My Blog at Endeavour Elementary

This last week at Endeavour Elementary I introduced my blog to my cooperating teacher and my principal. It was my last day there for this semester and I thought that it would be good to get some outside opinions on what I have done with my blog.
I quickly realized that neither of them really had a clue as to what a blog was. I was really excited that I could seem really smart and teach them about what a blog was and why/how we created one.
I was also able to show them a few of the projects that I had created with the programs and software that we have been taught to use. I was asked a lot of questions about the SMART board and what it could do.
I think I have mentioned it before, but Endeavour Elementary does not have this type of technology. I also showed a few of the lessons that I created to interact with the students using the interactive white board.

My principal encouraged me to post a link [using Google Docs] that takes people to a resume. I thought that this was a great idea. I later found that Google Docs and other Web 2.0 tools actually have templates specifically designed for creating resumes.
This will be my next addition to my blog.

Yay! I can help you with that TECHNOLOGY...

The other day, I was using my USB storage drive to transfer the Jeopardy game that Professor Sorenson had put on our blog for my roommate. She wasn't sure how to open the program in an older version of PowerPoint. Well, I actually knew what to do because of when I had presented a lesson plan in technology in education and the formatting had an error when I opened it in an older version. I had to save the document as a PowerPoint presentation specifically for an older version.
This particular situation just made me realize that throughout this semester, I have learned more than just new technology that I will be able to incorporate into my classroom, but I have also learned a few new things about how the actual machine functions.

I just wanted to point this out to our class and see if anyone else has had solved a similar situation, in which they knew how to handle the problem from something that they learned in Technology in Education.

What I have learned about technology...

Reflecting on my learning experience...
- Kidspiration/Inspiration software
- WebGrader
- Excel (small details that help organize documents more)
- PowerPoint Presentations (How to create games using the program; more creative clip-art, ect.)
- Box.net (Storage)
- MediaMax (Document storage device)
- Podcasting
- Blogger
- Google Docs
- Google Web Creator
- SMART Board
- Elmo
- Web 2.0 Tools
- Wiki Spaces

All of the items on this list are the programs /software that I learned to use throughout the course of this class. I know that I will be appreciative in knowing these functions so that I can use them when I begin teaching.

There were a lot of cases in which I would learn about something new about technology that I used the very next day when I went to Endeavour elementary in Mukilteo.
___________________________________________________________
YIKES!
I began this semester with quite a bit of fear and frustration in learning new technology and actually knowing how to use it. I have become much more confident in my abilities to use technology for it's intended purpose and feel that I will be able to use this to my advantage for future classes here at Northwest University as well as in my future classroom.

I am a very organized person and in many ways, learning the technology that we have been introduced to in this class, my life has been made easier!
Works Task Launcher is a program that we didn't actually discuss in class, but I challenged myself to using the templates that are designed to help people organize and plan. I really liked the features of this program and the calendar has been especially helpful!

How my knowledge of technology has changed by doing this project...
Well, to begin with, I would have never seen myself with the capabilities of creating a blog of my own and being able to actually put my personality and creativity into it, and I have. I also never would have seen myself being capable of creating a podcast and linking it to my page. In addition to being able to podcast I feel confident enough in myself, that i believe I would be able to walk someone through the steps that are required to be taken in order to record a podcast.

One aspect of my project consisted of converting a lesson plan that I created about rocks and minerals to Google Docs, so that my work could be available to the public and would have linkable sites. My lesson plan had two parts, including a PowerPoint presentation, which I was also able to create to a linkable site.

The one thing that I feel I have learned the most about ,throughout the course of this class, is the interactive whiteboard (SMART Board). I think that the activities and learning material that can be taught through using this very engaging tool, are limitless. I found it very rewarding to also successfully create a PowerPoint presentation that was also compatible with the features of the interactive white board! This lesson is actually posted on my blog if you would like to see, in more detail, what I mean.

I feel that the majority of what we learned in this class are now programs or software that I feel I could upgrade to the expert list. However, I want to learn more about podcasting and creating wikis.

THANK YOU PROFESSOR SORENSON!

