7- "swans a swimming"

The categories for Bloom’s Taxonomy include remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. PowerPoint can be a useful tool to use because it can support learning at each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. For the category of remembering a useful tool on PowerPoint would be making a story map, or concept map to recall and restate information. In order for students to meet the understanding level, students should be able to interpret what they have learned. I would show a slide on PowerPoint restating the events of a story and ask them to get in groups and discuss what the main ideas are. To apply the information students need to use the information in a new situation. I could have the students go on computers individually and make a storybook of an alternative ending of the story on PowerPoint. To analyze the students can compare and contrast the characters in the story by creating a Venn diagram on PowerPoint. To evaluate the story students can use PowerPoint to make a “rule book” of rules that the characters should have followed in the story. This gives them the chance to evaluate and judge the characters actions. The last level is creating which involves students creating new and original work. Students can use PowerPoint to plan a TV show based off of the story. I have just listed a handful examples about how PowerPoint can be used to meet each learning level stated in Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Adaptive technologies are used to support learners. Adaptive technologies help people with disabilities more effectively used technology equipment. In most cases using computers and technology is more difficult for people with disabilities, so accommodations need to be made. If a student cannot use a computer due to their disabilities, then they can use alternative input and output devices to assist them. Just one example of an input tool is using voice recognition software instead of typing on a keyboard. An example of an output tool is a magnified screen monitor so that the student can read the information on the computer more easily. There is a wide range of productivity tools that can be used to help students with disabilities. After matching a good tool to fit a particular student’s needs, it’s your job as the teacher to gain access of that tool. I haven’t known anyone who has used adaptive technologies so I learned a lot from the podcast and textbook. I think that my biggest challenge that I will have using adaptive technologies in my classroom, is my lack of knowledge. I need to keep learning about the different adaptive technologies out there in order to be able to accommodate my students with disabilities.

The Web Page Design assignment is my favorite assignment yet! I loved getting the chance to be creative and make my class page exactly how I wanted it to be. Weebly was so easy to navigate and some of the tools were just too cool not to include on my website. I found myself just running with this assignment. I wasn’t satisfied with just meeting the general assignment requirements, and added even more links, and tools like a survey. Because of the skills that I learned through completing this assignment, I feel prepared to make a class website when I become a teacher. Once I am actually a teacher I can improve my website by adding more pages and expand the amount of events on the calendar. 

Visit my website!

ILP "Participation"- Classroom Management Fundamentals course on Lynda.com

I thoroughly enjoyed the course that I completed on Lynda. Before this assignment, I had never heard of Lynda and had no previous experience with it. After completing this course I am a huge fan of Lynda and I plan on taking advantage of this amazing resource. I chose to complete this particular course because ever since my observations in the classroom setting last semester, I have been particularly interested in classroom management. One teacher that I observed had such good control of the students and it made me wonder how she developed her classroom management.

Here are the notes I took during the course (you might want to skim through them because I typed a total of 4 pages of notes):

Introduction:

•   a well-managed classroom is a high-preforming classroom
•  not silent and obedient but focused on interaction and high-functioning

1. Traits of effective classroom managers:

·       Using a strong teacher voice (confident, strong, projected, steady)

o   have a consistent tone is most difficult thing (not including emotions such as frustration)

·       Being consistently proactive

o   having same practices and expectations day to day

o   something will disrupt the flow of your lesson (plan for that)

o   a proactive teacher is a consistent teacher

o   thought through everything and how to deal with problems

·       being grounded in what we can/can’t control

o   every students situation is unique (different home lives)

o   assume that these disruptions will happen and plan ahead: put student achievement first

o   have a repertoire of management ideasà practice them with your studentsà implement them when unforeseen events occur

·       having a well-prepared lesson plan

o   goal is to create management plans that allow for learning that’s exploratory, project-based, and student-directed

o   take note about student behavior and management strategies (which group to stand by…)

Being a leader:

·       how you present yourself to your students

·       how you speak to your students

2. Setting Students up for success

Procedures and routines

• 20 minutes of off-task behavior each day= 60 hours of lost instruction per year (2 full weeks of school)
• creating procedures and routines will help make sure time is not wasted
• match the needs of your students with your classroom routines and procedures (think about what takes time away from instruction during class)
• share best practices and learn from teachers around you ( a lot of time establishing procedures is easier when they are unified throughout the school)
• practice procedure with class, enforce every day

