Okay, so I have learned many things from this class that will be useful to me in the future. Honestly, I do not think that there is one thing that we've learned that I won't have a use for. Some of the projects that I had really like were: Inspiration, Filamentality, Newsletters, and i Movie. These thing will make teaching a lot easier and supplemented for better understanding. It will also make learning a lot easier for the children. This will help the information be able to be conveyed in a nice, clear, and organized manner. Especially things like the i Movie project and the data base program. The i Movie can help wether it's to help me teach a lesson or if its for the students to do a project. The database assignment can help to track and organize your students and classroom. There was just so much good info that we have learned that it is hard to point it all out!!
Improvements... I'm not really sure that there are any. The only thing that I can think of is maybe changing the class so that the assignments can be due before class rather than the night before @ 11:30 pm. Sometimes there has been times where I get off work and I am rushing to get the assignments done. Other than that I really enjoyed this class and I can honestly say that I have learned a great deal. How sad :( it's over!!!
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
i Movie
I thought that learning i movie was an awesome tool to further use in my teaching career. I had never done this before. This was the neatest thing to me that you can actually go back and edit what you filmed and change things around into different sequences. In the end the video looks so professional. My group really did not run into and filming problems. We really did not run into any problems until we started editing. When we started editing it was then when we had problems with the clips and the subtitles and the timing. It was definitely a learning experience.
After reading the article "Splicing Video into the Writing Process" it made me relly understand how the filming and editing are similar to the process that you must go through during the writing process. For instance there is the preproduction step in filming which s similar to the Prewriting step and then there is the Production part in filmin which is similar to the drafting step in writing. I think that the thought process is the same it's just the end product that is different. I could definitely see myself incorporating this type of project into my classroom. There is just so much learning going on. This is definitely in my opinion a higher way of teachin and learning.
After reading the article "Splicing Video into the Writing Process" it made me relly understand how the filming and editing are similar to the process that you must go through during the writing process. For instance there is the preproduction step in filming which s similar to the Prewriting step and then there is the Production part in filmin which is similar to the drafting step in writing. I think that the thought process is the same it's just the end product that is different. I could definitely see myself incorporating this type of project into my classroom. There is just so much learning going on. This is definitely in my opinion a higher way of teachin and learning.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Data Bases
The three articles were interesting in the fact that they had all discussed different points of views between databases and the web. It is amazing how more and more educational facilities are trying to become paperless. We as students are experiencing that here at CSUSM since we are now just about as paperless as it gets. This in a way drives me crazy because I like the fact of physically handing in my papers and physically getting them back. Web CT is great and all but there's nothing like having the real thing in your hand. Oh well...we are just trying to save the environment.
This brings us into how grand databases can actually be. Not only are they paperless, but they can store large amounts of detailed info on many individual people or items. This will be great when we get into the classroom, we can use databases to keep ourselves organized with all of our students. This is great for the students as well. I never learned about any of this type of thing when I was in school. Now there are programs out there that are made so user friendly that it is said that kindergartners will soon be using databases. The age that kids start becoming technology smart is becoming younger and younger. Kids won't even be able to spell but they will be setting up databases.
However, I found that I can really find a use for using a database in my classroom. I really want to keep track of all of my students. This will also help me to organize data in terms of grades, age , learning styles, favorites (foods, colors, etc.). I can do sooo much with this type of program. I am definitely excited to involve this technology into my classroom. I never knew that there were programs out there like "InspireData" that makes the database system so easy to use and user friendly. Thank goodness technology is constantly growing!!!
This brings us into how grand databases can actually be. Not only are they paperless, but they can store large amounts of detailed info on many individual people or items. This will be great when we get into the classroom, we can use databases to keep ourselves organized with all of our students. This is great for the students as well. I never learned about any of this type of thing when I was in school. Now there are programs out there that are made so user friendly that it is said that kindergartners will soon be using databases. The age that kids start becoming technology smart is becoming younger and younger. Kids won't even be able to spell but they will be setting up databases.
However, I found that I can really find a use for using a database in my classroom. I really want to keep track of all of my students. This will also help me to organize data in terms of grades, age , learning styles, favorites (foods, colors, etc.). I can do sooo much with this type of program. I am definitely excited to involve this technology into my classroom. I never knew that there were programs out there like "InspireData" that makes the database system so easy to use and user friendly. Thank goodness technology is constantly growing!!!
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Wiki Wiki......
