Blog Post 6!!

The school website that I’m using is actually my AP Biology teachers website from my high school (H.B. Plant HS grades 10-12). The teacher, Mr. Tait, updated the website every day. He would record his lectures in class and upload them for students to view if they missed class that day or needed to rewatch for further clarification. He also uploaded materials needed for class scubas study guides for upcoming tests and instructions for labs and homework. This was a great asset to me in this class. It has also been very handy in college for my biology class because all of his lectures are still available and relevant in my current class. http://plantlectures.com/taitr/

There are many different technologies that will help me succeed in my teaching career. I will definitely be using grading technologies. I will be utilizing a teacher website. After seeing the great effects it had on me when I was in school, I think it will give my students all the extra tools they need will need to do great in school. 

Although I had some digital whiteboards in my school, teachers rarely used them the way they are supposed to be used (mainly as a projector). This is why the whiteboards especially interested me. There are so many more features than I knew that could really take my classroom and teaching to the next level. I thought the ability to play games on them were very cool. My favorite part of the smart board was the 3D feature when looking at certain things, like the inside of the fish they showed us. This could really peak students interests because it is something so different and not normally used in classrooms.

ILP "Design" - Prezi!!

For my ILP project, I decided to do something from the design category. I created a Prezi which is similar to a powerpoint. It allowed me to choose from multiple fun templates that grab your attention. It is customizable and extremely easy to use, even for those not technologically inclined. You can add text and inset pictures. My Prezi is a brief history of psychology, describing the five major theoretical frameworks that have guided psychology's history.

https://prezi.com/gwp2gyanxfwc/a-brief-history-of-psychology/

Blog Post 5!!

Web 2.0 tools can be extremely useful to teachers when doing different activities. The two Web 2.0 tools that I liked and would use in a classroom are blogs and Twitter. Blogs allow for a teacher to post their lesson plans for that day for students, videos that go along with what they are learning, or updates for parents. Twitter is also good because the teacher can post questions about certain topics and get immediate responses from students. With twitters, you just have to make sure the students are constantly on task.

An interesting web 2.0 tool that I might use in my classroom would be Prezi. Prezi is a website where you can create amazing presentations easily. You can easily add visuals to enhance the presentations. They are so easy to make. 

https://prezi.com

I think MOOCs hold the biggest promise for education. I think this because they are open-content, open-access online learning opportunities that are available to anyone. You can use them anywhere and they are free. This allows people who may not be able to afford college to expand their knowledge and make themselves better applicants for jobs.

Blog Post 4!!

I’ve thoroughly been enjoying the twitter assignment. It hasn’t been as bad as I thought it might be. I generally use it to retweet the articles on education that I find fascinating. I also like seeing what everyone else in the classes is responding to or retweeting. I want to teach either first or second grade, so a twitter could be handy in keeping parents updated on the go. It takes only a few short seconds to write and send a tweet, so it gives parents the chance to see whats happening at that exact moment. 

The Digital Divide is the divide between people who have access to technology and those who do not. Some students do not have access to the technology used in the classroom because maybe they live in very rural areas where there is no internet or their families can not afford said technology. This can affect those students because they may not be as proficient in using these technologies as much as the students who have access to technology at home. The digital divide was more prominent when I was in high school and in the future I believe it will dissipate as technology because more and more prominent in classrooms. 

I’m hoping to teach either first or second grade in the future. I don’t think I would use softwares like word for them since they are still young. I would most likely use educational games and interactive reading book on a tablet to get them interested in learning and using the technology.

Blog Post 3!!

I feel like I’d be able to teach a few different standards in a classroom. The one I’d feel most comfortable with teaching would be “SL.5 “Use Digital Media””. This standard can be used in grades 2 to 12. It focuses on using digital media and visual displays of data to express information. I feel like this is a important standard to teach because it sets the standard of what kind of tech you can be using in the classroom based on grade.

Technology is going to be a very big factor in my future classroom. I’d like to incorporate it in every aspect of the classroom. I’d like to teach either first or second grade. I’ll definitely be using powerpoint to teach topics because it gives the students a visual to remember. I’d also like to use fun games like Kahoot! to really get them excited about learning. I’d also use technology as a reward for students. If students performed well on a test, had good behavior, or finished their assignment early, I’d allow them to play educational games on an iPad or read a book on a tablet. 

I actually found myself really enjoying the Newsletter assignment. I thought it would be a quick easy assignment that I could bust out in 20 minutes, but I probably spent closer to an hour trying to make it as perfect and pretty as possible. Newsletters are going to be very important as a teacher to keep parents informed on whats happening in the classroom when they aren’t there. I found myself learning a lot of new skills on Word while completing this assignment.