TPTE Journey in Closing

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” 

~ Ernest Hemingway

Through my journey this semester I have managed to cross boundaries that I would have never expected before this course.  My limited computer skills appear to have dissolved away while being replaced with a new tool box of resources for my future classroom.  I my not be fully equipped to tackle all of the available software that is currently out there considering the differences between Mac's and PC's but I think I have managed to absorb enough information in order to structure a great foundation.  I have learned so much this semester about technology for use in the classroom from my TPTE Journey.  I even shared some of this material with my colleagues only to have them comment on how I am so techsavvy!  What these new colleagues of mine did not know was before this journey I would have been far from what they are now considering techsavvy!  Thank you TPTE for a Journey of a lifetime!!!         

One to One

The One to One Initiative has begun!  I have heard many pros and cons to this program.  As times has changed I do feel that the computer is now the equivalent to what was once paper and pencil.  One thing we need to think of is how much of a disadvantage students these days may be without having access to a computer.  Could you imagine what it would have been like going to school without any paper or pencils when that was the only way to record your notes and take tests?  What did you do?  Well lets now think what would students do now when they have assignments that require the use of a computer but lack the access to use a computer.  I mean for one thing computers are not as cheap as paper and pencils and with the changes in times there are now a large amount of single parent homes.  Since not everyone can afford a computer the One to One Initiative is very helpful by providing computers or iPads to students in schools that now are a part of this program.  Now I know that there are other problems other then students not being able to afford computers that make this topic controversial.  For one case I heard how a school using this program had technical issues that kicked students out of their online test taking.  They had been informed if it happened that the questions that had been already answered would have been saved automatically, but that was not the case.  So once students could log back into the test they had to retake everything that they had already answered.   

Ok so we have discussed access and technical difficulties but what about classroom distractions?  I have heard that the software can be altered to only allow access to certain sites that have been approved in advance by the school, but I have also heard that any student with a good working knowledge about computer could maneuver around that setting with ease.  So if your students have the chance to be one of the few lucky ones that have the opportunity to be in this program will they be using their computer for actual classroom work or will they be spending their time working on other things during class. . . I know there is some great software available for use in the classroom especially when dealing with a physics classroom that would make these computers become an outstanding tool, but it all depends on how everything can be implemented.  

I can not truly say that I am for or against this initiative, but all I can hope for is that if it is readily available for students that all of the kinks in the road are worked out for the best outcome!  

Website for the Classroom

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” 

~ William Arthur Ward

During this class we have discovered how teachers can create and maintain a website for use in their future classroom.  I have found some tasks a little bit more than what the normal teacher may be use to at this point in their training but with guidance of our teacher we have learned how to overcome these obstacles.  I feel that any teacher can teach and provide some sort of online support for their students but a great teacher can structure and provide an outstanding learning experience for their students with a little bit of extra work.  While designing my website I tried to structure it in the best format that would be useful as a resource for my future classroom.  I have tried to keep all of the font and layout in an easy to read/view format, but I would really enjoy if I could get the side bar sizing figured out.  I truly thought if I could link my classroom blog and email address that would be handy, but I have struggled on sizing the text in a format that would allow for individuals to view the whole text in case the link does not work on their computer.  It's the little things that can sometimes cause more concern when trying to provide a great teacher service, but as with most tasks answers can be found after putting forth the effort required to succeed.  I think that this activity has been one of the most useful ones for the duration of the class since we have truly combined all of our projects onto this page.  I see myself using a classroom website in my future class with a structure that will most likely be very close to the site I have been working on in this class.           

iTeacher on iMovie

“We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.”

~ David Warlick

Times have changed. . . I still remember my first experience with a computer while I was in what would be consider junior high or middle school.  Our school was still referred to as the elementary school but it housed all from kindergarten through 8th grade.  I remember those large floppy disks and the fashionable green font with a solid black monitor color.  Those were the days when students had to learn command prompts in order to do just basic computer tasks.  Even in high school I still had an old style typewriter that I would type my papers for class.  It was not until a family friend gave us an older computer while up dating their work office that we had actual access to a computer for doing homework or research online for school.  We still had to rely on going to the local library to pull hard copies of anything we would need for class research.  Oh how times have changed. . . and with changing times teachers must change as well. . . 

Teachers now must alter to iTeachers.  Technology is now expected to be readily available to all students.  It appears that what we once considered rare privileged access is now considered every day practice.  Students now must understand how to use technology at a greater level of detail before even entering college.  The days of dogs eating your homework have now passed and now we are entering the dilemmas of power outages, internet failures, printer errors or running out of printer ink. . . What other dilemmas may iTeachers now face. . . 

