What I Learned from Other's In-Class Presentations

Today in class, we had the opportunity to get in groups and give our slideshare presentations personally. After hearing five other people's slideshare presentations, the two best ideas that I learned about were the following: One can use something as simple as Powerpoint to present a lesson on weather...I thought that this was a really good idea, since something such as a technological visual that all the students can see is captivating to them. Finally, the second idea that I liked best was to use Google Earth to talk about something as specific as the natural wonders of the world. This is an effective way of bringing these natural wonders to life, as they see where exactly they are located through this wonderful computer program.

Reflection on Internet Readings

For my fourth article, I chose to read "Fighting Internet Filth", by Mario Hipol, in the August 2005 issue of the Ensign. From this and the other readings, I learned that one really doesn't have to be a computer expert in order to protect their family from the dangers on the internet. There are several simple, yet effective precautions that one can take to keep their entire family safe. Simple things like making sure you have an internet filter, bookmarking the main sites and/or search engines that you'll need, putting the computer in a public room in the house and not in a private room/area, and so forth. Another thing that really stuck out to me was limiting internet/media use each day, so as not to let virtual reality become a reality, as Elder Ballard expressed.
When a parent-from what I've learned through reading these articles-I plan to implement what I've learned (as stated in the above paragraph)directly to my children. Not only am I going to put our computer in a public room of the house (such as the living room), but I'm going to limit the time spent on the internet, as well as place bookmarks on our internet. In this way, the chances of my children clicking into a bad site will lower significantly. Of course I will talk to them about why we do so, so that they don't feel like we're just being strict. I will be sure that my children understand the positive and negative aspects of the internet, so that they can use their agency for good if they so choose.
As far as being able to be of positive influence over family and friends regarding this issue, I think that by being a good example and practicing these teachings myself would help a lot. I think that the decisions that one makes on the internet and elsewhere (movie choices, music preferences) says a lot about that person to their family and friends. And by seeing how these choices effects how you are as a person might and can influence family and friends to want to make similar if not the same decisions as you.

What I learned from other's use of technology

After going through a couple other slideshare presentations that illustrated how others integrated technology with their lessons, is that it can be done in a way that is simple, yet very effective. For example, there was one lesson that I liked in particular that went over the sight and spelling words' phonics sounds for that week by putting them up on a screen that all of the children could see. They were able to come right up to the screen and point out what they thought would be the answer(s), and thus it became a technological, interactive activity. When I put my lesson together, I wasn't sure that first-graders could go on Google Earth themselves and search for locations, but I think that I could have enabled them to do that by prepping a computer for each of them in the computer lab...on each computer, the virtual tour of the continents would already be set up for them to follow. By looking at others' lessons, I saw that even if it's by the click of a mouse, little children can participate in technology-oriented lessons.

Globe presentation

The Globe

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Google Earth Lesson

For my first technology lesson with my first grade class, I decided to use Google Earth in order to give them a visual of the globe while they learned about continents. I first zoomed in from a complete view of the globe into Utah and then into their school, Jordan Ridge Elementary. After using this as the hook of the lesson (the kids got pretty excited!), I zoomed out again, followed by zooming in to a couple places outside of the States that the students had been to. This was followed by taking the class on a virtual tour of the 7 continents. After going over this, I helped them memorize the 7 continents through a chant/song. Overall, it was fun, and I'd say the class was pretty entranced by Google Earth!

Lesson using technology

A simple but effective idea that was brought to my attention today out at my assigned school, was using the new projectors for shared reading with the class. By placing the book under the projector, the whole class can see the pictures, read together as they see the teacher's finger guiding them the whole time, and in the end receive an effective shared reading experience. I personally had never seen a projector that one could put something under and it not come out looking like something does under an overhead projector, so this was and is a great idea to me.

Classroom Technology Inventory

In the last three days that I've been with the first-grade class that I was assigned to, there isn't a whole lot of technology that I've seen thus far. What I have seen is that every classroom (that I've been in so far anyway) has a projector that projects the entire image that falls under it's lense, and not just the shadow like the standard/older projectors do. Personally, I think it's amazing, and a great way to present object lessons to the class so that they don't have to come and gather around a table or something of the like.
The other bit of technology that I've seen in my assigned school are the Mac computers in the school computer lab. I was happy to see the multiple learning programs and games that have been installed/downloaded onto these computers for the students' learning enrichment. They have a lot of fun, and at the same time are learning critical thinking skills.
So when I did the technology inventory, I really couldn't say much. The above are about the only technologies that I've seen so far. The teachers don't seem to use it a lot, which I'm hoping will change.

Ancient Wonders of the World Virtual Tour

Here is the link to my virtual plan:

http://sites.google.com/site/ancientwondersoftheworld/my-files

TPACK for Virtual Tour

Content:

In the sixth grade social studies standard 1, objective 4, point a, it asks to identify innovations in manmade structures over time, and their influence on meeting needs. In the standard itself, it says to analyze how the earliest civilizations created technologies and systems to meet community and personal needs. Each one of the world wonders in this virtual tour addressed needs of the community or a certain individual, like with the Taj Mahal or the Giza Pyramid. The other two sites met community needs, and all of these structures were newly created technology in architecture.

