Reflection #4 of Part II

   The other day I went to meet my cooperating teacher, and the class I will be student teaching next semester. She is an older lady who seems like a really good teacher. She's really easy to talk to and I think I'll learn a lot from her. The students were so cute.

   We sat down and I shared with her my passion for teaching, basically why I want to be a teacher.
I'm excited to get started, learn, and become more comfortable in a teaching position.

I definitely could not do all this without God by my side. It is because of Christ that I've made it this far. I want to encourage any of you that read this, to keep praying and spending time with God everyday. It really makes the world of difference, in our daily lives, and the path we go down. I'm so excited for all of us to become teachers and to educate the world. Whether we stay local or find our selves teaching in a different country, God will work through us to love others, reflect Christ in all that we do, and bring people to personally know Him. Ahhh I'm so excited!

Reflection #3 of Part II

    I observed a 1/2nd grade class at Discovery Community School. When I arrived to the class, the teacher introduced me as Mrs. Burch to the very sweet students, then the teacher said, "Lets give Mrs. Burch a warm welcome!" so then they all clapped for me. Then she said to the students, "Mrs. Burch might walk around and ask you questions about what you're doing."
    I thought this was really great, that she was expecting me to walk around and interact with the students.
    Discovery Community School is a really great "choice" school. There are three classrooms. The "Youngers" - 1/2nd grade, "Middles" - 3/4th grade and "Olders" - 5/6th grade. The one thing about this school I thought was interesting, was for a child to attend this school, the parents collectively need to volunteer 65 hours in their student's classroom.

Word, Excel & Powerpoint Features - Required

Uses of Word, Excel & PowerPoint:


Word:
- Write all types of formats, like articles, resumes, essays, research papers, calendars, etc.
- Can do research
- Dictionary
- Thesaurus
- Spell Check
- Creates tables
- Different shapes available
- Clip Art
- Can e-mail documents
- Word count
- Different languages available

Excel:
- Pie charts
- Columns
- Scatter plots
- Organizes finances
- Calculates your work
- Different math formulas available

Powerpoint:
- Creates presentations
- Has slide animations and sounds
- Has a slide timer
- Can narrate slides
- Can insert movies and sounds
- Has charts
- Photo albums
- Many background designs
- Tables

One project I could do to help my students learn PowerPoint, is to have them create a few slides. On each slide, ask them to use a new feature of PowerPoint, either a new animation, or the use of a chart or diagram, or a new sound for something. Then on the last slide, combine all the features that were used.

Another project I can do is have the students create slides about their families. In doing this, I can have the students pick a feature they do not know so well, and incorporate it in their presentation. I can teach them about the narration tool and have them incorporate this feature as well.

Lastly, I can have the students gather a few statistics around the classroom, like "Favorite Type of Cookie" or "Color of Hair" and then ask the students to use the pre-made diagrams available for data use. Then enter one statistic per slide.

"Blogs for Educators" - Required

I decided to check out the blog called, "Free Technology for Teachers." I looked at the blog entry titled,
"World Clock - World Statistics in Real-Time"

This entry is really interesting. The blogger gave a link to this website that has "continuous updates of demographic statistics from around the world." It's a great educational tool for students. However, I would recommend the website to older students, maybe fourth grade and higher. It has statistics on how many abortions happen every day, and they truly happen every second; same with deaths from different diseases and illnesses. The website also has information about the amount of oil produced, and the earth's temperature.

As a teacher you can use this website to teach students about geography, history, and social justice issues. Students could do a report on a certain issue related to one of the statistics from the website. It gives students a piece of real life issues. I think the information on the website is important for students to see and understand.

Reflection #2 of Part II

Testing Students in Washington State

I was looking around in the OSPI website and was curious about the new state wide test that was created.

I learned about the test for 3-8 grade is called the Measurements of Students Progress (MSP) test.
The test for high school is called High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE).

The MSP test section said this, "The dates for testing in spring 2010 are May 12-28 for paper-and-pencil and May 3-June 4 for online testing in grades 6-8 in reading and math."
I heard that it was all online, but I guess just part of the test is online, and the online part is only for 6-8 in reading and math.

