The biggest impact from this class was learning about how to incorporate a blog in my classroom. Many times I think that because my students are so young they cannot understand many forms of technology. However, after exploring blogs I realize that my students could easily learn how to navigate this technology with some assistance.
Due to this class, I have already started exploring ways to incorporate technology into my lessons. I have been searching for online games and ideas to use in my classroom. I have a projector in my classrooms, so I am hoping to utilize it along with the websites and information I find with my students.
Another aha moment for me was creating a concept map. I could easily incorporate this idea with my students as a way to wrap us a unit of study. I could also see creating it based on a KWL chart and then making changes to it at the end of unit of study.
I do not think I will continue to use the blog that I created in the class. However, I would like to incorporate a blog into my future classroom. So, I will use a blog, but I plan to make it more appropriate for kindergarten or young elementary students.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Revised Educational Philosophy
I
closely identify with the Pragmatism school of thought because I try to make
education a necessity to my students, incorporate real-life situations to them,
use various forms of technology to instruct them and feel that education is
life. I feel this way because of the support I received as a student in
school. I was given the opportunity to extend my learning through sports,
the arts and academic contests as well. As a kindergarten teacher, I try
to keep my students focused and introduce them to various types of technology
that is appropriate for their age.
I
think that by reflecting on my Educational Technology Philosophy I have seen
changes that I need to make in my teaching style. I tend to be
automate instead of an informate. Sometimes I think it is the way I
have been trained in workshops for technology, but other times I think it is
the age I teach. I teach kindergarten at a school that is largely low
socio-economic, thus my students do not have much access to technology at home.
So, I tend to "show" them technology rather than have them
"use" it. I have started letting them use technology a lot more
in my classroom. Through this
semester, I learned how to scan items to use for various lessons, access
information on YouTube and video streaming. I have also started incorporating a computer center during
my small group reading time.
I
am new to aspect of blogging. However, I feel it will help me stay in
touch with my classmates. I may even start my own blog about my classroom
when I feel more comfortable with it. I have started viewing blogs of other
teachers to gain ideas about what to include in mine and how to get it
started.
According
to the article, I do not feel we have completely met his potential for
technology in the educational setting. We are making improvements by
offering more technology classes for students in upper grades, but what about
our elementary students. At my school, we have just started using
interactive boards with our students and a computer program that will teach the
students basic computer skills. So, we are striving for improvement, but
I do not feel we have met the potential that Mr. Downes mentioned in his
article. One reason for not meeting this potential, I feel, is simply
money. Many times in schools, technology gets overlooked because of
budgets. As budgets shrink for schools, so does the opportunity to add
technology. There should be a way for schools to add as much technology
as they can without causing the district to go into debt.
The
one area that stood out to me the most was area four. I never thought
about viewing technology plans as "information communication
planning". This part of the article was interesting to me because I
have been part of writing the campus improvement plans for my school and did
not take as much thought about the technology plans. Hopefully in the
future I will be able to influence my school about this planning.
In
this class, I have already learned quite a bit about how to implement
technology rather than overlay it with what I am already doing. So, I
hope to learn ways to use technology as a learning tool rather than a
supplemental tool with my students. I also hope to become more
comfortable with technology integration and implementation as well.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Blog Reflection #7- iGoogle-Do You?
For my technology plan I used google presentation. I created a lesson for rhyming in kindergarten. Through my experience in both my classes and teaching kindergarten, the kids love things shown on my projector. So, there are links to some rhyming games and the book is read on YouTube as well. I hope to use this lesson with my students in the future as we continue to work on rhyming.
As a teacher in an elementary school, one way that we can improve students learning is by decreasing the class sizes. I have been teaching for 8 years and my class sizes have ranged from 15-22 in that time. The years that my class sizes were between 15-18 I felt like I could target each students' needs more. When my class size was 19-22, I felt very overwhelmed and did not feel I taught my students what they "needed" as well as I should. So, decreasing the class size rather than increasing it would benefit our students learning.
A second thing I think would help our students learning is to not put so much stress on a standardized test. I learned in many of my education classes and workshop I attend now that not all students learn the same. So, why are we expecting ALL students to pass the same type of test. In kindergarten the students are being over tested, in my opinion, and it is keeping us from truly teaching them what they need in order to be successful in school. As a teacher, I see how much stress we add to our kids with these tests as well. I was a good student in school, took AP classes and graduated in the top 10% of my high school class. However, I had friends who did just as well as I did, but because they could not pass a standardized test, they had to attend summer school and delay their graduation. Is this really fair to our students? Standardized tests are not a true picture of what the students know and it is causing teachers to "teach to the test" rather than give the students skills they need to be successful later in their education or lives. So, putting less stress on standardized tests would help our students education as well.
