Fridays Reflections

http://smarandos.pbworks.com/w/page/43808700/Chrystal%20Tagxedo

Chrystal's Porfolio

  Natalee my Neice          

                                            Jason and myself.

Live Binders

Chrystal ED 590

Reflection of ED590

Upon entering this course I thought I knew a lot about technology, well I do, but I have learned so much more about which websites to you with my students, to use for my own personal use as a teacher to incorporate parents. I love that I can use a blog as one way to communicate with parents about what the student did during the week or the month. I learned how to incorporate these tools within a whole classroom. I was always nervous about incorpoarting with a group of students as some are quicker to learn the computers then some. If I was the only one in the room with twenty students I would feel overwhelmed. Having the lesson as a center makes more managable for me. I would enjoy having ipads in the room to allow the students to become engaged in the curriculum in a different way than the typical worksheet mannar.

Art and technology is very important to incorporate in edcuation today as it is a way for students to show what they know and have fun while doing so. So many people are already online hooked to a computer, districts need to meet the needs of the students learning level and not try to force these students to go back in time. Technology is here to stay and it will only get better. We all know that is students are engaged in learning the information they learn will be remembered.

I have learned so many different ways to incorporate these lessons into my classroom. I seemed to have found a use for most of the tools  for m to use in atleast one project that I have incorpoarted in my classroom. Using http://www.glogster.com/ for posters, projects, writing, and other will save parents and teacher money and space to be able to have it all on one location and all  you have to do is load it on to a working computer.Rather than writing notes on the board, I can use any of the online tools to make my lessons more interesting if I use any of the tools I have learned. Tools like Glogster, blogs, prezi, wikki, tagxedo, google, presentation, animoto and more. These are all amazing tools that I am so anxios to use. Now to find my classroom! Come out, come out where ever you are! I like being able to use googledocs to save my documents to avoid having to email myself or find my flashdrive. I don't have to worry about locating anything but the website. Makes my life so much simpler!

This course has taught me so much about my teaching style and how to work in technology. I am so happy I have taken this course even if it was a lot of information in one week!

Tagxedo

This is a great website to make for visual poems, creating writing, describing adjectives, describing students in the classroom, using words to describe characters in books that they are reading and more. I think it is a fun and creative way to show the students work.

Social Media

Social media is a tool that I use to keep in touch with friends that live far away. Social Networks is a way for people to keep up with what is going on in people's lives. I learned today more about why I should use Linkedin. It is a way for me to post my resume in hopes that employeers will see it and in turn hire me to do what I love. Teaching for me is making a difference in people's lives. Social media can be used to keep students in touch with each other as well as learning about other cultures. They can use it like pen-pals with other students from the US and or other countries.

Art in Education

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B2j8LntG4eJHMzFmYmYwNjMtYTk4NS00ZTUxLTk4NTgtODA4YWU1YmIyYWFh&hl=en_US

Music that Matters

http://smarandos.pbworks.com/w/page/43738411/Chrystal%20Songs%20that%20Matter

Ideal Classrooms

http://smarandos.pbworks.com/w/page/43694199/Chrsytal%20Ideal%20Classroom

Digital Writing

http://smarandos.pbworks.com/w/page/43660908/Chrystal%20Digital%20Writing

Lesson 3

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jrwWUBijX6yZzKHPXr6rfcvcrPzjeZUAhGogEwozTyo/edit?hl=en_US

Lesson 2

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HN7vp9jUbuX4QsqegHEZ_3xbFFgaX124UTX2w1lUgyk/edit?hl=en_US

Lesson One

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1od7NMWXh2UhoTajmHwamApkWIHimo6ro8RC9SoYxYR8/edit?hl=en_US

Butterfly Cycle Prezi.com

Butterfly Cycle on Prezi

Prezi is a great website where students can put up information on the board and create a different style of a presentation. This allows the teachers to input a quick background knowledge presentation and show it to their students before teaching. This allows them to make sure the students have a starting point to carry out the rest of the lesson.

