Poster Sites

Today I was able to test out a few different poster sites in order to create fun projects that I may use in a classroom. Honestly, I didn't really like most of them and I would much prefer to make posters on my own using Photoshop. Of course, I may not always have the luxury of having Photoshop on my computer, so I did find one source that seemed fun. This program was called Poster Forge, and it was something that I had to download and install on my computer. Some of the installation process was somewhat tricky (not too bad, but not like a normal installation process either). I thought this would be a fun program for students to use because it is very EASY to use. It only gives three different poster options: a wanted poster, a movie poster, and an inspirational poster. I thought that specifically the movie poster and wanted poster would be great things to incorporate into reading/language arts, using what they know from a story to create a poster for it.

I am excited to find more poster sites that I will be able to use with students inside the classroom, as well as for my own personal use.

Reflection 4

Copyright

As a future educator/U.S. citizen it is extremely important to know about copyright and the rules we must follow in order to legally use resources we find on the internet/other places. I know that I will be using a lot of resources in order to facilitate learning and to make lessons more fun, so I will have to be making sure that what I am using is legal and that I am using it in a legal way.

Something that people should be aware of is that even if there is no copyright symbol on a certain product, it is still copyrighted. That being said, we need to be extra careful when we are using books/music/templates that were made by others. Another thing I have learned is how long copyright actually lasts (70 years after the death of the author). It is nice that I won't have to worry about using adapted version of classic stories, because they no longer have copyrights.

I was definitely not aware that we are not legally allowed to show movies in class because it would be an audience of 10 or more students. That really bummed me out, because I remember in school having movie days right before holiday breaks, etc. Apparently there are sites where you can legally stream shows like "The Magic School Bus", "Reading Rainbow", and other educational shows, so that will be a nice tool to use. On the other hand, I'm still sort of sad about not being able to show fun movies in class (probably because it was a memory I had from my own childhood).

Copyright is frustrating to me at times because of how MANY rules there really are. On the other hand, I do understand the reasons for copyright and giving authors due credit for the things they have created.

Learning

This semester is my first time being a full time VCSU student, working towards my Elementary Education degree. I have to say, the classes are much different than any classes I've ever taken at NDSU, but I am definitely enjoying them. I think my favorite part about finally being in my education classes is actually getting to talk about my major/ideas in detail with my peers. It is so interesting to hear the opinions and experiences in education from other people so that I am able to gain more perspectives and build a philosophy (with the help of the actual courses, of course).

Like I mentioned in a previous post, I have started my practicum in an elementary school. The classes I am currently taking have helped me a lot to make connections between the material and real world experiences. I really love that our program includes all of these practicums, because I feel like I will actually be prepared for the experience when I am out in the "real world". I think the classes that have helped me the most so far during my practicum have been my Intro to Ed class and Educating Exceptional Students. In my Intro to Education class we have talked a lot about classroom management, which I am constantly observing, as well as about how to communicate with students in general. The other nice part about my Intro class is that everyone gets to share about their practicums, which is great for comparing and evaluating. My "Exceptional Students" class has made a difference since a lot of times I am working one-on-one with students who are having a harder time in a given subjects (whether or not they have a confirmed disability). This has made it much easier to know how to approach learning, as well as how to come up with different ways of explaining topics. I do love my other classes (Ed Tech and Math), but since I am just in the school for my first practicum, I don't really get to use the things I have learned in these classes.

I have already learned so many things, but I think that there are a lot of other skills I can improve on/learn. Something that I think will be a really good thing for me would be to learn is about organizational skills. Although I feel like I am pretty good at organizing in general, I look at the classrooms I have observed and realize how much STUFF there actually is. I would like to learn more tips and tricks for keeping everything organized and keeping TRACK of where everything is.

Overall I am thoroughly enjoying my time as a VCSU student. Some of the grading/criteria is taking a little getting used to, but I am loving the content of the classes as well as the teachers/students I have been privileged enough to work with/learn from.

Practicum

This semester for our Intro to Education class we have been placed in classrooms for a 40 hour practicum. I have already observed/been a part of about 15 hours in a 3rd grade classroom in West Fargo. I am already learning so much and am having a wonderful time! It has certainly been an eye opening experience so far.

