Week 11 Reflection

This week was our first week in our field experience and I thought that it was very interesting to see how different each elementary school works with their schedule. Our class has technology class every Thursday if the lab isn't taken; they forgot to schedule the class a specific time to do go have a time with the computers. There is also another fourth grade class that is specifically technology integrated where there is a computer for every two students but our classroom has 4 computers and only two of them have the internet so our class doesn't get to spend a lot of time working with technology. There is also only an overhead projector in the classroom and so I think that the teacher doesn't have a lot of resources to use a lot of technology in her classroom. I think that is a big setback for the students because the world is becoming more industrious in technology every day but this classroom is still pretty old fashion in the way that it is taught. For our lessons, I am hoping to be able to use a projector with a Power Point to help incorporate more technology in the classroom. I also think that our teacher doesn't know how to use all the resources so she doesn't and I think that as we can teach we can use web quests or use the computers in centers. There are a lot of things that our class can do to use technology but I think that way that the schedule is set up at the school makes it really difficult for this classroom to really use technology.

Week 10 Reflection

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Week 9 Reflection

This week in class we learned about webquests. I think that webquests are a great way of teaching students because students can use technology in guided setting to learn about a topic. I also think that students are more excited to learn because they get to discover for themselves about the topic and they aren't just listening to a lecture. Sometimes webquests even include games which make them very kid friendly. I think you can also let the parents view the webquest before the students view it to approve it. I think that this will help parents know the details of what their child is learning about and can even have fun exploring the different websites on the webquest. A webquest is great for the students as well because as a teacher I will get to choose what websites the students will look at and they won't run into any bad websites that are out there. I think working with other teachers on webquests is a great idea because every teacher in your grade will have to teach the same things and if you work together to create a webquest, it cuts down half of your work and is more enjoyable for the students. I think you have to be careful with creating too many webquests because the students may get bored of them and not put in the effort needed to complete it. Webquests are a great tool if you use them properly.
Surface Computing Video: The video from the website wasn't working so I went onto the YouTube and found a video called Microsoft Surface Computing and this is the URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pojPBPFV-Y. I thought that this idea is really cool especially when the virtual restaurant orderings explained. You can look at each food item and then place your order and then set your card on the screen and it will charge it right then and there. It is cool to see the technology growing in the world and how homes will start having these technologies where you don't have to have a keyboard or mouse with your computer; you will just be able to touch the screen. You can see it now in a lot of the cell phones.

Week 8 Refelction

This past week I was working on my PDP. I learned a lot from the videos and the readings but I think that the survey was hard to really rate myself because I haven't taught or even thought of teaching students technology. I was an apprentice on almost every step because I wasn't a teacher who planned lessons. I think this survey would be more beneficial if I took it after I was teaching to get a good idea of where I stand compared to the NETS. But the survey was good to see what I already knew about technology and what was expected of me to teach. I was also a little confused with the whole workshop part of the PDP. I didn't really understand the workshops because we were learning how to teach students so I thought that we were supposed to create activities to help the students learn. But after I talked to other students I realized that the workshops were supposed to be for us to improve.

Video: Did You Know 3.0:
This is a very similar video to the other Did You Know video. The facts were updated which were a little more interesting for me to watch because of that. I think that it is good to understand how fast technology is growing and the need for teaching it in the classroom. It was good for me to compare what facts are in the first video and this one to see the changes.

My Beliefs

With technology growing so fast, I think that it is crucial in teaching and presenting with technology in the classroom. I think that there is something about technology that this generation of students can relate to easier than just the chalkboard. I have seen from experience that if we try to protect students completely, they will always find a way to get out from under that protection. I think that this goes with technology, the more we try to fight it and not let it into our classroom, the harder it is going to be to connect with our students. I feel that cell phones and personal computers can be a wonderful thing in the learning process but a lot of students seem to abuse them. I believe that we can successfully have a computer for each student and have each student working on something educational on the computer if they are always engaged. This can go with regular teaching, students won't be very bothersome when they are engaged and I think why not let them be engaged with something they are so interested in with the technology. It is going to help your atmosphere in the classroom more pleasant when students are interested in the items they are learning about and there are some many great resources out on the internet and different activities students can participate in if we try to incorporate technology into the classroom. It is hard to do when not every student has a computer but there are things you can do with just one computer in the classroom and I think you don't always have to use a computer to teach. Making class interesting is about changing the way you teach all the time and I think that you need to use all types of teaching styles to have a successful classroom.

Lessons Learned

I have learned a lot about how technology is changing. I had no idea how many students would actually want a computerized teacher. I know that it may be possible on day to have the smartest computer teach our children but personally I would much rather have human teachers in my child's classroom rather than an electronic one. I think that a student can learn more skills when there is face to face contact besides just the curriculum that is being taught. I also found it interesting what ideas students have for our technological future and some of the things they would like to invent will happen because they are our future and will end up creating what they think students need. I also find that social networking can be beneficial if it is used in a controlled way. Students tend to spend too much time social networking because it is so convenient. I agree with the video that talks about how social networking sites can be educational but only to a certain extent. When students only worry about how many comments people posted on their site or only communicating with their friends through chat, it tends to overtake their lives and there is never anything educational with addictions.
Overall, technology is growing and we need to be aware of the new types of communication but I think it is still important to have the personal face to face contact that has been since the beginning of time.

Strengths and Weaknesses

After taking this survey and reading the NETS paper, I found that I am at the apprentice level in almost every single operation and concept. My biggest weakness that I found filling out the surveys was that I haven't really thought about how I am going to teach my students how to use technology and how to reflect on the activities I teach. The survey also said that the activities need to be authentic. I think that every activity taught by a teacher is going to be authentic because every teacher teaches differently and has their own level of skill when it comes to technology. My other weakness that I noticed was that I have never used video chat. With such an evolving technological world, one day I could be using video chat to talk to my principle or even parents. I think that one-on-one meetings are going to become less frequent and video chat will be more common. I found a video that explains how to use video chat on gmail and I think that how wide spread gmail has spread, knowing how to use video chat with gmail is a great tool. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFGJRfoK9xQ. This other video I found motivated me to use technology when I teach and teach technology to my students. The link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6AqDNjNmhw&feature=related.

I think because I have knowledge of using computers it is going to be hard for me to not get frustrated when a student doesn't understand what I explain to them. For my first goal, I am going to be patient with the students who don't understand when I teach them, review or start from the basics of using a computer. For my activity, I am going to have the students first learn the different parts of the computer such as the mouse, monitor, computer, key board, etc. That way the students will know what each term means when I use them and not have to explain to my students one by one what each part is. I will then take them through learning how to use word processor by having them make a cover of a book that would be about themselves and have them create a creative title for it. That way they will learn how to put pictures in a word document and how to use the different font sizes and style as well as font placement. I will continue on to teach how to save documents and the importance in saving them regularly when working on the project. I will help students whenever they have questions but when I take it step by step and show them how do to it on a projector as they are doing it, it will help me create a steady pace where I won't become frustrated with the students.

My next goal is to use video chat. I am going to use it with my peers and maybe another teacher that way I will be able to know how to find the video camera on the computer and know how to make it go into video mode to chat with others. My activity to help teach students about video chat, I am going to have them video chat with another student on the other side of the room. I could also have a cooperating teacher from another school have all of their students on one video chat with our classroom and that way we can still see the distance video chat can work between as well as have it not be one on one with each student. It will also help teach this concept if there isn't a camera for each student to use. I will take my students step by step through the process of finding a camera on a computer and connecting to another through a projector and that way they can physically see how to do it instead of just hearing how to and having a list of steps to follow.