Final PLE Posting

1) The most valueable aspect of learning to use the PLE was knowing that I could use one in the future to communicate with the parents of my future students.
2) I least liked having to write so many reflections. It got boring after awhile.
3) There is a very good chance that I will use a blog in the future. Especially to communicate more easily with my family.

Doing

I talked with my mom (who is in her forties) about identity theft on the internet. It was a positive, easy experience overall because she's a good listener. I think it was somewhat valuable, but she already knew most of the things I told her.

Watching

Watching: I watched some interesting videos about identity theft. This caught my attention because sometimes I like to buy things online. I know now that I need to be really careful and only enter my credit card information when I trust the site.

Media Safety-Reading response

1) I read "Game Over" by Stephen F. Powell.
2) Violent video games can offend the spirit and waste your time.
3) I will teach my future children and/or students to listen to the spirit in order to judge which video games are appropriate and which are not.
4) I can remind them that our time is precious and that we should use it to do things that the spirit would have us do.

Math Patterns Activity

*Standard 2, objective 2 a
*Technology: National Library of Virtual Manipulatives- Color Patterns: http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_184_g_2_t_1.html?from=topic_t_1.html (This game gives kids color patterns which they have to finish. )
*Pedagodgy: Have the kids explore the pattern game on their own. Give them different colored clay and let them create their own patterns and explain them to their classmates.

Letters and Sounds Activity

*Kindergarten Standard 4, objective 1 a
*Technology used: Starfall: http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/index/load.htm?f (This is an interactive technology that lets kids see different letters, hear what they sound like and pair them with a picture( ex: A=apple).
*Pedagogy: Give the children different letters to explore on Starfall. Have them re-create one of the letters on their own using clay, markers or other art media. Have them write the letter and then draw a picture of an object that has the same starting sound. For example, a child could build the letter B out of clay and also create a banana out of the clay.

Digital Camera Project

Technology: Digital Camera
Pedagogy: Demonstrating/practicing emotions and deciphering them in pairs, experiential/active learning by taking pictures of emotions in people around them and Creating/organizing a poster displaying different emotions.
Content: Kindergarten Standard 1 Objective 3 a: Identify and express ideas, information, feelings in a variety of ways.

The pictures you see are examples of emotion pictures that the children can take. Can you guess which one is excited, angry, and sad?

What I learned from the research

One of the most interesting things I learned from the research is that a variety of technology should be available for children to use. This will enable them to exercise independence by making choices as well as help with different preferences and learning styles. Having a lot of different options available also allows students to explore and make more connections in their brains.
Technology is also great for socialization and collaboration. For example, when kids are exploring on computers, they talk to each other about what they're doing and ask and give help when needed.

WHAT IF EVERY CHILD HAD A LAPTOP?

I think it would be extremely beneficial if every child had a laptop or if they at least had a laptop in their home. Using new technology is fun and exciting as well as educational. When the children play the games, not only are they learning how the computer works, they are also learning academic skills like reading and math. Having a laptop would also make it possible for the children to communicate with others in a safe environment.

Technology Inventory

The kindergarten classroom I visited surprised me because of its lack of technology. Also, the teacher seemed uncomfortable when I mentioned the word "technology". She allowed me to look around the room and I found a couple computers, a music player, a TV, a VCR/DVD player and a digital camera. Although these things were accessible, it was clear that they were not implementing in the classroom as much as they could be. I would have liked to explain more about how technology could be used in the classroom, but the teacher seemed preoccupied and uninterested.
I want to hope that there was more technology in the classroom that I just didn't notice, but the teacher seemed busy. However, she did tell me that the class frequently used the tape player to sing and simultaneously do actions with the music at group time. I thought that was a good use of technology-especially since I love music so much.

My peers' virtual tours

From my peers' blogs, I learned that Google earth can be used for a variety of grade levels. It can be as simple or as complicated and intricate as you want it to be. I saw a plant tour which was great for older kids, whereas my group's tour was simpler and about animals and continents. Google earth is a great tool because it's adaptable for different grade levels.

