Lesson Plans

So I missed the Memo that our final blog needed to be about our 2 lessons plans!

I was so wrapped up in all that we have going on I haven't been able to think about them. The truth is my brain is fried and creativity is gone. I trying very hard to think of how I would like to have my students be technologically savvy. I was thinking we could do a competition between virtual and physical savager hunt. To show students how effective technology. It is really hard because the technology core for younger grades is very simple and since I am not used to working with actual students I don't know exactly what level they will be on. The object of this assignment is to think outside of the box. I am still not exactly sure what that means but I am working my hardest to get it done!

FINAL WEEK!!!!!!!

It was our last school day of my junior fall semester at the school of education at the amazing school of UVU. It is a bitter sweet feeling. Me and Megan spent the whole time working on our digital story. Also it was Doc Waters birthday so we brought in a cake and had a wonderful celebration. We had a little freak out because there was confusion with what google images we could use due to copyright issues. Thankfully Doc Waters alleviated our stress and we were able to create our entire Digital Story. We worked on transitions of each slide. This wasn't an easy job, every transition was planned out step by step. A lot went into each step. You had to look at every slide separately at first, what on each slide you want to focus on. Then you have to look at the slide as a piece of the entire project. The time and transition from slide to slide build on each other. Our Digital Story ended up being 2 minutes 43 seconds. We found some pretty powerful pictures that will emotionally connect with the students. Now we have to create the background music and import the voice clips. I had my friends do the voice overs and they really took the time to encapsulate the emotions of the underground railroad.

So why is it important to use digital stories when teaching? At first I just felt like this was going to be a lot of work and was nervous I wasn't going to be able to pull it off. Today when we were adding in music everything finally clicked and both me and Megan got the chills. We understood why showing something like this to your students would impact them be a meaningful way of learning. They are able to discover through pictures which gives a face to the situation.

Now I have the experience of actually making from start to finish a Digital Story. I see how it is an effective tool of teaching with technology. I plan on using digital stories in my future classroom to add variety to my teaching and to let me students visually take in new ideas rather then always reading and discussing.

Looking back on this semester by brain is overflowing with new technology. I have grown so much over these 15 weeks and I feel prepared to continue in this program and can't wait till I graduate and become a TEACHER!

Digital Story Recap leads into the Millennial Generation!

Welcome Back to the wonderful world of UVU Education Program. Stressed is an understatment when you ask me how I am feeling. I think my teachers are trying to kill me but they are sure nice about it...haha... but really KILL ME. Field is over and I miss my class. It has been great being back with my cohort, this week seriously just flew by and the due dates are getting closer and closer. This week in EDEL 3250 we went over all that is due and Doc Waters explained our final, I have been racking my brain to think of creative lesson plans and it's not going so well but I know it will come. It was time to put our Digital story together. My group is doing ours on the Underground Railroad! It is coming a long that is for sure. We have all the pictures in and most of the transitions done. I have never done anything like this before and I love how photostory is so easy. We are still working on finding music to fit each theme of the story. I have loved my group that I am working with, Megan and Alisha are so awesome and I know that I can always count on them. This following week we will be completing our Awesome Digital Story. I really can't believe that this semester is coming to an end. Hopefully I can get through this week and kick butt on my finals! Stay tuned for my future great EDEL 3250 adventures.

Movie Clip of the Week

Millennial Generation

I remember watching this when we were working on the PDP. It is so crazy how dependent on mobile technology. I don't know what I would do without my cell phone that is for sure. I have my ipod, laptop, desktop, TV, radio and even my Wii. All of these forms of technology are wonderful and they do enhance my life but I feel like they have started to take over our world. There are millions of people all over the world that will never have the chance to use a laptop, or even know what facebook is. My generation is knows Technology! We have prided ourselves in that fact. But I still feel that I love the time when I travel and I don't have my phone. Being disconnected from everyone for a little bit is so refreshing. I sometimes miss the days where I didn't have texting or a facebook. I spent more time outside and my eyes were a little better I think. How knows what we will come up with next, this world keeps changing and pretty soon we will have robots too!