Kristen Downs
As a teacher in an elementary school, one way that we can improve students learning is by decreasing the class sizes. I have been teaching for 8 years and my class sizes have ranged from 15-22 in that time. The years that my class sizes were between 15-18 I felt like I could target each students' needs more. When my class size was 19-22, I felt very overwhelmed and did not feel I taught my students what they "needed" as well as I should. So, decreasing the class size rather than increasing it would benefit our students learning.
A second thing I think would help our students learning is to not put so much stress on a standardized test. I learned in many of my education classes and workshop I attend now that not all students learn the same. So, why are we expecting ALL students to pass the same type of test. In kindergarten the students are being over tested, in my opinion, and it is keeping us from truly teaching them what they need in order to be successful in school. As a teacher, I see how much stress we add to our kids with these tests as well. I was a good student in school, took AP classes and graduated in the top 10% of my high school class. However, I had friends who did just as well as I did, but because they could not pass a standardized test, they had to attend summer school and delay their graduation. Is this really fair to our students? Standardized tests are not a true picture of what the students know and it is causing teachers to "teach to the test" rather than give the students skills they need to be successful later in their education or lives. So, putting less stress on standardized tests would help our students education as well.
Kristen Downs
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Blog Reflection #6- Can you hear me now?
The purpose of my podcast was to explain the parts of my wiki. It was a very basic explanation because my wiki is a work in progress. I think that this podcast will help people that are unfamiliar with wikis navigate through mine. My podcast was created to guide people through my wiki and will hopefully make people who visit it more familiar with the components of my wiki.
My podcast was created using Jing. I have used Jing in some of my other technology classes and I find that is very user friendly. In the future, I would like to add pod casts as I add components to my wiki. I may also see if I could offer my lessons via podcast so that parents can see how and what we are learning. Also, if a child is absent it would allow them to feel like they were still in class even if they aren't physically able to be there.
Kristen Downs
My podcast was created using Jing. I have used Jing in some of my other technology classes and I find that is very user friendly. In the future, I would like to add pod casts as I add components to my wiki. I may also see if I could offer my lessons via podcast so that parents can see how and what we are learning. Also, if a child is absent it would allow them to feel like they were still in class even if they aren't physically able to be there.
Kristen Downs
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Blog Reflection #5- Week 5
In the future I will use mapping before I use a search engine. Mapping will allow me to narrow my search and save the results which I can use for future reference when needed. I enjoyed using mapping to search instead of a search engine. In the past it has been difficult to narrow down material that actually fits what I am searching. Mapping will allow me to save the information that fits my search and criteria. This will make future searching less time consuming.
As a teacher, I can see that students would have a broader search with a search engine versus mapping. I could also see students getting into things that are inappropriate if searched outside the school where various sites are filtered and blocked. Mapping would allow parents to "block" various sites as well.
Delicious would allow me to organize the sites I visit the most. It would also allow me to add information that I deem important either personally or professionally. I will definitely be using this feature in the future. In fact, I plan to pull some things from my Pinterest boards to this site in order to access them easier.
Kristen Downs
As a teacher, I can see that students would have a broader search with a search engine versus mapping. I could also see students getting into things that are inappropriate if searched outside the school where various sites are filtered and blocked. Mapping would allow parents to "block" various sites as well.
Delicious would allow me to organize the sites I visit the most. It would also allow me to add information that I deem important either personally or professionally. I will definitely be using this feature in the future. In fact, I plan to pull some things from my Pinterest boards to this site in order to access them easier.
Kristen Downs
Friday, February 10, 2012
Blog Reflection #4- Assessment
I most closely identify with many of the ten principles related to AFL. The one first that I most closely identify is "Assessment for learning should be part of effective planning of teaching and learning". As a teacher, I am constantly thinking about the best way to present different objectives to my students. After lessons I try to think about what worked and what did not work. This is especially true after assessments. In kindergarten we assess the students on various things taught to correlate to their report card. Many times the kids don't master the skill when tested, so I try to incorporate a re-teach time or a time to teach the particular objective in a different way. Then I re-evaluate the students to see if they gained mastery of the objective. I always want my students to successful, so I am constantly thinking of the best way to teach various objectives.