I think one of my favorite things that I am learning is about classroom management and organization. The teacher I observe is so good with making the classroom nice and neat as well as a comfortable and positive place for students to succeed. Some of the things I really enjoy include her different seating areas for students based on what activity they are doing (desk/tables in groups, rug with a square designated for each student for group discussion, comfy chairs for reading time). I feel like these things make students feel much more comfortable in the classroom, rather than making it feel like a stuffy/uncomfortable place. I am also learning about how technology plays into the classroom every day. The teacher has shown me some really cool ways of using a Smart Board (lessons, visual aids, timers, videos, etc.). My favorite (although not a lesson) activity that she has the students do is called a "Brain Break", where she puts a video on the Smart Board with simple choreography for the students to dance along with in order to have a break between long periods of working time. There are many things I have been learning, but these are just a few of the fun things I have noticed.

Being placed in a teacher role rather than being a student for the last 15 years has been very interesting. Although I have had a chance to TA at NDSU for the past 3 semesters, it is not quite the same when I am working with people much younger than I am. My interactions with children must be simpler, as well as a little more structured/formal than if I were to talk to my goddaughter. It is somewhat difficult for me to adopt the "student and not friend" mentality, since I am so used to working with kids in a more relaxed setting (cousins, tennis camps, etc.). The more I am in the classroom, the more I am able to practice this skill, and it seems to be going very well. My goal is to keep things light and positive without the relationships becoming too informal, and keeping professional.

I honestly like most of the things that I am seeing during my observations. I love getting a chance to converse with the teacher/other practicum students about ideas and opinions. It is so nice to hear the perspective of other about teaching elementary learners. As far as complaints go I luckily haven't had any bad experiences yet, and I hope that I won't have too many to share!

Winter?

The beginning of October has JUST begun, and what better way to start it off in Fargo, ND than to SNOW! With this snow comes early thoughts of what I will be looking forward to this winter. To be honest, I really do prefer summer and fall, but I suppose there are a few winter activities/traditions that I do enjoy very much.

First of all, the obvious are the holidays: Thanksgiving and Christmas. I will be spending a lot of quality time back in my hometown with my immediate/extended family, as well as with some of my friends to celebrate! I think my favorite thing about going home for holidays are the smells of great food and the festive music that always seems to be ringing throughout the house.

Another fun thing that comes with winter is MY BIRTHDAY! It is just far away enough from Christmas where I don't get the whole "combined birthday/Christmas" celebration that some people get, so it's super nice! I will most likely be spending that with friends as I will be back up at school, but every year when I come back around my birthday my mom has a chocolate cake waiting. Awww.

Honestly, my favorite 'winter' activities are probably curling up under a blanket and watching movies while sipping hot chocolate (preferably a Caribou milk chocolate raspberry hot chocolate) with my boyfriend or cat(s), but I also enjoy sledding with friends and ice skating! When I'm home I'll also build the occasional snowman with my young cousins.

Overall, I am excited for these fun winter activities, but I am definitely trying to cherish the autumn moments (if there are any left!)

Reflection 3

Google Apps for Education

I had never really explored any of the applications in Google before, so it was pretty neat to see all of the ideas and services it can provide for all sorts of purposes. Obviously right now we are looking at the applications to be used for education, and I did find some that I liked. Some were more for personal use, like the calendar, which would be great for organizing and planning lessons/units/projects/etc.

One of my favorite parts of Google Apps is Google Docs/Drive. I really like this application because there are so many possibilities for uses of this particular app. I can not only create a document such as the one I am creating right now, but I can create presentations for the classroom or for meetings, spreadsheets for grading/organization, drawings (this could be useful in plans like seating arrangements, etc.), and my favorite, forms. I like forms because you can use them as pre-tests, quizzes, ways to get to know your students, surveys, and much more. The other thing I like about Google Docs is that you can have a shared folder for the classroom, so that you can edit/view all the students’ work.

My other favorite Google App is Google Sites/Blogger. Being a huge Pinterest fan, I have already seen so many great ideas and inspirational posts for the uses of websites and blogs for the classroom. In a blog, one can share a little bit about themselves to the students and their families, post assignments/schedules, share what they are doing within the classroom, and many more things. The possibilities and ideas are really endless.

Overall I really enjoyed exploring Google Apps and all it has to offer. I will definitely be utilizing quite a few of them, most definitely the apps I mentioned previously. It is so nice to find something that really promotes organization and fun new ways to educate students.

