Having the tools, and knowing how to use them

As the semester is coming to a close, I am able to reflect on this past semester. I have just finished making my thank you card for my host teacher. Tomorrow is my last observation, and I know it will be hard leaving. I have grown so much this semester, and I have built strong knowledge on effective ways to instruct a class. I have been given helpful strategies that I can implement in the classroom, and it is now just a matter of going through with them. I know that what I have learned will help me to become a stronger teacher. Now that I have been handed the techniques, it is my responsibility to know when he correct time in to present the strategies to the students. I have to be able to read the students to be able to decide when they need extra assistance. I want to allow my students to learn easily, and not get confused in the material. In order to do this, I need to relay creative ways to present the lessons that accommodates the students' learning preferences. My professors have handed me the knowledge on classroom management and how to instruct the students. It will soon be my turn to let the skills that I have gained shined through when I am student teaching and am in charge of the students in the classroom.

Technology can hep boost motivation for Social Studies in the classroom

I have recently discovered that my classroom does not have a textbook for social studies. I found it difficult to do a lesson in the class when there was no text to use as a reference. The host teacher told me they have not had a text for over 15 years. I was astounded by this fact. Social Studies is a staple in the curriculum, and not supplying a text makes the teacher as well as the students think that the subject doesn't need much attention.
I was reminded of this again in EDU 378. Kim said that she google images to make the social studies topic more interesting to the students. I think that this is a great solution to not having a text. The internet consists of numerous textbooks. If a teacher does not have textbooks, the internet should really be taken advantage of to make up for lack of resources in the subject. I want my students to continue to be enthused about Social Studies, and technology is the answer! I can create interactive lessons that include many visuals that the students can get interested in.

Digital Citizenship

Upon reading the article on digital citizenship, I found it both humorous and enlightening. It is true that with the demand for integrating technology in the classroom, the teacher must be a digital citizen at some level. The definition of digital citizenship is listed in the website as, "norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use." It is my duty as a teacher to know where it is helpful and necessary to place technology in the classroom. In some activities, technology can give academic support to those students that are struggling with the concepts. I should be able to decide to which students that support is needed.
The website discusses the nine areas that make up digital citizenship. It is crazy but completely true to see all the different areas that a person must be familiar with to be considered a digital citizen. To be a citizen, I need to know how to get access into the digital society (1). I also need to know how to buy and sell digitally (2), which is one of my strongest areas. I need to know how to communicate and exchange information (3). This will be very helpful to be familiar with as a teacher. It is good to be able to communicate with other staff members and parents to gain insight in the classroom. Digital Literacy is another element that assures the person is highly knowledgeable in technology, enough to be able to share the knowledge with others (4). I cannot possibly ask my students to use technology if I am not completely  comfortable with the tool. I also need to be aware of how to act with technology, and use the correct etiquette (5). There also lies the responsibility that goes along with the use of technology. I need to be are of the laws that lie within the digital society (6). This also ties in with the next element (7) of the digital rights and responsibilities. I also need to be aware of the physical and psychological risks of using digital technology (8). If I am exposing the students to computers, I need to consider how the bright screens and the noise will affect them. The last element included is the one that focuses on digital security (9). I need to be aware on how to protect my documents and computer against any viruses or spam.
Now that I have read the elements on how to be a digital citizen, I can say that I become alot closer to being a citizen throughout this semester. I am more aware of the digital tools that can be utilized in the classroom. I know the importance of reaching citizenship in the digital world. I know how much my students will benefit from my knowledge.
The website used for this post is found at http://digitalcitizenship.pbworks.com/w/page/17771708/FrontPage
Check it out!! =]

Small steps to using technology in the classroom

I just recently presented my social skills/social studies lesson to the students. I wanted to make sure that I included an aspect that the students would enjoy - and it would motivate them to learn more about the topic. I was doing a lesson on speaking Italian, because Italy is the unit that the students are focusing on in social studies. I decided to include a piece of technology in my lesson. For the audio aspect for differentiation, I chose to use my laptop and let the students listen to someone else speak Italian in an accent. The students really got a kick out of hearing someone that has an Italian background speak the language. The students were able to get a deeper look into the culture with this addition to the lesson. They were able to apply this knowledge and place more emphasis on their "accent" when they spoke the greetings back to me. The recording encouraged the students to put more effort into the activity. It was only a brief use of technology, but it was enough to show me the potential benefits it can being when implementing throughout the entire day in the classroom.