Well iTeachers now need to be skilled in using software that is much different then what we had originally learned for ourselves.  While working on the iMovie project I came to learn how different a new version of the same software can still present new errors.  I worked on my project in windows movie maker, but while using the iMovie software in case it seems that the Mac software was much easier to use then the latest edition of movie maker that my current laptop has on it.  It is amazing how different my current edition is in difference then the last version that my last laptop had on it.  With this being said I think it is very important for teachers to know what their machine will have in their classroom.

I truly think the only way for Teachers to fully be able to reach students is to become iTeachers and learn the latest in technology for use in their classrooms.  If we can't understand new software or current technology trends then how can we expect students to focus in class when they may feel like they are already smarter then their Teacher?        

Inspiration Through Inspiration

"Nothing is impossible the word itself says 'i'm possible'!"

~ Audrey Hepburn

By far I have found the use of the Inspiration software amazing!  It is very easy to use and has already came in handy since I learned how to use it last week.  Monday in our night class we learned the software and then once I got home I had the joy of using it for a project for my Wednesday class.  Then Wednesday night during my SCED 543 class I was able to share this wonderful software with my other classmates and even show some of them how to use the software.  I can already say this is one tool I would not want to go without for my future classroom let alone for my future classes here.   

I actually see this software coming in handy in future classrooms since I have heard a lot of schools are going to the use of laptops or ipads in the classroom.  This would allow the students an easy way to organize their understanding of a class project.  You could either use it as a tool in a pre-assessment of your students knowledge on a topic to be address or even have them do the same concept map type project after going over the material to see how their understanding on the material has changed.  This could even lead into a good idea for an IWB activity.  

Through Inspiration many things are possible! ;)   

IWB. . ."The Smart" Challenge

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” 

~ Albert Einstein

I really think that classrooms can benefit from the use of IWB's.  It may initially present a challenge to teachers, but once the software can be successfully learned I think teachers would be able to stimulate more interest by the students.  If a teacher is using the software as a basic whiteboard then there may be less desire from students to absorb the material being presented.  I almost wonder if some teachers may be so set in stone of their ways that they may not want to use the new tools.  I for one love the use of technology but need to learn all of the materials available in order to use a new item with success.  

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"

~ Franklin D. Roosevelt 

Half Way There!

“When you have completed 95 percent of your journey, you are only halfway there.”

~ Japanese Proverb

So far so good. . . or so I think!  I have managed to learn a lot already this semester and I plan to use a large amount of these new skills in my classroom setting in the future.  Learning how to set up digital scavenger hunts for students has been a great skill to acquire.  I found the activity of learning how to do a slide show in google presentations extremely handy for classroom material and student based activities, not to mention I can now have this handy tool at my finger tips for my next kidding season on the farm.  Imagine how nice it will be to set up kidding pictures in a google presentation that I can place on my farm website for clients!  Very handy all around!

Now as we have reached our halfway mark I feel pretty good about all of the information I have been able to work towards learning.  One thing that I am really excited to have a chance to learn is going to be the use of whiteboards that we are about to start in this new second portion of the class.  I really wished I had already learned about whiteboards as it could have been useful in one of my other class mock teaching experiences I had last week.  I look forward to learning as much about new technologies in the classroom as we can possibly fit into our class time this semester.  I am not the most skilled computer user so I have actually found the use of Mac's in the classroom a little helpful since I am a PC person.  Now if I end up in a school setting that only has Mac's for use I can feel a bit more confident with the equipment.  Goodness I still remember when I thought I was very computer savvy in Elementary school (middle school, as our elem and mid school was in the same school).  They had some of us loading and setting up the younger students that had issues booting their computers. . . mind you it was the big huge old computers with green font and the big floppy disks!  I haven't used dos commands in so long. . . hopefully all of this new technology will become as second nature as those older systems that I had once known so well! 

Mi Picasa o su Picasa

"Searching is half the fun: life is much more manageable when thought of as a scavenger hunt as opposed to a surprise party."

~Jimmy Buffett

I truly believe students would be able to enjoy and retain more information when the task is presented in a scavenger type activity.  I would expect to use a portion of our class time during a discussion on forces for students to work on a digital scavenger hunt.  Students could search for items for examples of balanced and unbalanced forces, negative velocity, changing velocity, friction and find three people demonstrating acceleration.  

One thing that we did learn during our class session is that if students are using phones for their camera there can be issues with downloading the pictures.  If the room is located in a poor service area the students may have to leave the room to find a better signal.  Once we were able to download our images the process was less painless.  I do think students would be more motivated in a classroom setting that used digital scavenger hunts to advance their understanding of content material.  We just need to be ready to handle any technical issues that may arise.  As we learned even the best devices can have technical problems from time to time.
    

"Ah-ha" The Great Inquiry Based Activity

"Never be afraid to do something new.  Remember, amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic."