Reflection 2: Part 2

4 Year Olds With iPhones 

I enjoyed reading this article by Marc Prensky mostly because when I saw the title I thought I was going to absolutely hate it. I ended up being pleasantly surprised, but I do hold a few reservations. First of all, there were indeed many positives to a child with an iPhone. It is great that you are able to turn off the phone function. That would be my first worry in giving a child a phone. That could open the door to expensive charges as well as dangers. I also enjoyed the different apps that make learning (whether it be ‘school’ skills or other basic skills without their knowledge of actually being educated) fun. I love the voice recorder idea, and I think these types of technologies still allow the child to be creative. Then again, when children are constantly presented with ready made apps with things already created for them so that they don’t have to do anything but draw, strategize, etc. They don’t really get to come up with anything on their own, or some up with a different use for it. Also, I just can’t get into the idea of children sitting in front of screens all day. It really gives me a Wall-E type of vibe where everyone is sitting around, morbidly obese, with screens dangling above their heads because technology has allowed them to do everything without actually DOING anything. If I did have the money to buy an iPhone, I don’t think I would buy one for my own child. At the same time, I might buy things or find fun little activities for them to do on our actual computer. I just don’t want something portable that they can beg to sit with no matter where we are. For students, I also don’t know that we should be spending our money on providing these for the students, but maybe there will be some sort of compromise.

Reflection 2: Part 1

Khan Academy 

 In Marc Prensky’s article for Educational Technology titled “Khan Academy”, he talks about the site created by Salman Khan that provides videos of explanations of lessons (originally starting with math) and has now branched into a variety of subjects. I liked how he praised Khan for not selling out to companies who would want to charge for his services, and instead wants to reach students to help them better understand. I actually do agree that Khan Academy can be seen more as “a beginning” rather than a final solution. I do think that what Khan has done is so helpful for many students (I have looked into it and have gotten great ideas for TA’ing, and my younger brother swears by it). I understood what he meant about this resource being an example of “teaching old things in new ways”, and that we should be striving to find NEW ways to teach material. At the same time, I have found this website to be very helpful and very easy to understand. Then again, I know these methods would not apply to every student, especially when their case is not that they didn’t pay attention but that they simply aren’t interested in the material (especially in the lecture/blackboard format). Overall I agreed with Prensky’s article, and I understand what he says about moving forward, but in general (even without NEW methods of instruction) Khan Academy is an excellent resource for students and teachers.

Reflection 1

Technology Bill of Rights and Brad Flickinger. 

    I had mixed feelings about this blog. On one hand, Brad Flickinger seems like a very intelligent and thought-provoking person who has made great strides in the use of new technology in a classroom setting. His goals are understandable and I am in agreement with many of his points. I do think that as educators we need to be up to speed with the newest technology and to be aware of the types of resources available to students. His “Educational Technology Bill of Rights for Students” was very interesting to read and gave some great tips for teachers in the classroom regarding technology and trying to veer away from traditional ideologies. That being said, I also believe that there is a line that can be drawn when it comes to technology in the classroom and its effectiveness. I consider myself to be a pretty open-minded person, so I am hoping through this class and through the perspectives of many others I will gain further insight about the positives of using many types of technology in the classroom (even the dreaded cell phone).
    Specifically looking at his Student Bill of Rights, I very much enjoyed what was said about being taught by instructors who know how to manage the technology in their classrooms. It’s not fair for students to be forced back to the Stone Age just because their teacher does not want to learn how to use any new forms of technology. The tools and resources we have nowadays are so amazing and helpful, why would we want to keep that from students. I do not think that we should make technology as taboo as it has been in some of my previous classroom experiences. While I surely had teachers who embraced all technological advances, there were always a few teachers that refused to use any new products in their classroom, even if the school was supplying them. To be honest, I was mostly in agreement with all of Brad’s posts and ideas.


I feel that this photo shows technology in the classroom in a very positive light. Teachers should be up to speed on the new technology that kids can use. Makes the class much more interesting for the students!

There were some things mentioned that I still feel might not be effective. Yes, I may sound old fashioned, but I have been in the cell phone/Facebook world long enough to know that many of my peers were severely distracted during class. I do not want students focusing more on who said what about whom when I am trying to teach them new skills. I am all for embracing technology and teaching my students how to be marketable, but there is a difference in using technology time positively in the classroom, than using it to be distracted from learning. I know that this class and future readings will probably show me the light when it comes to these issues and how to correctly handle them, but for now I am still a little bit skeptical about social networking. I understand that we communicate in this way now, and that I can use it as an educational tool, but is it realistic to think that they still will not serve as hindrances in many ways for many students? Overall a very insightful blog, but I still have many questions.

This is what I think about when I imagine cell phone use in the classroom. This comes from experience being around peers who did this constantly (and doing so myself). Guess what I wasn’t doing when I was using mine? Answer: Paying attention.

Educational Technology Bill of Rights (Plus Additions)