Animals of the Seven Continents

I would use my project to teach kids fun facts about animals and to teach them the different continents. My project has art, music, writing and dance ideas as well that could be incorporated into the classroom.

Google Earth Reflection

Through Google Earth, I learned how to locate and view different places that I have never been before. I also was able to find familiar places like my home in California. I think Google Earth could be a very useful tool for teaching kids about spatial skills and directions. Here is a kmz link to the seven wonders of the world. I think it would apply to teaching kindergarteners because it connects to Standard 3, objective 3 in the Utah Core Curriculum. It would teach them a lot about the facinating world that they live in and give them a way to visit those places vicariously.

Seven Wonders of the World

Reflection on Digital storytelling

I think it would be easy to adapt this project for kindergarten. The kids could draw pictures for the movie (like we did in our group) or they could take their own pictures. The teacher would have to act as the leader and facilitator for the project, but it would center around the children's own work and ideas.

The viewing of other digital storytelling projects...

I learned and laughed a lot by viewing my peers' digital storytelling projects. I realized that this project could be adapted in many ways to suit the needs of an elementary class. For example, it could be a collection of the children's hand-drawn pictures (like my group's project) or it could be a more sophisticated filming project like Devin's project with music and real life pictures.

Fractured Fairy Tales

Digital Storytelling

I learned this week that digital storytelling isn't this big, hard scary thing that seems impossible. It's actually a really creative and easy way to teach.

Fractured Nursery Rhymes

Reflection

Through viewing my peers' tech-savvy teacher articles, I learned that there are so many ways to make use of technology-especially in a teaching environment. Everyone had different ideas for experiments and used the technology tools a little differently. This project opened my eyes to the fact that technology will give me so many options as teacher.

Tech Savvy Teacher

Article by: Dorothy Mitchell, Erica Jarvis, Jennilyn Lowe

As Tech savvy Teachers we have been looking for ways to implement technology in the classroom to enhance the learning of our students. For this specific article we looked at the Utah First grade core curriculum Standard 3 Objective 2a. Then we decided on an experiment we could do using the computer program Logger Pro 3 and a Temperature probe that connects to the computer through the USB port.

We set up the experiment by gathering 5 different paper cups with water at different temperature states including: ice, ice water, drinking fountain water, room temperature water, and boiling water. Then we made a prediction and put the cups in order from coldest to hottest. Then to test our hypothesis we used the Temperature Probe and Logger Pro 3 to collect temperature data. Then we saved the data in a graph to compare temperatures.

Predictions

Testing the water

Using Logger-Pro 3 on the computer

We found that our prediction was correct. The order that cups should be in was: ice, ice water, fountain water, room temperature water, and then boiling water. The following images are the graphs taken from Logger Pro 3. They show the temperature differences between the hottest and coldest water states.

Ice Graph

Boiling water Graph













The logger-Pro 3 and the temperature probe can help enhance students' learning of science in many ways. We just showed how it can help with learning about temperature and states of water. The graphs make it easy for students to see the progression of the temperature change. The graphs also visually illustrate the temperature differences. The temperature probe provides a fun, hands-on experience for the students and may help improve their technology skills.

Fair Use chart

http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm#Fair%20Use%20Matrix%20for%20Teachers

Fair Use

I'm really glad that I learned all of that information about Fair Use. I had no idea that there were so many rules about copyrights. Now that I'm aware of them, I plan to follow them to the best of my ability when I'm a teacher.

WEB 2.0

Web 2.0 will be great to use as a teacher because I will be able to communicate with parents easier. If I send something home with my students for their parents to sign, I could back it up by posting the same information on my blog. It would also be a good way to let parents know what their kids are learning at school.

LDS.org

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=e419fb40e21cef00VgnVCM1000001f5e340aRCRD

My Blog

YAY! I made a blog...I am so proud of myself!!!