Today, we learned much about Pageflakes, Kidspiration, Webspiration, and Chalksite. All these programs are really interesting and very much useful, especially for teachers, which we will soon be.
On Kidspiration, which is very useful for students especially, I found pictures of planets and ordered them in the correct order. Webspiration is definitely created more for older students, teachers and really anyone who wants to brainstorm visually. There are many ways to map out ideas, brainstorm with others, and create mind maps in a visual way on this website. Now, Chalksite is a great free website to have a gradebook, post assignments, have discussions with students, and have a class website for parents and students to go to. It was very organized as well.
These were all great resources.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
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!
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
"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.
"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.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
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.
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!
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!
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