Final Blog

It is very important to incorporate technology into the classroom. Kids today use technology in their every day lives, and to include it just gives kids another opportunity to grasp the concepts. Technology is part of the unwritten curriculum, something that kids need to learn but they will not be tested on the state tests. There are many benefits, such as students having fun while learning, more diverse projects, and something that the kids can relate to. One of the main challenges is the money aspect, because it can be expensive. Also, some teachers or administrators might be against using technology in the class, because it is not traditional learning. I will use many aspects of this class in my future classroom, but my favorite thing that we did was Photoshop. It was the best thing and I loved learning about using photos. I knew how to use most of the programs that we learned about in class, but this helped me see them in an educational aspect.

Graphics Lab

I loved working with Photoshop. I am a very visual person and I loved working with photos and the tools. I had done a little editing at with www.photoshop.com, which is free, but not with the editing and cropping and tools we used in class. I think that it can be used in the classroom, it would be a really good tool to use as an assessment, but I do not think it should be required. I can absolutely see using it in the classroom, not only for my own uses but as something for the kids to use. I think teachers need to incorporate as much technology as they can, because these kids are very technologically efficient and that is something they can relate to.

Copyright

I learned that copyrights could expire. I knew that some older songs never were copyrighted, so they are in the public domain, but I did not know that a copyright could expire. That seems silly to me because if they went through the time to copyright it, it should be for good and not a temporary thing.

I really liked reading about the history of copyright. It is something I had never thought about before and it was neat to read how it had come about. I was not surprised to find out that it was a way to track down authors who had not paid to print, and not originally a method that authors could make sure they got claims to their work.

Of course, many people steal music and movies. A lot of times people do not site pictures. Sometimes just photocopying something violates copyrights.

Yes, it is partially the teacher's job to teach students about copyright. Chances are, their parents might not know a whole ton about it, or they're assuming that they are learning it in school. It can get kids into a lot of trouble and there is no reason to not try to avoid it. I think the best way to teach copyright is to teach kids what they should do, rather than what they shouldn't. It'd be good to mention the bad things, but a teacher should always try to focus on the good.

Video in the Classroom

Lesson Plan

Student Teacher: Taylor Murphy                                                      Date:

Grade Level:  4^th-5^th grade                                                                 Subject: Reading

Preliminary Planning

 

P.A. Standards

R3.A.1.3.1: Make inferences and/or draw conclusions based on information from the text.

Pre Assessment

The teacher will use the introduction to the lesson as a pre-assessment.

Objectives

Students will be able to present a complete video recording of a continued scene in a book with little to no errors.

 

Learning Sequence

 

Description                                                                                                                 Time:

INTO

Introduction/Motivation/Focus Attention:

·         The teacher will review the novel that the children have just read.

·         Students will help the teacher go through the major events.

 

Description                                                                                                                 Time:

THROUGH

Learning activities (input, modeling, checking for understanding, guided practice, independent practice)

·         The teacher will tell the students that they are going to create a “deleted scene” from the book, as if it were a movie.

·         Students will work in small groups of 3-4.

·         Students will need to create a story board to hand into the teacher.

·         Students will then use video cameras and an electronic movie maker to record and then edit their movie.

·         The movie will be 2-4 minutes long.

·         The teacher will show the class the basics of editing a movie.

·         This lesson includes technology, so it will appeal to most students.

 

Description                                                                                                                 Time:

BEYOND

Closure (review, checking for understanding, summarize, future forecast, transition).

The students will have a ‘movie day’ where there is popcorn and watch the deleted scenes.

 

Pre-planning

·         Gathering materials

·         Teaching students how to use the software

·         Bringing in props for students to record with.

Challenges

·         It would take a few class periods

·         Students would be in charge of their own movies and it might be difficult to let them do this, it is a very flexible assignment and things could get chaotic.

Timeline:

Pre: Read book

Day 1: Choose groups, brainstorm ideas, and create a storyboard.

Day 2: Film

Day 3: Film if needed, editing

Day 4: Editing

Day 5: Editing, if needed

Day 6: Movie Day

Student Check List

ü  Group members:
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________

ü  Brainstorm

ü  Storyboard

ü  Record your movie

ü  Edit your movie

ü  Present your movie

Group Video Project

I really liked doing this video project. I have a lot of experience with Windows Movie Maker because in my high school Spanish class we would recreate a movie we had watched. We just recorded on a normal digital camera and then I would upload it and edit it to play for the class. Therefore, it didn't take me long to edit and work with the video we had, especially since it was such a short clip.
Emily worked on the sound while I worked on cutting the clips and then we just put it together. The most difficult thing was cutting it down so that it fit the time requirement. I don't think that we would do anything different, it worked really well and we didn't have many problems at all. The only thing that was kind of weird was that Emily is a commuter and had never heard of any of the rumors before, but it was the only thing we could think of, so maybe next time we would do something that applied to her too and that she could relate to.

Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards make learning very interesting for students. It involves students in ways that teachers never could have before, or at least without a lot of prep work. Students are able to check their work without the teacher saying "yes" or "no". It creates different ways to present things, and can open a concept or they can conclude a concept. It can be used as a teacher's tool or as a student center.

I found it really easy to learn how to use the smart board. I watched Professor Place use it all through math and science methods and I could have taught myself the basics, but learning it in class showed me a lot of the detailed things that I never would have been able to figure out. I really like the online forum for lessons, because teachers do not have much time and they can edit lessons that are already made.

Pros of having one in the classroom

• students have another way of learning
• teacher can use it in lessons
• student centers
• can watch movies on it

Cons of having one in the classroom

• expensive
• having to teach teachers how to use it
• distraction to the students

Ways to incorporate it into past lessons

• concept map in science methods
• graphing data in my communications lesson
• inserting movies into the smart board software instead of using youtube or a link
• games and activities

Software Skills

I think that it is beneficial to learn these skills because it makes using technology a lot easier. It will save teachers time when they are creating different documents for the classroom. I knew a lot of the things that we did with Microsoft Word and Microsoft Publisher, but I had never used Inspiration before. I think this program would be really helpful in the classroom. Microsoft Publisher will be really helpful when creating newsletters and quickly creating certificates for different achievements. I actually just used Microsoft Publisher to create certificates for my sorority for academic achievement. All of the things that we learned will help make different things in the classroom more efficiently.

Web Resources

My favorite web resource that we used in class is the united streaming. I really liked this website, because rather than searching all over YouTube for a good quality video on something that I want, I can find a good educational video on it. I like how it can be downloaded to the computer and uploaded into a PowerPoint or a Smart-board lesson. I found so many good videos and if I could start every lesson with a video, I would. There were videos that were good episodes of the Magic School Bus and then there were different documentaries that could be used in class too. I am glad that we have this site now and that we still have the funding.

Inspiration

Inspiration is a good resource for different things in the classroom. It is good for students and teachers to use.
1. Character analyzer
2. Concept Map
3. Science Concept sequence
4.History timeline
5. students planning an essay
6. Plot summary
7. Food Chain & Nutrition
8. Instructions for a game or activity
9. Organizing groups in the classroom
10. English words on one side, Spanish words on another side

Each of these could be used as a teacher or as a student. It is good for students to visualize the information but teachers can also benefit because they will have the information in front of them while teaching the subjects.

Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking could have so many uses in the classroom. It could be used with students or it could also be used with other educators.

Students can benefit from social bookmarking.

• in place of a bibliography, just have them create a diigo page or similar for the sources
• when students are doing a research project, they can access their links from home and school computers

Social bookmarking is really helpful to teachers, too.

• keeping track of good sites for lesson plans, information, etc
• sharing with other teachers your sites
• being able to access the sites from home and school computers
• easy organization- can reference them year to year
• don't disappear when/if your computer crashes

 As a student now, I am already using it preparing for the future.

• saving all of the sites that I am finding in my Social Science Methods course as good sites
• I will be able to reference all of these sites later when I have my own classroom
• Keeping track of all of the good lesson plan sites

Google Apps

I really like Google Apps. I have used them in Spanish working on group projects and skits and now I am using them in my Social Science Methods class instead of meeting in the curriculum committees. They are a great way to work in groups and keep everything together.

Advantages:

• they are always online
• If you computer crashes, you still have the documents and can easily access them
• If you forget to email it to yourself to print, it doesn't matter because it is all online.
• It's easy to work with others and all see the same thing
• They work on every computer- don't have to worry about Mac/PC compatibility
• there is a ton of storage online and doesn't use computer space

Disadvantages:

• formatting is different than in Microsoft Word and doesn't always look the best
• if you don't have internet, you can't access the documents
• PowerPoint is a lot simpler and doesn't have as many options

Blogs in the Classroom

I can think of many ways to include a blog in a classroom. It should not replace handwritten work but it can be a huge supplement in the classroom. There are a couple different ways you could do it, depending on the level. Older students would be expected to write more and have more complicated posts, as older students would with writing in a journal.

Any Level

• A daily diary or weekly diary, where students write about their lives, in and out of school
• Using a blog to communicate with parents and students outside of the classroom, instead of sending home a newsletter.
• posting information about classroom activities
• field trips
• displaying classroom projects
• assignments that sick children missed
• giving parents and students supplementary materials and website

Younger Levels

• learning to type / practicing to type

Older Levels

• A character review for books, you could create a blog pretending to be that person
• a character from the past who wrote letters home, writing a blog to family members about their lives
• pen pals
• a place to chat with each other

There are many advantages to using blogs in a classroom

• children are interested because they like using technology- it is second nature to them
• you can easily communicate with families and studnets
• saves paper
• children can communicate and share with other classmates easily
• students are more confident from behind a computer screen

There are some disadvantages too

• it can become dangerous if you don't follow guidelines
• students need to have a balance between technology and traditional learning