Ps.. Professor Sorenson, you should check out this link...

My Classroom in Five Years...

I know that my classroom will not look anything like what a lot of classrooms look like today. Technology has developed so much that I don't think that there is anyway that someone would be able to tell what their classroom will look like in two years.

My classroom will have a small interactive whiteboard for each student in my class as well as a control panel that is optional to use with this equipment. The extra control panel will have a number key, letter keys, an enter and cancel button as well as a send and receive buttons. This will be a large part of how students will interact with the teacher and how in-class work will be done. My students will also have access to updated programs and equipment on computers that are in the back of the classroom.

The room that I will be in will be very organized with tubs or other sorts of organizers dividing art and craft materials, handouts, worksheets, and daily problems.

There will probably be no need for a large library because students will be able to access book online, however, I will have a descent size library in my classroom so that students can have elaborate reading material to fit their needs that they can touch and feel.

I think that there will still be a lot of creativity and color in elementary classrooms. I know that I will do my best to engage students interests in a variety of subjects through visual images that are mentally stimulating.

I enjoy thinking about what my classroom will look like in the future. I know that my ideas of what my classroom will be like as I continue to develop a style and more concrete ideas.

Ms. Gubler’s Class (Sing Along—Activity Rocks and Minerals)

THREE HARD ROCKS
( to the tune of "Three Blind Mice" )

Three hard rocks.
Three hard rocks.
See how they form.
See how they form.
They all have minerals deep inside
So far in the earth where they like to hide,
A geologist can identify
three hard rocks______________________________

Igneous rocks.
Igneous rocks.
See how they form.
See how they form.
Granite cools slowly, obsidian fast.
They both are tools to study our past.
Igneous rocks.
Igneous rocks._________________________________

Sedimentary rocks.
Sedimentary rocks.
See how they layer.
See how they layer.
There's mud and sand and gravel, too.
They're carried by rivers and oceans blue
Where they stick together and bind like glue.
Sedimentary rock.
Sedimentary rock._______________________________

One last rock.
Metamorphic rock.
See how it forms.
See how it forms.
It's formed by joining the other two.
Adding some heat and some pressure, too.
Can you believe it, we're almost through
Three hard rocks.
Three hard rocks.

Mrs. Carson's & Ms. Gubler's Classroom

At the beginning of the semester I introduced myself through a PowerPoint presentation as a firefighter, a runner, and a student. I think that this was a great way for me to start out the school year and to introduce the students to another teacher figure that will be in the classroom on a regular basis.

As the semester has progressed forward, I have noticed that my being there has made me much more confident in what I know. I have also been asked to lead a few mini-lessons on a particular worksheet or handout that the students have been assigned and this has really challenged me to use what I have learned in the classes that I have taken here at Northwest. I have also noticed that at the Elementary level I am looked at as being cool and students know that I am young and think that I more of their friend than a teacher. This has been something that I have been working on. I don't think that it has become an issue in the classroom, but outside of class, at recess, lunch, etc, students think that I am not there and they can do as they please.

I guess that all students do this, and it's just a matter of if they get caught or not, but I am really enjoying being in the classroom and I have learned so much from my cooperating teacher. My cooperating teacher and I also have a lot in common, both being from small, country towns in eastern Washington. Her teaching techniques are great, and I hope that I absorb as much as possible from her as I can.

More Reflection-- Using SMART Board & Teaching

The more familiar I become with the SMART board and what I can do with my teaching in conjunction with the program, I find myself becoming more excited to teach. Now, this may also be because I am working in a classroom and I am seeing how students learn and relate to the teacher in the classroom and I imagine what how they would relate if material was presented to them in a different way.
As this relates to me teaching, I find myself trying to combine a whole bunch of ideas that I come up with all at once, which I know won't help my students retain/understand information and, for heaven's sake, won't help me when I am trying to make the technology do what I want it to do, so that it looks and works the way that I want it to. I need to narrow my ideas more in this area and create works that are interesting and engaging but not too "busy" without a purpose.

So, I am continuing to enjoy learning and working with the technology that we have been working with in the classroom.