Filamentality link: http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listworldbise.html
Ok, so I thought that the whole Wikipedia thing was pretty nifty. I had no idea that people could just go in and change things though, and all this time I was thinking that it was a reliable source. Even though people can go in and change the info I still have not seen anything crazy like people just making up lies or stories, at least not anything obvious anyways. This could be bad in the fact that anyone can change things but it can also have advantages such as keeping the information up to date. This is especially good when it comes to anything medical or technological.
I also thought that it was such a neat feature how it can be used to create a web page collaboratively with others. This might make group work a lot easier to handle. This is nice because no one has to meet up and things can easily be changed and reverted back if things aren't to everyones liking. It is hard enough to get together so this can save everyone a lot of time. This will definitely be a grand tool for most of us since we are entering the teaching field. We can use this in our classroom or with our colleagues. We can keep parents up to date or even just each other. I had no idea that Wikipedia had so much to offer. I just thought that it was an on line encyclopedia.
Now on to the reading. It's crazy to think that technology still is not being learned about in schools, hence the digital gap. This is where schools need teachers to bring in and incorporate technology in the classroom. This is very important. Kids should feel that computers are more than just an extra, or a reward for doing something good. Computers should just be integrated into the curriculum regardless if you have three computers or three hundred computers. There needs to be a way that children are more involved and comfortable with technology. It is the way that our society has come dependent on. If students have to share a computer then so be it, but we as future teachers need to make that a goal to make sure to integrate technology in the classroom. It is a must!
Ok, so I thought that the whole Wikipedia thing was pretty nifty. I had no idea that people could just go in and change things though, and all this time I was thinking that it was a reliable source. Even though people can go in and change the info I still have not seen anything crazy like people just making up lies or stories, at least not anything obvious anyways. This could be bad in the fact that anyone can change things but it can also have advantages such as keeping the information up to date. This is especially good when it comes to anything medical or technological.
I also thought that it was such a neat feature how it can be used to create a web page collaboratively with others. This might make group work a lot easier to handle. This is nice because no one has to meet up and things can easily be changed and reverted back if things aren't to everyones liking. It is hard enough to get together so this can save everyone a lot of time. This will definitely be a grand tool for most of us since we are entering the teaching field. We can use this in our classroom or with our colleagues. We can keep parents up to date or even just each other. I had no idea that Wikipedia had so much to offer. I just thought that it was an on line encyclopedia.
Now on to the reading. It's crazy to think that technology still is not being learned about in schools, hence the digital gap. This is where schools need teachers to bring in and incorporate technology in the classroom. This is very important. Kids should feel that computers are more than just an extra, or a reward for doing something good. Computers should just be integrated into the curriculum regardless if you have three computers or three hundred computers. There needs to be a way that children are more involved and comfortable with technology. It is the way that our society has come dependent on. If students have to share a computer then so be it, but we as future teachers need to make that a goal to make sure to integrate technology in the classroom. It is a must!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Web Quests
First of all I think that Filamentality will be an excellent resource for us upcoming teachers to use. This is a great way to link interactive learning as well as being exposed to technology. This tool will keep the children engaged and gets them away from the ol' fashioned "go look it up in the book." This allows the student to stay active and learn to sort and look through information while also keeping the information in range and related to the topic at hand. This is also a great way to include the content standards into the curriculum.
On another note another great tool to use is the almighty WebQuests that we all hear so much about these days. No one really understands the power that they have until they actually use them. They were developed in 1995 at San Diego State University by two men by the name's of Bernie Dodge and Tom March. What WebQuests do is structure students to analyze a variety of information and resources so that they can analyze it and use their critical thinking skills to come up with a solution. Often real world wide problems are used and at the end there is usually some form of project or assignment to complete. This would be how the teacher would assess the students comprehension and skills. There are many ways to utilize WebQuests either you can create your own or you can search for ones that are already made. Remember, like anything else, there are always thorough ones and there are always bad ones out there. One way to narrow your search down is to use appropriate search engines and become advanced at learning how to use advanced searches. Some examples of some great WebQuests are an example of a teacher using a pumpkin patch as part of her WebQuest in hopes to link her inner city kids back to mother nature. Another great one was one that involved learning about Anne Frank, with it based upon the children of the Holocaust. There are no limits to WebQuests. They can be totally done on the computer or you can mix like the pumpkin patch and integrate some real life activity to the Web. The sky is the limit and like one of my professors once told me "Why try and reinvent the wheel?"
