Educational Blog

I read a comment on a blog entitled Teach42. The blog that I read was called "Mobiles to Help Learning? High School in UK says OK." This blog was all about how a school in the UK is now allowing students to use cell phones in the classroom. It talked about how cell phones can be beneficial to students: they have internet and take photos. The blog was pretty neutral. It just reported the facts and asked people to give their thoughts about it. There were many comments on the blog since it was kind of a controversial topic. There were arguments for both sides of the debate.

My comment was on the side that argued that cell phones should not be used in class. I think that it would be hard to monitor what students are actually using the phones to do. The screens are so small on cell phones, teachers wouldn't be able to see whether a student is using a phone for an educational purpose or not.

Reflection #7

Today in chapel, a group from Invisible Children came. They showed a video about the problems in Uganda with child soldiers. They used a video to show a recap of the story and what is happening in Africa. This is a good way to get a message across to millions of people. The entire project started with three guys who made a documentary about the problem. They came back to the US and spread the documentary around. This documentary started the entire Invisible Children movement and caused millions of people to try to stop what is happening in Africa. It is crazy that just one video could be used to bring so much awareness to people. Videos are such a good way to inform people. They can be used to show things that many people would not know about without videos. Without the use of technology, I do not think that as much would be happening to prevent this tragedy from continuing.

Assignment #4 Part 1

For my technology project, I will be creating a smart board presentation. I will use several features of the smart board in order to make my presentation more interactive. I will also be creating my own video which I can use as the anticipatory set for my presentation. I think that this presentation would be useful because it could be presented in front of a class. Also, a video is interesting for students to watch. I plan on making this project for a 6th grade science class.

Podcast

Questions for the Panel

How often do you use technology when you teach?

How do you deal with difficult parents?

What is the most important piece of advice that you would give to first year teachers?

Assignment #3

I created a delicious account where I stored all of my bookmarked websites. A toolbox is a very helpful thing to have because it organizes all of the websites and articles that a teacher uses or wants to keep handy.

My websites are in the order in which I added them to the account. I decided to not organize them alphabetically because sometimes when you are looking for a specific website, you do not remember the name of it. Sometimes, you only have a general idea of when you last looked at it. That is why I organized my websites by the dates in which they were added. I think that will make them easier to find in the future. Also, I gave all of my websites tags. This way, I can search for a specific tag in order to find the site that I want. For example, I have more math websites than any other subject. If I wanted a website that had math worksheets, I would search for "math" and "worksheets," and every website that I entered with these tags will appear.

I decided to add mostly math sites because that is the topic that I am most interested in. If I decided to teach middle school, I want to teach math. I included some sites for nearly all subjects, though. I also included some general education websites, like the OSPI website, and some articles about teaching.

I think that I will use a toolbox frequently when I am a teacher. It would be helpful to know exactly where to look to find a specific website, if needed. It is a good way to keep websites organized. I will be able to easily share my toolbox with other teachers by emailing the link to them. I think that it might be helpful for a group of teachers to create a joint delicious account. This would be a way to see helpful websites and articles that other teachers are looking at.

One site that I really liked was Fun Brain. This website has been bookmarked over 11,000 times on delicious accounts. It is a website that features different reading and math games. One game that I will probably use from it is the Mad Libs games. All of the games on this website are educational, but also fun. These games would be a fun way for students to review and reinforce different reading and math concepts. I am pretty sure that I will use this website in the future.

Another website that I liked was called Math Playground. This website contains various math games, videos, logic puzzles, and word problems. I especially liked the logic puzzles. There were games such as mancala, sudoku, battleship, and coin weighing. These would be fun and interactive games that could help students to think in a more logical way. These are the type of games that teachers make available for students to play during free time and at recess.

I also bookmarked a website that contained links to various pages. It was called Sites for Teachers. This website has many different sources for worksheets, games and activities. It is a resource for teachers to use in order to find resources and gather ideas. Really, it is a toolbox within itself. I think that I will definitely use this website when I need new ideas or am looking for a worksheet or activity for a particular subject.

"Caught on Video"

After reading Bob Sparkle's blog "Caught on Video," I have learned that there are so many ways in which videos can be used in the classroom. Videos can be used for practically anything in class. I never considered that a teacher could use a video instead of a parent letter. I think that it is a really good idea to use the videos to document what students know at the beginning of the year/unit and then go back at the end to see what more they have learned or if their questions have been answered. It is a good way to track the progress in a classroom and for students to see how much they have learned.

I think that a video camera would be worth the investment. Cameras can be used by students, as well as teachers. If a student is working on a project that needs to be presented, the student could use a camera in order to present part or all of the project. I think that there are even more ways in which cameras could be used than even Sparkle's blog listed.

Reflection #6

Technology is really prevalent in sports. I play volleyball here at Northwest, and our team uses technology a lot. We watch film of other teams before we play them in order to break down what they do and where they have weaknesses. Our team has a stats system that corresponds with the video of teams. Our coach can enter a player's number and find all of the short clips of that person hitting/passing/serving/etc. It is a really neat feature. For example, if I wanted to know where #2 tends to hit the ball, I can find all of the clips of her hitting in one spot. It is really efficient for watching film. You do not have to keep fast forwarding in order to find all of the clips of #2 hitting. It is also a helpful tool for watching yourself play. I can watch myself play and see my tendencies from using the technology. I think that technology that athletes use has really transformed the way that athletes prepare for games. I'm sure that technology for professional athletes or athletes at Division I schools is even more complex. Now, I think that athletes need to focus more on limiting their weaknesses because it is easier for opponents to find them. It has made sports more strategic. Teams must prepare thoroughly if they want to win. I think that technology also helps make athletes better because they can see their own weaknesses and work on them.