What I Learned After Class Presentations

One of the technologies that I learned about was the use of the SmartBoard. I wasn't really sure what it, was, but now I know what it is. It seems like it is more than just an interactive whiteboard, but a valuable learning tool. The presentation that I saw helped the students learn about dipthongs, and paired pictures with the words they were working with. This could possibly help English Language Learners, and many other students. I hope that the schools that I work with are equipped with a SmartBoard.

I also learned about the value of finding quizzes and other things online and using them in the classroom. The presentation that I saw emphasized the value of finding valuable resources on the internet and implementing them in various lessons. There are so many good resources on the internet that can help enhance lessons and help teachers stay in touch with the ever advacing technological age.

Slideshare Reactions

After watching the different slideshare presentations I feel inspired to used technology more in the classroom. I felt like while I was in the practicum, I HAD to use technology in order to fulfill a technology quota. However, I found that as I used technology in the lesson, it made the lesson easier. The students really liked using the Promethean Board, and actually wanted to learn more, and learned more efficiently because they were actively participating. I hope that I will be able to be as creative as some of the slideshare presentations I saw, and that I will be able to use technology in the classroom. I also hope that I will be at a school that has a lot of technology that I can use in my classroom. 

Internet Safety Reading

What article did you choose to read for your fourth article? Fighting Internet Filth by Mario Hipol

What were the most important things you learned from the readings? I learned that I should not be afraid of letting my students use the internet. If I am well informed, and can inform my students about being safe, then they will be. 

How will what you have read influence your actions as a parent and/or teacher of children and youth? I will use the suggestions given in the article to educate myself, and my students about being safe. There are a lot of really good suggestions for what to do when teaching children what to do about internet safety. 

How can you use what you have learned from the reading to have a positive influence on family and friends? This article gave real life tips that can be used to help protect the family from the bad things that can be found on the internet. Although the article is mainly for parents, it can be applied to teachers as well. By having an open dialogue between parents/teachers and children/students about the safe things one can do while on the internet, a positive environment can be created. 

Some of the tips from the article are: 

Monitor what sites have been visited on your computer.

Use an Internet filtering tool

Teach your children to use favorites or bookmarks.

Teach your children to use credible search engines.

Use a pop-up blocker on the Internet.

Teach your children to be cautious in downloading free software from the Internet

Teach your children not to use free peer-to-peer or chat-based programs to download material.

Teach your children not to open spam e-mail.

Discourage your children from visiting chat rooms.

There is even a glossary in the article with certain terms that a parent, or even some teachers might not know

Glossary:

Browser: A program that allows users to navigate and view pages on the World Wide Web. Two common browsers are Explorer and Netscape, but there are many others.

Chat room: An online forum where users can communicate with each other in real time.

Instant messaging: Exchanging messages in real time between two or more computer users.

Internet service provider (ISP): The service you subscribe to for Internet access.

Search engine: An online service that enables you to find information in Web pages on the Internet by searching for specific words or phrases.

URL: Uniform resource locator, or the address of a Web page.

Virus: A program designed for malicious purposes to “infect” and disrupt the normal functioning of a computer.

I thought that this article was very informative and I feel a little bit more computer savvy after reading the article.  I feel like I will be a more effective teacher, and parent. 

To read the entire article, please visit this link.

Pizza Fraction Math

Pizza Fraction Math

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Technology Used in a Lesson...

I used the promethean board to teach the students about contractions. First I modeled how to change two words into a contraction, and explained the rules of contractions.  

Then I had some sample sentences up on the board with words that needed to be turned into contractions like: are not, did not, should not, does not. A student would come up to the promethean board and underline the words that need to be turned into a contraction. 

Underneath the sentences there was a correct and incorrect version of what the contraction should look like. I covered up the contractions and then when it was time to choose the contractions, the students uncovered them. The apostrophe was in the correct place in one example, an in the incorrect place in the other. The student chose which one they thought was correct. Some of the choices were: are'nt and aren't,  doesn't and does'nt, should'nt and shouldn't. 

Then I gave the students a packet with different exercises to test their knowledge of contractions. 

Lesson teaching contractions, while using technology...

To introduce this lesson, I used a promethean board. I had sentences with words that needed to be turned into a contractions. After a student came up to the board, we figured out which words needed to be turned into a contraction. Then there were two different options for how the word should be written (An example of this is are'nt and aren't).  The student then would choose which one they thought is the correct answer. 

After the students understand what a contraction is, and where the apostrophe goes, they are given a packet to practice on their own. However, before they start to work on the packet, we will go over the directions, and also do the first problem together. Then the students will work on the packet until they are done.  

Technology in my classroom...

When I first arrived at Spring Creek Elementary school, I was not quite sure what to expect, technology wise. However, I was quite surprised by the amount of technology that was in the classroom. The teacher has a microphone that hangs around her neck and amplifies her voice, so she doesn't have to  yell to get the attention of the students. There are also 6 computers that the students use during the different centers, or if they get their work done early. 

My favorite thing in the class is the promethean board. It is like an interactive whiteboard, that allows the teacher to have lesson pre-prepared, and not have worry about management problems when your back is turned and you are writing on the white board. You can prepare your worksheets, and other things for you lesson. You do not have to worry about using an overhead projector and overhead sheets, because everything is organized on the computer! It is amazing. 

I had the chance to use the promethean board while reviewing vocabulary, for me it was more fun than just handing out a worksheet while the students worked on vocabulary at their desks. This allowed me to be more interactive with all of the students at once, and not have them yelling out, asking questions. It was magnificent!