Blog Post: Communication

I see myself communicating mostly through emails, and a class website. I may use a phone when it is necessary.  A phone and a computer will probably be the only communication that will be necessary.

Blog Post: Self-Directed Learning Project

I have found a site that has the ten best virtual field trips. There all kinds on the site such as the arctic adventure, Hershey's Factory, Museum of Natural History, and Space. The virtual field trip allows to see things that they otherwise would not be able to do. I found another site that has 7 more virtual field trips that are interesting.  They are good because they are free, educational, and all student's can participate in them. 

http://blog.simplek12.com/education/vft/

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2013/04/07/ten-of-the-best-virtual-field-trips/3/

Milestone 3

Read Chapter 5.

Think about the 5 technology components you reviewed in Milestone 2.

For each component what would you do before the lesson, during the lesson, after the lesson.

Before the lesson may include: exploring app, investigating website, creating a help document for students, etc.

During the lesson may include: specific instructions you would give about the use of the technology, modeling navigation, etc.

After the lesson: How will you evaluate success?

In a Word document for 5 technology pieces describe the before, during, and after. You can make a bulleted list.

a. Students and teachers can use word to type up their story in order to put all the students stories together at the end of the lesson to create a book. 

b. Cameras: students can also use cameras in order to take pictures of the bear with their family at home to put in the story. 

c. Drawing Pad: students can also include drawings that they make using the ipad app draw pad. 

d.Story Keepers: an app that would put together the drawing, photo, and text from each child's day with Corduroy in order to create a cohesive story. 

e. The teacher can use the smart board at the end of this to project the story the class has made about their own adventures with Corduroy so that the entire class can watch it. 

Assessments

Read Chapter 7.

As you read think about what kind of assessments you will give your students as it relates to the lesson you are developing.

In a blog post write about 3 assessments you could potentially use, when they would be used, and how they would be used.

1) Open-Ended Response Formats - demonstrates a higher level of thinking. I would use this after the viewing of the class movie. It would work as an assessment of the overall learning of the class. 

2) Project-Based Assessments - This would be used throughout the entire project the teacher could use work samples gathered during the project to assess learning. When the student's submit their journal entries the teacher can check for their ability to use spelling, grammar, punctuation, and their ability to format and organize their ideas. 

3) Portfolio's - The overall completion of the project would also work as an assessment of the learning. The finished product would include writing, drawings, and photos done by the student. This would show examples of the student's ability to write a journal entry and creative story. Also the ability to complete a project within a given time period and use of technology. The teacher would use this at the end of the project to assess the overall learning.   

Milestone 2

In a blog post:

1. 1-2 sentences retelling what the lesson is about that you are altering.

The teacher will read Corduroy stories to the class and one student will bring home the a bear each night and talk about one of the adventures that they went on that night. 

2. Describe a minimum of 5 tools that could be used to enhance the lesson

a. Students and teachers can use word to type up their story in order to put all the students stories together at the end of the lesson to create a book. 

b. Cameras: students can also use cameras in order to take pictures of the bear with their family at home to put in the story. 

c. Drawing Pad: students can also include drawings that they make using the ipad app draw pad. 

d.Story Keepers: an app that would put together the drawing, photo, and text from each child's day with Corduroy in order to create a cohesive story. 

e. The teacher can use the smart board at the end of this to project the story the class has made about their own adventures with Corduroy so that the entire class can watch it. 

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/journal-corduroy-responding-literature-30.html

Blog post 3

1. Give a brief summary of the lesson and web address.

The lesson I will be doing satisfies ALEX standard: 6.) Compare size, shape, structure, and basic needs of living things. It will focus mostly on identifying similarities of offspring and their parent. I will do this through telling a story about a baby animal that is lost from it's mother and encounters other animals. The story will focus on the differences and similarities among the animals.

  

2.Where does the lesson fit on Bloom’s taxonomy?

The lesson will fit on the Analyzing level on Bloom's taxonomy. The student's will be analyzing photos of mother animals with their babies and looking for the similarities and differences between them. 

3. What role does technology play? What is the teacher using? What are the students using?

Technology will play a role because I have had to use the internet in order to find pictures of the animals. The teacher will use PowerPoint in order to create the story with photos integrated into them. The student's can use the internet after the story in order to further explore. They can look for animals that they are interested in and create their own story. 

4. After reading chapter 4-what digital tool (s) could you add to the lesson to support student learning? Explain in depth where and how it would be used.

I think the idea of mindtools specifically concept mapping would be a good way to use technology further in the lesson. The student's could use this after the story as a way to organize their thoughts on the subject and talk about the different characteristics between baby animals and adult animals. This can be used as a good visual representation of their leaning and they can be added to further as they continue to explore the subject. Creating a concept map includes identifying the main concept, arranging the concepts spatially, identifying the relationships between the concepts, and labeling the nature of these relationships. 

Blog Post 2

1. In what ways are you creative?

I think I am creative in a crafty way. I like to paint, knit, and draw. I try and use these skills in my teaching projects. 

2. What kinds of tasks were you asked to do in school that were creative and used technology?

I didn't really take any computer classes beyond the bare minimum requirement. Those classes focused mostly on working with different programs such as PowerPoint and excel. Basically the only somewhat creative technology that I used was PowerPoint. I took lots of art classes in high school but I didn't use that much technology other then a projector and a kiln. 

Read Ch 3 then write about ( in the same blog post)

3. How could you incorporate the principles of authentic instruction in your teaching? 

After reading Chapter 3 specifically about the principles of authentic instruction two ways that stuck out in my head as ways to incorporate these ideas in the classroom is through Physical Knowledge activities and through project based learning. Physical Knowledge activities require students to use critical, inductive, and divergent thinking in order to solve problems and learn through doing. During physical knowledge activities teachers ask student's open ended questions. In project based learning students choose topics that thy find interesting and explore them. Computers aide in this by giving students more information that is readily available. They also giver student's the opportunity to work autonomously. 

4. How could you use technology to support authentic instruction? Be specific. Support with information from the text

Some technology that I would use to support authentic instruction in my classroom would be the internet and data bases as a way to support project based learning. Cameras as a way to document my students work and support exploration of things that we experience. Smart boards, inquiry/discovery simulation software, virtual environments would all be interesting to use in the classroom as ways for students to experience going places and seeing things that they would otherwise not be able to see.