My Beliefs

I believe that it is essential for us to teach students typing skills and how to surf the web. I think students need to know how to find information in a safe and reliable way. I think that it can be used too much however. To me picking up a book and reading it as a class is a great way to connect and I love the feeling of an amazing book in my hand, that's why I am shy towards the idea of electronic books.

In the classroom I was in for field they had a mobile lab for the school, which is a class set of mac laptops that any class can use. This was an incredible tool. Instead of having teachers fighting over the computer lab they have another options of computers in their class. I will be very lucky to have such amazing technologies in my classroom. As well as a smart board. I used one for the first time last month and I was blown away. We barely had a computer lab in my school when I was in sixth grade let alone a touch screen white board.

Lessons Learned

I love the video about the Millennial Generation. I think the only way to really know what students want is to straight up ask them. Hearing those students explain what they wish was available for them through technology was really interesting. I'd like to know when and where that video was taken, because now we have the iPad that can do a lot of the things they requested.

I also learned that involving technology in class has its good points and bad. It can be a great resource, but I also think that school might be the only time that they have a break from all the technology and all the connections with friends through Facebook, Myspace, and text messages. Computers in the classroom, however, is a must for me. Typing and learning how to manage the web are essential tools to life now and if we didn't teach it in school it would be hard to learn about and master.

Strengths & Weaknesses

After reading through the NET standards I found that my strengths lie in the Teaching, Learning, and the Curriculum standard. I am usually pretty good at adding technology to my lessons to make them more related and fun for the students. I know they are very tech savvy at that age, especially in the 6th grade that I taught at for field, so I think it is important to incorporate things that they like to do and like to learn about.

I also found out that I have a few more weaknesses than strengths when it comes to technology in my lessons. I am not quite up to date on everything they have these days, so according to the NET standards I think I am lacking in the Technology Operations and Concepts as well as Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences. Since I don't know everything there is to know about the technology that is available I can't be as creative with technology in my lesson plans.

Field Experience Report

1. Provide demographics of school, number of students in class and who your cooperating teacher is.
I did my field experience at Crescent Elementary in the Canyons School District in Sandy. I loved the school! They have a great facility. They have a huge field outside where the students can be active. They have many uses of technology, I was actually shocked. They have a full computer lab with over 30 Mac desktop computers. There is a Mac desktop in every classroom that is used for the smartboards. Each teacher has a Mac laptop to use for their school work. Also, the school has a mobile lab of Mac laptops. A class can rent the mobile lab out and its a full class set of these computers. It’s amazing! I had 27 students in my class and my cooperating teacher was Casey Draper. I was in a 6th grade class.


2. How is your relationship with your cooperating teacher? Explain.
I think I have a great relationship with Miss Draper. We get along great and we have a lot in common. She was a great help to me and I know she really appreciated all the help I could give her in her class. She gave me a lot of great tips and explained how a lot of a teacher’s career works. I think I got really lucky to have Miss Draper be the first teacher I got to work with.


3. How does he/she feel about the technology piece you created?
She liked the digital story I created because it was an introduction to what I was teaching and it was specifically what the students NEEDED to know for the exams.


4. How does he/she feel about the lesson you completed?
Casey said she thought my lesson was well planned. I had to adjust it everyday to make it work better and she really appreciated that I could change and fix my lesson as I went on. She told me that I had good information and that she thinks the students got what they needed out of it without being bored. She was also glad that I used the technology that I did for the lesson to liven it up.


5. How did the the training session go? Explain.
Casey had already heard of Photo Story and knew a little bit about it so it was pretty easy. I just explained the steps and process of creating a digital story, but she basically knew everything already. She was very up to date on all the technology stuff. She helped the whole school with anything they needed with technology so I got lucky!


6. How do you feel about this service-learning experience?
It was good for me to go over it with someone because when I teach something it helps me know more about it, but I’m glad Casey already knew about it so I didn’t have to really teach teach her cause I think the assignment is a little weird.


7. What did your cooperating teacher gain from the experience?
I think she just really appreciated the extra help in the classroom. There were a few students that needed one on one help with several subjects so having another person in their to help just them even was huge for their class.


8. What did you gain from the experience?
I loved this experience! I love my class and Casey was great to shadow and learn from. I learned a lot! I got to sub for her one day because, well they had a sub their but she asked me to teach because I knew the routine and the students knew me. But it was quite the eye opener for me. I loved it. That day I really knew that this is what I want to do and all the hard work and school is going to be worth it. I’m very excited to be a teacher and I’m glad that I had such a great experience and learned so much my first semester in the program. I am very excited for the next chance I’ll get to be in a classroom.