Pedagogy:

This activity calls for the students having to compare how these ancient wonders would have been built today, etc., therefore asking them to make contrasts and critically analyze. They will also make connections between the past and the present. The teacher would be helping them with guiding questions and instructions in the process.

Technology:

The students will be using Google Earth to locate these sites, as well as use the internet to research the answers to the activity questions for each one. This is a valuable skill to master for more complex research projects/reports that they will do in the future.

Virtual Tour Plan

Location	Activity	Google Earth Content
1. Giza Pyramid, Cairo, Egypt	Find out why it was built, and make a strategy of how you would build something like this using the modern tools we have today, as opposed to what they used back then.	Students will find this location.
2. Taj Mahal, Agra, India	Find out the history behind the construction of the Taj Majal (why and how it was built), and how many tourists it attracts to India each year. What does it have in common with the Giza Pyramid in Cairo?	Students will find this location.
3. Great Wall of China	Find out how long the wall is in miles. Then, figure out where the wall would end up if it started here in Provo and headed straight to the east.	Students will find this location; They will locate where the wall would end if it started in Provo and went eastward.
4. Colosseum, Rome, Italy	Find out what it used to be used for, and what it's used for now. If you could hold an event there, what would it be?	Students will find this location.
Details of image overlay / path / polygon:	There will be image overlays of each one of the wonders in this tour. There will also be a path that goes along the Great Wall of China, as well as one the length of that from Provo eastward.

Boa Constrictor Link

The following is our video, Shel Silverstein's "Boa Constrictor":

"Boa Constrictor"

TPCK's connection to "Boa Constrictor"

* What is the content you’ll be using in your lesson?
In this lesson, the content being taught come from the 3rd Grade Language Arts Standard 1, Objective 2, which says: Develop language by viewing media and presenting. By viewing this media presentation (digital story) of Shel Silverstein's "Boa Constrictor", the students will learn of the possibilities that exist with expressing poetry using technology and media sources.
* What is the pedagogy you’ll be using and why is it a good fit with the content?
The pedagogy being used fits right in with the content, because through using Shel Silverstein's poem, they will have been taught how to visually interpret poetry in their own way. After making an interpretation of poems, which will help them in developing their language, they will be required to make their own storyboards. As they do this, they'll be guided by the teacher's written instructions that will help them in their own presentations step by step.
* What is the technology you’ll be using and why is it a good fit with the
content and pedagogy?
The technology that will be used is Photostory software, where they will bring their interpretations of poems/stories to life with added music, and their own voice recordings for the narration. These things put together with their drawings that represent their chosen poems/stories will be a good representation of their learning about how to present media. In the process of doing all of this, they will have some guidance from the teacher, but will also be helping each other towards making the same end product in their groups.

Tech Savvy Teacher and a Space Lesson

These days, anyone who is not familiar with computers and other technology sources, is limited as to their ways to communicate with others. To teach in the current classroom setting, as it’s always been, teachers need to teach on the students’ level. With the popular use of video games and other technological forms of entertainment, why not become a ‘Tech Savvy’ teacher, through which one and all students’ attention can be grabbed during the lesson at hand? The following lesson is simple, but utilizes sources of technology to teach students about the following state standard for third grade science:

Standard 1
Students will understand that the shape of Earth and the moon are spherical and that Earth rotates on its axis to produce the appearance of the sun and moon moving through the sky.

Objective 1

Describe the appearance of Earth and the moon.

1. Describe the shape of Earth and the moon as spherical.
2. Explain that the sun is the source of light that lights the moon.
3. List the differences in the physical appearance of Earth and the moon as viewed from space.

To fulfill this objective, it is obvious that to be able to provide good descriptions of the earth and the moon, an external resource would need to be found in order to do so. Looking through the www.uen.org website, I found a website that is quite useful. Looking at steps ‘b’ and ‘c’ of the objective stated above, I was pleasantly surprised to find that one can find a clear visual that describes each one. For example, to explain that the sun is the source of light that lights the moon, a child could see from the first visual below that it is because the moon orbits around the earth as the earth orbits around the sun; whatever light found on the moon is because of it coming between the sun and the earth. To illustrate this even clearer, go to http://www.fearofphysics.com/SunMoon/eclipse.html. On this website, this visual is brought to life because it’s a moving visual of the moon and the sunlight that comes in contact with it as it moves past the sun. As the students watch this, they will then be able to describe this process in their own words, having observed and analyzed the seen movements.

The top left picture shows an outsiders view of the earth, moon, and sun, which is a great tool to nourish understanding of the moon’s movement in sync with that of the earth around the sun.

To get an additional visual of how the moon moves on an axis around the earth, the picture below can be seen in movement at http://www.fearofphysics.com/SunMoon/fromsun.html.

The above visuals have all helped clarify the movement and appearance moreover for the moon than of the earth, so leading the students to the following link (that brings the below image to life) that shows a view of the earth from the moon would be vital for their full understanding of this objective: http://www.fearofphysics.com/SunMoon/frommoon.html. (The green dot represents a city on earth, as is made clear on the video.)

