Technology in Literacy 556

2009-06-25T10:51:00.000-07:00

In the beginning of this course, I felt like the upper elementary/middle school teachers were being ignored and I felt like I wasn't going to get anything out of this course. However, after sticking it out and listening to what Dr. Schmidt had to say, I feel like there are many ideas I can take back into my classroom. I really enjoyed certain aspects of this course-especially making the digital story and working with our classmates to create the "What is ISU?" I enjoyed the keyboarding discussion as well because it makes me realize that it is very important for our students to learn keyboarding in the lower levels so they are able to complete projects and ideas at the upper level.

Watching stories

2009-06-24T17:14:00.000-07:00

I absolutely LOVED having a chance today to watch everybody's digital story in class!! This was such a great idea, and I really hope that I will be able to do this or something very similar to it in my own classroom. Not only did it give us as students a chance to work with different aspects of technology (especially ones I wasn't knowledgable about), but it was a great chance to students to make personal connections to the stories. I know this may seem far fetched, but middle school is all about developing social relationships with peers, and I truly think this would be one way to do it. If students are able to make connections to another student, it may be the beginning of friendships!!

Podcasting

2009-06-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed today's discussion over podcasting. I have always had a very vague idea of what this meant, and today we really got to work directly with podcasting. I really like how Dr. Schmidt had an iPod for each of us to work with because that helped me really truly begin to understand what podcasting is all about. I never realized how much is out there with Podcasting and how useful this can actually be in the classroom! My favorite part was when we got to hook up the microphones and record ourselves talking. I think this would be a great way to help readers who are struggling with fluency. I would even use this in my 8th grade classroom with no hesitation! I think students would respond well to this type of lesson because they're going to enjoy working with an iPod no matter what the cause may be! I am really excited to use this with my tutee because he really struggles with his fluency, and I bet that if he could hear himself read, it would help him understand what he is really struggling with. I'm not counting on having an iPod for all of my students next year, but even having one or two for the classroom would be a great investment and I really hope I have the opportunity to use them in my classroom!

2009-06-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed putting together that digital story. I think this is something I could definitely use in my classroom, and I think students would really enjoy it. I like the idea of the digital story being personal for us, but I think if I used it in my classroom I wouldn't make it be so personal. I think I would have students create the digital story reflecting back on a novel or a different book they have read. This could even be successful if I used something like this while teaching literature circles.

I have also enjoyed working on my TPACK lesson plan. I think it would be neat if we actually had to complete a few of these throughout the semester. But I do like how we have to hand in a student example for this because if I actually do get to teach this lesson this fall, I will have an idea of what I am expecting and I will have an example to show students so they will know what to expect.

Digital storytelling

2009-06-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

The other day in class we worked in groups to create the digital book talk, which I already discussed in my previous blog. I just wanted to comment on the use of the technology to put the digital story together. I really liked it when Dr. Schmidt introduced us to those Flip cameras and then we had a chance to use them! She modeled it for us, making it easier to begin for those of us who had no background knowledge about them. I liked how with the Flip, we didn't have to tape everything in order. Instead, we could tape in chunks and go back and put them in the order we want later. I was nervous about editing the movie, but it was really easy! This activity also gave me a chance to play around with iMovie before I started my digital story, giving me the confidence to work with it when it comes time to work on my own digital story.

Digital Story

2009-06-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

Today we did an activity where we were put in groups and had to go out and create a digital story. The teacher had done book talks on the books ahead of time, and we got to choose the book we wanted to do the digital story on. I ended up doing mine on the book "Just a Dream." As I was reading the book yesterday, I was really wishing I had chosen another book because I didn't really like the one I read. So, today we had to go out on campus and use our imaginations to create a "book talk" over our book.

I would have been much more motivated and excited to do the project if I would have been interested in the book I was making the book talk over. I think if I ever do this project in my classroom, which I might because I really like the idea of it and I think students would too, I need to make sure that students are working on a book or idea that they are really interested in.

Digital Story

2009-06-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed having our lab day today because it gave me a chance to sit down and become more familiar with the technology. I feel like I got a lot done in class as far as my digital story is concerned. I was able to put all my pictures together, insert transitions, and get the background music selected and inserted. Now all I have left to do is record the narration and complete the lesson plan for it!

I really appreciated having lab day because it gave me a chance to ask the teacher and other classmates questions about what I was doing/working on. I am very excited to see how my digital story turns out and I am excited to see the rest of my classmates' movies and see what they put together!

