Today we did roll playing. It would have been really fun if we would have been able to use Science Sim to roll play our parts. Unfortunately we had some technical difficulties with Science Sim so we were not able to do the roll plays. I think that it would have been really fun to discuss on Sci Sim. It would be a great way to evaluate and discuss for those children in your class who may be a little bit more quiet and shy. This is a way for children to express their thoughts and feelings without feeling the pressure of being recorded. By the time I become a teacher I this program will probably have some of the quirks out of it so that it would be very efficient to use in a classroom. I think that this program has potential. It is still just in the process of being revised.
I think that using recorders in your classroom and other devices is very useful and very motivational for your students. I think that they would really enjoy it and it would be a fun way to assess your students without them really knowing. Although today was kind of frustrating I think that it will be very useful in the future.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Edith Bowen and Website Evaluation
Today we had the opportunity to go to Edith Bowen Elementary School and talk with a teacher and students about the technology they use in their classroom. This was really fun and helpful. I never thought of some of the things that this teacher used. He used I-pods computers and even a Nintendo WII in his classroom. I was really impressed with the young girl who showed me some of the programs they use on the computer. I never realized how useful some of the resources out there could be. We have always been taught that small group is a great way to learn and using these technologies is a great way to be able to do a lot of small group in your classroom. I was impressed with the excitement and the engagement that the teacher said was present in the room when the children were allowed to use the I-pods or the computers. I think that using these technologies in the classroom can be very helpful and I look forward to using them in the classroom.
Upon arrival back in the classroom we did website evaluations. We had four different forms that we used to evaluate 4 different types of websites. Although I feel like these forms were not very applicable to the websites we were looking up I feel that the Jericho Middle School Library Evaluation was my favorite. It was a quick easy checklist that helped me to really see a simple view of the website. I felt that all of the evaluations gave a brief overview but I think that there are better evaluations out there. It was hard to use such generic forms to evaluate the different varieties of websites. I think that there is probably a forms out there that would be more specific to each of the different types of websites we looked up.
I was very impressed with the NASA website. It passed almost every aspect of the evaluation. I never realized how important it is to make sure that the website is valid and that it has an author posted. I would have never thought to look for that in the websites. I was surprised to find out that most of the websites had an email link to send questions or concerns to but not a phone number or address. I think that this is becoming more and more common because of the increased use of technology in our world today. This evaluation helped me to learn what is important to look for on a website you are thinking about using in your classroom.
There is a lot of value to using a web site evaluation. It helps you to make sure that you are looking at every aspect of a website. It also helps you to look deeper into a website rather than just seeing something you like and assuming that it is good and credible. I think that website evaluation forms really open the eyes of a teacher and help them to understand the importance of finding good, useful and credible websites.
There are definitely times that I would not use a formal evaluation. I think that there are several sites that have parts to them that are good and useful and other parts that are not. If we use a website evaluation we might rule out the website in whole when really there is valuable resources on the website. I think that as a teacher we really need to look deep into the websites we are thinking about using and make sure that they are credible and that they will really be useful for our students. I think that we should not quickly overlook websites but instead dive deep into them and find those aspects that will be useful to us in our classrooms.
Upon arrival back in the classroom we did website evaluations. We had four different forms that we used to evaluate 4 different types of websites. Although I feel like these forms were not very applicable to the websites we were looking up I feel that the Jericho Middle School Library Evaluation was my favorite. It was a quick easy checklist that helped me to really see a simple view of the website. I felt that all of the evaluations gave a brief overview but I think that there are better evaluations out there. It was hard to use such generic forms to evaluate the different varieties of websites. I think that there is probably a forms out there that would be more specific to each of the different types of websites we looked up.
I was very impressed with the NASA website. It passed almost every aspect of the evaluation. I never realized how important it is to make sure that the website is valid and that it has an author posted. I would have never thought to look for that in the websites. I was surprised to find out that most of the websites had an email link to send questions or concerns to but not a phone number or address. I think that this is becoming more and more common because of the increased use of technology in our world today. This evaluation helped me to learn what is important to look for on a website you are thinking about using in your classroom.
There is a lot of value to using a web site evaluation. It helps you to make sure that you are looking at every aspect of a website. It also helps you to look deeper into a website rather than just seeing something you like and assuming that it is good and credible. I think that website evaluation forms really open the eyes of a teacher and help them to understand the importance of finding good, useful and credible websites.