Last Days of Field!

Our experience has come to an end and now it is time to head back to UVU and die from all the work we have due over the next few weeks. I have no idea where this semester went. It seems like it just flew by. I hated saying goodbye to our class. They just fueled my desire to become a teacher. I know that I am very capable and I will work hard to reach graduation. Our cooperating teacher was wonderful, I couldn't have asked for a better placement. She let us try everything and answered every question. Everything I have learned this semester has been so beneficial I love actually being in the program because so many times in college you feel like you are just jumping through hoops but know every class is taking me one step closer to my dream and I am so excited to meet my future students. I have missed my amazing cohort they have been such a strength for me along with the amazing staff at UVU. I honestly wake up every morning so excited to go to school and even though at times the course load seems like a lot and I want to pull out my hair I wouldn't change one minute. I can't wait to hear all about everyone's experience and get to work on my super awesome DIGITAL STORY! Doc Waters it is gonna be the BOMB! I hope at least we will see how smart my group is when it comes to using iMovie. That's all for now folks hope turkey day was great!

Field Experience to the MAX!!!

We were evaluated twice this week! Thank goodness that is over, field has been so wonderful so far. I feel truly lucky to be placed with Miss M. she is such a stellar teacher and I feel like I have learned so much from observing her. I love her classroom management techniques and has wonderful things to take with me into my future classroom. We finished up our unit on Mountain man and did a super fun Field Reporter Assessment which the class really loves. We will be doing a final mural as a unit assessment and the students seem very happy about that. We are having a Rendezvous next week and I know that will be a fun way to end our experience with the students. I must say that I miss my cohort and can't wait to hear about everyone's field. I feel very lucky with our experience because our cooperating teacher allowed us to help with all aspects of teaching. We taught PE, math groups, and science. We were able to just jump in and help with everything. Which opened our eyes to the full world of teaching. Miss M. was really helpful with answering any of our questions. And trust me we had a lot!

Evaluation!

So we were getting really nervous because our time is coming to an end in field and we weren't being evaluated! But today was our day! It was so nice we didn't know he was coming because it didn't give us time to stress. We had such a fun lesson planned today, our Socratic seminar on mountain men! Me and Miss Brittany had such cool artifacts and we even dressed up like real live mountain women. The class really enjoyed it and our evaluator said it went so well! Everything just really clicked and I was so happy and just had to share it with everyone!

Field Experience Week 2

Sooooo Anyone Heard of H1N1 well, elementary schools are a great place to get it if you haven't heard. Yes, that's right my second week in the classroom I got the Swine! I have a fever that wont go away and my chest feels like ice. So I have missed class for a few days because the teacher doesn't want me to go back to class till I get feeling better. Before I left me and Brittany did a few of our lesson plans and had some really good teaching experiences with our class. They did their 4th grade program for the parents on Tuesday... Utah... This is the Place! I was so proud of them, they were really nervous and I didn't think they were going to pull it off, but they sure did and they all seemed really proud of themselves when they were done. We did our concept attainment lesson plan and I think it went really well. We are really lucky to have such a great class they think that it is really cool to have us in their class so they behave really well. In science we are starting to work on animal brochures which was really cool because we got to bring the technology into the classroom and every pair got their own laptop and they were able to research different animals found all over the world. Students got so excited to be given the chance to work on a laptop, it was so fun to be able to help them explore the WWW. We are really starting to get into the swing of things with our class. I can't wait to get better so I can return to school, 3 students were home sick today and another student left. Next week we have many fun creative lessons planned with some pretty sweet primary sources. Stay tuned for the update to follow! I am loving field and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Week 1 of My Amazing Field Experience

School: Herriman Elementary

Grade:4th

Partner: Brittany D.