Reduce distractions

• create simple indicators that students can use instead of raising hand… (don’t want to waste class time by calling on someone to answer a question only for them to ask to get water) (pencil in air to sharpen and a nod from teacher or if student movement is too distracting, place a sharpener on their desk)

Create clearly defined class rules

• keep it simple (no more than 10 class rules, cover communication, work time, and procedures)
• make the rules visible (refer to them when students misbehave to create accountability in the classroom)
• involve students in creating classroom rules
• communicate that they are there to help them be successful

Time everything

• motivates students to get the work completed (vs saying you have til the end of class)
• time everything, keep students and yourself on track

3. Managing your classroom

Give clear instructions

• ensure that students heard you
• clearly state what actions to do and how to do them
• explain why students should be following instructions
• “3 m’s” motion, mouth, and motivation
• reduce misbehavior during movement
• use an attention-getting signal to let students know instructions are about to be given (younger classes clapping or movement is effective) (older students use counting method)
• practice the attention getting signal with students

Check for understanding, not just for content

• nick what’s the first thing we are going to do, sally what’s the second instruction……
• ask them to repeat critical steps in instructions

Behavior narration

• allows students to hear instructions, take cues from classmates, and help keep a positive class tone even if a student needs to be corrected (gives students the chance to self-correct their actions)
• narrate the positive behaviors that correspond to directions given
• steps: give clear instructionsà redirect students that are still not following instructions
• once an off-task student redirects behavior, narrate the positive behavior (keeps them from getting frustrated and shutting down)
• keep narrations about observation, not positive or negative attribution (following directions is the norm and not something to be rewarded)

Proxemic control

• position in classroom has a huge impact on management
• move yourself closer to the disruption

Intervening and redirecting

• best done in a positive and future driven way
• simply saying you aren’t following directions doesn’t give the student insight as to what they need to do to fix the problem
• give them the benefit of the doubt to keep a positive class environment
•  “waiting for three students, waiting for two…” this creates peer accountability AND prevents having to single out one student

Rule of three

• make sure you have three positive narrations or affirmations for each redirection that you give

Scaffolded consequences

• help them understand that making mistakes is ok but that we need to learn from our mistakes
• create tiered (scaffolded) consequences
• warning (opportunity for self-correction)àconversation with youà reflection letter, detention, reach out to guardians (removing student from class is very last resort)

Escalated problems

• stay calm
• never engage a student in an argument (you’re the adult and in control)
• lower your voiceà emphasize lost learning timeà redirect students focus on current learning

4. Building a positive classroom culture

Why is classroom culture important?

• classroom culture starts with the teacher
• classroom culture will guide expectations

Management starts day one and minute one

• set the tone for your classroom on day one
• establish a culture of success and leadership every single day
• whole idea of teachers being more strict at beginning then get more relaxed
• be consistent even when you have a sub

Make student learning the center of all

• classroom rules are there to benefit them, important that the students understand that
• goal directed language

Accountability means consistency

• set the barà what are the goals our students are working toward?
• map their pathà how are students going to achieve our goals?
• be consistent by reinforcing expectations
• for students below expectations ask three objective questions:

o   ask the student what they are doing

o   ask the student to restate the expectation

o   ask the student what the consequence is for being below expectations

Slide Share- Check it Out

I absolutely love this slide share because we all have that one friend who is just the worst storyteller ever. I myself tend to ramble on and give every pointless detail when telling a story. These tips are simple and will make your story much more entertaining for whoever the audience might be.

FinCon 15: Engage Your Audience With The Best Storytelling Techniques from PolicyGenius Inc

6- wikis & productivity tools

The school website that I looked at was Elms Elementary School and it included class pages from prekindergarten all the way to fifth grade. All of the class pages had calendars posted, announcements about school events (fundraising, PTA, ect.), and basic contact information for the teacher including their name, room number, grade, email, and subjects that they teach. For the younger grades the pages had the spelling words listed, and different announcements regarding homework and events going on at the school. One class page for a 5^th grade math class had a symbaloo with lots of different websites, the page also had a list of resources for the students. I was surprised that the class pages had so much information that people can see publicly. I was most surprised that the teachers contact information was so detailed, even including their classroom number.

