Tech necessity

In looking up different technology teacher sources, I am realizing that we have an ocean at our fingertips. There are so many sources out there with explanations and ideas of different for teachers to adapt and utilize in their classrooms. I have been thinking a lot about how I will ever gain so much knowledge about technology that I feel confident in presenting it to students. I am coming to accept the fact that I will not always have the answers and that it is a smart move to learn with (and sometimes from) my students.

As teachers we need to utilize all of our sources and go out on a limb to incorporate technology in our classrooms. I believe this because technology is a relevant part of our youths' lives. Cell phones, texting, computer networking, video and the music technology are all valuable to our youth. Whether students have access to technology or not, most students do have an interest in what technology is and what it can offer them. In many of our classes we have discussed the need to connect our instruction to our students; technology is one way to incorporate their interests. Furthermore, I think it is vitally important to teach students to navigate technology responsibly and safely. School, in theory is a safe environment. If we can education students to use technology properly we are preparing them for the future.

Technology can be extremely daunting and yet we live in a world that is increasingly proficient in it. As such, I believe it is important to find a way to incorporate technology with the purpose of teach students how to be comfortable with and use technology properly.

Don't Forget To Tag

I noticed that not all the posts are tagged... part of our assignment.  If you want to fix them you can edit an old post and add a label(s).

Really Cool Political Website!!

Check out this political website: 270 To Win 

We used this website at Room 9 to learn about the US voting system, electoral votes vs. popular votes, and the history of major events as they relate to voting.

You can go through the history of voting and every 4 years a map of the US pops up and shows the layout of the US in red and blue states.

You can change the states (undecided, republican, democrat) and see how many states it takes to win an election with electoral votes.

The kids (and myself) learned that it only takes 11 states for a President to win!

Helpful Technology

After Chelsea's and Leah's Blogs on being unsure about using technology in the classroom, I think of my (mostly) positive experiences with technology right now at Room 9.  I agree with a lot of points made in the earlier posts, like that tech is always changing and that it is hard to keep up with, that older teachers seem weary about trying it, and that sometimes it does not work.

I have seen that technology can be a wonderful asset in the classroom... when used properly!  All the 6th-8th graders have their own laptops, except 2 because their parents:

A: won't sign the permission form or

 

B: don't have the the $ to pay for a case and the $50 deposit & they won't fill out the scholarship

form. 

These two students have a hard time keeping up with the other students because, although they have a laptop at school to use, they don't have one at home to do their homework on.  The other issue is that the laptops do not always come to school charged and students often forget their chargers at home.  These two problems are really the only issues I have with using laptops in middle school.  How can we ensure that all students have access to laptops and that they come to school fully charged?

Beyond those minimal setbacks I have seen wonderful use of laptops in school.  The students use laptops in every subject: science (national geographic online), art (research), literature (TeenBiz), and  math (online math games).  I feel that the use of laptops enhances the learning and the students love to use them!

My master teacher told me that he spends A LOT of time in the beginning of the year investing on teaching the students to use computer programs, but that it pays off later when he can do really cool projects.  He also uses the the digital projector for more than just projecting.  He takes pictures of the students and saves his work to make changes on.

The next time someone asks "why do you want to be a teacher"...

Gretchen Wilson's Hero

Even though the focus is on adult learners, the message is the same. It is never too late to learn and succeed.

HOW do we let the world know we've commented on another blog?

I've left a comment on Larrry's blog about iPods in the classroom but how do I make that known to Jane?

Helpful website

Here is another list of Performance Task Ideas....

To add to the list Jean gave us in class. There are a lot of ideas for every subject.

In the Classroom

Learning about all the technology that is possible to use in a classroom is very exciting and opens many opportunities to your classroom, but I still don't think I want to center my teaching around it. In the classrooms that I have been in there are active boards, many computers,document cameras and some type of controller that hooks into the main computer that all the students use to answer questions (I'm not sure what it is called). And it seems like half the time, something isn't working and can't be used. For example, in the 6th grade that I'm in, the teacher uses a math program called accelerated math. Each student works individually and at their own pace on extra math work, when the students finish a section, they put their answers on a scan tron, and scan it into the computer where it is put in a data base, and then out prints what the need next. This program has helped a lot in the classroom...when it is working. At the beginning of the year, all the computers were up-graded to vista, and it turns out that the math program isn't compatible, so there was un-installing and a few other things, which took a few days, so the students were behind. This has also happened with other tech equipment which makes me a little weary on totally relying on technology to teach a lesson.

I know it can be a wonderful assets, I just worry that if it doesn't work, it will ruin the whole lesson.
I also believe there needs to be more training in using all the technology that is put in the classroom. It's changed all the time, and sometimes the teachers don't even know it, they just come in a do it, leaving the teachers in the dark, and I hate to say it, but the older teachers that I have been around are very much in the dark with all the technology. They are given all these different things and not really getting enough instruction on how to use them, so they just sit their collecting dust.
So, I guess what I'm saying is, I'm not so sure all the time about technology. Much of it is very exciting, but unless someone is willing to sit down with me, or give me the option of going to multiply classes about the new technology, I'm not going to know how to use it, and I also want to learn how to trouble shoot problems, because if it can happen, its going to happen and most likely, right in the middle of a lesson. I want to use all the cool technology, but I'm not sure how it's going to all fit in.

Dormant Technology

I have been thinking this week and pondering how little I have seen technology used in the classroom. Every classroom I have been in has had an active board, but I have yet to see it taken advantage of. In talking to these teachers about their active boards, I found that they didn't feel comfortable with all of the different attributes of the board to use it with their classes. They also expressed frustration over the fact that when they have tried incorporating the boards, something went wrong and resetting the machine didn't work. My thoughts lie in trying to think about how to educate myself so that I have the knowledge to integrate the active board on a regular basis and am able to resolve unexpected issues that may arise.

I realize that technology is an everchanging tool that we have to better instruction and provide students with challenging learning opportunities. How can we not use these valuable tools? As an education student, what steps can I take to ensure that I will be prepared? I feel slightly overwhelmed by all of the options available in the technology world. I can see where the teachers I mentioned earlier reach a point of frustration that causes them to neglect the use of technology. I also can see that we are asking our students to constantly be challenging themselves. Is technology my constant challenge?

Pizza dough recipe

Pizza Crust

1 c. Flat beer 2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. Sugar 1 tsp. salt
2 ½ c. flour 1 pkg. yeast

Dissolve yeast in bear. Place sugar over beer. Mix the rest and let rise until double. Brush with vegetable oil. Cook till golden brown @ 350°