There are definitely times that I would not use a formal evaluation. I think that there are several sites that have parts to them that are good and useful and other parts that are not. If we use a website evaluation we might rule out the website in whole when really there is valuable resources on the website. I think that as a teacher we really need to look deep into the websites we are thinking about using and make sure that they are credible and that they will really be useful for our students. I think that we should not quickly overlook websites but instead dive deep into them and find those aspects that will be useful to us in our classrooms.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Instructional Architect
Today we had a visitor come in and talk to us about Utah States Instructional Architect website. It was awesome to learn about this resource. I will definitely use this in my classroom. It is really easy to navigate through and a great way to develop projects for your students. It is a way for you as a teacher to use your own ideas and what you know interests your students. I think that there are many great resources that you can use already present on this website. Just by doing a simple search of the topic that you want you get many different lesson plans that other teachers have created. This is a great website to go to and get ideas to use in your classroom. I also think that it would be a good idea to post your students responses under the activity so that other teachers can have an idea of what students have developed based on the directions. I think that this is a great website that is valuable to you as a teacher in more than one way. I am really excited to get ideas, create lesson plans and use the lesson plans already present with my students.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Web Quest and Inquiry Based Learning
Today was a very helpful day. We started off talking about inquiry based learning where children ask questions and then answer them. This is a great way to promote process learning rather than just product. The children are required to figure out the answer for themselves using the wide variety of resources we have today. We then went into talking about Web Quests. This is such a cool site. I will definitely use this in my future classroom. I think that it is a great way to encourage process and that it is an easy way for the teacher to evaluate whether the students are understanding. I really like the wide array of activities. I looked up several different topics and there were activities for every topic. I like that they are arranged in several different ways general subjects and specific topics. I think that this website is a great resource and very user friendly. I think that this would be a great activity to use for a center. This way all of your students can do the same activity in small groups. It is also a great center that would not have to have a teacher present to conduct. This is a great way to accommodate if you only have a couple of computers in your classroom. You can extend Web Quest by having your students present their results to the class. I think that Web Quest is a great extension to concepts as well. It is a great way to do a hands on review for your students. I think that overall this is a great resource that I look forward to using in my classroom. One more thing that I really like is quest garden because we can try this out as a teacher for free to see how it works in our classroom. Then we can know if we really want to pay the money for it. Overall I think that this program is good. It is very user friendly and I will definitely consider using it in my future classroom.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Virtual World March 29, 2010
Today we learned how to use virtual world. This program is really cool. It took us a while to get the class into the program but once we were in we had a fun time exploring. This program is very engaging. You could use this in your classroom to have discussions that were more engaging. Your students would be able to move themselves around to the different areas of the program and discuss different things at each area. This would also be a good program to use when learning about other countries and cultures. You could create the countries that you were talking about and add some things to demonstrate what is common in the culture of that country. The students could then visit those countries and learn a little bit about each one in an engaging way.
This program was frustrating at first but once we learned how to use it we really enjoyed it. I think that this is a great program that you could bring into your classroom to provide variety and to help your students be more engaged.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Google Survey
Today was a really fun day of class. We learned how to make a survey on Google Docs. These surveys are great. In class we were able to ask whatever questions we wanted to. These surveys would be a great way to do a short quiz in your classroom. It would be a great way to question students about their likes and dislikes. I think that I will use this on the first day of class to find out what my students like and dislike and what they expect from me as their teacher. I think that this is a great way to get to know your students. This program gives you results so that you can refer back to them frequently. I think that this could also be a fun get to know you thing for the students in your classroom. Each student could come up with a question and then as a teacher I could combine them all and put them into a survey. The class could then answer the questions and we could discuss them in class. I think this would be a fun get to know you activity. I think this program would be fun. The link to my survey is https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dExGRWRGXzFkMVpUTWdTcXNCN2NGcVE6MA.
My first survey
Amber Kohler My first survey
Please answer the questions below. There is no right or wrong answers so please by honest.
* Required
Monday, March 1, 2010
Microsoft Excel and more
Today we had really good group presentations. One of the groups gave us a great website with resources for us to use as teachers. The website is www.curriki.org.
We talked about using Microsoft Excel to make a grade book today. It was very informing. I have a hard time using Microsoft Excel. I am sure if I practice using it more I will become more familiar with it but it really confused me today. Thanks to classes that I have previously taken I understand a lot of functions of Excel. If it weren't for previous classes I think I would have been very confused. I think that this is a great way to keep a grade book but it does take practice and effort to learn. I think that I will definitely use it in the future.
We also talked about polls today in our class. We went to the website polleverywhere.com. This website is really fun. It will be a very useful and fun program to use in my classroom. I think that this is a great way to see your class's understanding without giving a formal assessment. This is also a great way to choose a team captain for the classroom or to choose a student to represent the class in something. I really like that you can ask your own questions and answers. I love that you can get response immediately. I think that it can save you as a teacher a lot of time. I think that this will be such a fun activity to use in my future classroom. I think that it will get the students excited to vote! I think it is a great way to assess your classroom understanding without your students knowing.
We talked about using Microsoft Excel to make a grade book today. It was very informing. I have a hard time using Microsoft Excel. I am sure if I practice using it more I will become more familiar with it but it really confused me today. Thanks to classes that I have previously taken I understand a lot of functions of Excel. If it weren't for previous classes I think I would have been very confused. I think that this is a great way to keep a grade book but it does take practice and effort to learn. I think that I will definitely use it in the future.