Week one has gone great! Our teacher really wants us to dig in and take charge, which I love. We are doing so much, helping them with their parents program, everyone remembers Utah, This is The Place... and the recorders. We are teaching Mountain Men and Spanish Explorers, creating animal brochures in science, helping review for math and spelling tests, and fun art lessons. Herriman is a year round school and that has made me think about and compare to the traditional school year. Our teacher is wonderful, it is her 3rd year teaching and she is known for her classroom management skills throughout the school. There are 15 boys and 13 girls in our class, they are very excited to learn and they love to talk and ask silly questions. There are many things that I have loved about being in the classroom, such as the excitement in the students eyes, actually getting to put into play what we have learned this semester. Our cooperating teacher is very chill and is really excited to have us in her room. We taught a really fun art lesson on what beauty means...? this week, I think the students really enjoyed it and it was nice to see them open up and be comfortable with us. I was very surprised because our class doesn't really have any diversity and their isn't one ELL in our class. It makes teaching so easy, I am so used to working with students in low SES areas and refugee's which brings in a language barrier into the learning but with this class they are all doing well. I am very excited to start teaching our Social Studies lessons, and I think the students are as well. Something I found interesting was how exactly the same the lessons are to when I was in school. I feel like when I am a teacher I will try to change things up and engage my students more in the learning but that is why we are out in the field now to see examples of teaching and tweek it to make it work for us in our future classroom!

My Beliefs

Before completing these readings I felt that technology was important but not as involved as it really is in life! Now I know how that there is this whole wide world of the interconnected web that needs to be brought into my future classroom. The world is growing and changing and that should be no different in the classroom, if we want our students to be able to compete with other countries we have to give them the tools they will need to succeed. I would love to have the most high-tec classroom out there! Every student has a laptop, and we are all connected to the never ending WWW. I know that with this comes new problems and issues of privacy but we have to keep moving with the flow of the world in order to keep evolving.Technology has taken over our simple world and now kindergartners have iphones and are able to do just as much on a computer as their parents. I believe that technology makes learning more dynamic and easier at times but also opens a can of worms that I will have to deal with. Life is so fast paced and kids don't just go out and play any more. Video games and texting are so much more fun, there are times when I wish things were so connected because I feel like our students are growing up so fast! They are losing the simplicity of life and becoming so materialized. There are so many children in this world who don't even have sufficient food and a school how is it that there are children that have 3 ipods, an xbox 360, 2 desktops in their house, and a cell phone. I don't see how it can be so unfair and yet I myself have a cell phone, laptop and an ipod and huge TV. I guess your beliefs are dictated by where you are in the Technological world and I know that mine will continue to grow and change as I do.

Lessons Learned

WOW! Lets just say I learned so much from doing this activity. The readings and videos showed by how I need to step up my game in order to keep up with my students. There are so many tools and new technology out there and if you don't do your research you will be left in the dust. I learned that I don't have to be afraid of technology, rather use it to better my teaching abilities. Our students are growing up in a different time and they are so used to being constantly connected and stimulated which makes teaching and learning a little tricky for us new teachers. Emails, iphones, text messaging, ichat, ipods, mp3's, are all things that we teachers are going you have to compete with. Everyone, not just businesses are controlled by the Internet! Games like World of Warcraft and xbox live are huge, the players are connected to the online web most of the day. Blogs and facebook have millions of participants which causes large traffic. I learned a lot about Internet traffic and how it effects families and businesses. Technology is constantly changing, surface touch screens are becoming huge. HP is creating new computers that are user friendly and they seem awesome to use. The definition of Classrooms are changing. No longer do students have to actually go to school, because the number of on-line classes are growing. You would never have to even leave your house to learn.

