Week 8

Field Observation Week 4:

 

During this week’s observation hours at Parker Elementary I wanted to focus my attention to the class room set up. I’ve incorporated a number of pictures that will show you the layout of the classroom.  Below each picture I will give you a brief description of what is being shown and how it is effective in helping students learn.  This is a picture of the initial view of the classroom when you first walk in from the hallway.  You can notice how organized the room is from the arrangement of the desks to the different centers located throughout the room.  The classroom is nicely spaced and allows for a smooth flow of movement from one side of the room to the next.

This is a picture of the desk layout in the classroom.  I feel this is a good desk arrangement because it allows for cooperative learning.  Most students are able to effectively see the chalk board from where they are sitting.  One problem I noticed is kids who are assigned to sit on the insides of “U” shaped desk arrangement will have a hard time seeing the chalk board from the angle that are sitting at. The desk arrangement seems to be comfortable for students and promotes interaction amongst their peers when doing activities. In addition, the larger tables allow for more space to get work accomplished.

Technology: How to Use Social-Networking Technology for Learning

Schools should reflect the world we live in today. And we live in a social world. We need to teach students how to be effective collaborators in that world, how to interact with people around them, how to be engaged, and informed twenty-first-century citizens. We need to teach kids the powerful ways networking can change the way they look at education, not just their social lives. We don't talk enough about the incredible power of social-networking technology to be used for academic benefit. One way to integrate social networking technology into the classroom for academic benefits is by setting up kids with accounts at the Web site Delicious, which lets you store, organize, and share links -- for example, an annotated resource list you use on a project. You can also see links other people have saved, or browse to see what everyone has bookmarked on a subject. It's simple. You don't need your own server. Any teacher with a computer and an Internet connection can use it.

Weekly Reading: Digital Citizenship

In this weeks weekly reading I learned that Digital Citizenship is a process where all users of technology can learn what is acceptable use. It provides a framework in which all users can begin to ask what they should be doing with respect to technology. It is an attempt to provide a consistent message to students, teachers, parents and all users alike about what they need to do to be productive users of digital technologies.

Researchers have defined digital citizenship as the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use. As a way of understanding the complexity of Digital Citizenship and the issues of technology use, abuse and misuse, nine areas or elements have been identified that together make up Digital Citizenship. Digital citizenships is composed of  9 main elements; Digital Access, Digital Commerce, Digital Communication, Digital Literacy, Digital Etiquette, Digital law, Digital rights and responsibilities, Digital security.

 

Weekly Reading: 2011 Horizon Report

The 2011 Horizon Report is a collaboration between The New Media Consortium
and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative An EDUCAUSE Program

Since 2005, the annual Horizon Report has been the most visible aspect of a focused collaboration between the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) and the New Media Consortium in which the two organizations engage their memberships in both the creation and outcomes of the research. The New Media Consortium (NMC) is a globally focused not-for-profit consortium dedicated to the exploration and use of new media and new technologies. Its hundreds of member institutions constitute an elite list of the most highly regarded colleges, universities, and museums in the worlds. For nearly 20 years, the consortium and its members have dedicated themselves to exploring and developing applications of emerging technologies for learning, research, and creative inquiry. For more information on the NMC, visit www.nmc.org. The ELI is a community of higher education institutions and organizations committed to advancing learning through information technology (IT) innovation. ELI is a strategic initiative of EDUCAUSE. While EDUCAUSE serves those interested in advancing higher education through technology, ELI specifically explores innovative technologies and practices that advance learning and promotes innovation in teaching and learning using information technology.

To learn more about the ELI,

visit www.educause.edu/eli.

Observation Week 3!

