K-8 web site review

I looked at Life Christian School and Academy. I attended there from k-4Th grade. The web site is very user friendly. There are tabs at the top of the page linking you to different parts of the web site. There are also links to the left side of the page. As well as this there is a calendar listing important events. This is located on the left side of the home page. Along with this there are pictures of different events that go on at the school. I couldn't think of anything that was missing. I thought it was a great site. If you want to check it out the link is: http://www.life-christian.org/

beginning of class reflection

I never thought about how important technology is in education.Technology is seen to be a very important part of education. It helps keep the students focused and engaged. As well as educating them about how technology works. Technology should have a major in the K-12Th grade classroom. Technology should be used to help enhance the learning experience. Teachers should utilize their resources and incorporate the technology provided. It is seen that students respond better to lectures when technology is used. Therefore, technology should be readily used.

Generation IM

This article talks about the importance of incorporating technology into education. The article emphasizes how children use technology in their daily lives and that it is important to try to integrate it into their education . I loved the example of the kid in the beginning of the article. The discription of him made me laugh, because this is so true. This is definately becoming the norm in families. I also really liked the different suggestions on how to integrate technology into the class room setting. We as a class are already implementing a blog. I thought it was interesting how they suggested the kids make and edit videos to explain a concept or do a report. With today's technology it would be easy to edit a film clip. I found this article to be very helpful and it gave me some great ideas that I could use when I start my student teaching.

Assignment 1

• Summary: I read the article titled, Learning to Teach with Technology. This article talked about the importance of technology in the teaching of science. The article talked about how explaining difficult science concepts is made easier when experiments can be video taped. This way the video can be broken up into smaller parts and each concept can be explained individually. By integrating technology into the curriculum it makes it easier for students to remember and retain information. This integration also makes it easier for them, because they become more familiar with how technology is used. The use of the geometric sketch pad is a great way to do just this. This pad uses computer software to help students build and examine models, figures, shapes, and graphs. Another technology is a hand held device that can measure water quality. From this students can download the data onto a computer spread sheet. This way students can visualize the data and interpret what it all means. Another way that technology is being integrated is seen at the University of Virginia Curry School of Education. This school uses a program called starry nights to allow students to look at different star configurations. They are able to look at the star configurations back to up to 1,000 years ago. This would not be possible without technology. The article goes on to talk about that it is difficult to find the funding to educate teachers about this new technology.

• Reflection: I thought it was very interesting seeing all the different ways technology can be integrated into science. I never knew there were so many ways. I also think it is sad that so many schools lack the funding to educate their teachers better on technology integration. This article makes me appreciate our class, Technology in Education, even more.

• Citation: Vaishali, Honawar. Learning to Teach With Technology. Education Week, 02774232, 3/27/2008, Vol. 27, Issue 30.

• NETS For Teachers:As a teacher I would like to work on Facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity.

• Importance: This is important to me because it helps teachers to integrate technology into their teaching and do so creatively. We as teachers want to be up to date on all the methods of teaching, so this would greatly help us. Our world is becoming more and more dependant on technology and it is our job as teachers to help our students become familiar with current technologies. For example in our class we are using a class blog to communicate with others. This is helpful. I never knew how to use a blog site before this. Another way we as teachers can integrate technology is by using the smart board or online games. Online learning games help students be able to use technology, have fun, and learn the required material.

• plan of action: As a teacher I will work on being creative in how I integrate technology into my lesson plans. I will look at each subject or concept I have to teach and ask the question how could I integrate technology into this discussion or lesson? I plan to implement this into my lesson plans for my different subject classes.

• NETS For Students: Communication and Innovation

• Importance: This will help students learn how to use digital media to communicate to other class members or the teacher. In some circumstances this skill would allow them to also communicate with children across the cultures. This would help the students themselves learn as well as contribute to the learning of others. Students would learn how to use different technologies and apply their knowledge.

• Incorporation: Two ways that we as teachers could incorporate this into our curriculum is through teacher tube, and by being a pen pall with another country. Teacher tube is kid safe and is a great way to let children view online videos that teach them about important concepts. Certain videos could be used depending on the subject being taught. Another way is by allowing the class to be pen palls with a class from another country. This would allow students to use email. This would also allow students to learn more about a different culture and their way of life. This pen pal idea could be used in History when the students are learning about a different country. For example when the students learn about Brazil they could possibly email a class from Brazil and see how their lives and customs are different from ours.

Interactive White Boards:

This article talks about how students worked to use the smart board to create a math lesson for an elementary school class. They had students come in and see the star wars beginning part playing on the screen. This was to get the students attention. They then went over the properties of 2D shapes. They used the spotlight tool to focus on different objects and have the students recall what shape it was. This helped the children review their shapes in a fun way. The children were then asked to make a 2D alien our of card shapes and place them on their pretend planet, a piece of card board. Then each group was a given rule that they had to follow. For example one could be, "it is illegal to use any shapes other than those which have angles that add up to 180°'. After the students created their planet and aliens they then could build it on the smart board. This was a great way to get children thinking about shapes. If you wanted to review the article you could find it on, http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=13&hid=102&sid=e09b3cd2-0529-4cbe-a850-0b1b42b324f2%40sessionmgr111.

Turning on the Lights:

There were a lot of issues talked about in the article that I was not aware of. This article talks about how education used to be where students were introduced to technology. Today, however this is not so true. Most forms of technology are banned in the school setting. It talked about how students said that they were bored in the classroom 99% of the time. This horrible! I think there should be a way that teachers can integrate technology into their lesson plans. Instead of having to write papers for assignments, students should have the option to use a powerpoint presentation, or web page. Students should be able to use their computers in class, however there should be some restrictions. They should only be able to use them for note taking or class use. Like it talked about in the article, they should have to sign some form saying they agree to the class rules. If they disobey they should have their computer privlages restricted. I also think teachers should look into creating class web pages or blog sites to make things more interesting for the kids. Another thing that could be good is the use of online games to teach. These would help to incorporate technology into education.

My story

I decided i wanted to become a teacher a few years ago. I had just decided that being a nurse was not for me and was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. As I was praying about this I felt that God was leading me to become a teacher. I would love to help kids by teaching them the necessary skills to be successful in society today. I would like to teach K-3 grade but would also be interested in teaching middle school science.