Strengths & Weaknessed

Before I took the survey and started to read all the articles and watched the movies, I didn't think I was that bad at the new technological world but my eyes were opened! I feel that I have a weakness in every area because I know a little bit about everything but I am not really an expert in any area. There are many times that I have to ask either Doc Waters or my peers to help me understand something or put it in non-computer lingo. The survey and NET standards brought many things to my attention. Actually the entire PDP assignment kinda blew my mind! I feel like I am strong overall because I am not afraid to ask for help and I am a good learner, if you show me something once I usually can get the hang of it. I was young when computers really came into play and I have used them and I feel very comfortable. I am stronger when I am using a MAC because that is what I am more used to, but now at my job I have been using a PC and this has really helped me become a multi-computer user. Also through my job and this class I feel like my computer skills have grown like crazy, I am using databases, excel, outlook express, I am creating webpages, podcasts, vidcasts, webquests, and know digital stories. I feel like I was very weak when I watched the Social Networking and Did you know? Movies. I had no idea that there was so much going on with our students and everywhere you go people are always connected, you really can't go anywhere, unless you are in a rural african tribe that you are connected to Wi-Fi or you aren't listening to your ipod. The statistics on the did you know? video were crazy, I feel like there are times when I am not moving as fast as the technological world is and that is when it comes to the world of twitter and iphones, I was one of those people that didn't want to get texting on my phone and know you can't hardly live without it! When it comes to the basics of computer uses like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Internet Explorer I feel like I am very capable of any task that is asked. That has come from experience and trial and error. The thing with computers is that you can always go back and fix something. There isn't always one answer to how to do something on a computer and SAVING is Key to not wanting to break your computer. One thing that I really need to work on is backing up my info! This summer my hard drive crashed and I lost EVERYTHING! So now I have become smart and know how to save my work. Overall this was a wonderful lesson that truly will help me become an all around better teacher because a huge part of teaching and learning is correcting your mistakes and evaluating yourself... Well after this evaluation I know what I need to work on and how I can become a better technological individual.

DIGITAL STORIES To the MAX

Well lets just say overwhelmed is a good word to use when I left class this week! We are embarking on a new technological adventure and it is going to be difficult but a very amazing task. I had asked teachers about digital stories and they say that they are wonderful to use in their classroom to break up regular teaching and learning. I know that I would have loved to watch digital stories when I was in elementary school. It is such a fun way to introduce a new topic to your class. You hit them with a bang and then they emotionally become involved in their learning.

Digital stories are short movies filled music, narration, and video clips. They are suppose to invoke a strong emotional tie with the watcher. Pictures can say a thousand words and instead of reading you are giving your students a chance to learn through watching. Sometimes seeing something is a lot more powerful reading about it and that is what we are doing. Digital stories don't need to be long they are jam packed with images that cause your brain to think.

So why are we learning how to create our very own Digital stories, well that answer is the same like all the other things we are learning in this class. With the growing technology of the world we as teachers have to take that into our classroom. Times have changed and everything is digital, people don't just sit at home and talk and read any more. Everything has a technology tie and that is what stimulates our students, they are used to computers, ipods, PSP's, XBox, and the list seems to grow longer everyday. Even the children in our future classes will have Iphones and cooler technology then we the teachers might have. In order to stay with the times and keep our students actively engaged in their learning we have to give them opportunities to get that sensory engagement in the classroom. I wouldn't use a digital story for everything but there are many things in the core that would be taught more effectively through a Digital Story.

Now that I know what a digital story is and I will be learning how to actually make one I know that I will be become a Digital story master! I am very excited because I have a MAC and this will give me a chance to work on my imovie skills. Me and my team have not decided what topic we want to cover in our story but I know that through all our many examples in class we will find something that we will be proud of! I was very overwhelmed when I left class but know that I have had time to think about everything I know that Doc Waters always prepares us for what we are expected to do so I had to take a step back and realize that we are going to get through this together. Everything we have learned thus far has gotten me so excited to become a teacher! I can visualize myself using all these skills in my future classroom someday and I know why this class is so beneficial.

Movie of the Week

I was unable to download any of the examples on our class site! I think they weren't compatible with my MacBook so I am just going to reflect on all the examples of Digital Stories that we watched in class. I have to say that I was very blown away by the stories we watched in class. I thought there is no way that I am going to be able to do this. I was horrified when we watched the example of the Holocaust Story, no matter how many times you see those tragic pictures they never get easier to see. I can only imagine how much of an impact that would make on a student. Especially as the years go by because the Holocaust is getting farther away and soon we will have no survivors and our future students will not even realize how much of an impact it was on our history. Every example gave me a very good Idea of how to make my very own Digital Story and I am very excited to get to work.

Life as an El Ed Student at UVU thus Far....

