Tuesday September 28th

Technological pedagogical content knowledge
This was a rather long article that talked about TPACK and the many dimensions of integrating technology. This article helped me gain a better understanding of what the TPACK theory and pedagogical approach is and how to use it. I will use this article in order to gain a deeper understanding of the content and how I will use it in my own classroom.

Constructing learning: Using technology to support teaching for understanding
This article was very interesting how it emphasized the use of integration of content knowledge with technology. The article also talked about infusing many different knowledge and experiences into the use and knowledge gaining component of using technology within the curriculum. I really liked this article because it talked about how to make learning and using technology a real experience for children to help develop their understanding in the subjects.

Empowering igeneration
This article was about how teachers can effectively integrate technology in the classroom and connect many other real life experiences through the web. The programs designed allow the children to become more engaged with their environment and help manufacture a deeper understanding about the world around them. I would use this article as an idea basis to get my students more involved in current events around the world.

Earth science - 4th grade - interaction on the web
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/activity/
http://www.hsv.com/scitech/earthsci/quake.html
I would use these sites when talking about volcanic activity, I could show them this interactive map that shows the up to date activity around the world. We would also be able to investigate specific volcanoes around the world and discuss. This was used in one of my classes and it was a real eye opener, it really made me aware of all of the activity on the earth.

Tuesday September 21st

Over the weekend I read the article "A Range of Use: Technology in Learning" by Cheryl Lemke which talked about the importance of incorporating technology in the classroom. She also wrote about the many different ways that technology can be used and how it will challenge students knowledge and bring them to new levels of understanding. From this article I will take a new understanding about how technology can open new doors of learning for children.

I also read the article from "library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/" that discussed what it means to evaluate important information from sites and to question the validity of sites when using them especially in the education profession. From this article I have a new found respect and understanding of what types of sites to use and how to ensure that I am using true and valid information from reliable sources.

This is actually a really cool site that we visited today in class called, cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/Collaborative+Tools which is a large table of different pages and resources such as wiki and wordle that allow users to participate in a host of different programs. This is an extremely useful site when looking for any sites that will help integrate technology into the classroom more or to get children more familiar with technology. I would many different sites listed on this web page to help me get information out to my classroom and parents, as well as help organize information for the children as well as my lesson plan.

The site mindmeister.c is a great site that is very inventive and is the host of wordle. I really like this program and I would love to use it in my classroom to display different important concepts as well as use it as a homework assignment that kids can work on at home and have fun with exploring their writing and response skills.

Tuesday Sept. 14 Classwork

Discovery Ed from ideal.az
Great resource for different lesson plans, includes full and clips of videos that would be great to use in the classroom. Not only that, but there is also a lesson plan library full of 200+ lesson plans at the ready! (Found under teacher center) So Cool!!

Tuesday Septermber 14th Homework

From the article, Connecting the digital dots, I have decided that in my classroom I will provide opportunities for students to develop their digital literacy skills by challenging them to access the internet on safe assigned sites that will enable them to learn more about the topic that is being discussed in class. They will also be challenged to type up their big end of the unit assignments on their own in Microsoft word that includes clipart. I would like my students to be presented with many opportunities to learn something new about the computer and how it can help them accomplish many things in relation to education.

Social Networking Project:
From the Myspace article I learned how social networking operates, that is essentially is a domino effect as people add friends into their friend space. I think that the way that myspace works is quite common sense, it is the way we make most personal conections in the real world, however being online can open up the social networks to places that were unaccessible to people typically. This article makes me wonder how this type of social networking will impact our children and their ability to make and facilitate friendships with people in the real world.
Social networking is dangerous for children. Like many sites on the internet, it is hard to identify who the user is communicating with and what their intentions are. How will myspace propose to stop the illegal and improper conduct that occurs on the site? Myspace is the host of many different pages including one for music and for public opinion and education. These pages are one of the benefits that a social networking site has to offer users.
Teacher's use of Social networking sites:
From the articles I read it seems like educators can use myspace and facebook as a positive tool to stay in contact with past students, and to model appropriate behavior. When using myspace and facebook in those positive ways, i think as teachers we can use them to be change agents.
The use of social networking sites by teachers in the classroom is a tricky situation and should be approached cautiously. Teachers need to make decisions that will benefit children by teaching them how to behave appropriately and to also not act inappropriately. What happens if one teacher uses myspace or facebook for the wrong reasons, how would that look on us as professionals?
Teachers are using social networking in the classroom in many positive ways. They are using it to show students how to social network with others, stay connected, and how to behave appropriately in cyberspace.
However, teachers need to keep in mind the responsibility aspect of the social networking site and how dangerous it can be. Social networking on the internet is a public matter, it is important to be mindful of what image is being portrayed by that individual and the actions taken on the internet.

Thursday the 9th

The first website of today was rainforesteducation.com, which is a great resource and reference for students to go to when learning about the rainforest. The site is very interactive with videos, pictures and graphics and informative text.
The second website of today is a resource for teachers to find handouts that advocate new technology integration in the classroom.
The third website of today is the answergarden.ch. This is a great classroom activity that allows users/students to answer a question that the teachers poses and submit it to the site, and see a representation of everyone's answers in an aesthetically pleasing way.

I have signed up for 3 newsletters that will help me develop as a professional.
-EdCompass
This newsletter is geared toward those teachers that integrate technology into their classroom and about using smart board and interactions.
-Edutopia
This newsletter focuses on Integrated Studies, Project Learning, Social & Emotional Learning, Technology Integration, Teacher Development, Comprehensive Assessment. This newsletter was set up by the George Lucas Educational Foundation and brings up important topics in education today.
-eschoolnews
This newsletter is another resource to learn more about integrating technology into the classroom.

Teaching Survey Results

My results from the teaching survey are not that surprising. I scored high in formal authority, personal model, facilitator and delegator. And I scored moderate in expert. From this survey I can see that I am very much a dictator in charge...well not really. I like to have control of my classroom and I want children to have the knowledge that they deserve and require. However I want my children to learn creatively, to find the knowledge themselves and have it later reinforced by me. So although I may have scored high in formal authority, I do not necessarily think it is a bad thing, and I am very pleased to get a high mark in facilitator.

Tuesday September 7th

The articles we were assigned to read this week were about plagiarism. The articles talked about the laws regarding intellectual property and its uses. Another article dispelled many myths that surround copyright laws, including the proper use of other works in the classroom. Looking at the state standards I learned that children are assessed and are expected to learn about proper citation laws and procedures at a very early age, which I find fascinating. The last website that was included was one that will be a great resource for finding free media to utilize in the classroom without being charged with copyright infringement allegations.

Thursday September 2nd

I think the website Voki.com is a really cool site that allows the user to enable a speaking cartoon voice to represent their written words. This is also a great resource for students to find a connection that they can identify with more when learning material that is difficult for them.
The website sketch.odopod.com is an awesome resource for kids and students to access that will allow them to express their creativity and release some of their frustrations. This site is designed for users to create their own artistry and publish it on the web.
On the education website "Education world" there is a wonderful article titled "Are you a techno Constructivist" found on http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech005.shtml. This article is a great resource for any teacher who is looking for a way to get technology into their classroom. The article talks about how we as teachers need to be more inclusive with the use of technology in the classroom. The article gives 4 distinct and helpful steps for which teachers can use to make their classrooms more technologically savvy.
It is amazing that on the web there are so many different resources for students and teachers to use when creating projects or lesson plans. The websites that host free photos and free musis, sites such as, flicker.com, freetech4teachers.com, and projecthelp.wikipages.com, are all great resources for teachers to find free and usable data.