EDEL 3250-01

This week in computer, we continued on with digital stories! Me and Mailie decided we wanted to switch our topic, because Rosa parks wasn't working too great for us. Some of the pictures kept blurring when we viewed it, and so many of them were copy writed we couldnt find enough to make it to our time limit. So we went to somthing quite similar since we could still use some of the pictures we found. We decided to do the topic of segregation. We are just goint to talk about when it began the causes and effects and when it ended. It should be quite interesting. So we are kinda taking a time consuming risk and starting over EKKK!

I have had the chance to view a few of our classmates digital stories and there are some really good ones! Me and mailie are done writing our skit and are still gathering and putting the pictures in the correct places and working on how the pictures will enter the screen and exit with all the differet effects. It hard to get down to business and choose waht you want because there is so much variety its fun to play with all the different options.

So its finals week! Yikes! We have so much due. This semester has flown by, I have enjoyed learning all the was to integrate technology into my future classroom. I still have to be creative and think of how I am going to integrate Technology into our two lesson plans that are due for finals, but those might be kinda fun to write! Well one day at a time and this is my last blog for the semester! Peace out :D

EDEL 3250-01

So this week in computers we continued onward with our digital stories. Malie and I are doing our digital story on Rosa Parks. We feel that Rosa Parks is a good topic because she changed how the world works today by doing one silent act. When she refused to give up her seat on the bus it changed our world history forever. She ended segregation for the most part so we can all live equal lives. I think its amazing she had the courage to do such a thing.



We have actually had some fun creating our digital story. Malie found alot of cool pictures from google of Rosa Parks and also pictures that represented her and showed what she went through along with the layout of the bus where she was sitting which i thought was way cool. While Malie found the pictures I was writing the script and I learned so many cool things about Rosa and learned what an awesome person she was. Before making this digital story i really didnt even know who she was, I had just heard of her name.



I think Digital stories are a way useful tool in the classroom. When I was in field I found an awesome one of Life during The Great Depression and The Dust Bowl. It really reached out to the kids and gave them a real sense of feeling of what it would have been like to live through those times. I think Digital Stories are a great hook for a lesson and really spice things up. I look forward to finishing ours and being able to use it as a learning tool in the future.



For my video post this week, I watched a clip on Bruner because I needed to learn more about him to do a presentation for Psychology. It was a demonstration of teaching prime numbers using beans a type of "Discovery Learning" Which Bruner is a true believer in. It was interesting and made me agree that discovery learning is a very successful technique to teaching students!

EDEL 3250-01

Field was so crazy! So much has been going on between field and Thanksgiving. One thing I am thankful for is Technology! I didn't realize how much teachers use technology until I was finished with my three and a half weeks of field experience! One thing I thought was so awesome during field and was brand new to me, was a promethean board. I had the opportunity to use it a few times during field. The teacher uses the promethean board as her main teaching tool. The class does their daily grammar on the board which is known as their DLR's. The kids can come up and correct the sentances on the promethean board, it was like drawing on a computer screen. My cooperating teacher also taught her class math on the promethean board each day. She would have a problem on the board and then after the students attempted solving it, she would click and drag away a shape that was covering the answer and then the answer would appear allowing students to check their own work. I thought the promethean board was one of the coolest pieces of technology i have ever saw.

Mrs. Rigby my cooperating teacher also gave me a chance to work with their grading books that were also online. They used a program by the name of powerschool. I realized how much of a time, space and writing saver this program was. It made entering grades alot faster not only did it keep it very organized it also figured out all the percents automatically. Another cool feature powerschool had was it color coded the students who were struggling in red then yellow then Green for good. It made it easy to see what you were working with. I really liked entering the grades on powerschool and hope that the school I work for one day with have the same feature!

One thing field really made me open my eyes to, is the importance of technology in the classroom. The class I was in had technology integrated in almost 100% off the time. I think that technology is the effective way to teach this generation of students. Technology is what they know and have been immune to their whole lives. I enjoyed the time I had in field and now have a better idea of how to prepare myself for being a teacher one day!

EDEL 3250-01

Field has been a very interesting experience! I have been observing and teaching sixth grade students! It has been very eye opening and a great time. I was so set on teaching kindergarten or just younger kids than sixth graders but I am opening my eyes to maybe giving the higher grades a thought! I have become to realize that sixth graders LOVE to learn and for the most part are very into their work and want to be at school! They also are a lot smart then a thought and have a lot of good thinking ability and fun communication skills.