In this weeks participatory observation hours, I took a look at the community and environment that surrounds my host classroom to get to get an overall feel for the typeof community students are exposed to. Alton B. Parker school, is located in a rural community that can be found in the City of Cortland New York. The demographics in the school consist of the following: Population in Parker school is 297; diversity consists of only 10 blacks and 12 Hispanic, 2 Asians. Majority is Caucasian at 273 students. In my host classroom, all students are Caucasian, one student is Hispanic. Across the street from the main entrance of the school, located right before the employee/parent parking lot local police have put a speed radar. The local cops have put up 15MPH speed limit radar for locals who may commute past the school on a regular basis.  I feel this speed radar right near the school is a great way to reduce pedestrians from driving too fast near the school and endangering faculty and students. In addition to the speed radar, every afternoon for dismissal there are crossing guarding that monitor the street and allow for students and adults to walk across the street safely.  I feel a small thing like this allows for a stronger sense of student safety for both students and adults who cross the street on a daily basis.  The speed radar allows for drivers to visually see their current speed as they pass through the school zone, and hopefully the speed radar inhibits the drivers to abide by the reduced school speed zone.  Across from the school is the Williamson field & park where both students and local community members can freely take part in outdoor recreation and fun.  The park consists of a baseball field, two half basketball courts, open field space, bleachers for observing, a swing set and a small play ground located towards the back right of the park. I feel this park and field promotes recreation for all students, children, and adults in the community.  It gives children and parents an option to participate in some outdoor activities where they can join other community members and have some fun. In addition, having a local park where kids can engage and run free and partake in outdoor activities may also decrease deviant behavior among kids in the community.

Integrating Voice Threads into the Classroom!

I recently discovered a new technology based educational resource that I can use to promote the learning of students.   VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in five different ways- using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). Voicethreads can also be shared with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too. A VoiceThread is a new set of digital story tools. It has great potential in teaching and learning.   I feel that a VoiceThread can be used in the classroom as an alternative means of instruction that promotes simulating and engaging learning activities while integrating technology into the classroom.  

Field observation week two!

This week was my second week at Parker elementary school!  Unfortunately, Monday the school was closed due to Columbus day so I wasn't able to observe but I did get to see my first graders on Wednesday! This week the nerves were not so bad....I was very comfortable this time around. As the day progressed I was starting to get the feel of activities that took place throughout the day. This past observation I sat in on writing work shop where kids were taught the format of a letter, a note, and a short story.  The students were given the option to pick between the three and an illustration needed to be included.  I sat with a few students and found that most kids had no trouble vocalizing what they wanted to write for their stories but I found that had an extremely had time translating the words onto paper.  Most students drew the illustrations before attempting to write their stories, letters, lists.  I feel that in order to make this writing workshop more beneficial to students they should be required to do the actual writing before making an illustration. I feel most kids use the allotted class time to draw and don't get to write a single sentence.   After Writers workshop students were assigned classroom jobs that consisted of a line leader, book shelf organizer, paper passer outter and etc. Something as little as classroom jobs really got excited the kids and they felt honored to be able to help around the classroom.  The kids had music today where they played various types of drums during class.  Overall, week two went great! I'm looking forward to next week!

iLearn

For this weeks educational post I want to inform all my followers on a great website titled "iLearn." i Learn is a website that was designed to educate teachers with different ways they can integrate the use of ipad into their classrooms. Within this website are many resources that help teachers find ways to in which they can promote the use of technology into their classrooms as educational tools.  For example, the use of an I pad in classes will allow for students to access interactive and content based apps, looks up ideas and find answers to a magnitude of questions, access and read a wealth of books and magazines, view, discuss, and critique videos and podcasts created by universities and educational providers, create dozen of art projects and multimedia projects and many more! I feel instead of trying to ban the use of technology in schools they should promote the use of technology for educational use only in schools.  I feel the ipad has so many educational applications and tools to offer students of this new generation that it would be a shame to put it to waste.  I pose this question to my viewers...do you think the use of iPads in the classroom would be more beneficial and or more of a distraction in the classroom?

Initial Host Classroom Observation! 1st Graders!