On another note another great tool to use is the almighty WebQuests that we all hear so much about these days. No one really understands the power that they have until they actually use them. They were developed in 1995 at San Diego State University by two men by the name's of Bernie Dodge and Tom March. What WebQuests do is structure students to analyze a variety of information and resources so that they can analyze it and use their critical thinking skills to come up with a solution. Often real world wide problems are used and at the end there is usually some form of project or assignment to complete. This would be how the teacher would assess the students comprehension and skills. There are many ways to utilize WebQuests either you can create your own or you can search for ones that are already made. Remember, like anything else, there are always thorough ones and there are always bad ones out there. One way to narrow your search down is to use appropriate search engines and become advanced at learning how to use advanced searches. Some examples of some great WebQuests are an example of a teacher using a pumpkin patch as part of her WebQuest in hopes to link her inner city kids back to mother nature. Another great one was one that involved learning about Anne Frank, with it based upon the children of the Holocaust. There are no limits to WebQuests. They can be totally done on the computer or you can mix like the pumpkin patch and integrate some real life activity to the Web. The sky is the limit and like one of my professors once told me "Why try and reinvent the wheel?"
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Excel
I really think that Excel is a nifty program because it can be used for so many things. So many professions can utilize excel and make it make their life easier. As a teacher it can be used to input grades, chart individuals progress, look at the class' progress as a whole. This can be very useful as a teachers tool. As a teacher you will always know where your students are at and you will always be able to tell them as well. This will even help you personally as a teacher to track how you are doing. This can also show you if most of the class is just not getting it that maybe you should re-evaluate you r teaching strategies. You can also always gage what that student will need so that they might get the grade that they want. Excel is also excellent in it's ability to make calculations for you instead of you sitting there with the calculator trying to figure everything out. This makes life a lot easier. So I definitely recommend using Excel to help organize your business or profession.
On the flip side I wanted to also comment on the assigned article that we were to read this week. I had never really stopped to think about what's the best way to search a topic? Or how credible that source may in fact be. I usually just thought that if a site looked like someones home page then I had better not trust it. Otherwise, if the site looked professional then I usually trusted the content within it. This article gave some great advice on how to search and how not to search for content on the web. It had also listed some great resources for both students and teachers. I in fact found things out like searching for the same subject in different search engines will yield different results.This is why we should pay attention to which search engine we choose for certain content, anyways, the list goes on and on showing how to uncover valid information when trying to research a topic. I found this article very useful especially since I am going into the teaching profession.
On the flip side I wanted to also comment on the assigned article that we were to read this week. I had never really stopped to think about what's the best way to search a topic? Or how credible that source may in fact be. I usually just thought that if a site looked like someones home page then I had better not trust it. Otherwise, if the site looked professional then I usually trusted the content within it. This article gave some great advice on how to search and how not to search for content on the web. It had also listed some great resources for both students and teachers. I in fact found things out like searching for the same subject in different search engines will yield different results.This is why we should pay attention to which search engine we choose for certain content, anyways, the list goes on and on showing how to uncover valid information when trying to research a topic. I found this article very useful especially since I am going into the teaching profession.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Evalutech
This web site seems like a useful web site. The only thing that I did not like about it is the way that it is set up. There is just so much information on it that my eyes hurt to look at everything all over the page.
On another note it is very useful especially to anyone who wants to teach or enhance the learning process. Some of the things that I had stumbled on where lesson plans and intersactive learning games that the children could learn and play with on the computer. To me the lesson plans were great because anytime as a teacher you can get ideas or any other kind of input on how to teach a grade level or subject that info is golden. I was stumbling around the web site and I really liked how you can click on the lesson plans and resources--->then it brings you to topics--->then you can click on whatever subject you are looking for. This area is full of ideas resources and help. It even offers enrichment material for whatever you are looking for. This would be great for parents to use with their children as well. I also thought that the little interactive computer games will also help the children be exposed to technology in the classroom, as well as get them excited about wanting to learn more. Overall this would be an excellent resource to use it has so much information to use and it would definitely enhance your and the students learning experience.
On another note it is very useful especially to anyone who wants to teach or enhance the learning process. Some of the things that I had stumbled on where lesson plans and intersactive learning games that the children could learn and play with on the computer. To me the lesson plans were great because anytime as a teacher you can get ideas or any other kind of input on how to teach a grade level or subject that info is golden. I was stumbling around the web site and I really liked how you can click on the lesson plans and resources--->then it brings you to topics--->then you can click on whatever subject you are looking for. This area is full of ideas resources and help. It even offers enrichment material for whatever you are looking for. This would be great for parents to use with their children as well. I also thought that the little interactive computer games will also help the children be exposed to technology in the classroom, as well as get them excited about wanting to learn more. Overall this would be an excellent resource to use it has so much information to use and it would definitely enhance your and the students learning experience.
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