We also talked about polls today in our class. We went to the website polleverywhere.com. This website is really fun. It will be a very useful and fun program to use in my classroom. I think that this is a great way to see your class's understanding without giving a formal assessment. This is also a great way to choose a team captain for the classroom or to choose a student to represent the class in something. I really like that you can ask your own questions and answers. I love that you can get response immediately. I think that it can save you as a teacher a lot of time. I think that this will be such a fun activity to use in my future classroom. I think that it will get the students excited to vote! I think it is a great way to assess your classroom understanding without your students knowing.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Microsoft Word and Google Docs
Class today was very informing. I learned a lot about revising in Word and using Google Docs. The activity we did in Microsoft Word was very engaging and fun. I think this would be a great activity to do in your classroom. The children would really enjoy it. I think that there are also many other things that you can do in Microsoft Word in your classroom. It is a great way to get your kids used to editing papers. The editing feature is a fun way to edit a paper. It will give the children a different way of looking at their papers. I also think that this is a great thing for the teacher. It is a great way to save paper and time as a teacher. It makes it possible for you to not have to print off every paper your students write and I think that it is much quicker to edit in Microsoft than by hand.
Google Docs is a very fun way to do reports. It would be a great way to have your class submit their assignments. When you use Google Docs you don't receive as many emails as you would if you had your students email their assignments to you. I had a lot of fun exploring Google Docs. It was very frustrating at first because I had to teach myself a lot about using it. A brief explanation to the class before you give an assignment on Google Docs would really help your students. I think that there are many ways in which you could use Google Docs in your classroom. I think it is a great way to do a group project. It really helps those students who are busy and don't have a lot of time to get together. They are able to get on and update and give their input at times that are convenient for them. This is also a great program to use for informing your students. You can post a quick thought or section of information and all of your students can access it and get the information that they need. It is a great program and will really help eliminate a lot of emails. I am looking forward to using this program in my classroom.
Google Docs is a very fun way to do reports. It would be a great way to have your class submit their assignments. When you use Google Docs you don't receive as many emails as you would if you had your students email their assignments to you. I had a lot of fun exploring Google Docs. It was very frustrating at first because I had to teach myself a lot about using it. A brief explanation to the class before you give an assignment on Google Docs would really help your students. I think that there are many ways in which you could use Google Docs in your classroom. I think it is a great way to do a group project. It really helps those students who are busy and don't have a lot of time to get together. They are able to get on and update and give their input at times that are convenient for them. This is also a great program to use for informing your students. You can post a quick thought or section of information and all of your students can access it and get the information that they need. It is a great program and will really help eliminate a lot of emails. I am looking forward to using this program in my classroom.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
YETC Resources
I really enjoyed our day in the YETC resource lab. I had no idea the amount of resources that were available for teachers. Especially those on the internet. There are so many different resources that I am really excited to use in my classroom. There are so many different ways that you can use these programs in your classroom. I especially liked the website spellingcity.com. It is a great way to test your students on their spelling words without taking time out of class to do a test. I also really like how quickly it grades. As a teacher you spend a lot of time grading papers and this website that will help to eliminate a little bit of that.
I also really like Nathans Educational Treasures for Teachers. There are so many different resources on these newsletters. I really enjoyed this months issue. At the bottom there was a list of several different free websites with games. There was one specific to Kindergarten. When you go into the math section of this website there are several different concepts you have to cover on the core. These are a great way to give your students a different way of practicing the concepts you are learning. The students would think that a free center at the computer would be really fun. When most kids play educational games on the computer they think it is fun. They don't realize that they are really learning. It is a great way for you as a teacher to check the students comprehension without them knowing.
I also really liked the math worksheet factory. I like the idea that you can create a specific worksheet for each child in your classroom. It is a great way to differentiate your instruction for those at different levels. I think that this website can help your students succeed. You can apply your instruction to those students who are struggling by giving them a little bit easier problems and then advancing them once they understand and you can make more complicated worksheets for those students who are fast finishers. When every student in the classroom gets a different worksheet they won't understand the diversity in the classroom quite as much.
The day in the YETC was very informing. I really enjoyed the many valuable resources that we were given. I had no idea what was available to us. I really enjoyed all the links and ideas that he gave us to use.
I also really like Nathans Educational Treasures for Teachers. There are so many different resources on these newsletters. I really enjoyed this months issue. At the bottom there was a list of several different free websites with games. There was one specific to Kindergarten. When you go into the math section of this website there are several different concepts you have to cover on the core. These are a great way to give your students a different way of practicing the concepts you are learning. The students would think that a free center at the computer would be really fun. When most kids play educational games on the computer they think it is fun. They don't realize that they are really learning. It is a great way for you as a teacher to check the students comprehension without them knowing.
I also really liked the math worksheet factory. I like the idea that you can create a specific worksheet for each child in your classroom. It is a great way to differentiate your instruction for those at different levels. I think that this website can help your students succeed. You can apply your instruction to those students who are struggling by giving them a little bit easier problems and then advancing them once they understand and you can make more complicated worksheets for those students who are fast finishers. When every student in the classroom gets a different worksheet they won't understand the diversity in the classroom quite as much.
The day in the YETC was very informing. I really enjoyed the many valuable resources that we were given. I had no idea what was available to us. I really enjoyed all the links and ideas that he gave us to use.
Monday, February 1, 2010
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