When I become a teacher I will try to use technology, and more specifically productivity tools, often to more effectively and efficiently accomplish my professional responsibilities. Productivity tools make everyday tasks that teachers are responsible for, including planning, documenting lessons, grading, record keeping, and communication, much easier and more effective. Some specific tools that I plan on using in my classroom are diigo (social bookmarking tool), Microsoft word, google calendar, and email. Putting things in digital form has the huge benefit of being able to share with others, including other teachers, students, and even parents. So using technology doesn’t just benefit the teacher, but can benefit many others because things in digital form can be easily shared.

I learned a lot from working on the last assignment, Web Evaluation Wiki. I have never had any experience with wikis prior to this assignment, so I acquired the skill of mastering how to create a wiki and what it’s all about. It was fairly easy to navigate the website, and I figured it out quickly. It was nice that it wasn’t too complicated, but I was also a little disappointed that it was very plain. In the past when making my blog, website, or even a newsletter, I like to use lots of color and background themes. This site didn’t really have any formatting tools. The most stressful part of this assignment was working as a group, because two people in my group went out of town for the weekend so we weren’t able to work out a time for all of us to meet. I felt like it would have been less stressful for me to just do it on my own, especially since we didn’t have a lot of class time to work on it as a group. The skills and experience that I have gained from making my own wiki are applicable to my future career as a teacher because wikis are a wonderful tool to use in the classroom.

5- Web 2.0 Tools, & Concept Map

It’s disappointing that Web 2.0 tools are no longer an option in classrooms due to ELA standards, because I believe that some of these tools could be very useful in the classroom. As mentioned in the podcast, Web 2.0 tools provide interaction for students and include social networking, blogs, wikis, twitter and YouTube. YouTube can be very useful in the classroom to look up relevant videos to share with the students. When I took Holocaust my senior year in high school, my teacher would use many different videos from YouTube and it helped me better understand the material since I am a visual learner. Blogs are another tool that would be useful in the classroom because they allow students to display their work for others to see. It gives more value to the students work because instead of just turning it in for a grade, they can display it for an audience to see. Diigo is another awesome tool for the classroom that allows students to share resources, collectively take notes, ask teachers direct questions on particular articles, and carry out conversations with each other.

So if these Web 2.0 tools are so great, what’s holding us back from using them? Student safety is a major concern with using Web 2.0 tools. However there are solutions like the class using a shared account, teachers reviewing the sites before class, and even using password protected sites

There is also equipment needed to be able to effectively use these tools. Of course the basic components of a computer are needed, like the monitor, system unit containing the CPU and RAM, storage with an optical drive, hard disk drive, and USB port for Flash Drive, keyboard, and mouse. Getting internet shouldn’t be a problem because almost all schools have their own server. For most Web 2.0 tools, everything mentioned above should suffice since all you need is a working computer and internet access. However, to be able to show the class YouTube videos, that requires a projector and speakers.

Remind 101 is a great web 2.0 tool that I would consider using when I become a teacher. I first heard of this tool as a high school student, and lots of my teachers used it in their classroom. As a freshman in college, I thought that I would never have another class that incorporated remind 101 because college courses are supposed to be more independent, and centered on self-learning. Sure enough my English professor first semester used remind 101, and it really shouldn’t have surprised me because it is such a neat tool.

One of Remind 101’s slogans is “safe, simple, and free,” and those three things are very true. Remind 101 is a free application that allows teachers to communicate with their students, and parents instantaneously. It’s like an app that allows teachers to text with the students and parents, without giving one another cell phone numbers or private information. The teacher sets up a class, receiving a class code. The teacher tells the students and/or parents the class code, so they can text a number with the specified class code. Once the student/parent texts the code then they will be set up to be a part of the class. Teachers can send out information or reminders through text message, without knowing any students phone numbers, and the students won’t know the teachers phone number. This is a great tool for communication because in today’s society, most people keep their phone at their fingertips, and texting is a huge means of communication. It’s a fast, simple way to get information to your students or parents right away, while keeping all personal information private.