We have been teaching the students about world economics. We were very nervous because it is such a open topic, however I think for the most part we have been pretty successful. The kids are really excited during our lessons and participate to the best of their ability. We have also had the chance to incorporate technology into our lesson plans and it has been a success. We had the opportunity to use a promethean board and i really enjoyed it, I hope that I will have the opportunity to have on eof those in my classroom as a future teacher. We also have had the chance to incorporate computers into our lessons and the kids enjoyed doing the homework they had on them. We also are looking forward to teaching a lesson where we have added a video clip. I think it will be a great hook for our students to get interested into he lesson.

Another thing we have been able to do is to use a few different lesson plan types. I have the opportunity to teach a cause and effect lesson on Tues. We have also had fun incorporating arts into our lessons. Our kids have learned a song on economics, they also have made posters of the different trades countries have made. I have been enjoying field experience however, it has been an extreme amount of stress.

My Beliefs EDEL 3250-01

My beliefs about technology in the classroom has two sides. I believe technology can be a great thing in a classroom. One reason I think it can be a great thing is because I think it keeps students paying attention and helps get them engaged in a lesson. For example in one of the video clips we watched where the kids were playing a triva game on the TV fora history lesson. I think technolgy makes lessons more fun and helps kids learn because they are more interested. I also think technology helps teachers keep track of students progress and work they do while in calss.

However there also is a negitive side to technolgy in my opinion. We rely too much on technology. We are slowly moving away from books and relying completly on the internet. We are also forgetting the main components of school like reading and writing. Sometimes we are more worried about the technical things instead. I think that technology can also be a struggle for some. Maybe some students feel left out when they do now have the tools at home in order to do an assignment. I think we need to incorporate technology into the classroom, but only to a certain extent. Incorporate it but not let it take over.

Lessons Learned EDEL 3250-01

I learned so much from these video's and articles. My favorite one was the Why Integrate? Article because it pointed out so many different ways to incorporate technologies and into so many different subjects using so many different techniques. One lesson I learned from this video is it opened my eyes to how many different types of technology there are out there and available to use in a classroom. My thoughts on these articles was how important technology is in this world. I do like the idea of integrating technology into the classroom and I believe it makes the lesson plans and class time more fun and engages the students better than a regular lesson with out technology.

However, I think that technology is also going to cause us problems in the future. I believe that we are going to keep relying more and more on technology and we are drifting away from the basics of reading and writing. I think the more we focus on technology we are somewhat fading away for the most important aspects in school. Not only do we rely on technology alot in school but so much in everyday life. For instance when you go to apply for a job these days, they say go online to our website and you'll see our application, what happened to the filling out of a paper application and turning it into a manager? I think in some ways technology is a hastle, however I do think that the good out wieghs the bad.I really like the whatever, whenever, wherever article to. It really pointed out alot of good points and made me think about where we are now but where we are going to end up in the future. I also thought the video about the kids talking about how their parents struggle just putting their phones on vibrate and how many of us have to walk our parents through the most simple tasks in technology. I saw so much truth in that video it made me laugh about the truth behind it but also think about how much technology will change by the time I have kids and what my kids are going to be walking me through?

Strengths & Weaknesses EDEL 3250-01

According to the UNI surveys we took, it showed that operating basic and discipline-specific equipment LCD display projectors; scan converters; laserdisc players; VCRs; graphing calculators in math; MIDI keyboards in music; and scanners and still, digital, or video cameras in the visual arts and use it to support instruction and inquiry specific to the content area is one of my main weaknesses however, I realized I am more weak in technolgy then I have ever realized. Another one of my major weakneses was using audio/visual resources (audiotapes, videos or slides) to access information and analyze the authority, accuracy, currency, and relevance. Although I discovered many weaknesses I have in technology, I also have many strengths. One thing I am really good with is communicating through email and using the internet.

One goal I would like to reach is learning how to properly use and incorporate projectors into my classroomm for the future when I am a teacher, but even now for my student teaching and field work. I also want to make it a goal to plan lessons using digital cameras if possible and also learn how to properly use a scanner because there is many things I could use it for in order to have a more successful classroom. One goal I would like to make out of my strengths, is to teach and encourage my students to use email and show them the advantages with email I also want to communicate with my students parents and other teachers through email because I think it is such a great tool for communication. I also want to teach my students how to surf the web properly and safely because the internet is such a helpful tool.

The first tool I would use to help me learn about these technologies would be a tutorial on technology http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic76.htm this tutorial would help me strengthen in this area because it shows and tells about many different technologies including projectors. Another tool i would use would be the podcast http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=4819382 it tells about incorporating technology into the classroom and how to operate some of the different tools in technology. I also found some fun surveys that wold be fun to have your students take to see their opinion on using the tools in technology!