After seeing these videos/visuals, the students will have a pretty clear idea as to the appearance of the earth and moon from space. They will be able to describe the stages of light that both the earth and the moon go through as each day and night passes by. Making these connections and establishing that the moon’s relation is to the earth as the earth’s is to the sun will be what students accomplish in this part of the lesson. Then, another video off of the already-used website that shows the phases of the moon can be found at http://www.fearofphysics.com/SunMoon/phases.html.

To address the remaining part of this objective, we need to talk about the earth and the moon’s shape being spherical. From what they have already seen, students know that both the earth and moon move in round motions as they go through their respective axis’s. To illustrate that they both move in round motions like a sphere, using the computer program “Stellarium” would be at least a bit of an insider’s look to how the sky appears when the earth is passing through a day and night. By fast-forwarding through a day and night on this program, the class will be able to see the sphere-like movement that the earth goes through as it circles the sun. After seeing this, it can be assumed that the moon would move around the earth in the same way. Below is an image taken off of google images, to illustrate the contrast between night and day that can be seen on Stellarium.

Stellarium and FearofPhysics.com both work as great technological tools to help any teacher that’s teaching about space and movement in space. Many children are visual learners, so this would be quite an effective way to presenting this part of Standard One for Third grade science!

Science/Math Technologies explored

When looking at the simulation resources of science technologies on our class website, I came across what is called a "Virtual Pond". I thought that sounded pretty interesting, so I went into the website to see what it was like. It turned out to be very informative, as there was an image of a jar of pond water, showing the typical organisms that are found in ponds. Any explorer of this, including a child, is able to know the name and function of each microscopic organism by simply clicking on the specific object in the jar. Another link to the "virtual pond" is one called "The Microbe Zoo". This site leads the explorer to discover hidden microbes in the many environments found in a zoo, such as in the dirt, by the animals, in the snack bar, etc. "Cow rumen" and "Poo corner" are two microbes discussed in "Animal Pavilion". This is an entertaining site and very interesting! I enjoyed looking at these sites for sure. :)

TPACK

After class last week, I was impressed with the content that we learned because I find TPACK to be quite fascinating. It's simple, but helps to clearly explain for teachers how they can combine or even use all the facets of this acronym, which are: Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (It also is written as TPCK). What I understood from class was that a lesson can simply be one of these types of knowledge, but most often lessons are combinations of at least two of the three types of knowledge. For example, if a teacher were to to teach a CPK lesson (Content Pedagogical Knowledge), this would test the knowledge of the students in the particular unit at hand, as well as use specific teaching methods (this is where the pedagogical knowledge comes in) to present that content. Or if someone were to teach a lesson with TCK (Technological Content Knowledge), they would use technology to help students learn the content/concepts at hand. I like that we did this in class, when we worked in small groups to find samples of whatever we could find to then look at in the electric microscopes from which we immediately saw amplified images of our findings on a big computer screen. This was definitely a fun learning experience that would ingrain into childrens' minds certain scientific knowledge using technology. Through this example and what we could think up on our own, TPACK is something that would be useful for all teachers. It's something they should all know about, because I think this is an effective way of teaching and getting through to students on many levels. It provides the means to fulfill their learning experience as not only academic, but a personal one as well!

What I learned about RSS

In the last class period, I thought that everything we went through was quite interesting. I honestly had never heard of RSS feeds before, and so learning about that was entirely new to me. As I went to different websites, searching for RSS feeds on each one, I came to realize that it's a very useful tool that I might want to use as well. I've always just gone into separate websites when I want to see if there are any updates (and that's when I remember to do it), but now by going to my blog alone (for example), I can be aware of updates that have been made to multiple websites, and all at once! This was an exciting discovery for me, and I plan on using RSS feeds as a teacher, so that I can be well-informed all the time of what new teaching techniques have come up, or even well-informed on what certain children or parents of my students are up to.
I also learned about Delicious and Goodreads, two websites that will be quite important and useful, as I try to also stay updated on the best and/or useful books that I could be utilizing in my classroom. I look forward to learning more as I use each of these book resources.

Hi

I'm making this post as an example in class. Hello, everyone! :)

What do I know?

As far as my background and experience in technology goes, I've grown up and learned whatever knowledge of technology that my older siblings brought into the home. I remember when I was little, that my older brother would type a lot of things on the massive thing we called a computer, and that I was a little intimidated by it. But then computer manufacturers came up with a bit smaller, more presentable computers, and I decided to try it out. It seemed like such a thing of the future to me. Especially when I started receiving projects in school that required internet research, I was forced to have to learn how to use it. I actually had to take a typing class in seventh grade. It was something that I kind of grasped right away, because I soon became one of the fastest typers in the class. With an increasing amount of projects that required use of technology (aka: scanners, photocopiers, computers, internet), my knowledge increased as well. I wanted to be competent in these things, because I could see that being so would be very helpful in creating and producing high-quality work for myself and others. So as far as background and experience in technology goes, it increased exponentially with each new project in school that came my way and that required more knowledge of me.