Blogging/Using technology in the classroom

2009-06-15T18:59:00.001-07:00

I have come up with many different ways to blog and use other technologies in my future classroom. I think blogging is a great idea, especially with upper middle school students. I would really like for my students to keep a daily blog which focuses on school. This way, students could discuss school work and any problems or questions they may be having. This would give students a chance to step up to the plate and help out their classmates, getting them into a different role from "student." I would also like to have students blog about projects and ideas they like in my classroom and possibly other things they would like to do differently. This way, I would be able to have students give me ideas about what they would like to see happen in the classroom. After all, students will work that much harder if they are working on projects which they chose and they are interested in working on. Of course, I would create certain stipulations for this kind of blog and let students know that any inappropriate content will not be tolerated and there will be sever consequences.

Aside from having students keep a daily blog, I would really like to incorporate other technological aspects into my classroom. I really enjoy learning about all the different programs out there, especially programs which already come installed on the mac, since most schools use mac computers. I think 8th graders would really like working with ComicLife. I think it would be neat to have students create posters through that on the first day of school to tell me about themselves. Then we could hang them up around the room for decoration! After all, students love seeing their work hanging up around the room.

PowerPoint is also one program I feel very comfortable using. I enjoy putting together slide shows for students rather than stand at the front of the room and lecture. I also think students get more out of slide shows like this. I also think it is a good idea for students to learn how to use this program. I have used this program all throughout my college career and it is one skill I am happy to have learned in high school.

Aside from these specific examples, there are many other ways I plan on incorporating technology in my classroom. Although the first year I probably will not be spending every other day in the computer lab, I would really like for my students to keep an educational blog, and this is something I will look into for my classroom next fall.

2009-06-14T16:29:00.001-07:00

I have recently began working on my digital story project for class. By doing this, I have been able to come up with my many different ideas for using the digital story in my own classroom next year. I have been pondering doing something like this with my tutee in the near future as I think he would really enjoy working with this type of technology.

I also think my tutee would love working with other types of technology. I have thought about having him create a PowerPoint show after working with a text to demonstrate his comprehension. I know there are many other ways to do this, but I think he would really enjoy using the technology to prove he is able to comprehend this story.

2009-06-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

I have finally come up with a good idea for my lesson plan which includes technology, and to my own suprise, I am using a children's book to get the message across which I want my students to learn! This lesson was actually adapted from a lesson I had planned during my student teaching 8th grade at Woodward-Granger. I never got to actually teach this lesson because we ran out of time, and I had to add the technology part for this project, but I'm hoping everything turns out like I have planned.

I actually finished reading that article for 588 which we were supposed to read about using images in the classroom to help reluctant or struggling readers. (Images such as TV, movies, etc.) I think this is a great idea and I could not agree more. However, there was a technique they discussed in there that was R-W-R-W-R-W, read, watch, read, watch, etc., and I have very mixed feelings about this. If I were a struggling reader, this might prove to be an effective technique for them, but if I was a student who was reading at grade leve, I think this would really annoy me. It would make the reading choppy and I think I would find it hard to continually make connections if the movie was portrayed differently than the text.

2009-06-12T17:19:00.000-07:00

When Dr. Schmidt introduced the digital story project at the beginning of the class, I was really confused and really had no idea of what to do. I was also wondering about the specifics of the project and what she wanted for that.

When she showed us examples of the digital story today in class I thought that was very helpful. I was struggling coming up with an idea for this, and after seeing some examples tons of ideas came to mind. I really liked how they had music in the background because I think music adds to short digital stories like that. I also like how she showed up a variety of movies. Some were sad and others were happy. This helped me choose the idea for my own story.

I was really nervous about creating this, but after seeing those examples I am very excited and cannot wait to get started on my own project!

I think this digital story would be something I could definately do with my 8th graders next year. I would assume most of them knew how to use the technology already, but I would do like we are doing and have them choose a story close to their heart to put together. I guess I could always do a whole class story, too. I could give them a topic to create a short chunk of a story over and then at the end we could put them all together in one big story. Oh I think that would be fun!!

Technology

2009-06-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

I have recently began tutoring, and I have figured out that my tutee's base level is 3rd grade. I have been thinking a lot about how I would use technology with my tutee, and at first I didn't really think it mattered; I was going to simply find something for him to do just so I could get the 3 technology lessons done. However, today he told me that his favorite subject is art and he loves working on the computer to make artwork. I know I was complaining before about how the technology we are learning is for such younger learners, but I am so glad we have learned about some of these tools because I think my tutee will really enjoy and benefit from working with them.
For example, for my technology lesson, I was planning on having students create a children's book after reading/modeling a specific one I have had in mind for awhile. However, I think this would also be a great activity for my tutee and I to do, especially since he loves working on things like this. It would be good for him to write it and read it. That way, hopefully he would feel like a real author, and I could use the book he makes as an example for my students in my future classroom!

Article II

2009-06-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

The second article I read and wanted to blog about was called "Podcasting in the Classroom." This journal article discussed Podcasts and their uses in school. Thea rticle claims that podcasting is one of the fastest growing technologies of all time. This doesn't suprise me, as it seems more and more classrooms have started using podcasts as part of their curriculum.