EDEL 3250-01

This week in technolgy we finally finished up our Webquest and filled out our peer evaluations along with our TCD's. I had a hard time with the Webquest, they were kind of confusing at first but I feel like know that we are done with them I feel a lot more comfortable and can use the many good uses for them in an elementary classroom atmosphere! I think they can be a very productive technology for young children or even students of all ages! We also moved onto digital stories! WOAH! Digial stories are awesome! The ones doc Waters showed to us in class where very fun, intense, eye opening and educational! They were also extremly entertaining! I think I am going to really enjoy creating a digital story with my group! However, I do think it is going to be interesting trying to learn how to use a video maker because it will be a first for me and my team.

From my little knowledge on digital stories I think that they will be very helpful in a classroom setting. I think they are a great tool to use as a hook to engage students in a subject you are going to be teaching or even a whole unit! I also think that the kids will LOVE them, if they are anything like the ones we viewed in class. I really liked how the music set such a intense fun mood in the classroom and kept your attention! I also liked all the deep interesting pictures, that is what makes a great digital story!

I think that learning to make a digital story will be a helful and useful thing in the future, as a teacher I can keep my lessons interesting my involving digial stories along with webquests in my lesson plans. I'm excited for the weeks to come to learn more about making digital stories!

EDEL 3250-01

This week in Doc Waters class we were gave the topic of how to become/ the process to become an educator for our blog. So far on my journey to become an educator its been pretty interesting. First of all, you have to finish up your associates degree along with a few pre-requisets that include classes such as: intro to education, exceptional students, math 2010, Childrens literature and the first computer class that Doc Waters teaches. After you finish up all that, then its on to the tough stuff! You are to take the Praxis II exam and pass that then also have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and pass a group interview to be selected into the Education program. Then you are assigned a cohort ( a four hour period that you will be attending school each day).

As you begin the program you go over so many things and start to realize how much it takes to actually become a teacher! There is so much to learn and practice in order to become a successful and great teacher. One thing we focus alot on is lesson plans. I'm sure it is because coming up with good lesson plans that fit the core curriculum is one of the most important things a teacher does. So we learn all the different ways to teach and all the different ways to design a lesson plan. We also learn about the different types of learners and how to accomodate to each type of learner so everyone gets a chance to learn the material they need to learn even if it is in their own unique way! Another thing we focus strongly on is classroom management, because it is important for everyone to feel safe and accepted in class. Technology is another strong focus in becoming an educator, because today's kids are growing up in a different world, they rely on technology and we as techers need to understand the importance of technology and learn how to incorporate it into our classroom. To become an educator we also need to focus on the other things we are learning like incorporating art methods into our teaching, social studies and also know about the foundations of american education!

The road to becoming an educator is a long yet fun, interesting and worth while ride! That is the process of becoming an educator up to my point in time, thus far! I'm really starting to realize how much I enjoy the career path I chose! I think one day when I become a teacher I will look back on everything and realize how much it was worth it!

EDEL 3250-01

This week in technology we continued going over the wonderful tool WebQuest! We went over how to post it on our google sites page and in our file canbinets. I think it is going to be fun a very useful thing on our sites page. I am glad that we are putting everything and creating our own google sites page because it will be so nice to refer back to and remember all the tools that we can use as soon as we finsih the program and get to start teaching, and even during our student teaching there is a lot of good ideas and technologies to use that we have put on our google sites. I like how with webQuest there is so much variety to choose from! No two webQuests will be the same because there is so many different ideas and ways to create a webQuest and also endless topics!

This week I was thinking how I could apply a webQuest into my other classes. I came to the realization that I could easily incorporate a webQuest into any curriculum! One idea i thought about that would be fun and educational was for social studies with the different houses the native americans built and the way they lived. We could take a tour through the village of the Native Americans and experience what it was like for them back in the day! I thought that a webquest would be a very successful and fun way to teach that topic. Not only would it be great to use in Social Studies but just about anyother class!

I really like the idea of using webQuest in the classroom, but i am still in the process of creating one! I am excited to learn more on the topic and the many ways it can be effective in the classroom!