Making students' work matter by making it public

Over the past week, I have been creating projects that were required to be posted on youtube. I had never seen the point of posting things on youtube. I did not think a lot of the videos were appropriate, and the only reason I ever went on the site was to listen to music videos. I am now becoming more enlightened on the website, and how it can be useful to have in the classroom. I have seen videos in Kim K's class in which students created a video of displaying the different designs that can be made from Tanograms. The students' voices were heard as they read the story that went along with the animals they made with the geometric shapes. I was stunned to see the variety of the animals the students were able to design. After the video was over, it got me thinking about how proud those students must have been after watching their video on the computer screen. They were aware that others would be watching their video, and it pushed them to do their best on this project.
I endured similar feelings this past week while doing my read aloud and my iMovie. I was aware that others would have the ability to view my videos on youtube, and it made me want to do my best. I did not want to present anything less than my highest quality to the public. I was conscientious on how I was going to sound, or look. It made me double think how things were going to go. Considering all aspects of the presentation are things that all students should do when they are completing a project to ensure the highest quality.
I also like that it involves getting the students experience with technology. I had never posted a video on youtube, so it was a good learning experience for me. I gained knowledge on how to make my work public, so that I will be familiar with doing it in the future. I think that this is a simple solution that teachers could incorporate with projects to make students more concerned with the work that they do. Just this little step shows them that someone cares about them and the work that they are doing. No students' work should go unnoticed.

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

I have been learning about virtual manipulatives that are available online for teachers to use in the classroom. I think that this is a great solution to some classroom that do not have a wide variety of learning tools, but yet it has a computer. The website that Kim K showed the class was very enlightening. It is great because there is such a wide variety of different equipment  for algebra, geometry, numbers and operations and more! Our topic is geometry, so we looked at tangrams, tessellations, and geoboards. It is a great alternative for classrooms that have the money to buy all these maipulatives as well because it is less hassle. All of the tools are on one website, instead of having to get one out at a time. The students will also have an easier time getting interested in the lesson because technology is incorporated into it. I think this is a great new way to get the students enthused about learning math, while at the same time giving them an easier activity because they have a variety of manipulatives right in front of them. It just goes to show that there are so many resources out there, which gives me more reason to "come to the edge" and explore what technology has to offer to broaden my teaching techniques.
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/topic_t_3.html

Academic Networking is the New Social Networking for the classroom

The article on edutopia.org supplies an article elaborating on the benefits that networking can bring to the classroom. It is a great way to bring the students together through technology so that they can collaborate and share ideas and resources that they come across. A concept that we learn in our EDU classes is that the students do not only learn from the teacher, but they learn from eachother as well.
"We need to teach students how to be effective collaborators in that world, how to interact with people around them, how to be engaged, informed twenty-first-century citizens." This is a quote found in the article that describes the goal of academic networking. Students need to learn how to use each other as a stepping stone to gaining more knowledge on a variety of topics. When people think of networking, the sites Facebook and Twitter come to mind, but that is more for social interaction than academic. The article mentions the website, Delicious, which allows the students to share with each other resources that they use to help them with projects and other assignments. This reminds me a lot of what our Block has on Facebook, even though the idea is to veer away from that site. We use that page as a resource for when one of us gets into a bind and we need support and ideas. Students should have access to something like this to make them stronger students. 
If a website like this is integrated into the curriculum, it will require supervision from the teacher to make sure the students use the networking appropriately. This is where the concepts we have been learning in Kim K's class some in handy. We need to explain what we as the teacher expect from the students when they are on the site. Make our demands short and simple so that there is no confusion in the classroom. I think the effort needed is worth it because the students can really benefit from having access to a networking website.