There is also now a separate test for students with special needs, which I think is such a great idea and I'm surprised they didn't think of this when the WASL was still going on.
Also, I didn't know there was a guidline called, "Washington State’s Accommodations Guidelines for Students with Disabilities. Before I thought students with special needs, who took the WASL were left to fend for themselves and somehow take the WASL the best they could, no matter their disability.

Anyways, I thought this all was quite interesting, and definitely important for us future teachers.

Online Learning Experience: Required

K12 Online Conference: Connecting Classrooms Across Continents
I learned to communicate expectations upfront with the partnering teacher.
- Create a homebase for collaborating the project together.
- Break down project into different steps and stages.
- Determine assessments at the end of each stage.
- Provide a way for the students to communicate with the students across the world.
- Include tools for the project like: wikis, blogs, Skype, podcasts, Flikr, voicethred& google apps.
- Wikis: wetpaint, wikispaces, pbwiki, media wiki
- Blogs: wordpress, edublogs, blogger

Project Wiki: http://thereadingconnection.wikispaces.com/
Presentation resources: http://globallyconnectedproj.wikispaces.com/
Voice Thread of Essential Questions: http://voicethread.com/share/222585

Tips: Keep communication building, combine & reuse tools, start small, remove barriers before project.

I enjoyed hearing about connecting with other classrooms across the world. Imagine the possibilities! I definitely would love to try something like this with my future classroom. Both classrooms could learn so much about another culture!

Reflection #1 of Part II

My Reflection is a Podcast :o) Click to Listen.

Technology Project Plan

My plan for my Technology Project is to create a website with a wiki, and perhaps a blog, and video.
I will be able to use this website when I am a teacher or a student teacher. It will give students, parents and other visitors an idea of what our class is like and the different things the students are learning.
I look forward to creating this website. :o)
My podcast link

Assignment #3

My partner is Emily Stuart. And we created a Google Custom Search with many Educational websites/tools for teachers. We chose our toolbox because it seemed most efficient and user friendly. We were unable to manually organize our websites. The Google Custom Search asked us to enter the websites and tag words, then it created the engine for us.

Tools for Teachers Search Engine

Here is our search engine website, these are our tag words:
art, science, lesson plans, history, wiki, foss, web, k12, biology, educational videos, video, math

http://www.fossweb.com/  <--This site is an excellent site for science curriculum. It is geared towards K-8 grades. FOSS is a researched based science curriculum. It is full of information for parents, teachers, & school districts. The FOSS curriculum can be sent to your class and also there are many activities right on the website. I would definitely use this website when teaching science lessons.

http://teachertube.com/ <-- This site is many educational videos that teachers and educators have uploaded for others to see and learn from. This is an excellent alternative to youtube.com. I could use this website with any subject. Showing a video for an anticipatory set is a great way to introduce a topic.

http://www.creativeteachingsite.com/  <-- This site was created by a teacher who has taught for 40 years. It has good solid information for teachers. It has teaching ideas, other links for teachers, computer wallpapers for teachers, a creative teaching page with great ideas for teaching, and a virtual teaching page. This site has won lots of awards for being a good educational site. I would use this page perhaps when I need some new ideas, and a little inspiration and flavor in my teaching.

Bob Spankle's, "Caught on Video" Article - Required

This article is very eye-opening, and I now want a Flip Video Camera. I learned of all the things it could be used for by a teacher in a classroom. It seems it would be so helpful for teachers, in student teacher conferences, reflecting on students' thoughts, hopes, and dreams, etc., helping student's with homework, and capturing what a student has completed for that day and then showing their parents what they learned. This Flip camera would be another great communication tool between teachers and parents. Like the author said, "A picure is worth a thousand words."

Required Reflection on ActivBoard & Clickers

I thought the ActivBoard was really awesome. In a way it seemed easier to use than the SMART board. I liked the features of the ActivBoard, it seems simpler than the SMART board. The Clickers are amazing, and such a great tool for all levels and grades. They seem like they are greatly useful when teaching and asking for understanding of a subject.
I look forward to using an ActivBoard or SMART board in my classroom.