ELED 3250-01

This week in Doc Waters class we continued working on our webquests! We began to focus on more of the steps and parts of a webquests since the week before we had gone over the ways we can use a webquest as a teacher and what a webquest really is. The first part of a webquest is an Introduction. An introduction, sets the stage and provides background information. It provides an overview of what type of question or subject the student will face in the certain webquest. It is often written as a scenario. The next part of a webquest is called the Task. The task is the part of the webquest that must be accomplished to successfully finish the webquest, It is what the students will be doing. Another part that can be used in webquest is refered to as an Information Source. These are sources needed for the student to complete the task. It gives links to use in order to complete the WebQuest. It's important that the sources used in the WebQuest meet the student's information needs. Not only will these help the student finish the task right but this also keeps the learner from wandering through the web unsupervised. The next part of a Webquest is the process. This is a description of the process the student goes through in accomplishing the task. It is broken down into clearly described steps. Guiding questions and directions also need to be used in order to have a successful webquest. Next in line, usually comes the evaluation. This usually involves the students evaluating themselves to see how well they did while participating in the webquest. Last but not least comes the conclusion, this is an overview of what the student learned from participating in the webquest it helps the student remember what they learned.

I think Webquests are a fun activity for students of all ages. They seem to teach a subject well and organized. It also is a great opportunity for students to work in groups and interact with one antoher. I know that I will at sometime in my future as a teacher incorporate webquests into my students lessons.

This week for the video portion of our blog i watched a youtube video on the water cycle. I think it would be a very useful video for an elementary school teacher because it went through the steps of how our water cycle works and I think that if the students had the chance to watch it, it would really help glue the concept in their heads. I remember learning about the water cycle in school but i didn't learn it to the point that i could know it exactly off the top of my head. I think it was a cute fun video for remembering it!

This week in computer was very interesting! We learned about web Quest! I think web quest is a very useful tool! I know that is students use web quest correctly it will teach them so much! It also gets them so involved and focused. I think web quest is a fun way to get students working with technology and with each other. What is a webquest? A webquest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. Webquests are designed to use learners time well, to focus on using information instead of looking for it. A webquest typically includes the following elements: An Introduction, a presentation of the Task, a list of Resources, a step-by-step description of the Process, a form or rubric for Evaluation, and a Conclusion that summarizes what students have learned. WebQuests are designed to bring together the most effective instructional practices into one student activity which involves critical thinking, constructivism, cooperative learning, authentic assessment, and technology integration.

In the future when I become a teacher, I know I will use webquests in my classroom. I think they are a great fun way to have a student learn any subject. I also think the students will really enjoy them. You can use a webquest for any topic or in anyclass.

EDEL 3250-01

So this week we went over podcast and vidcasts. And it was cool for me, because I had NO CLUE what a podcast or a vidcast was before this. I think vidcast and podcast could be really helpful in my future class. You can post vidcast and podcasts on your classroom website so parents and students can just click and hear instructions for a certain assignment, or a list of some important things for a future school day! I think children would expecially like the idea of a podcast or a vidcast because how fun is it to see your teachers face on your computer or to hear her voice at home. Also it would be easy for younger children to follow intructions with a vidcast or podcast for instance maybe a kindergartener cause they might not know how to read yet so its easy for them to follow instructions with a visual or listening. We also are getting to create our own vid and pod casts in class in our groups, its fun using the new technology I have never seen or used. We are having fun and thinking of some creative ideas! And I am also so thankful we learned about googledocs cause it has been EXTREMLY useful during this semester being in the program!

This week in our other classes we went over different types of lesson plans! It is insane how many different ways there is to create a lesson plan from backwards to design to an inquiry lesson plan! I am excited to create my own lesson plans to use for our student teaching coming up sooner than later!

WOW! This weeks video really opened my eyes to blogging! Before I watched that video
I didn't realize how important blogging can be! All those reasons for blogging the video showed are really true! Blogs help kids, have a voice, share, create conversation and so much more! One thing that is really going to stick with me is when the movie said, "To prepare students for their Digital Futures" and that is so true! Everyday that passes more things rely on technology. I really enjoyed this video it stated a really good point! I think blogging is definatly a good thing to have in todays classrooms.

Blog #3 EDEL-01

This week in EDEL 3250 we learned about the presentation option in google. I Really like this option because it is more simple version of powerpoint. One big bonus it has over powerpoint is it saves it onto the site not onto the computer so you can access any of your presentations from any computer not just the one you created and saved it to! I think it will come in handy for me as a student and a teacher. I can create alot of presentations for my classes using it and one day as a teacher I can use it to present important information to my class. Also I think it will be a fun tool for my students to use. They can get the chance to research a topic to learn more about it and then use their knowedge and creativity into making a presentation. Another thing we went over in class was igoogle. I think igoogle will be a useful tool for me to stay organized and keep all my sites organized and simple onto one page. I want to experiement with it more to see all it has to offer when i get the chance!