I like how the article gave different ideas and ways for students to use podcasts in the classroom. Some examples include "creating a chart to map the progress of an ongoing project of submit a recorded version of a presentation. Schools can also host and distribute their own podcasts, and schools can post those to a website or blog." The article also discussed how elementary schools are also learning how to use podcasts.

College students and professors are also beginning to use iPods for lectures and are able to publish them because of podcasting! The article really pushed for students and schools to use podcasts. They're growing more and more and according to Microsoft, "the world not has more podcasts than radio stations!"

I am really not all that familiar with podcasts and podcasting in the classroom. After reading this article, it makes me want to become more familiar with them so I may be able to hopefully use them in my classroom one day.

(2008). Podcasting in the Classroom. ACTE, (3). Available: www.acteonline.com

2009-06-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

The article I chose to discuss was titled "Using "cases" for learning can be an effective learning tool." The article discussed the effects of technology, regardless of where you are working with the technology.
The article argues that when working/teaching/learning in an environment that is less than ideal, technology still has the same effects on students who are learning in brand-new, updated schools.
The article gave an example of a teacher teaching in a trailer. She claimed "cases deal with schools as they are, not as people imagine them to be, providing opportunities for students to develop practical solutions to challenging problems."
Through the use of computers in situations like this, online journals can be used to keep in contact with administrators, teachers, and parents.
The last point the article discussed includes introducing students to a set of 5 interrelated questions to use during their problem solving skills. The 5 questions prove very
helpful for students who have been considered "cases" of learning-using technology in their learning.

McNergney, Robert. (2008). Using "cases" for learning can be an effective training tool. American School Board Journal. (2), 26.

2009-06-07T10:42:00.000-07:00

As much as I talked about not being able to use this technology information in my classroom next year, I have to admit I have found many other uses for it besides just in my classroom. I have a nephew who is only 3 months old, but already I was thinking about how he could use the iPTV website to enhance his use of technology with learning. I also have many 2nd cousins ranging in ages 7-3 months, so all of this information will also be very useful/helpful to share with their parents.

I was thinking specifically of the Bailey's Bookhouse we looked at the other day in class. If I were learning to read or struggling to read, this would be a perfect resource for teachers or parents to use to help their students/child. Little kids would love playing the games available on there. It is also great to see that kids are able to print out their works once they are done with them. That creates an incentive for the child to try their hardest because they will want to print it out and they will be proud of their print out.

I am starting to tutor on Tuesday of this upcoming week. The child I am tutoring is going to be in 6th grade. I know Marissa encouraged us to bring our favorite book to read to the child once they are done with testing, but I am having a hard time coming up with a book short enough to read to a 6th grader and one where they won't feel insulted. I was actually thinking of starting with a children's book which is loaded with pictures of animals, since my tutee likes animals, but don't want him to think I am insulting him. I was thinking of going down to the CTLT lab sometime this week to incorporate some of the things we've been using in class into a tutoring lesson!

2009-06-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

I have really enjoyed learning about all of this new technology and have been able to think of some good ways to work it into the classroom. However, I do feel that the majority of this is extremely elementary and directed mostly to pre-k through 3rd grades.

I enjoyed learning about Bailey's bookhouse, but how would I use that in an 8th grade classroom? I feel my students would feel insulted and would think I was crazy if I made them sit down on a computer and go through activities on that. I was hoping to use some of the technology information we use in 556 with the little boy I will be tutoring, but he will be in 6th grade, and I think he would feel insulted doing Bailey's Bookhouse as well.

The stuff the guest speaker went over today seemed childish as well. However, I know that I were to browse around on the iptv website for awhile, I would probably have no trouble finding lesson plans and ideas catered to the older grades. Most of the videos and tv programs we viewed in class today would not be age appropriate for my 8th grade classroom next fall.

I was really hoping to find ideas to use in my classroom next fall while taking these reading endorsement classes, but so far the majority of them I do not see to be useful for next year. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. Thanks!

Readings 6/3

2009-06-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

The reading due today reminded me quite a bit of my student teaching experience. I did not get to do much with technology during my teaching experience. I used PowerPoint, email, and an online grade book. The article discussed incorporating technology into the practicum and student teaching experience and making it a more important part of the experience. I agree with this. Having taught at the school with little experience with this, I felt completely lost when I came into this technology course. In fact, I couldn't find the power button for the computer when I walked into the lab. (However, I am more familiar with a PC).

I thought the writer's workshop discussed in the reading reminded me a lot of using Google Docs. The purpose of this is to have students collaborate online and edit other's documents. Google Docs is also useful when a teacher has assigned a group project. Students are able to write their documents in Google Docs and the other students will have access to that document. This way, they are able to work on the project wherever they have internet access at any time.