I feel that portfolios are a great way for students to see how they have grown and for them to share work they are proud of with others. As a kindergarten teacher, I keep a portfolio of the students work throughout the year. Most of what I keep are assessments that correlate to the students report card, but there are some fun aspects that I keep throughout the year. Usually when I tell the students we are keeping these to put in their portfolios, they tend to do better work. After reading the article, however, I think I may let the students decide what is added to their portfolios throughout the year. I have even thought about starting to keep and art and writing portfolio for my kids. This will give the next year's teacher an idea of where the students are in their writing and art skills. Portfolios area great way to informally assess how the students are learning.
The development of a portfolio for me will show growth and learning. I think that it will help me keep my technology skills fresh by revisiting various items throughout the time in my classes. It will also allow my to see how my technology skills have grown and changed during my time in the ETEC classes. I am excited to see the potential I will reach through my portfolio.
Kristen Downs
I feel that portfolios are a great way for students to see how they have grown and for them to share work they are proud of with others. As a kindergarten teacher, I keep a portfolio of the students work throughout the year. Most of what I keep are assessments that correlate to the students report card, but there are some fun aspects that I keep throughout the year. Usually when I tell the students we are keeping these to put in their portfolios, they tend to do better work. After reading the article, however, I think I may let the students decide what is added to their portfolios throughout the year. I have even thought about starting to keep and art and writing portfolio for my kids. This will give the next year's teacher an idea of where the students are in their writing and art skills. Portfolios area great way to informally assess how the students are learning.
The development of a portfolio for me will show growth and learning. I think that it will help me keep my technology skills fresh by revisiting various items throughout the time in my classes. It will also allow my to see how my technology skills have grown and changed during my time in the ETEC classes. I am excited to see the potential I will reach through my portfolio.
Kristen Downs
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Reflective Blog #3- Wiki Week
When I developed my wiki I developed it as a place for teachers to share ideas with one another. I love hearing about the successes, funny instances and other things that go on in classrooms. It lets me know that I am not the only person who endures such things in my classroom. I have not yet shared my wiki with any of my fellow teachers, however, as I develop more understanding for a wiki i hope to share it with my teacher friends.
As I learn more about wikis I see that it is similar to how many people communicate on a daily basis, text messages. I know that I send many text messages during the day because it is easy, less disruptive than a phone call and with two kids of my own it is difficult to hear on the phone sometimes. I also see that a wiki could be a place to actively communicate with my parents and students. Many times my parents do not have a break to visit with me during my conference or after school, so a wiki would be a way for them to "conference" with me about their student. I could also share successes in the classroom with my parents and maybe some things to be aware of like special events, assignments and other things. A disadvantage I see is that the wiki can be changed by anyone. This would mean that someone could change something I wanted to share with my parents. Therefore, the site may not be as reliable as a class web page.
Many of the students around us are digital natives. I think a wiki would allow them to communicate much like text messaging. I would also allow them a place to ask questions they may be embarrassed to ask in class.
In my exploration, I uncovered the use of blogs and wikis themselves. I hope that as I progress in my classes I am able to incorporate more technologies to my students who, at ages 5 and 6, are somewhat digital natives.
Kristen Downs
As I learn more about wikis I see that it is similar to how many people communicate on a daily basis, text messages. I know that I send many text messages during the day because it is easy, less disruptive than a phone call and with two kids of my own it is difficult to hear on the phone sometimes. I also see that a wiki could be a place to actively communicate with my parents and students. Many times my parents do not have a break to visit with me during my conference or after school, so a wiki would be a way for them to "conference" with me about their student. I could also share successes in the classroom with my parents and maybe some things to be aware of like special events, assignments and other things. A disadvantage I see is that the wiki can be changed by anyone. This would mean that someone could change something I wanted to share with my parents. Therefore, the site may not be as reliable as a class web page.
Many of the students around us are digital natives. I think a wiki would allow them to communicate much like text messaging. I would also allow them a place to ask questions they may be embarrassed to ask in class.
In my exploration, I uncovered the use of blogs and wikis themselves. I hope that as I progress in my classes I am able to incorporate more technologies to my students who, at ages 5 and 6, are somewhat digital natives.