Voice Thread

http://voicethread.com/share/2163147/


This website allows you to post students work online and have other students make comments on their work in a positive manner. It allows the student to save all their feedback and allows them to make future changes. The student doesn't have to write all their peers comments down as they are listening because it will be on their projects.

Graph-it

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B2j8LntG4eJHNjkyYjMzMWMtOGUyNy00MDZlLTg3OTItZGIyZWRjOTNiODQ1&hl=en_US

Making graphs online makes learning and creating their own graphs fun and exciting. This tool is a quick and easy way to input data and make a graph withing 5 minutes of the students collecting their information. I strongly suggest using this sight for students to use.

Rubric for Sign of the Beaver

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B2j8LntG4eJHZDA0NWQxM2YtM2I2Yy00NmZhLWJiN2MtNmFmZWM5NDAxYWQ4&hl=en_US

Rubrics are a great way to set the tone of what the teacher is expecting. Creating rubrics allows the teacher to focus in on what she is expecting and is a way to make grading fair for each student. It saves time for the teacher too look at the assignment and circle where the work fits in. This site is a great time saver!

Animoto Shapes

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Animoto is a site where students can upload pictures and add descriptions to their pictures. The students can add their own type of music. Then they can present their shows to their parents or their classmates. It is a great way to visually show what they have worked so hard on. It only takes a few minutes to get things ready to work.

Poem Blog

http://cbarbetta.edu.glogster.com/chrystal/

Glogster is a way for students to create projects and save them on the computer. No more late night trips to Walmart to pick up a big bulky poster. Students can add their own voice to the posters, lines, videos and much more. They really can be creative and not spend a penny on materials.

My Story

Ipad

How can mobile learning devices impact student access to computers? Will this level the playing field?

Mobile devices are becoming the new computer and it is making a big difference in the world. It used to be in order to go on the internet you had to be in a house, library, or some sort of building and attached to a wall. Now you can be in your car be in the middle of the room, in a store, in the middle of the park  wire and wall free. This is chaning how our students access information. More and more school are buying these tools and incorporating them in their classroom. Parents are getting them for the students. This is a great tool I feel to teach students with and help improve their skills. This will only level the playing feild if every child had one at home. If they don't have access to these materials we are still standing in the same place. The students who come from wealthy homes will still be ahead of the students who poverty stricken homes. We will still have the achievement gap.

 

Is the digital divide present in Education today?

I do feel there is still the digital divide. There are still students that have no computer at home and no access to one. They could go to the library but would need transporation and someone willing to take them. Incorporating these technology in schools is the only way these children are going to have experience with computers, Ipads or other technologies. Parents in low income living situations are not going to spend five hundred dollors on an Ipad rather than giving their family a meal.  There is a big difference in education levels when you have students who are surrounded by technology and those that have limited to no experience with the technology.

 

What can we do to impact that as teachers?

As teachers we can provide them with as much experience with technology as possible while they are in school. We can write grants to provide lap tops, Ipads, camersa, interactive websites in the classroom. We can create our lessons so that they incorporate technology skills that will enhance their abilities. If possible creating a loan system where the child can take the lab top or Ipad home with them to practice skills or to use while at home for a night. Just like you might take the class stuffed animal home and write about it they can take the lap top/ Ipad home and write about their experience with the classmates. Teachers, school districts or organziations can fundraise or write grants to find money to provide these families with the technologies needed to support these students that do not have access.

 

Will the iPad/iPod significantly change education?

It already has changed the way teachers are teaching. Provided that they have the technology in their schools. I would so much rather tell them to go on the Ipad and practice the skills we were working on that day rather then say here complete this worksheet and turn it in. It make so much more sense to say go on the Ipad complete this game and then send me you results.  I could take that information and assess their learning in a completely different manner.