~ Anonymous

I truly believe the quote I listed above is supporting many tasks we are learning to take on in order to become great teachers!  As I created a large portion of my IBA during last Monday's night class I was initially concerned when I first opened it on my laptop to continue work from home. . . My laptop appears to have a different screen size setting then the computer in the lab. . . Hummm then I start to wonder which setting our teacher would have on his computer when viewing our IBA's. . .  As my mind kept rambling on over which formatting size for the pictures I was using in the heading portion of two of my pages would appear in proper size proportions on my teachers computer. . .  I finally just had to give in to my pondering concerned mind to set it at ease.  I formatted the pictures to appear correct on my laptop and just hope that they look ok on the other computers that it can be viewed upon.  With this being said I think it is very important that teachers take into consideration of what the school computers or the most common computer settings that their students may have access to in order to design their IBA's or Webquests in formats that can be easily viewed without distracting features such as images that now are improperly spaced and between two lines instead of lining up together on one line even it is is going to show up centered to the left on some screen settings.

My father always told me that "great minds go in circles" and I think I can truly agree that great minds do go in circles.  Since I feel that my rambling mind has allowed me to focus on the best way to address formatting issues. . . Therefore a rambling mind is not rambling but just being a great mind by going in circles!

Discovery in Our Quest of Knowledge

"Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge."

~ Stephen Hawking

While searching for the perfect webquest for use in my future classroom I viewed many webquests that had wonderful content but lacked the personal style I was hoping to include in my classroom.  Finally I found a webquest that fit not only my subject area, but my own personal teaching style.  I would be very willing to use the "Exploring Our Solar System" webquest that was created by Mrs. Laurel Anderson and located at http://users.zoominternet.net/~eanderson/webquest/index.html.  The first thing that caught my attention was the backdrop and images.  Once I started reading into the first page and saw the use of this teachers language I was very pleased with my find.  The transition to the next page was wonderful "Blastoff!!!" with that word having a link to the following page.  I prefer the multiple page structure for webquests over the original single page structure.  This webquest provides a fun oriented structure and even gives the students roles in scientifically "fun" terms.  Also I enjoyed that this webquest provided options for the students to pick which project they would want to use to present their findings.  I did find one or two dead links but the important ones still worked.  I would have loved to of seen the evaluation page include a link at the end of the sentence for the conclusion page.  I think the conclusion page was worded in an attractive style that allowed the students to still have fun while winding down the task.  

The Amazingly Useful Teacher Blogs

While I was searching for helpful teacher blogs for resources I happened to come across http://www.sciencefix.com/.  I really enjoyed how this teachers blog addresses not only the use of technology in the classroom but the fact of misconceptions in science.  One of the videos provided shows a science teacher interviewing a few non-science teacher volunteers on the subject of "what is mass".  I think this truly allows students to see that it is not only students that may have trouble learning about a certain item such as mass.  In my opinion students will be less afraid to ask for help or clarity on subject matter if they can see that others can have similar issues with retaining or understanding information.  Another great idea this teachers blog has pointed out for me is how they used google my maps to demonstrate the distance between all of the planets.  It is true that students may have a hard time understanding the vast distance without having something familiar for comparison.  Another individual posted a comment on this blog for another resource that I may have never came across if not for this blog.  The video they posted helps students understand the actual size of an atom which can be useful for some teachers to use in their classroom.

So in a nutshell if you are a teacher using the blog technology it can be a wonderful resource for not only your students and yourself but for other teachers and their students.  One thing I would be sure to do when blogging is to include links or provide the information for any outside sources that are not your original soul idea.  I know I have a lot of classroom ideas that I have came up with that I would not mind sharing with others so those items would be straight from the horses mouth and no links required to the original source.

Reflection on Website Evaluation

I would have to say that after spending some time evaluating the NASA website I found this task to be a little difficult but useful.  I think every teacher and student should learn how to view websites in order to determine the accuracy of the information provided.  One thing I found on the NASA site was that every page did not have a date of when it was last updated.  Most pages did have the dates listed but for the most part the main home page did not include a date for update status.  I am guessing this is because the information boxes probably update automatically every day.  This activity was pretty helpful in getting you to think about what is important for the websites that we may have never thought about before this evaluation.  One thing most people do not think about is images having the alt tags for individuals that need to use screen readers.  I did search and found written text saying that in 2001 they were requiring every image to have an alt tag but since I do not have screen reader software on my computer I was unable to test this site in order to verify that fact.  Many people do not realize that some students that are deaf and hard of hearing also suffer with vision loss.  These students, such as those with usher syndrome, could benefit from alt tags being used on websites.

TPTE Great Expectations

I my not be the best computer oriented person around campus, but I have started learning many new tasks associated with technology lately.  I hope that I can learn more information during this semester by taking the TPTE course since my first introduction to blogging occurred during last semesters EdPsych class.  I have never used wiki's before this class but I have read some general wiki's online.  I would love to discover additional technologies that I can use in my future classroom to help my students absorb content.