Technology in an Actual Classroom

Last week I took Sammi to her open house for second grade to meet her teacher, check out her classroom, etc. Her class is in a trailor, so I thought it'd be pretty dumpy. She goes to a school in a growing county but one that is still rural. I was shocked when I saw a Smart Board in her room. It's definitely different from the trailors I was in in middle school! Smart Boards are state of the art technology. Many of my college classes don't even have them. I'm so excited for her, and this gives me new hope as an upcoming teacher. Maybe my students will have access to new technology as well. Teachers have enough to worry about; having good technology allows them to spend more time teaching and less time housekeeping.

Another awesome thing I noticed about her class: the large amount of books! She had more Junie B. Jones books in her classroom than we do at home plus tons of other titles, ranging from picture books for early readers to chapter books for advanced readers. This is SO great. Here is a real teacher in a real school - not an example from some textbook of what is ideal - who is combining current technology with traditional methods. Lucky Sammi!

This time's picture is Sammi shortly after she was brought home from the hospital. Is she really in second grade now?!

End of MEDT class

Well, this is my last official post for my MEDT 3401 class, though it won't be my last post ever. I'll continue with the blog. There are a few questions my professor wanted addressed....
1. Two favorite assignments and why:
My top favorite assignment was the blog and everything that went with it. Blogs are such a great way to keep people updated. If a teacher has one, parents can read it to see what's happening in their child's classroom, administrators can read it to keep up with what the students are doing on a daily basis, and students could check it if they were absent to get updates about assignments. They're fun to personalize, too! I've loved putting up pictures and changing the background. It really feels like my own little space.
My second favorite assignment was the digital story. I had so much fun making mine (which is posted on an earlier blog), and I think my students would have fun with them as well.
2. Top 3 tech tools I hope to use in my classroom:
Number one is definitely the blog! I've praised it a lot already, but I really, really love them! Number two is a tie between digital stories and podcasts. They could both be used as a culmination for a unit, for test review, or for a number of other things in the classroom. I say number three with a few reservations. I think it would probably be wikis. The reason I'm holding back a little here is that I don't know how practical a wiki would be for middle school students. If a space is able to be edited by many students, I would worry that a student could erase someone else's work or put up inappropriate material. I really like the idea behind them, though. Maybe I'll try them out with a small group and see how it goes. I could use them until they become a problem, but I think that part of teaching is anticipating the problems your students will have and working to avoid them. I'll have to put a little more thought into wikis.
3. Piece of technology you'd like to get better at. How can you do this:
I want to get better at podcasting. GarageBand has so many buttons that I have no idea what they do! I'd like to learn how to use it to its full potential. I suppose the smartest way to go about learning this technology would be to look at the many tutorials and instructions that are available online. I know myself, though, and I know that that probably isn't the way I'd go about it. I think I'll just play around with it more and see what I come up with. Macs are so user-friendly that they're very functional with the "playing to learn" method that I use with computers.

I am sad to see this class end. I think I've come a long way since the beginning of it. On the first day (which seems so long ago now!) I was scared to death of blogs and wikis and podcasts, etc. Now I love it and can't wait to try it out in the classroom! A HUGE thank you goes out to Mrs. Huett for opening my eyes to the world of technology!

Last picture for this class.... This one is of my mommy and my little sister Sammi last summer at the lake. I love this picture because they look so happy. Summer is the best time of a year. So sad that it's almost over!

DHMO.org Assignment

First of all, I want it to be known that I in no way support DHMO.org or have anything to do with them or any firm opinion on them either way.

This was a rather odd blog assignment. I'm not quite sure what it has to do with my MEDT class, education, or my classroom except maybe that Mrs. Huett wants us to learn how to evaluate sources. The point to the assignment isn't what this blog is about, though. I was asked to look at the website DHMO and investigate its credibility, purpose, etc. Here are the questions I was given and the information I have discovered:

1. Who wrote or produced the information [on DHMO.org]?
From what I could find out, the website was made by Dr. Tom Way. The copyright is in his name. Dr. Tom Way is a professor of computing sciences, and his website is http://www.cis.udel.edu/~way/ . On this website, there is a link to the DHMO website.