So it is fall break this week, which makes me really mad because I love my Thursday classes, but that of course gives us time to sit and reflect on the semester so far. I don't know what I really expected going into this program but I know that my results are amazing. My Cohort is AWESOME! We are all so different and yet we all have the same passion for teaching. My teachers have all been so amazing to work with, I can tell that they all want us to succeed and truly care about helping us develop into the best teachers, they are providing us with the tools that we will need to teach on our own.

I have to say that I am just amazed by all that I am learning. It is so nice actually being in the Program because everything we are learning is actually applicable to what we are going to be doing in the classroom. I was really nervous when I found out that we were taking Social Studies methods because I thought that is going to be hard to teach, but Axel quickly put us at ease and now I know what I am doing and I actually understand what Social studies means. It isn't all facts and dates, everything in life is history and we all have a story to tell, and I am excited to help my students to discover this.

From the very first moment in everyone of my classes I knew that this was going to be a tough semester filled with huge assignments and lots of READING! I am so grateful for EdEl 3250 because there is no required text, I love reading Doc Waters website! It seems that now all the reading starts to blend together and that is how it should be I guess, life is one big pizza not small pepperonis thrown about. What I love most about this program is that our teacher's are modeling for us proper teaching methods, because that is what I feel I need the most help with. I know that I am suppose to be a TEACHER and everyday I am getting closer to that goal.

Nearly Completed Webquest... YAY

Week three of Webquests and my team has worked really hard. We were putting out final touches on everything and making it look really fun for kids. We totally forgot about the credits page so we had to go back and look for all our sites, crazy us! I have been looking at many people's webquests and I have to say that everyone has been working really hard on these. We went over the Rubric and Peer Evaluations this week as well. I really like that Doc Water's lets our input have a say in our grading. There are hundreds of us and 1 of here and that is such a huge job to grade everything. Plus it is wonderful practice for us to help us familiarize ourselves with creating Rubrics. And as teachers you are constantly being evaluated and learning how to take criticism and applying it to make you better is a task that all of us need to learn.

So why do we care about creating Webquests? Are they going to make us better teachers? Technology is a huge part of our world and just like our older generations are having difficult times getting with the technology age, I don't want to be lost. We have to realize that our students are going to be coming into the classroom and they will know how to use the computer. Everything is changing, people aren't writing anymore everything is typed. With this change comes changes for the future teachers. If we can use the amazing World Wide Web to help our students learn, why not! Technology makes things easier and that should help free up time to teach your students more and to really dig deep into their learning.

Now that I know how to create webquests, PPS's, and do hyperlinks. I feel that I am more comfortable in a computer class. I plan on using webquests to enrich my teaching and to break up the normal routine of class. In fact everything I am learning in this class will be very helpful in all areas of life not just my personal classroom. I can create PPS's for staff meetings, community meetings, family slide shows, just about everything. I have had people at my current job and friends ask me questions about websites, google docs, blogs, and hyperlinks all of which I am now an expert at! I am really glad that this class is part of our program classes.

Movie: Schoolhouse Rock - A Noun is a Person, Place, or Thing

I LOVE SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK! In fact we even used a School House Rock song in our Webquest about weather. There is pretty much a School House Rock for anything and everything you could think of. We have seen many of them in our other classes this semester so far. I still remember Conjunction, Junction- What's your function, and I'm just a Bill from when I was in school. Learning something through a Song really helps you remember, and even now I can still go back and start to sing and it brings back all the memories of the lessons I did that were associated with that unit. To many these seem silly, but to be honest, kids are SILLY and they love this stuff and it takes the heat off you as the teacher for a minute and lets the kids listen to some one else and also enjoy a catchy song.

Hyperlinks... Anyone!

This was our second week on Webquests! We reviewed as a class what we were suppose to be creating and learned how to put everything into a PowerPoint. All of this is very new to me, I am not very computer savvy and so I feel that this is such a beneficial class for me. I had never heard the word Hyperlinks ever before in my life. I had no idea that so much went into creating a presentation. I have to admit I was very naive when it came to this lesson. I am so used to my Mac Laptop, which does everything for you. I had to really listen to what Doc Waters was teaching us. When I came to a problem, she didn't just tell me how to fix it. She told me to stop getting stuck in the "Box" and you know what, me and my group mates figured it out. We are almost finished with our Webquests and I couldn't be more prouder. That is what I feel this class does for me. It pushes me past my comfort zone and is teaching me so many valuable tools that I will use constantly in my Teaching career.