Kristen Downs
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Reflective Blog #2 and Concept Map
One organization I found was TIES (Technology Information Education Service). It is a Minnesota software developer and focuses its efforts in that area of the United States. This developer is working to integrate student learning, personalized learning, finance, human resources and payroll systems. This will essentially optimize the performances at the school districts involved with this association. The mission of TIES is to optimize student performance by doing threethings. The first is to promote collaborative relationships with the various district members. Secondly, provide instructional and operational technology product and services. Finally, TIES conduct research and development.
A second organization is found is TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association). The mission of this organization is to improve teaching and learning through the use of computers and technology. It is divided into 20 areas so that the various parts of Texas can be better served. TCEA was founded in 1980 and is affiliated with ISTE. Its primary focus is in the Pre-kindergarten through 12th grade environment. TCEA wants to integrate technology into these grade levels by providing its members with state-of-the-art information. They provide this by offering conferences, workshops, newsletters, Internet and collaborations with higher education and businesses.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Technology Educational Philosophy
I closely identify with the Pragmatism school of thought because I try to make education a necessity to my students, incorporate real-life situations to them, use various forms of technology to instruct them and feel that education is life. I feel this way because of the support I received as a student in school. I was given the opportunity to extend my learning through sports, the arts and academic contests as well. As a kindergarten teacher I try to keep my students focused, introduce them to various types of technology that is appropriate for their age.
I think that by reflecting on my Educational Technology Philosophy I will be able to see changes that I need to make in my teaching style. I tend to be automate instead of an informate. Sometimes I think it is the way I have been trained in workshops for technology, but other times I think it is the age I teach. I teach kindergarten at a school that is largely low socio-economic, thus my students do not have much access to technology at home. So, I tend to "show" them technology rather than have them "use" it.
I am new to aspect of blogging. However, I feel it will help stay in touch my my classmates. I may even start my own blog about my classroom when I feel more comfortable with it.
According to the article, I do not feel we have completely met his potential for technology in the educational setting. We are making improvements by offering more technology classes for students in upper grades, but what about our elementary students. At my school we have just begun using interactive boards with our students and a computer program that will teach the students basic computer skills. So, we are striving for improvement, but I do not feel we have met the potential that Mr. Downes mentioned in his article. One reason for not meeting this potential, I feel, is simply money. Many times in schools technology gets overlooked because of budgets. As budgets shrink for schools, so does the opportunity to add technology. There should be a way for schools to add as much technology as they can without causing the district to go into debt.
The one area that stood out to me the most was area four. I never thought about viewing technology plans as "information communication planning". This part of the article was interesting to me because I have been part of writing the campus improvment plans for my school and never thought twice about the technology plans. Hopefully in the future I will be able to influence my school about this planning.
In this class, I have already learned quite a bit about how to implement technology rather than overlay it with what I am already doing. So, I hope to learn ways to use technology as a learning tool rather than a supplemental tool with my students. I also hope to become more comfortable with technology integration and implementation as well.
I think that by reflecting on my Educational Technology Philosophy I will be able to see changes that I need to make in my teaching style. I tend to be automate instead of an informate. Sometimes I think it is the way I have been trained in workshops for technology, but other times I think it is the age I teach. I teach kindergarten at a school that is largely low socio-economic, thus my students do not have much access to technology at home. So, I tend to "show" them technology rather than have them "use" it.
I am new to aspect of blogging. However, I feel it will help stay in touch my my classmates. I may even start my own blog about my classroom when I feel more comfortable with it.
According to the article, I do not feel we have completely met his potential for technology in the educational setting. We are making improvements by offering more technology classes for students in upper grades, but what about our elementary students. At my school we have just begun using interactive boards with our students and a computer program that will teach the students basic computer skills. So, we are striving for improvement, but I do not feel we have met the potential that Mr. Downes mentioned in his article. One reason for not meeting this potential, I feel, is simply money. Many times in schools technology gets overlooked because of budgets. As budgets shrink for schools, so does the opportunity to add technology. There should be a way for schools to add as much technology as they can without causing the district to go into debt.
The one area that stood out to me the most was area four. I never thought about viewing technology plans as "information communication planning". This part of the article was interesting to me because I have been part of writing the campus improvment plans for my school and never thought twice about the technology plans. Hopefully in the future I will be able to influence my school about this planning.
In this class, I have already learned quite a bit about how to implement technology rather than overlay it with what I am already doing. So, I hope to learn ways to use technology as a learning tool rather than a supplemental tool with my students. I also hope to become more comfortable with technology integration and implementation as well.
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