Reflection #12

WHAT: I explored the website, PBS Teachers. I decided to look into this website because I know that the PBS television station is a kid friendly one, and its educational.

SO WHAT: This site offers many resources for teachers to use in their classrooms.

NOW WHAT: This site has many creative ideas for curriculum at the early elementary level. If teachers are looking for creative content ideas, I would recommend them looking into this website.

Reflection #11

WHAT: Livemocha is a great educational website for language learning. There is a wide variety of language courses and the unique thing about this site is that they will teach the lessons in whatever your first language is. For example: my account is set up so that I am a native English speaker learning French. I have a friend though, and his account is set up as his native language being Japanese and he is learning English.

SO WHAT: It is a resource that is free and available in almost every language. So this is a resource that can be used by all people.

NOW WHAT: As a student who loves learning different languages, I will continue to use this site my entire life to gain knowledge on world languages. As a teacher, I will definitely recommend this website to my colleagues and encourage my students to check it out. I believe it is an extremely beneficial resource that is yet to be discovered by many who need it.

Reflection #10

WHAT: I found the website Using English, a site full of resources for English language learners. It has resources for students as well as teachers. Some of the features include: English idioms, a grammar glossary, verb phrases, and test materials for teachers.

SO WHAT: Although this website is extremely useful, I do not believe an english language learner would be able to navigate it very well. This website is more for teachers. It gives me ideas of topics to be taught in my classroom as well as gives me the information and resources to provide the materials for my students.

NOW WHAT: I am definitely going to remember this website and use it when I begin to teach. It has a lot of useful material that I would like to use.

Reflection #9

WHAT: I looked into the website WorldWideLearn and read some articles on online learning because I was curious to learn the benefits of an online education.

SO WHAT: Online schooling has become extremely popular. Here are some of the reasons why:

-students can attend anytime from anywhere.

-course material is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

-student interaction increases because all participation is online, so its not just the "outgoing" and "talkative" students who get a chance to speak up.

-the teaching is student centered, meaning that students can learn with whatever way works best for them (visually, orally, etc.).

-online schooling helps prepare students and helps them become familiar with technology, which is becoming an important skill for the 21st century worker.

NOW WHAT: As popular as online schooling is becoming, I hope that people are still looking for ways to improve it, as I find it hard to imagine replacing the experience of an actual classroom. But I do see the benefits of being able to access your schooling at anytime and anywhere. I think it would be beneficial for students in this day and age to experience both the traditional classroom and the online classroom.

Reflection #8

WHAT: I read the article 50 Awesome Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom. I chose to look into this because I am very intrigued by skype and its ability to connect people. According to this article, skype can be used for field trips, after school help, and for guest lecturers.

SO WHAT: Skype can be used to bring anything you want to the classroom, or to take your students anywhere without having to leave the classroom. It is a great way to open up your students to the world and make use of their global resources.

NOW WHAT: I believe teachers should really look into ways that they could use skype in the classroom. I know as a student I would have loved it, and as a teacher I am definitely going to use it. It would be so great in language classrooms to have contact via skype with another classroom in another country that speaks that language. It would be a fun learning experience for students to be able to talk to other students their own age in a different culture. Another good use of skype would be for English teachers being able to have authors visit the classroom via skype.

Reflection #7

WHAT: I was observing in an elementary classroom at Lakeview Elementary and for the first time I watched first hand the use of microphones in the classroom. The teacher was wearing a special one around her neck and then there was a more traditional looking one at the front of the classroom for students to come up and use when they were presenting their poems to the class.

SO WHAT: I thought that this was very weird at first and I did not like it at all. It seemed weird to hear voices coming through a speaker when you are in a small classroom. But I realized it helps the students be heard when they are presenting and it also prevents the teacher from loosing her voice or even having to raise her voice. It seems as though the teacher is able to hold so much more authority in her voice because of the microphone.

NOW WHAT: The more I visit schools, the more I see these microphones. I believe that microphones in the classroom are going to become very common. I have talked to a few teachers about them, and they love them for the very reason that they don't lose their voice by the end of the day (which seems to happen a lot at the elementary level). The only fear I have in the wide use of this, is that I don't think teachers and students should get used to always speaking into a microphone. Students need to learn how to speak up and use their "presenter" voice. We can't rely on technology to do the work for us and make things easier all the time.

Reflection #6

WHAT: In one of my classes a girl used the document camera to read a story to the class. We could follow along and see the pictures on the screen. It was very helpful to be able to see it so large without having to move from our desks.

SO WHAT: In elementary schools teachers read aloud to the class often. Sometimes students are gathered around the teacher tightly and fighting for getting the best view of the tiny picture book. The document camera is a great alternative to story time, where students can remain at their desk but follow along my watching the projection on the big screen.

NOW WHAT: For me, it seems sad to give up the traditional way of story time and everyone circling up. But in some situations I believe the document camera to be the better way. Teachers should utilize this technological resource if they can, as I believe it will help student learning and participation.

Reflection #5

WHAT: Professor Kowalski brought an ipad to class and showed off its many features.

SO WHAT: The ipad's ability to connect you to practically any resource online and off (and all text written can be downloaded as well) makes it a very appeasing object to possess. Teachers and students could have a lot of use for these as they can be your notes, computer, files, etc. all in one.

NOW WHAT: Ipads are new and expensive so most of us will probably not attain one. But I do believe that ipads are the a good representation of the future of technology. Being able to carry all that information around in one little digital device is very appealing to people, and I believe it won't be long before they become as common as cell phones.

Reflection #4

WHAT: I created a simple powerpoint slide of pictures for an introduction to a presentation. Unfortunately, the slideshow was not working, and I had to improvise, coming up with a new introduction.

SO WHAT: When dealing with technology, we often run into problems. And as teachers, we will need to always have a back up plan in case our technology fails.

NOW WHAT: So although technology can be extremely useful in the classroom, I believe it is wise to not completely rely on it 100%. As a teacher you should always be prepared to teach and/or present the material raw, without your technological resources.

Reflection #3

WHAT: For my final teaching presentation in Instructional Design I used the SMARTboard for a couple of visual aids. I was extremely nervous to use it because I was afraid something would go wrong. But fortunately, it went very well, and I was glad that I used it. It provided greatly to the lesson.

SO WHAT: I used a video and an activity that interacted students with the SMARTboard. This proved to be a helpful asset to the lesson and contributed to the overall success.

NOW WHAT: Now that I have become a little more comfortable with using technology in my lessons, I want to expand on my usage of the SMARTboard and create an entire SMARTboard lesson. I believe the SMARTboard engages students visually, orally, and actively.

Reflection #2

WHAT: I observed in a high school math classroom that uses the activeboards. The teachers and students were very comfortable with the technology so it was very cool to see the boards used in such a successful way. I felt as though the class interacted extremely well with the activeboard and to me it seemed as though they were more drawn in than the normal math class.

SO WHAT: I think teachers, especially math teachers, should really think about the positive effects that technology can have on their classroom. With a subject like math, where so many students are turned off by it and struggle, it is critical to take advantage of such resources such as activeboards that can truly revolutionize the way math is taught.

NOW WHAT: I believe that all math teachers should consider putting activeboards into their classroom. They don't have to use them daily, but they do provide a good visual in such topics as geometry.