Technofied Lesson Plan

Click here to view my technofied lesson plan 

Click here to view my technofied lesson plan presentation 

Google Forms

Using forms in the classroom....

This tool is a fabulous way to introduce students to technology in the classroom. This is great because a teacher can have the students individually go to the classroom computers to do surveys or even a test or quiz. This is great because a teacher can get the results from the spreadsheet to see how her students are doing in the classroom in comparison to other classmates and then from there can decide what things he/she can change in order to get desired results. This is also a great tool for upper level classes because you can use google forms to get peer reviews/responses without having to feel bad about the feedback. Google forms can give the teacher feedback as well on her teaching style as well as student responses for the curriculum being taught in the classroom. You can also learn a great deal about your students by using forms like a survey to find out their special interests, talents, or person information and then can use the data to incorporate these items into the classroom.

Google Earth Tour

My personal tour of around the world using Google Earth!

click here for my tour

Video 

Fryer Chapter 6 Ideas

Video is a valuable resource for teachers and students in a classroom setting. For teachers knowing the necessary tools for showing, making, and exploring videos as lesson is an essential secondary resource for lesson planning. There are a variety of ways in which a teacher can incorporate videos effectively for students that were discussed in Fryers chapter on Video. Showing videos in a classroom can be frustrating because of slow technology or trying to weed through thousands of clips in order to find ones suitable for your class. I like how this chapter provides teacher with other options for website that are reliable and safe to use in the classroom such as www.schooltube.com. This website can help to save teachers the hassle and is a resource that I plan to take advantage of. I also like the idea presented in this chapter on Digital Storytelling Projects. I think this is a fantastic way a teacher can have students use technology with a lesson. This not only lets student create their own videos, but can also be an excellent way to incorporate a variety of subjects while using audio, images, and video. This allows for students to use creativity while providing them with a unique way to approach a subject or theme addressed in the classroom. These are also great for a historical research project or for students to create storyboards or personal memoirs. I also like how Fryer discusses how videos can be easily shared for students to evaluate and explore many diverse forms of video from their peers as well as the rest of the world. Teachers having a background in websites such as www.youtube.com is a fabulous way to help students get their video uploaded and available for many to view, whether it be family, friends, or students from other schools. This website gives students the ability to save and share files without having the hassle. Because videos are so large this website is a great way for teachers to evaluate students work without having them overwhelm the email system.  Now days it is becoming easier and easier for students to use their imagination and create videos for assigned materials. Most computers come with a variety of software to edit and create videos as well as software to view virtually any videos on the web with programs like Windows Live MovieMaker or iMovie. With these types of software available it should be easy and fun for both teachers and students to incorporate video technology into the classroom. Video is a new and exciting medium for students that replaces the typical forms of projects that we see within the classroom. 

Virtual Field Trip:

Virtual Field Trip inside Volcanos

This Virtual Field Trip PDF was created using GoogleDoc

Technological Applications 

Throughout my observations in the classrooms so far as well as my own applications, I have had the opportunity to explore a diverse variety of technology. Last spring I volunteered at an elementary school in town where they were working on implementing iPads into their classrooms. This was a very fun experience for me because it involved the parents, teachers, administration, and students. I was introduced to how they would use the iPads in the classroom with the smartboards and using apps that would integrate lesson plans. Another usage of technology that I had experience with was the SmartBoards. I utilized the website http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html that provides lesson plan templates that are absolutely amazing. This definitely helped in my teaching experiences. The other technology that I have been introduced to was the clickers that calculates testing scores in the classroom with the SmartBoards. This is a fantastic way to get students involved with technology while also a new and "technological"way to incorporate testing.