So why does it matter that I am making a Webquest on Weather for 2nd graders? Well in teaching in learning you have to learn how to create fun and engaging lesson plans. If you want your students to continue to want to learn you have to keep them excited about what you are teaching. Webquests are fun and interactive ways for students to take on a role and solve a problem or do a fun activity. Breaking the normal routine and letting your students take charge of their learning every once and a while can really help the flow of your classroom. Also as a professional teacher, I know that I will have to make presentations and lessons just like these. Without this class I would really feel unprepared to go into the work field. I really was blown away when we started talking about making our own Websites, blogs, podcasts, and vidcasts and look at me now, I have done them all and now I am working on a super amazing Webcast.

Now that I have these skills, I know that I will be able to apply them to my teaching and learning in the classroom when I become a licensed teacher (oh I can't wait for that day). I know that I am qualified and have gained very useful skills. I never feel like one moment is wasted in Doc Waters class is wasted. I have grown so much over these past 5 weeks, it is unreal. I have shown everyone I know my website, and I can't wait to finish my Webquest so I can show that off as well. Being creative is a huge part of teaching and using technology to help you do that is so wonderful. Technology isn't my enemy it is my new friend.

Video:

We Didn't Start the Fire

Ok so I am being completely honest, I am not quite sure why you wanted us to watch this clip. I love this song and have listened to it every since I was a little girl. But I wasn't sure what it had to do with Webquest. But what I got from it was that teaching has been around forever and will continue to change and grow over time Just like our history. Also so things are just hard to learn like history but this song really helped put faces to stories. I loved the movie, and I felt like I learned so much from watching it. Just like my future students will if I use the technology that I have to help make my teaching more meaningful. On a side note, I really like teacher tube. How cool is that, that there are all these amazing resources out there that you can get to with just a click of a mouse. I have a new respect for the world of technology and I am so excited for what is in store for me.

WEBQUESTS!

This week we learned about webquests, something that I had heard my other teachers say but wasn't quite sure what they were talking about. Webquests are created by teachers for the students to use the technology of today to help them learn. This is mainly a form of Inquiry learning and helps gives your students the chance to explore the "web" in a safe environment. You can make a webquest for any age student and there are endless topics you can choose from. Webquests include a student view and a teacher view, that way you know you are covering all the bases. Included in your webquest is a introduction, task, the process, a form of evaluation(rubric) and credits for anything you used while creating it, then a link to the teacher's page which allows other teachers to use webquests that have been created and then put on the web but know from a teachers perspective how it worked and who it is targeting. Think how great this is, it is online lesson plans that can be shared from classroom to classroom all over the globe.

So why is this important or something we are learning about? Well our world is growing and changing and technology is a huge part of that and we as teachers must see how important it is for our students to utilize their computer skills. By using webquests you are integrating a core content area with technology and also freeing up some of your time because you are allowing the students to teach themselves in a way, which will allow you to go around and help students one on one. The direct model of teaching is not the best way for all students to learn and giving them the freedom to explore and take on a character gives learning some excitement.

Now that I have learned about the amazing world of webquest and I will be creating my own, I know that this will be a very valuable tool for me in my teaching career. Yes setting up webquests do take time and there is no way that you would use them for everything in your classroom but it is a wonderful way to add variety into your teaching. I know that I would have loved to do things like this in my elementary and all through my education. Teachers don't always have time to do everything they want to and now there are so many ways through UEN and the webquest site Doc Waters showed us in class that we can share wonderful ideas and that again frees up time for more teaching and learning to occur in your classroom. I plan on having technology be a fun creative integration tool in my classroom. I want my students to feel free to explore the Internet but through a safe avenue that has been created by teachers, because there are so many sites and things that I don't feel students should be on.