 When I first entered the building I was worried about where my classroom was, who I was going to run into on my way to the main office/ classroom. The main office ended up being directly to the right after entering the building and I didn’t end up running into anyone when going to my teachers classroom.  That was a relief, but then came the anticipation and anxiety before entering the classroom.  Upon entering the classroom for the first time I had a little anxiety because I had no idea what to expect on my first day.  I was pretty nervous but at the same time so excited to meet my host teacher and my first graders.  I wasn’t sure if I was suppose to walk in and introduce myself to the class and teacher and have them stop what they were doing or come in and quietly and wait until I was introduced.  When I walked in, Mrs. Cross (my host teacher), was reading a story the class so I walked in and quietly took a seat.  Immediately all the kids grew interested in whom I was, what I was doing in their class and gave waves! After an hour being in my classroom, I met my teacher and all of the students and greeted with a warm welcome.  The feelings of anxiety and nervousness started to fade away and feelings of happiness and reassurance began to kick in.  After only an hour I was feeling great about the decision I made three years ago to become a teacher.  I felt like this was my calling and what I was meant to do in life.  I quickly caught on to the kids names and could identify who was potentially a trouble maker, who wouldn’t be a problem.  I ended up having a great first day of observation and became very comfortable with engaging and interacting with the students in the class.  I immediately jumped in to help with activities and loved every second of it.

Teacher Interaction:

  The teacher throughout the day was very engaged with the students.  During activities such as read alouds she was constantly asking guiding and interactive questions to get the students involved.  I noticed a pattern that after asking or posing a question to the class she would wait a good amount of time before calling on someone to give a response to a question.  When I came time for students to go back to their seats I noticed she would walk around and help students that were struggling with the task at hand.  A good deal of interaction between the teacher and certain students was discipline related.  I noticed there were a few students who were consistently being asked to sit on the reading carpet with their hineys on the group and hands in their laps.  Two students were asked to sit in the thinking chair which is her way of removing the distracting students away from the whole group and have them come up with a plan before entering the discussion again.  I was surprised by how much of the interaction between the teacher and the students were more geared to following the rules and discipline than compared to the teaching of academics.

When doing an activity after a read aloud two students were assigned to draw an illustration that reflected the themes in the book.  I noticed that each pair of students worked fairly efficiently and demonstrated good communication when trying to pick something to draw.  There was a good amount of collaboration done before the drawing began for the most part students worked well.  There were some groups that did get a little distracted and were giggling and laughing here and there but for the most part, interaction between students was very educational effective in completing the task at hand. After I asked one group a guided question to help them think of something to draw I got responses from students that demonstrated they understood and comprehended the themes in which the book was trying to articulate. I noticed in some groups that one child was more vocal over another.  I feel some of the more outgoing kids were quick to talk while those who seemed to have a more timid personality were shy to talk.  I feel a good way to get all students to talk is to ask engaging questions to both students and allow them enough time to each give a response.  I noticed regardless of personality all the kids had something they wanted to vocalize but some were just not given the opportunity or the time to talk.

                Some of the curricular content that was being discussed on my first day was on phonics and more specifically the focus on learning and understand vowels. In a group effort my teacher asked students to name the give different vowels.  In addition, Mrs. Cross had asked students to sound out each vowel.  For visual learners she incorporated a pretty cute sheet that linked a vowel to picture and the first sounds of that picture was the vowel that was chosen.  After the initial teaching of vowels students were asked to report back to their seats and highlight all of the vowels in each one of their classmates name a way of assessing their knowledge on vowels.  It seemed as if students had a better understanding of vowels when all together in a whole group.  Individually some students struggled to identify and list the five vowels in the alphabet.  However, there were some students who showed they did have a good understanding of the five vowels by finishing the work sheet pretty quickly and with ease. If I could teach this content, I would use the same idea of introducing the vowels to the students in a group but as far as assessment I would use differentiated instruction to accommodate students of all learning abilities.  This way the kids who were strong with vowels would be more challenged and not spend some time doing nothing while others were struggling.  

Smart Board Technology!

