Tuesday, April 7, 2009

What I Learned from Other Presentations

It was fun to watch other people's presentations and see how everyone was able to use technology in their classrooms. There were many different ideas that I was able to get from watching them but one thing that I really learned was that children are sometimes more excited to learn when you use technology. This will in turn get them more interested in the subject matter and they will become more involved. That could lead to a better understanding of what is being taught. There are so many ways to use technology within a lesson and this can enhance a lesson by allowing the children to become more actively involved. This will also give the children a chance to see how to properly use the technology so they can use it in the future.

Internet Safety

1. What article did you choose to read for your fourth article?

The fourth article that I chose to read was Called "Righting Internet Filth". This article was by Mario Hipol and the first one under the Internet Safety link on the LDS website and thus I thought it would be very valuable to my learning. I found that this article gave a lot of helpful and valuable information to adults and parents for how they could protect the children around them from the 'filth' on the internet. It gave actual instructions for parents and adults to follow so that they could protect their personal computers in their homes.

2. What were the most important things you learned from the readings?

One of the things from the reading that I thought was very important was that even a same game could lead into additive behavior. This is why it is so important for everyone to decide today to avoid harmful information and filth by protecting our lives from this additive behavior. We need to start following different ways to protect not only ourselves but others around us so that we do not fall into a difficult situation. This will prevent many of the problems that will arise if we do this today.

3. How will what you have read influence your actions as a parent and/or teacher of children and youth?

I've learned so much information from these articles that it is difficult to see me not using the information to better my life and those around me. First, I think that I am much more aware of the dangers that everyone can come across as they are on the internet and so I want to take precautions to ensure that my future children and students will less likely fall under the grasps of additive behavior and internet filth. Now I know that I will safeguard against the many problems that could arise on the internet. Additionally, now that I understand that such small things can become addictive behaviors, I believe that I will spend less time on the computer doing things that are pointless, such as checking facebook. There are better things I could and should be doing with my time.

4. How can you use what you have learned from the reading to have a positive influence on family and friends?

One way to help my family and friends is to make them aware of the problems that can arise from the internet. That is the first step to preventing the negative problems, is to be aware of them and their risk. Also, I could help them to know and understand the different prevention tactics to use in order to protect themselves and others from the evils on the internet. By introducing them to the articles that I read, they would be able to see the danger and become aware of different situations in their own lives. Additionally, when I have children of my own I can teach them about the problems and the blessings of the internet so that they know the difference.

Technology Practicum Intergration Power Point

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Technology in Lesson Idea

I plan to use a powerpoint and math template with my students to help them to review adding and subtracting large numbers. The way I am planing to do this is to play a game, Math Jeopardy, where the students are given a question that they need to solve. If they students get the question correct then they get to move on in playing the game. The goal is to answer 10 questions correctly and get to the end of the path before without making any mistakes. If the students get the question wrong then they have to go on a side road which explains how to correctly solve the problem. Then they get to try and solve the same problem again. This will help them to understand how to carry numbers into the next place value and how to borrow from another place value. Because it is a review they will not need as much instruction at the beginning and so I might just model a few examples of adding and subtracting large numbers on the board.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Lesson using Technology

I think that I would use the a digital story board to help teach the students how to sort and classify objects using more than one attribute. I could do this by giving the students different objects that they will need to sort. Then I would help them come up with the different categories that the objects could go into. We would work together to write a story about each object and how we know that it relates to another one and therefore it must go into the same category or how they are different and must go into different categories. This story could be a true one that happened in my own life. For example, it could be objects in my room and how I organized them within my room. After the students and I have finish writing a story about where all the objects should go and how we know they are in the right stop, then we would draw pictures of the objects. These pictures could be the ones that we could use in the digital story board. Each student could then do a similar story of their own about all the objects in their room and how they would sort and classify the objects into categories that were similar with others.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology Inventory

Currently, I am participating in my first cohort experience. The school that I am at is called East Meadows in the Nebo District in Spanish Fork. I am in a 3rd grade classroom where I am proud to say that technology is used often. In the few days that I have been in the classroom, I have been able to discover many ways that technology is used within a classroom and what all is available in the school.

The school provides all the classrooms with an audio enhancement so that the teachers do not have to worry about students being able to hear them. This is a great device that I believe should be in every elementary classroom. Also, the school has two computer labs that have over 30 computers each were the students can go as a class to review or study any subject. These computer labs are available to all classes as long as they are signed up for in enough time. Additionally, the upper grades have a few computers in their classrooms. The school is planning to put in another computer lab just for the sixth grade so that the other ones will be more available. The children go to the computer labs a few times a we to help them on many of the topics that they are learning. In addition to the computers, this school also has VCR and DVD, document cameras, digital cameras, and video cameras that came be checked out. Lastly, there is one smartboard that is shared in the school.

I was shocked to see how much technology was available but extremely happy to see that the teachers take advantage of the technology in most of their lessons. My school, East Meadows Elementary School, is a new school that place a great portion of their budget on technological advances.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009