Chrystal Digital Immigrant

How do digital natives impact the way that we teach in the 21st century classroom?
Digital natives effect the way we teach because teachers must enhance their learning. Ofthen times they are teaching the teachers how to use a program. These students are often talking a different language. Digital natives are forcing us to change our curriculum and how we are teaching them the information. Some students teachers are becoming the coaches as the students can find the information online.  
What are the ramifications of instant access to information?
The digital world effects our teaching because we need to change the way we are teaching. We need to supplement technology into the classroom to reach our learners. Students will be using these tools well after they leave our classrooms so why not be apart of it and show them what they can do. Sitting on the sidelines complaining about it will not help make our students successful.
Even if you personally don't feel like a digital immigrant, you know there are some teachers in your building that could benefit from understanding how digital natives learn.
What strategies would you implement in your classroom to address the changing nature of students?
I consider myself as a digital immigrant. I would incorporate as much technology as possible. Graphit, quizlet, glogster, and more are just some great websites that I am anxious to use in a classroom of my own. I feel it allows the students to use what they already know about and incorporate new learning.
How could you incoporate digital citizenship into your classroom?
Students need to be aware of what they are posting and writing online. I would set up boundries and guidelines when we start working on the computers. I would as a class come up with a list of rules that they should have when on the computer. Each time we used the technology in class I would remind the students what the rules were and they would be posted in the room near the computers.
Respond to the fact: We are preparing students for jobs that don't exist yet. 
We need to engage students, but how?
We may be preparing students for jobs that we don't know exist yet but it is our job to get them ready best we can and by giving them experience with the technology were are putting them a step ahead. We need to engage students but looking at their interests, making the lessons fun and exciting using games to incorporate learning. There are youtube videos, songs and more that can be used to incorporate student's interests.
How can you address some of the myths highlighted in the 2nd article?
There are some myths about using technology. Students that are on the computers are not loners they are intereacting with people online that they would never interact with at school. They are not loners they just talk to people in different ways. They are capable to communicate and share with others quite well. Natives are very well aware of what is going on in the world. They are connecting to the world in a different way than the traditional method.

I Believe

I believe that teaching is a team effort. "It takes a neighborhood to raise a child." It also takes a team of people to teach a child. The child has had their own personal teacher since they were born (and prior to birth). Their parents are their first teachers and learn more through their parents than maybe their teachers. If
their is home support then the better off the child is, because they can help their child access information needed for a homework or project that is assigned. An involved parent allows a resource for the teacher and their child.

I believe assessment is a big key in getting to know our children. However I feel there is a big difference between teacher assessments and standardized assessments. When teacher assess they know more about the student then the state does. If a child doesn't do as well on the assessment as we thought, we can always find another way for them to show what they know. Standardized test is a one shot deal. Either you know it or you "don't" philosophy. There has to be a way for the teachers and states to show what it is these children know that will meet the learning styles of others. There should be more of a test option for each specific learner.

I believe that allowing parents to have access to grades at a moments notice is a great tool. Parents can go to the website and find out how their child is doing and find out what it is they need to improve. It allows the parents to not have to wonder what is going on in between grading times. I do however feel that there is a draw back to this method as it's the same group of parents that are looking at these grades. These are typically the students that are doing well and not the students that are struggling and need the support from home.

Teaching and learning should be fun and not so focused on grades or tests. Learning should be about fun and more about what they don't know. Teachers should implement more engaging tools to help students find learning fun. When students find learning fun they remember more about that concept. If they are so focused on getting the best grade they are only remembering the concepts for the test and then they loose it.

From the perspective of Winnie the Pooh

I went out to see Rabit today. My honey has been disppearing and I thought Rabit might know what to do about it. While arriving Rabit was in a quarell with Tigger about bouncing in his garden. All you could hear from Tigger was "hoo hoo hoo hoo!" Once Rabit was done telling him to leave and Tigger had bounced away, I could finally ask him what to do about my honey. Rabit seems to think that I have eaten all my honey and I can not have any of his. I only wanted a taste of honey. He kicked me out of his house. I tried to leave through the hole but I got stuck. I was there for three days and they finally pushed me out into a honey tree.