Surface Computing

The video for the week blew me away! I didn't really realize how everything in our world is changing to touch screens. With the Iphone, TV's, computer screens, even the self checkouts at the super markets. In a way it makes the technology come alive and changes the way you use things. The new surface computer was so awesome, in fact I wish I had one. It does give you that feeling of using paper again. When they put the camera on the surface and it automatically uploaded the picture they had just taken I thought that was the coolest thing I have ever seen. Then with a flick of a finger you can then transfer that picture to your phone without any cords at all. Another thing that just blew me away was the fact that this technology is even available. I am not a very tech savvy person and I don't even know where you would begin to create something like this. Humans so amazing that they can continually change and grow and create new amazing things. I hope that someday I can have these surface computers in my classroom, how amazing would that be to for our students to use. It could ultimately change the world of teaching, if every student had a surface computer for a desk think of how that would transform teaching and learning. You could keep track of their progress and still be very hands on and sure save a lot of tress.

Vidcasts and Podcasts!

I was introduced to a wonderful new world of Podcasts and Vidcasts! I had no idea what they were or how to make them. That has been how I have felt about everything I have been learning in EDEL 3250. VCasts and PCasts are wonderful ways to get information to a lot of people online. Vidcasts are small movie clips that explain something, my team decided to create a Vidcast of Earthquake Safety that we could show to our students so they knew what to expect when they hear the alarm. Then we decided to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, to introduce out unit on the life cycle of animals in a Podcast. With our worlds growing technology it is our job as teachers to understand it and use it to benefit our classrooms.

Why is this important? How can we use this these new skills in our future classroom? That is the purpose of the education program at UVU. We are hear to learn how to implement all the skills a teacher will need to run a well organized classroom. Have recordings of your lessons and homework, in your voice, or a video of what you the intended outcome is, makes it personal to your students and their families. If students miss class one day, they will be able to go online with their families and listen or watch what they missed. This is just another step to help keep your classroom organized and giving your students more help in their learning.

Now that I know how to create PCasts and VCasts, I plan on incorporating them into my future classrooms. Before I knew how simple it was to make them I was a little nervous. I wish that I would have had this help in my previous classes. Having Doc Waters Podcasts on her website really helps me be prepared for the class and I think that it would be great to create a simple Podcast every day after school that my students could listen to when they got home that recapped what we did that day and what we will be working on tomorrow, to further their education. This of course will take time on my part but isn't that my job as a teacher, to do everything I can to help my students learn. I am signing on for a career in education and I can't wait to get started.

Why we should let our students Blog?

The video this week talked about letting our classes Blog. I feel that this is a wonderful idea, that allows your students to be creative and collaborate as a class. They get to be individuals in their blogs but get to share their learning with their peers. It integrates technology in their learning and improves their writing/typing skills and gives them freedom to journal online.

The Amazing World of Technology

OK, Lets just say that iGoogle is my new best friend! In school you have to take so many classes and you think, How is this really gonna help me in my life? I sure don't feel that way when I leave ED EL 3250. A huge part of being a teacher is organization and everything that we are learning in Google does just that. I really can't believe that my team created our classroom rules PowerPoint in like 15 minutes on google docs. We were all collaborating at the same time, and it ended up being a really nice presentation. Every time I leave class my brain starts thinking how can I use this in my future classroom. Using Google Docs has also benefited me in my other 6 classes. We upload lesson plans and presentations and we can all work on them from our home. Even day in the El Ed. program our lives as students get a little more crazy, but I feel that through these new technologies, it takes a lot of stress of my time. I plan on using Google Docs for the rest of my life, and having my future students use them in our classroom, it is a fun simple way to work together simultaneously. The opportunities are endless, it is an effective way to integrate technology into the classroom and as long as you the teacher are a collaborator on their documents you can be aware of what they are working on but they have the freedom to create and work with their fellow peers. We are turning in our classroom websites this week, and I have really taken on this project and I am very proud of my site. Who knew that it would be so easy to make a website? In our changing world of technology, having everything readily available for your student's parents online will increase classroom participation and keep an open line of communication.