2. What authority or special knowledge does the author have? If the site is credited to an organization, what do you know about the organization?
Well, it is a .org website, which leads me to believe that it has something to do with an organization. There is a logo on DHMO.org for the Environmental Assessment Center. I don't know anything, really, about the EAC. I googled it and what came up was the National Center for Environmental Assessment. Whether or not these two centers are the same thing, I'm not entirely sure. What is interesting about this little bit of information is that NCEA is linked to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agencey), which DHMO.org suggests, "may be conspiring to cover up the whole DHMO issue." DHMO.org also suggests that EPA is possibly linked to the CIA. (Little sidebar: apparently the chemical DHMO is a chemical compound that is potentially dangerous and is found in certain products used by the government and products for cleaning. It also has supposedly been used by athletes to enhance performance. DHMO.org wants the substance banned.) Do I smell a conspirancy??? :)

3. What bias or slant do you detect in the source? What does it say that indicates a bias?
On the home page for DHMO.org it says, "The goal of this site is to provide an unbiased data clearinghouse and a forum for public discussion." However, the site clearly wants to ban DHMO - doesn't seem very unbiased to me; it obviously is against the chemical. Also, the site claims that DHMO is everywhere, but I haven't ever heard of it, and DHMO.org doesn't deny that this is a very underpublicized issue.

4. Should DHMO be banned? Why or why not?
I must admit that I'm not an authority on the issue and can't really make a claim either way. I think that before I give an opinion on banning the chemical, I'd have do much more extensive research about the chemical and its uses and dangers. I know that's not a very satisfying answer, but it's all I can say on the issue right now.

The next part of the assignment was to watch a news report on DHMO and comment on it. Unfortunately, both file types that were linked to the assignment were unopenable by my wonderful Mac, and it is 6:30 on the night that the assignment is due. I'm now regretting procrastinating this part of the assignment, but I'm not able to comment on this news report. :( I hope this doesn't mess up anybody in my group for their blog evaluations!

Picture time! This one is of my little brother Patrick, who isn't so little anymore. He's an awesome football player!

Podcasts in the Classroom

I've listened to a couple podcasts that were made by elementary school students before I made my own (which was pretty fun, by the way). The first one I listened to was a Willow Web podcast about energy. It was so cool! The kids talked about renewable energy and how it is used. The entire podcast was made by kids, and it was very well done. The kids were all working together, and it is obvious that they did a good bit of research. The podcast was broken up into segments, which made it flow really well. There was also upbeat music in the podcast. I can't get over how good it was. And Mrs. Huett said it wasn't one of their best; I'd love to hear what's considered to be their better work! The second one I listened to was a Coley Cast titled Early English Settlements in North America. Like the Willow Web cast, it had upbeat music, was segmented, and was done entirely by kids. The students clearly knew their stuff; they were using lots of vocabulary terms like colony, charter, cash crop, and indentured servants. The only complaint I have about it is that it didn't seem quite as well rehearsed as the Willow Web cast. The kids stuttered a little and stumbled over some words. I think that with a little practice - maybe running through the cast a few times or even editing out the stumbles - it would've been a lot better.
Podcasts are such neat things to use in the classroom. Like the digital stories, doing a podcast would be a great way to finish up a unit. It could also be used as a study tool; the kids could record things they've learned that could show up on a test and then listen to the podcasts to study. If the technology is available to me, I think I might actually use these in my classroom. I used to be so against technology in the classroom, but it's actually starting to grow on me. I'd still rather have textbooks, novels, paper, pencils and a blackboard than a bunch of computers and technology, but if I could have both, I think it could be very beneficial to my students.
Okay, a picutre for this time.... This one is of my little sister and my step-dad when he was in the hospital. He was in the ICU for 10 days because part of the membrane around his brain had started to rupture. It was over a year ago, and it was a really scary time. I thank God every day that he is still here with us. Now, it's as if nothing ever happened; he's totally healthy! :)