I didn’t feel very prepared for the Concept Mapping assignment. I have never been able to learn by mapping things out in that way, so creating one was a challenge for me. I think it would have helped if the website was working in class last week, and we got the chance to learn how to work the website. I had difficulty logging into my account and then once I finally did I couldn’t figure out how to make the concept map. I ended up just making one in a Microsoft Word document, and then having my partner help figure out how to replicate the word document into the website. The good thing about this assignment is that since it was challenging for me, and I learned a lot about concept mapping, which will be very useful once I become a teacher. Even though I personally don’t learn well from looking at concept maps, I know that at least some of my students will, so it will be important to know how to create an effective concept map that is easy to follow and understand.

#4- Exploring the limitless education tools online

Standard MAFS.2.G.1: Reason with shapes and their attributes.

http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_169_g_1_t_2.html?open.instructions

This site has public access, and would be a perfect tool to use in the classroom to learn this particular standard. This is a virtual manipulative that lets the students create their own patterns by recognizing the differences between shapes. As mentioned in chapter 8, this tool falls into the category of content-specific software. This is a math software, and more specifically a geometry virtual manipulative. I would allow the class to individually go on the site to participate, and I would need to make sure that the computers used have the latest version of Java software to be able to access the site.

                                                                                                           

Throughout middle and high school, I have been assigned tons of research based papers. When researching I have always utilized google, and it is by far my favorite search engine. If I was looking for something very particular I would use google scholar and the advanced search tools. When I wasn’t using google scholar, I would still only use the web pages ending in .edu, or .org to make sure that my source was reliable. This was actually mentioned in the podcast, that it’s important to evaluate to URL, and domain. The podcast also mentioned the acronym ABCDT (author, bias, content, design, and technical elements) to help evaluate the sites when researching. I found this very interesting because most of the time I don’t consider all of those things. While some of my methods were mentioned in the podcast, I learned about new ones to evaluate websites even more thoroughly.

I was surprised how almost every search, what I was looking for was within the first few results. I was expecting it to take a lot more work, and that I was going to have to really search for the things listed. I have searched the web many times, so I don’t feel that I learned any particular skills through this assignment in that regard, however I did learn more about the standards by figuring out which one applied to each web search.

I have created a couple of my own web hunt challenges for you to try out:

-           -  Find a different math manipulative involving shapes

-           -  Find a website that explores Richard Nixon’s career as President

#3- Third time the charm?

I feel most prepared to meet standards RL.7 and RI.7. Both of these standards are “consuming tech standards” and I feel like I have enough knowledge about incorporating technology into literature and informational text to adequately meet these standards. The standard that I feel I need more preparation for is W/WHST.6 which includes using technology to produce and publish writing.

Based on Chapter 9, I would like to use several technology software/applications that I read about in my classroom. I will most definitely be using email on a regular basis to communicate with my students’ parents. During class I will incorporate resources for research and discovery, like search engines (Google), mashups (Google Earth), and multimedia (videos, graphics, audio). When using these tools it will be important for me to remind students how to correctly use other people’s work without copyrighting or plagiarizing. I will also need to keep digital citizenship concepts in mind, and make sure that I am using these tools in an appropriate way that furthers my students learning experience. The age range that I hope to teach is 7-8, so some internet resources like discussion groups and chats would not be appropriate for me to use with students of this age. With this being said, I can use discussion groups with other teachers. This can be very beneficial to have this communication to share ideas and opinions with other people in my profession.

I loved working on the Newsletter Design assignment and learned a lot through the process. I loved that we had the freedom to be creative and design the kind of newsletter that we wanted, as long as it followed the rubric. The things that I learned from this assignment are very important for my future career, because as an elementary teacher I will be sending out weekly newsletters to my students parents. It took me a lot of trial and error to format the newsletter with columns. Eventually I figured it all out, and gained a lot more knowledge about putting columns in word documents. The thing that I didn’t particularly like about the assignment is that it had to pertain to a particular grade and age. I understand that completing the assignment in this way is practical since a newsletter does concern one grade level, but it was difficult for me because I haven’t gotten into my major yet and ended up spending a lot of time researching what kind of information would be age appropriate to include. I’m still working on my newsletter, but below is what I have gotten done thus far.