Wow! Here I am 15 weeks later and I survived! At the beginning of the semester I was a bit overwhelmed with all the new technology that was being introduced each week. To begin with setting up this blog was a challenge. I had no clue why blogging would be of any importance to this course. I was so wrong. It actually was refreshing to blog at the end of each week. It was a nice way to round out what I had learned. I can say that now, 15 weeks later I am much more confident about tackling technology. A few assignments during these 15 weeks really had me baffled, but I found with a little patience and an open mind I was able to figure out each task. A special "Thank You!" to Lisa for her encouragement and assistance during those weeks I was really stuck. I have enjoyed interacting with my fellow classmates and was always amazed at their creativity for lesson plans. I am most impressed with Larry's technological savvy and experience in using technology in his own classroom. It's always nice to take a class with experienced educators. Their knowledge is such a huge help.
I learned about blogging! I started my own blog, which I still cannot believe I'm doing. I created a WebQuest on explorers to the "New World." I learned how to "tweet" on Twitter, and read about and watched "vlogs. There is so much more like the powerpoint, databases, surveys, comics, and the movie! Each of these technologies are fantastic educational tools that I will find ways in using them in my own classroom. I have even started a file for links I stumbled across during this semester of other lesson plan ideas that incorporate technology as part of the lesson plan.
Also through this course, I finally created my e-portfolio "live" on the web. I am pleased with how polished and professional it looks now, compared to the beginning of the semester! I think it contains some great information and I know that as I continue on with my own education it will continue to change and grow. Just like me! Twenty years ago when I graduated high school, there was only 6 computers in the high school I attended, and I never got the opportunity to actually use one of them. Today computers and technology in general are used in schools beginning in Kindergarten. As a future educator, I feel this is one of the most important classes I have taken thus far. I really needed to have a better understanding of technology and how to use it in a classroom setting.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Google Earth
http://www.google.com/educators/geo.html
Google Earth! I was somewhat familiar with this website. My daughter uses Google Sketchup often as well. So to be honest I thought it would be about mapping and geography at best. I took my time and looked around. One of the first things I did was locate the Crown Point Bridge from my area. I looked at the images that were attached to it and then started to follow the road to my house. I was disappointed my house was a white blur. That being said, all in all I was really amazed by the wealth of information that could be used by educators. This is truly a huge resource for the classroom. I went into "classroom ideas" and found Google your "Ancestor's Journey" was one of the first activities that caught my eye. I was able to locate this going through Google Lit Trips. I checked out a section about an Alaskan Field trip for over a half hour. I was impressed with all the images and information that went along with it. I then visited "earthquakes" and learned that yesterday there was an earthquake near Altamont, New York with a magnitude of 2.6. The topics are endless and I spent several hours, over several days looking through this site. It's addicting to say the least.
I can see Google Earth being used my classroom. Since my first love is history. I think I would like to use Google Earth to locate historical sites of interest during a lesson plan. For instance the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It would be great to locate the path they took and explore sites mentioned in their journals. I also noticed a "classroom idea" on exploration that included early explorers to the New World. I think the possibilities are endless.
One aspect of Google Earth that is a little scary is being able to locate people by their addresses. I don't think this is a particular good feature for this site. There are too many child predators on line that as educators and parents we need to remind our children and students about internet safety and do not give out any personal information such as your address. As I can see it is way to easy to find out where people live by a few strokes of the keyboard.
Google Earth! I was somewhat familiar with this website. My daughter uses Google Sketchup often as well. So to be honest I thought it would be about mapping and geography at best. I took my time and looked around. One of the first things I did was locate the Crown Point Bridge from my area. I looked at the images that were attached to it and then started to follow the road to my house. I was disappointed my house was a white blur. That being said, all in all I was really amazed by the wealth of information that could be used by educators. This is truly a huge resource for the classroom. I went into "classroom ideas" and found Google your "Ancestor's Journey" was one of the first activities that caught my eye. I was able to locate this going through Google Lit Trips. I checked out a section about an Alaskan Field trip for over a half hour. I was impressed with all the images and information that went along with it. I then visited "earthquakes" and learned that yesterday there was an earthquake near Altamont, New York with a magnitude of 2.6. The topics are endless and I spent several hours, over several days looking through this site. It's addicting to say the least.
I can see Google Earth being used my classroom. Since my first love is history. I think I would like to use Google Earth to locate historical sites of interest during a lesson plan. For instance the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It would be great to locate the path they took and explore sites mentioned in their journals. I also noticed a "classroom idea" on exploration that included early explorers to the New World. I think the possibilities are endless.
One aspect of Google Earth that is a little scary is being able to locate people by their addresses. I don't think this is a particular good feature for this site. There are too many child predators on line that as educators and parents we need to remind our children and students about internet safety and do not give out any personal information such as your address. As I can see it is way to easy to find out where people live by a few strokes of the keyboard.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Educational Philosophies
This week I am to do some research into the different educational pedagogies and "makeover" my own philosophy of education. Truth be known it really needs to be updated. It's been quite some time and I have learned so much since then. There a few educational pedagogies that seem to fit with how I learn. This would be "Learning Styles" and Howard Gardner's "Multiple Intelligence Theory". My current philosophy of education is based on "Progressivism." I did some research here http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/PP3.html .
Progressivism Theory is based on "education that should focus on the whole child, rather than on the content or the teacher" and "Effective teachers provide experiences so that students can learn by doing" (Cohen). At the moment I still love this idea, but I also recognize that not all students are going to learn the same way.
I looked around at some educational blogs that were linked to http://thereflectiveteacher.wordpress.com/2006/06/07/statement-of-educational-philosophy/
Most of the blogs were frustrated educators trying to find a way to connect to their students. To tell the truth...it really bummed me out. Then I found a blog called "History is Elementary." Mainly because I LOVE history! This teacher loved history as well and not just the big events in history. She enjoyed learning and teaching the small stuff too! Here is a link to her blog;
http://historyiselementary.blogspot.com
One thing that stood out to me while browsing through her blog was how she was trying to find a way to motivate her students. "Every human has different needs at different times that govern motivation. It is up to us as the educators to discover each student’s needs at the right time and at the right place so that we all can be successful. Research tells us that students can be goverened by approximately seven different needs that we can meet once we tap into them. It’s the tap dance that we have to do that causes the difficulty. Sometimes we are a little rusty with the steps" (Historyiselementary.com).
So its time for me to get motivated and update my own "Philosophy of Education" : )
Progressivism Theory is based on "education that should focus on the whole child, rather than on the content or the teacher" and "Effective teachers provide experiences so that students can learn by doing" (Cohen). At the moment I still love this idea, but I also recognize that not all students are going to learn the same way.
I looked around at some educational blogs that were linked to http://thereflectiveteacher.wordpress.com/2006/06/07/statement-of-educational-philosophy/
Most of the blogs were frustrated educators trying to find a way to connect to their students. To tell the truth...it really bummed me out. Then I found a blog called "History is Elementary." Mainly because I LOVE history! This teacher loved history as well and not just the big events in history. She enjoyed learning and teaching the small stuff too! Here is a link to her blog;
http://historyiselementary.blogspot.com
One thing that stood out to me while browsing through her blog was how she was trying to find a way to motivate her students. "Every human has different needs at different times that govern motivation. It is up to us as the educators to discover each student’s needs at the right time and at the right place so that we all can be successful. Research tells us that students can be goverened by approximately seven different needs that we can meet once we tap into them. It’s the tap dance that we have to do that causes the difficulty. Sometimes we are a little rusty with the steps" (Historyiselementary.com).
So its time for me to get motivated and update my own "Philosophy of Education" : )
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