Video for Class

Here is my video for class. What do you guys think???
Even though I'm going to be teaching middle school, this video is geared more towards younger kids. Hopefully, it'll help them gain an understanding of how they went from being a baby to who they are now. I had so much fun making it. I got to look through a bunch of old pictures, and Samantha and I had a lot of fun figuring out how to put them together and how to narrate it! She helped with my podcast, too. She is quite tech savvy now. :) I thought you guys might like to see the practice video I did too when I was learning to use iMovieHD. It's not as good as the one for class, but I think it's cute.

Stickers For Big Kids

This isn't an assigned post, but I'm getting into the whole blogging thing.
I went to Target today, and they had a whole bunch of teacher stuff on sale for a dollar. I got stickers to put on papers, a stamp that says "good job" and has a smiley face, and these little star student certificates that are about the size of a large index card. Oh, I got bookmarks too that say "Color Your World With Books." I know my internship is going to be in a high school next semester, but I don't think that should matter. High school students still like to have stickers at the top of their papers. Besides, I want to have cute teacher stuff. Everybody tells me my classroom is going to look like an elementary school room, but I think my room is going to be awesome (when I actually get my own classroom). I think kids are forced to grow up way too quickly. I remember when I was in high school my French teacher used to give us stickers and little certificates if we got a really high grade on a major project, and we all loved it. It gave us a sense of accomplishment, and it was always more exciting to get her tests back than to get someone else's back.
So, what do people think? Should teachers give stickers to big kids? Will it make the students think that I don't think they are mature, or grown up, or whatever? I don't think so. I think they'll like it. Hmmm....
Okay, picture for this time. This was Rosie. My poor car :(

Digital Stories in the Classroom

In class last week we watched two "digital stories." It's some neat stuff. I wish I could link them; they were pretty cool. The first one we watched was so cute. It was called A Journey Through The Rainforest. I found a link to the website for it, but not the video itself. :( Anyways, I think it was a first grade class (if not first grade, they were pretty little) who all drew pictures about different animals in the rainforest and how it was being destroyed and put them in a video that they narrated. Not only was it adorable, it seemed like the kids really learned a lot and had a good time putting together the project. The second one we watched was called Home, and it was about soldiers' views on what "home" is. I didn't like this one as much as the first one. It really had no application in the classroom. More than that, though, the person who made it wasn't in the military herself, and she even credited Google for her pictures. Doesn't seem like she put a whole lot of time or effort into it. It had emotional music paired with emotional pictures, though, and it's worth watching once just to see what you can do with the software. I've googled the video but I can't find it. Sorry. :(

I think the idea of digital story telling could actually be a good thing in the classroom. I liked how the first grade class used it as a culmination of the research they had done for their unit on the rainforest. I think using it as a final class project is a great idea. I think the videos could be dropped to a DVD pretty easily, and then the kids could have something to show for all their work. It could give them a real sense of accomplishment. Do I think I'll use it when I teach? To be honest, probably not. While it's a good idea, I don't know how to do it myself, and it would require time in a computer lab to make it that could be spent teaching. If my students would want to make one for extra credit, I think that would be great, though. It definitely has an application in the schools; I just don't know if it would work in my class.



Okay, the picture for this time... This one is me, my dad, and Sammi. You can also see my adorable new Buggie. I named her Bonnie Blue Beetle after Bonnie Blue Butler from Gone With the Wind. Unfortunately, I had to wreck my Corolla, Rosie, to get her, but I'm so glad I have her now! What the heck, I'll put up the picture of Rosie too. The wreck was pretty bad. I ran head on into a Lincoln Navigator. The Navigator won.

Okay, I lied. I tried to put up the picture of the Corolla, but for some reason it won't upload. :( I'll try to put it on a future post.