In our other classes this week we also did a ton! To make it simple and summarize it up, we went over creating lesson plans a lot! We were taught how to make one for each subject and some of the many different ways we can do it. It made me a little nervous and stressed because lesson plans are new to me and I have yet to do one in my life. But we will be doing alot of them so hopefully it becomes easy for me! Expecially since its a HUGE part of being a teacher. Im excited about everything I have been learning its really opened my eyes the last few weeks!

This weeks video was a little different. It was about some different technologies for example blogger, wiki, podcasts and a few more. I thought it was educational because it broke down each one of them and gave a deep answer for what they were, however I didn't love it. I got a little lost in it and confused. I know it has the complete potential to be great but I think it needed dumbed down for me! But, I really did like the music and background like you were going through space :D

Blog #2 EDEL 3250-01

This week was a very interesting week. It was the first real week of the program and I have already learned so much! First of all in Doc Waters class I recieved a refresher on everything from a year ago when i took the first computer class from her, it was fun to see how much important stuff I really learned but forgotten. We went over Google Docs and how it works. Not only will it help me a ton throughout the program but also in the future when I am a teacher. In the program Google Docs will make it so much easier for me and the other girls when we are working in groups. We can all upload our part of the project into Google Docs so we can all give each other ideas and edit one another's work and put it all together. I also think it will come in handy when im a teacher because I can teach my students how to use it and it will work the same for them as it does for me. They can work eaiser in groups and view everyones work from any computer. They can also use the fun drawing techniques to make their work more creative I know they will expecially enjoy that since they are elementary aged children. I also love the idea of having our own google site! It makes it so easy to outline the class criteria not only for me as a teacher but easy for my students to view so there is less confusion on what is expected of them and they will have something to refer back to. I think the parents of my students would also love the idea of me as their child's teacher having a google site for the class. This way they can keep track of what their child is doing in school and how the class room functions.

In my other classes we also have went over a lot of useful stuff! In my psychology class we learned how the brain works and some fun facts that can help us with our students. In our Art methods we learned about all the different learners. A color stood for each kind of learner. It was fun to see what color each one of us was and it will be useful because we need to aply different learning ways into our teaching so every child has a chance to learn the way they learn best. In social studies we learned how to incorporate social studies into other subjects such as language arts because teachers are not always giving enough time for social studies and it is important so we can incorporate social studies into other subjects that way everything is covered. A fun fact i learned this week was that teachers that include art into their lessons, their students always test higher then the students of teachers who do not include art. I had a lot of fun this week in all my classes, im really starting to enjoy learning the ways to be a successful teacher in the future.

This weeks video cracked me up!! I thought it was so funny and fun to watch. It was on fractions and I think it would be a great beggining to a fraction lesson. It was very educational and even taught me a few things! I thought it was upbeat and funny, it really put a twist on learning fractions! I would definatly put this to use in my classroom!

EDEL 3250-01 My Ideal Classroom

When i pull up to my future school every morning, I want to see a nice big building with lots of smiling and happy children and fellow employee's. While im walking down the halls to my classroom i want to see walls plaster with students' art work and accomplishments, so they know and see the value of their work. When i get into my own classroom, I want to see a nice organized colorful, welcoming, and learning friendly room. Where students can feel important, safe and comfortable with their surroundings. I want to see my students interacting with eachother. I want my students to have their own belongings organized in their desk and their own space to work comfortably. I want one corner in my room dedicated to a reading area filled with bean bags, pillows, couches, plants and a large volume of books stacked nicely on the book shelfs. I also would love to have a class pet, I think it would be fun to vote as a class on different class pet possiblites and get the favored one to keep in the class. I want my students to show each indivdual personality, I want them to be themselves and not fill like they have to blend in with the crowd. However, I want them to be respectful of me and their fellow classmates. I want my colleauges to be friendly and fun and good teachers and good to work with. I want to get along well with everyone in my work enviroment and get together as teachers and plan fun group activities and think of ways we can all get together for fun learning activites with all of our students together so wer are not resticted to our class only and everyone can get to know everyone.

I want to teach a young age so I can teach my students the alphabet, how to read, writing, spelling, singing, colors, art and how to interact with one another. I would definatly utilize the computers I would love in my classroom to have kids to interactive activites so they can learn in many different ways not just from me teaching up front. My goals for me and my classroom would be to have a happy friendly teaching enviroment that my students love to come to each day and know they will be accepted for them and love to come each day. I also want to make sure I teach them to the best of my ability so as they go to the next grade I know they will be prepared.

Also while watching this weeks video on the internet, I think that internet users should not have to pay for time online. I think that its foolish, and things should be kept the way they are. I like the idea of the video though, I thought it was informational and interesting. I also think it would be good to use in my ideal classroom, I love when teachers mix in different teaching stratagies it keeps things interesting and fun.