Week 5: Educator's Blog

     As I was reading through a high school teacher's blog, I noticed how many different categories that teacher had posted on the blog.  While looking through the categories, one of the mathematics posts caught my attention.  The blog, Trigonometry Applied, was the first blog that I found interesting.  It was cool to see that the teacher did not just have the students sitting in the classroom listening to a lecture, but instead had the students go outside, find an object, measure the object, create an equation with an unknown factor, and then solve the problem using the knowledge that they had learned within the classroom.  While the students were still doing their homework, they were able to spend sometime time outside in the sun.
     One thing that I learned from this blog, is that hands-on activities do not have to be just indoors, but the students can also learn while being outside as well.  These kind of activities, where the students are exploring the possibilities for themselves, is an effective way of helping the students learn the curriculum.

Weekly Reflections 3-4

Reflection #3
     I learned at an early age that every teacher has a different style of teaching.  However today, as I sat in chapel, I noticed that teachers also has his or her own style of connecting the content to real life through jokes, references to the past, or some other method.  Sometimes they can connect the content to the present day, cultural movements of the past, or attempt to convey the content through really bad jokes.  Unfortunately, sometimes the students do not understand the connection at all and because of this the teacher needs to be sure and use terminology that is appropriate for their age and generation.  For instance, simply talking about the cultural movement in the 60's may not be enough information for someone to connect the reference to your content.  So when making a connection with the students, the teacher needs to make sure that the students will understand the connection being made between the content and the reference.

Reflection #4
     So today as I was playing around with the SMART Board software on my computer, I found that the interactive software can also be used without having a notebook open.  For instance, I can magnify, highlight, circle, cover, draw, calculate, and so many other things while on my desktop.  Also, when Firefox was having technical difficulties and wouldn't zoom in on a website, I was able to use the magnifying tool on the SMART task bar, which allowed me to read the web page.  Now I have been using the task bar for other things such as using the shortcut to the calculator, the cover screen for helping me focus on reading specific points, and the pen to draw stick people.  Although the stick people do not help me with homework, it is still fun to do.

Week 4: SMART BOARD: Knowledge and Questions?

     I learned many things while watching the presentations on the SMART Board.  For instance, when playing a review game, the teacher should get the entire class involved by having everyone answer the questions on paper while one student is at the board.  Also, technology does not always work the way you want.  While watching others use the features of the interactive white board, I learned how to use the magic pen, highlighter, locking feature, indefinite cloner, and how to link sound and video to an object.

Questions I still have concerning the board:
     What does the page recording do?  How to keep the lesson flowing when technology does not respond correctly?

Assignment 2: Working with the SMART Board

     In this assignment, I downloaded the Koosh Ball Template and used some questions that would make a math review for 3rd grade students.  I will be using a number of features for the activity: two of which include, sounds that have been linked with objects and some interactive games that came with the SMART board software.
     Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making was the NETS standard for students that I focused on when making this game.  This is standard 4 and states, "Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources."

     Design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments was the NETS standard for teachers that I followed.  This is standard number two and it states that, "Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S."

     The interactive white board can be of great help within the classroom because there are a variety of teaching methods.  For example, a teacher is able to use plenty of visuals, which will help students by seeing the picture along with the words.  Also being able to connect with your students through technology will help while you are teaching the lesson.

Weekly Reflections 1-2

Reflection #1
     In most of my classes, I have had to use technology in order to complete assignments.  I have used Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Excel.  Now in Environmental Science,  my sister has to use more advanced functions within Excel.  As I was helping her find some of these functions, I realized that there were a lot of functions in Excel that I had never used before and had no idea how to use them.  I decided to go through and figure out what some of them did.  I not only figured out how to use the t-test, but I also learned that Excel can do calculations for some high level math.  I was pretty impressed at how far Excel had come since I learned how to use it in 2003.

Reflection #2
     This week I spent a lot of time playing with the smart board software.  It's amazing what can be done with this technology.  I decided to choose a game from the website and then when I finished writing a question, I asked my roommate to answer them.  It was fun to work out all of the errors in the game.  It took plenty of time, but the time seemed to go by pretty quickly.  There are so many different features on this software and I am sure that I have not even figured out half of what can be done with this software.

The Interactive Whiteboard

Introducing Interactive Whiteboards into Schools 

     In this article, the author discusses the many different type of teachers who began to use the interactive whiteboard.  I found it very interesting in reading all of the different reactions that the teachers had to these interactive whiteboards.  Although I knew that some of the older teachers do not like change and often reject it, I was a little surprised at some of the reactions toward the board.

      Some of the teachers were very excited and eager about using the new interactive whiteboards; whereas, other teachers believed that traditional studying is the only way to teach. These teachers think that when the student knows more about technology than the teacher, the teacher loses his/her credibility and that using this new boards takes more time to prepare for each class period.  Many other teachers also believe that there has been enough change within the education system; these new boards are just another change to deal with and these teachers feel they cannot handle anymore change.  

     I think that these interactive whiteboards are amazing and should be used within education.  They do not hinder the students' academic study and they seem to increase student participation within the class.  The author also states that many schools who started to use the interactive whiteboards began to see improvements after two years.  These boards are entertaining for the students and will help to keep their attention in class.