9. Was it worth why or why not?
Yes it was worth it! I learned so much, like I said before. It was such a great experience for me and it helped me see really how much work teachers put in to everyday. I loved learning and meeting the students and getting to teach them a few things. It was great!

Week 2 in the field

WHAT?: Okay... I LOVE SMARTBOARD!!!! I finally got to use it this week in my classes! It's great! It's so easy to use, the students love it, and you don't have a board to clean all the time! Love it!

SO WHAT?: Well, like I said this week I've gotten to use the smart board. Today I taught math, science, and reading (basically the whole day :)) and I used the smart board for math and science! They have great programs for math on the smart board and students love doing practice on it! As for my science I used the board to assess the students before hand about bacteria using a circle graph. Then we made a graphic organizer and I used the PowerPoint to explain what the students should put on their organizer.

NOW WHAT?: I loved how when I was doing the PowerPoint I could just touch the arrow on the smartboard to go to the next slide. It's much easier than walking back and forth to the computer. Its been really fun using all this new technology in the classroom and I am excited to use it in my own class!

Week 1 in the field

WHAT?: Well, I've been in the field for a week... SCARY! I actually love it! I love being in a class finally. I really like the students that I'm working with too. Its been really fun so far. My cooperating teacher is great! She's let me have a lot of freedom with my lesson plans.

SO WHAT?: This week I'm doing Art and its been fun! I've used a powerpoint to show self portraits of famous artists and taught about color to the students. They have a smart board in their classroom that they use a lot for math! It's been really great, the students really love to use it. Miss Draper will put problems up on the smart board and then have the kids solve them on the board.

NOW WHAT?: I really hope that I have a smart board in my class when I start teaching! They great and I've only heard good things about them! I have noticed that I will need to get a Mac eventually... Everyone uses Mac and it seems to be working fine. I haven't had a lot of opportunity to use very much technology myself, but next week I'm teaching Science and I will be showing my digital story about bacteria and using other things in some lessons.

Copyright

WHAT?: Well, in class last week we got into groups and researched different topics and terms dealing with copyright and its laws. It was interesting to see all the different terms we should know.

SO WHAT?: After doing the research and making it a google doc we discussed within our groups the information we as individuals learned about. After we talked about these topics I felt like I still didn't know most of the defnitions. I just know there is a lot that we as teachers need to be careful about whenever we're making lesson plans or using something that isn't completely original for our students.

NOW WHAT?: I am going to make sure that I am careful with my copyright safety in my classes because that would really make me mad if I got in trouble or even fired for something like copyright. I mean, it can be easy to take care of if you're smart about it I think. I just have to be careful and make sure all my information, hand outs, pictures, and resources is sited and that I have permission to use it.

Digital Story... One....?

WHAT?: In class we watched some interesting digital stories in class that really gave me some great ideas for my digital story. It also gave me a better idea to what a digital story actually is and what the assignment is looking for.

SO WHAT?: Seeing some of these digital stories helped me, but it also made me a little nervous. They were very detailed and very well made which makes me nervous about making my own. I am excited to get to do a digital story because i had a hard time with the vidcast, but I think I know how to make a digital story much much better.

NOW WHAT?: I am hoping that I will be able to be proud of my digital story and want to show it with the class I am working with. I would like to get to know how to make digital stories well enough to make them when I have my own classroom. I think it can be a great introductory to new topics and units of teaching.

Vidcast Reflection

The vidcast my partner and I created is called Civil War Vidcast. We decided to do the civil war because we wanted a topic that is taught in all schools so that we could potentially use our vidcast. Our topic fits the 5th grade Social Studies Standard 4: Students will understand that the 19th century was a time of incredible change for the United States, including geographic expansion, constitutional crisis, and economic growth. Objective 3: Evaluate the course of events of the Civil War and its impact both immediate and long-term.
Our vidcast shows the historical impacts of the civil war and how it is currently impacting our world by showing Black Americans today and the rights they were given because of the civil war. Everyone can relate to the freedom that was gained from the civil war and our vidcast helps the students feel emotions related to that, while receiving accurate information about America’s history. Which is all requested in the NETS Standards. Also in compliance with NETS we “Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity”. The vidcast displays creative instruction of the core content areas describe above like required according to the INTASC Standards. It could also be connected to the classroom culture if shown in the appropriate classrooms.
This was our first experience in making a vidcast and obviously it could be improved with more knowledge and practice. I think, however, that it explains what the students will be learning in their next unit and what to expect from it. I also believe that the combination of pictures, images, and information gives a direct and desired emotion to the students. We want them to be proud of the changes that were made because of the civil war and how it has effected their lives today.
Like I said I would like to make this vidcast a little more high quality and with enough information and resources I think I would be able to make a similar vidcast that would be great for classroom introduction to the civil war and Black history. I would definitely use vidcasts for other subjects also. I think it is a quick and easy way to get students attention and hook them into an upcoming topic.

