Assignment #1 Technology Literacy

I feel like I have a lot of experience with technology. As I read the Professional Preparation Performance Profile it seemed a lot of the things listed were vague an up to your own interpretation. this is exciting because it means that teachers have a lot of freedom to do assignments with thier students that they want to do. The main things I want to learn in this class are the different types of technological tools that are out there that I don't yet know about. I already know how to make a web page, research on the internet, make a power point, things of that nature, but I'm sure there are tools out there that I do not yet know about, for instance I would like to learn more about the Smart board and other tools separate from the computer.

I think technology should have a large role in education and learning. There are so many new technological advances that people in large companies are using. The reason we go to school is to learn everything we can to prep us to go out into the world and be competent adults. It wouldn't make sense not to use technology as much as possible in the classroom to get students comfortable with what is out there so that they won’t be confused when they get into their career. Technology definitely aids learning and it would be a waste not to use every resource available to teach our students. Besides that, it keeps them interested.

There is a wide range of standarsd that students in 3rd grade should meet, some of these things include:
1. Produce a media-rich digital story
2. Use digital-imaging technology to create works of art
3. Recognize bias in digital resources
4. Select and apply digital tools to collect, organize, and analyze data
5. Identify and investigate a global issue
6. Conduct science experiments

Three ways I could help my students meet the NETS standards for their age level are:

1. The students could conduct a scientific experiment using computer software, digital instruments and measuring devices. I know there is software to conduct physics experiments. Maybe they could make a digital ramp for a ball to follow and calculate how long it will take for the ball to drop. (I, II, III)

2. The students could take an interactive test online that I prepared for them. The students would be allowed to take the test at home, and it would be graded by the computer as soon as they were done taking it. (III, IV)

3. The students could participate in an online interview with experts. They could talk to scientists conducting experiments at the North Pole through a computer camera and ask them questions. The students should take notes and ask questions pertaining to our class assignment. (V, VI)

Integrating Successfully

I read the article Integrating successfully from winter 2007. It was a very interesting article about a school named Hall Memorial that won a grant for $ 225,000 to invest in technology for their school. The principle wanted to use it wisely do he did his research and finally decided to use it on one Smart board to see if he liked it. The teachers, students, and parents loved it so much, he bought one for every classroom.

One thing I learned was about the Blue Chip school grant. I have never heard of this before. I wonder how a school qualifies for this grant. Something else that I found very interesting was that they had conversations with scientists over the smart board. I thought that was a great way to use the boards. I would definitely try to use that in my class.

My Website

This is the link to my website. Making yhe actual webpage was not hard for me to do, however, thinking about what I wanted my webpage to be about was hard. the first webpage we made was much more time consuming than making a webpage through google pages.

Class Reflection # 1

I am doing my Practicum in a third grade class at Chain lake Elementary. I was hesitant at first to be at this school because it is small and rural, but when I walked in on the first day I was so glad to be there. I absolutely love my teacher Mrs. Stafford. she is a wonderful woman with a lot of experience. She has been teaching for more than 30 years and is retiring this semseter which has been a blessing because she has been giving me all her old materials so that I can use them in my classroom. I love the kids too. Some of them are so funny. On the first day in class I met a little girl who told me she had a boyfriend and she was embarrased that her friends were spreading the news around.

Technology Standards

Some technology standards I would like to work on in this class are how to integrate technology in the classroom successfully. Right now it seems a little overwhelming with all the options that are out there. I want to learn some things that are simple and fun that I can start out on and then add too as I get more comfortable with it. Also I would like to make a class web page and learn more about Microsoft Excel.

Chain Lake Elementary School Website

Chain Lake elementary school- the home of the cheetahs, is the school I will be doing my observation at. Here is the link to the web site.

What I like about this site is that it starts with an opening letter from the principal as well as a picture of her. I also like the links section because it has a complete list of student and parent resources including the state report cards, parent handbook, and a link to the library.

The only problem I see with the web page is that it is not kept very up to date and many of the links are broken.

Engage Me or Enrage Me: What Today's Learners Demand

In this article Marc Prensky discusses three types of students that teachers encounter:
1. The students who are truly self motivated
2. The students who go through the motions
3. The students who tune us out

He goes on to say that while our school system is designed reasonably well to deal with the first two, the third group is a real problem and fast growing. Children today expect to be engaged by everything they do and when school is not as engaging as video games or the internet they cannot stand to be there.

While reading this article I realized just how different todays youth are from when I was a child. It has only been 12 years or so, but technology has really improved. I grew up on old mackintosh computers and super Nintendo systems, yes we had a TV, but we did not even have cable. Computers were not yet a household item and I don't think we even had internet access in school yet. Today technology is surrounding children. They constantly have access to all sorts of entertainment that I did not have. Growing up I enjoyed school, but I suppose I didn't have any of these surreal entertainment systems to compare it to.

I think a big problem is that with so much information that is available to them online they may begin to question the need for school at all. I suppose that our job as teachers is changing, and that it is not necessarily our job anymore to teach our students everything, but rather teach them how to find information for themselves and how to know which sources are reliable.

I also think it is very important for us as educators to keep up with the excitement of today's entertainment. Why can't we make real life just as exciting as video games or include games, and adventure into our classroom setting? I think Prensky had it right when he said "Maybe if, when learning the “old” stuff, our students could be continuously challenged at the edge of their capabilities, and could make important decisions every half-second, and could have multiple streams of data coming in, and could be given goals that they want to reach but wonder if they actually can, and could beat a really tough game and pass the course—maybe then they wouldn’t have to, as one kid puts it, “power down” every time they go to class." The question is: How do we do this? Prensky answers by saying "As with games, we need to fund, experiment, and iterate. Can we afford it? Yes, because ironically, creating engagement is not about those fancy, expensive graphics but rather about ideas."

Why I Want to be a Teacher

I want to be a first grade elementary school teacher beacuse I want to impact students lives. I love children and I love knowledge so teaching is the perfect way to combine the two. I get excited when I see a student understand a new concept. Also, I had many good memories when I was an elementary school teacher and I hope to have as much fun with my students as I had in elementary school.

This is a picture of my elementary school :