Final Dropbox

https://www.dropbox.com/home

Final Project (Prezi)

http://prezi.com/i4uqfj3i0da7/edit/#7_5720088

Final Project

Week #16

At the beginning of the semester I admit I was a bit skeptical of technology in the classroom, but I learned techniques about technology that helped me see how it can be useful. For one, I had no idea how easy it is to make a blog. I always thought that an email to parents is just as good but after using it, I see that having a blog makes it easier for parents to stay informed. They can easily go check the blog whenever they have questions or want to know what is going on. I also learned about the smart notebook. I had never heard of it before. Now I know that there are many activities or lessons that you can find online. I also learned that there are so many ways students can show or practice what they are learning. I could see myself giving the students time to use storyboard, flipsnack, vocaro, and Prezi  in my own classroom. I still think there is value in having student creating work and doing assignments without technology but I have come to the conclusion that if used at the right time and in the right way, technology can enhance student learning. 

This class was the first time I have ever worked with NETS but I feel like this class gave me a good understanding of them.  The ones I have practiced the most are  

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity and 2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. I feel like these two are important because they talk about teachers using technology to enhance learning and creating assignments that can easily be assessed and include substantial content. Technology should engage students and help them better understand what they are learning about. It should also include all the areas they are working on and Teachers should be able to asses where students are at so they can modify their lesson to help their students gain a better understanding. Technology should not be the main focus of the lesson, but instead, a tool.  

Week #15

I found a lesson about different cultures. It was called Holidays around the world. The teacher was going to skype classrooms in Mexico, Germany, and Israel with her class to find out about  their holidays and then discuss the differences in the holidays celebrated in these three places and where they live. In a classroom of first graders I would skype these three classrooms with the class and then have  the students draw pictures about three new holidays they learned about from the lesson.

1. Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct
knowledge, and develop innovative products and
processes using technology.
a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas,
products, or processes
b. Create original works as a means of personal
or group expression
c. Use models and simulations to explore complex
systems and issues
d. Identify trends and forecast possibilities

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning
and Creativity
Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter,
teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate
experiences that advance student learning,
creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face
and virtual environments.
a. Promote, support, and model creative
and innovative thinking and inventiveness
b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues
and solving authentic problems using digital tools
and resources
c. Promote student reflection using collaborative
tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual
understanding and thinking, planning, and
creative processes
d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by
engaging in learning with students, colleagues,
and others in face-to-face and virtual environments

Reflection #12 Clocks

Today, people don't usually wear watches or look to analog watches. If people want to know the time they pull out their cell phone. Even a lot of classrooms have digital clocks. This made me wonder how important it really is to continue teaching children how to read analog clocks. I found this article about more and more children needing help reading clocks. The article said that it is possible that the analog clock may become a thing of the past. Most clocks in student homes are digital so they are getting less practice and have less need to learn how to learn clocks.
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/teachers_say_children_are_beco.html

  

Reflection #11 online books

High schools will often have to buy two sets of books. One set to send home with the students so they can do their homework, and then another to keep at school for instruction and school work. There is also a risk that the students will ruin or lose the books they bring home. Buying books online would be a great way to avoid these problems. First, the school would only have to purchase one online book per student because they would be able to access it online no matter where they were. In my own experience, I have noticed that whenever I have the option to buy a book online or the physical book, the book online is cheaper. The students would also be unable to lose or ruin their books if they were online.