SmartBoard Lesson Plan

Science: Living vs. Nonliving 

WebQuest

Google Forms and WebQuests

The use of google forms is an excellent tool to use in the classroom. This gives students and teachers an efficient way to provide feedback to classmates or individual students work. This can also be used for students to evaluate what they take away from a teachers instruction. The fact that this also allows a teacher to see cumulative responses allows the teacher to see data collectively. It can help to make improvements in your own work or a students work. It also gives a student the opportunity to see the positive aspects of their work from their peers as well as a teachers own instruction. 

The use age of WebQuests is an excellent way to incorporate technology in a creative manner. This tool is a fabulous resource for other teachers as well as students and parents. Not only can teachers share lesson plans but students have the ability to access the pages from their home too. This is an excellent thing for parents who chose to homeschool as well. I think that the fact that WebQuests provide all the links, PDFs, and images required for making a lesson successful, it makes executing the lesson simple and easy. Children love to get on computers too so this is a fun way to get them online doing activities. 

Digital Movie

How To Make Caramels

Audio

Fryer Chapter 3 Ideas

In chapter 3 of Playing with Media: Simple Ideas for Powerful Sharing, Fryer discusses ways in which audio can be incorporated to classrooms.  In this chapter he provides many ways in which audio can be useful to students such as read aloud audio projects, field trip reflections, and portfolios. One of the reasons I really enjoyed this chapter was because, like many others, I do not care for videos to be taken of myself. I agree with the fact that many people may become intimidated by being behind a camera. It creates a lot of self-conciousness. I also agree with the fact that in todays world many parents are not comfortable with having their child's pictures and videos on the web. Audio is a great solution for sharing knowledge and experiences from a students perspective without subjecting them to the entire world. Another point that I liked from the chapter was that audio is easy to use and is easily uploaded. I have too fought with having larger files uploaded to the internet, and audio seems to be a great solution to this problem. In the chapter the ideas of how one can incorporate audio to the classroom are fantastic. I like the idea of showing an image and having a student narrate. I also love the idea of having students do read aloud projects. Often times children can learn a lot of reading skills by playing back and listening to what they may have just read. It helps them to recognize where mistakes can be made while reading as well as how great of a reader they may be. In creating audio for a field trip reflection students will have the ability to remember the trip many weeks later by listening to their experience instead of trying to just remember it. Fryer throughout the entire chapter provided many creative ways to use audio as well as a vast amount of information on resources available for creating audio. All of these ways to use audio make for an exciting classroom environment with the students being able to experiment with the many possibilities of technology.

Digital Text

Fryer Chapter 2 Ideas

In chapter 2 of Wesley Fryer's text Playing With Media: Simple Ideas for Powerful Sharing, he discusses how it is important to try strategies with students involving digital text. He believes that words are powerful and that we must utilize the many outlets to share the students' ideas and this can be done with many multimedia possibilities.  I have to agree with Fryer, because as a future educator I am not only excited to use these tools, but be able to show my students new and interesting way to communicate. 
By allowing students to use blogs, they can begin to develop a personal diary, Fryer puts it, and this will inspire creativity. I also like how he thinks of WikiPedia as an "encyclopedia". We are constantly reminded utilize this information, but to be careful of the truthfulness behind it. I personally believe it to be a fast and enticing form of quick information. I like the idea that wiki can be used as a classroom portal where parents, students, faculty, etc. can access the information. The use of these and blogs allows for "interactive sharing" which permits many people to access the pages.

PSA Be Kind...

brought to you by Halle Wilson and Renee Hansen

My Personal Tale...... 

City of Refuge

Power Doc: What I love... Fashion!

PowerDoc

What I hope to learn this semester...

 

Well for starters I hope to learn how to efficiently use this blogger
As a future educator I believe I have a responsibility to stay on the cusp of technology trends in education, so I hope to be introduced to how to effectively and efficiently combine technology with my teaching. I hope to learn how to use a variety of technologies that will be appropriate in my own classroom instruction. I believe that it is important to submerge our students to up and coming trends that are very prevalent in our society today.
 I am not only a user of, but an advocate for technological integration...