With the increasing demands on teachers to integrate technology into classrooms, what better way to do it than with a smart board? The smart board  is an interactive board that allows teachers to engage students in a new, fun and exciting way. With SMART Boards, students become more attentive and active learners in class. SMART Boards allow visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners to be more focused and engaged on the lesson that is being taught. The use of smart boards in the classroom allows teachers to meet the National Educational Technology Standards and appeals heavily on the Native learners in today's society. Below I'm going to make a list of all of the ways smart board technology can be used in the classroom: 

• Save lessons to present to students who were absent
• Create video files to teach a software application, a lesson, or as a review to be posted to the server or web. Example- How to create a graph in Excel or hoe to burn a projects to cds
• Use the built in maps to teach continents, oceans, countries, or states and capitals.
• Present presentations created by student or teacher
• Have students create e-folios including samples of their work and narration
• Digital storytelling
• Teach whole group computer or keyboarding skills
• Brainstorming
• Take notes directly into PowerPoint presentations
• Reinforce skills by using on-line interactive web sites
• Creating a project calendar
• Teach editing skills using editing marks
• Use in the 6 trait writing process
• Use highlighter tool to highlight nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.
• Use it with Kidspiration or Inspiration
• Teaching students how to navigate the Internet
• Illustrate and write a book as a class. Use the record feature to narrate the text.
• Use the Interwrite software to create lessons in advance at home or at school. Then save them for future use or to be shared with other teachers
• Diagramming activities
• Teaching steps to a math problem.
• Have students share projects during Parent/Teacher/Student conferences
• Graphics and charts with ESL learners and special ed students.
• Teaching vocabulary
• Electronic Word Wall
• End each day by having students write one thing that they learned

The amount of ways one can integrate a smart board into the classroom seems endless!  I did some research and found that the cheapest smart board can be purchased for about $1,000 and get as expensive as $6,000! Smart board technology doesn't come cheap, however, there are many teachers that will tell you how worth it they are.  


Below I'm going to post a few links of personal anecdotal accounts of how smart board technology have improved teaching and learning in these teachers classrooms: 
Dr. Mary Ann Bell
Bobbi Adrian
Check it out

Last but not least I want to show you video on smart boards and how this 5th grade teacher uses a smart board in her classroom :) Enjoy

National Educational Technology Standards

As technology dramatically changes in today's society, we as future educators need to keeps up the times and be able to demonstrate certain skills and behaviors of digital- age professors.  The NETS other wise knows as the National Educational Technology Standards are the blue prints that today's educators must abide by in order to provide a learning environment that takes students beyond the walls of their classrooms and into a world of endless opportunities. The NETS focus on the learning and teaching throughout the entire educational system and is broken down in standards for students at all levels as well as for teachers and administrators.  The National Educational Technology Standards for students focuses on the skills and knowledge students need to learn and be able to perform effectively in this new up and coming digital world. The NETS for teachers consist of guidelines and blueprints of a variety of skills and knowledge they will need to be able to teach and incorporate into classrooms to allow for students to work and live in an increasingly connected digital society.  Last but not least, the NETS for administrators lists the skills and expectations for school administrators.  Some of these expectations include a more technological infused learning environment that supports digital age learning.

The following links provide the NETS for students, teachers, and administrators.
Teacher National Educational Technology Standards
Student National Educational Technology Standards
Administration National Educational Technology Standards

Weekly Reading: Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

 According to Marc Prensky(2001) , “ Today’s students have no just changed incrementally from those of the past, nor simply changed their slang, clothes, body adornments, or styles, as had happened between generations previously. A really big discontinuity has taken place.  One might even call it’s a “Singularity”- an event which changes things so fundamentally that there is absolutely no going back. This so called “singularity” is the arrival and rapid dissemination of digital technology in the last decades of the 20t century” (Prensky, 2001).  Prenskys idea of singularity gives me the extra boost in motivation to set out and find and learn more technological learning tools and systems.  With today’s students- K-through college, research has shown they have been exposed to and grown up with new technologies.  Prensky (2001) states, “They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age” (Prensky, 2001).  As a result, today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors.  Thankfully, I as a future educator have time to adapt, evolve and implement new ways to presenting, teaching and passing on material to what Prensky call these new “digital natives”.  


Below is a link to Prenskys Article on Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants 
http://edu315.wikispaces.com/file/view/Prensky+-+Digital+Natives%2C+Digital+Immigrants+-+Part1.pdf

Prensky, M. (2001). On the horizon. (5

 ed., Vol. 9). MCB University Press