going through your mind? How are your parents doing?

3. Extra! Extra! Read all about it! (I think that I'm going to do this one!)

1. Topic: Research what colonial newspapers looked like and use this information to assist you while you write.

2. Grade Level: Sixth Grade

3. Task: With the rise in frustration of the taxpayers, violence is starting to erupt and people are starting to gather together and brainstorm ways to change this. As a member of the newspaper team, you must gather as much information as possible and put together an article that exposes the feelings of the colonists and what we plan to do to stop this!

4. Roles (at least 3):

   1. The Journalist - Interview someone of importance and write an article about him or her. Tell us about where they stand politically and why they are important.

   2. The Editor - It is your job to compile all of the information that your co-workers gather, proof-read it, and set it all up on the pages so it is visually appealing.

   3. The Photographer - Go along with the Journalist, the Classified Captain, and the Sports Spectator, and take pictures that can be added to their sections. Make sure that they are fitting and capture the moment!

   4. The Classifieds Captain - Gather all of the advertisements and put them here!

   5. The Sports Spectator - Go around and gather as much information about sporting events as you can.

4. Career Exploration.

1. Topic: Look into some of the careers during colonial times and research one of them.

2. Grade Level: Sixth Grade

3. Task: You are a colonist in New England and you have had a successful career ever since you came to America. What is your job? What do you do? How do you do it? How much money do you make?

4. Roles (at least 3):

   1. The Blacksmith - Tell me about your job. Write a blog about what you do.

   2. The Seamstress - What do you do? Show me some of your fashions.

   3. The Banker - Tell me what you do. Show me what your money looks like.

Inclusive Technology

With the advances in technology, almost nothing in education is impossible. Most classrooms are equipped with numerous different kinds of technology designed to assist students in need of extra assistance. Therefore, there is no excuse for any student to be overlooked. Numerous students benefit from inclusive technology, regardless of if they are a student with learning challenges or gifted students.

One way that students can benefit from technology is through very expensive technology, such as Tango. Tango is a product that is able to provide speech to the students that are unable to speak or are just not willing to do so. This allows students to be able to have a voice so that they can get their point across and work in groups alongside all other students.

Another great way to get students more active is to do more activities on the computer. It is quite simple; however, kids enjoy working on computers and really have a great time doing it. There can be some difficulties with this, but technology has even more solutions! For younger students with smaller hands, a mouse may be difficult to manipulate, but they can use a big mouse that is controlled by a large ball and requires a lot less use of the whole hand. For the same challenge, only with keyboards, teachers can get keyboards with large buttons. These keyboards come in either the traditional way to assist with typing, or you can get one that is in alphabetical order to help them learn the alphabet. These technologies can be very useful in the classroom!

There are low levels of technology that are very helpful as well. Some activities that one may not even think are technology are actually quite helpful. Flash cards with sayings on them are a less expensive way for children that can not speak to get their voice heard. Books on tape are another great way for children to learn and get all of the information that they need. Children, who are possibly having a harder time learning to read and are embarrassed about it, are still able to take part in class discussion without feeling inadequate and being ashamed. This is also a great fun activity for the other children who are not having trouble. They are able to take part in the discussion and feel like they’re getting off easy without having to actually read.

Technology is just great. Students can always use a bit of extra help and the way that they can get that help is through technology. Not only are they learning, they are having a great time! If they are able to go online and do some lessons or use a big keyboard that lets them feel like they are successful, they are going to have a great time while learning, and that, as educators, is our ultimate goal.

Being an Educator in the 21st Century

 Being an educator in the twenty-first century is very different from being an educator in previous years. With the recent developments in technology that have increased our abilities, children are becoming far more technologically savvy than most adults. As future educators, we are going to have to be experienced with the technology that our students are using and try in some way to use their knowledge of those things to our advantage. We can do this by incorporating more technology into the classroom in many ways. This can include allowing students to use computers more in class, incorporating different forms of technology into our lessons, and by allowing the students to be more creative with project ideas.

A lot of classrooms have computers in them so that students can work on some homework, however not many classrooms have enough computers so that everyone can use one in class. When you have one of those “teachable moments” like talked about in the article Write the Truth, every once in a while there are just times when you do not know the answer to a question that a student has. You will then need to find the answer to that question and if you incorporate your students and have them all help out and use different forms of research, then you will all easily find a solution to your problem. Different types of technology can be very useful in situations like this. You can use the internet, online databases, and so many other forms of technology.

If we as educators use technology in our lessons, we may be able to make our lessons more understandable to some students. As stated in Dual-Language Bookmaking, sometimes, you may have some students that do not speak the same language as everyone else. Technology helps educators make accommodations for those students so that they, too, are able to earn a great education.

If educators allow students to use technology to be more creative with their assignments, more students may enjoy school and not necessarily mind doing their schoolwork. Like the video, Pay Attention, was showing us, students are attached to their cell phones and their iPods. Maybe if educators were somehow able to make those technologies into some kind of school related assignment, students would like it and find it meaningful.

Technology is a great thing. It has come a long way in many years and we need to take advantage of it. If we are not using technology to our full advantage, we are wasting a value resource that is available to us. Students enjoy using technology in general and would love to use it in the classroom. If we make it more available to them, we will be helping them succeed as students.

My Introduction

Today was the first day of my practicum block and the beginning of my Sophomore year at UMF.  My name is Sam and I am an Elementary Education major with a concentration in Language Arts.  It is obvious that this year is going to be pretty intense and it is quite nerve-racking , but I really think that I will learn a lot and have a great time working in my classroom placement!