Vidcast

WHAT?: We learned about vidcasts in class and about the tools we can use to make vidcasts. I was having a hard time following along with the tools because I've never used some of them.

SO WHAT?: I'm nervous about making a vidcast because I don't really know what I'm doing and I want to make something I can use in my classroom for field. Hopefully I will get the hang of it and make a great vidcast!

NOW WHAT?: I think once I learn how to make them and get used to them I'd like to use them in my classroom when I'm a teacher. I think they would be useful for instructions when students are absent or for a video slide show of pictures and information to introduce a new unit.

Podcast

What?: In class we made a podcast about a something that would happen in our community or school. I was a little worried about making the podcast cause I didn't have a partner and the last time I did it I used a Mac, so it was really easy, but I didn't have a Mac to use this time... But it turned out great!

So what?: I did my podcast on Magnificent Max the Magician! I told about Magnificent Max's upcoming performances at our school and about the types of magic tricks he does. I actually got to use my friends Mac (Thanks Rheanna!) to make my podcast! It was really easy using Garage Band, but got a little complicated when it came to uploading it onto my google site. Everything worked out and I was very pleased with my podcast.

Now what?: I think I will definitely try to use a podcast for announcements, specific instructions, and possibly for reading assignments. I think parents and students will appreciate having something other than just written instructions for more difficult assignments especially if a student missed a class. It can be really helpful for auditory learners.

Google 2

What?: I liked making a google site. I've never done that before and it was interesting learning something completely new to me. I love that there are so many options for a google site and so many things you can do with it.

So What?: I think I would like to use a google site for my classroom. Mostly for my students' parents so they can find out about new thing and announcements. I especially like the idea of parents being able to check up on the homework that their kids should be doing. I also like that I can put resources and websites online that they can use.

Now What?: I am excited to be able to use the site and I'm excited to make a site for my real classroom. I'm definitely going to be using the calendar and announcments page so that students and parents know exactly what's going on and coming up in the class, at school, and in the community.

Google 1

What? Today was a lot of reviewing for me today... I liked going over google a little bit again though cause I'd forgotten how to do somethings like "share" a document.

So What? I really like google docs for the fact that we can be working on something when we're not together for group projects and stuff, but I am more used to Word documents so I still have a hard time with some functions on google docs. I think it will be nice to use when I'm teaching with my team teachers and colleagues, but I also think that face time is really important for group work.

Now What? I don't think I'll be giving my students a lot of assignments dealing with google docs, but I think it would be interesting to see how they use the docs to do something without meeting together in the upper grades. I think I will be using google calendar to stay connected with students and student's parents though.

Mrs. Simmons

My teaching hero is definitely my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Simmons. She was my home room teacher and she also taught Social Studies. I was never very good at reading when I was in elementary school and I'm still not good at math. I also, struggled with science. Honestly, I got lucky having Mrs. Simmons cause Social Studies was my thing. It was tangible to me. I loved learning about the past and about our society and how its come to be what it is (was). We learned about so many different eras and times. It was the first time I was learning about some of these huge influences in our world's history.
The subject matter was great, but it didn't hurt that Mrs. Simmons was an amazing teacher. She is actually one of the reasons why I wanted to become a teacher. Her knowledge was inspiring to me. She loves her subject and her passion would show through her teaching. I've gone back to her classes to volunteer and observe and she still has that passion. After all the years she's taught basically the same subjects she still revels in what she's teaching. She has really inspired me to want to learn and to want to be knowledgeable about whatever I can be. This doesn't just affect the way she teaches, it changes the entire atmosphere of her class. It's fun and exciting and you know kids want to be there, at least the majority. I'm really grateful that I had such a great example of teaching when I was at such an impressionable age. Thank you, Mrs. Simmons!