Video:

Mr. Deuy Fractions

At first I thought this video was incredibly funny. But as I watched I realized how you can actually use singing, and creative raps like that in your teaching. Especially in teaching math! There are many ways to teach children, and Direct instruction doesn't always work. Mr. Deuy took teaching fractions, which most would agree to be the hardest thing in math to teach and made it fun. He was correct in his teaching but did it in a non traditional way. You could use this in your classroom and then have your students get into groups and create their own raps and share them with the class!

Everything Google In the Classroom

I had no idea how amazing Google is! WOW, this week I have learned how to integrate so much technology into my learning. Looking back on my elementary education I feel like we never really used technology, it was just starting out and all my teacher's were old school. Since then I have been in many different classrooms and I have seen how as young as Kindergarten, technology plays a huge role in their learning. Google has so many components that will help me be organized as a teacher and help my students and their families know what is going on in our class room, with just a click of the mouse. By simply staring a GMail account, you open the doorway to so many new and fun tools that are free to use, which is huge for teachers. I never thought I would be making websites and blogging, but look at me go. This class has really shown me how user friendly computers are and that they will be a huge help to my teaching career. If I utilize the websites, calendars, Google Docs, and my blog, I will have more time to teach my students because I will be more organized and less stressed in my teaching. Not only will these tools benefit me they will also play a huge role in my students learning. Computers even though they didn't play a huge role in my elementary years, they will be to my future students. They are growing up in a more technological world, and I have to prepare them for that. Google Docs. is a great way for my students to collaborate and work together on stories and we can make a Calendar for everyone in the class and then put it all together and see how busy we are as a class and what we like to do after school, who is involved with what extra curricular activities and then we could even tie math into it and make a graph of our hobbies. As teachers you need to know how to share ideas and work with your cooperating teachers and Google Docs as we learned is a wonderful way to do that, and it is so simple. If you take the time to really learn what Doc Waters is saying you will see how it will help you with creativity in your teaching, increase your student/teacher time, and finally integrate technology into every aspect of learning.

My Ideal Classroom Reflection

I am going to be a TEACHER!

From the moment I knew I wanted to become a teacher I have been thinking about my future classroom! I want it to be a place where my students feel safe to explore and create. Children have a creativity and imagination that you lose as you grow up and I hope to encapsulate that feeling in my classroom. With our world growing more and more diverse, I know that my classroom will be full of different cultures and stories. I can't wait to meet my first class and share the joy of learning with them. I have a huge passion for working with Ell's and refugees and I would love to go teach abroad in Refugee camps across the world and hopefully my class with have students from all over the world so as a class we can learn what it means to be different. But at the same time know that we are all humans we all can respect one another and learn from each other. I hope that I can ignite the passion that I have for learning in their hearts. I plan on teaching either 2nd or 3rd grade which is such a fun time in growing up. My classroom will have group tables to increase cooperative learning. Bright colors everywhere and space for the children to move and dance around. My walls will be filled with our classroom stories and pictures, art projects and a list of our classroom rules and goals! We will have a reading corner that will be a place that is welcoming and quiet, also it will have a bathtub that we as a class will paint and cover the inside with soft, fuzzy carpet so they can take turns reading in the "Reading Tub". We will have a music corner that will be filled with different objects that make new and fun sounds and we will have or very own class band. Music will be a huge part of our learning and it will help break up the day and let them express pure joy! I plan on teaching very hands on, I want my students to make messes and really understand what we are talking about. There is no such thing as a "stupid question" in Ms. Ellie's Class. In my classroom there will be no Bullying, I will have Zero-Tolerance policy and my students will know that from the first day. We will be a family, that doesn't mean that I will force my students to be be friends, but they will respect everyone. We will encompass everyone's strengths in our learning and try many ways to reach our goals. I know that I will be challenged and that this is a journey that will teach me great patience, but I couldn't be more ready for the challenge. My future students will know that they are safe and loved and they will have a space where they are free to question and grow in their ever-changing world. To my future students, Let's rock this world, one amazing day at a time!

-Love Ms. Ellie