"Doing" Technology- My lesson with my family!

1. I gave a family home evening lesson to my parents and seventeen year old sister last night. My sister is a cheerleader and even though she is never on the computer I felt it was important to talk to her about being smart on the internet. Also, my parents are not technology savvy and so I wanted to educate them a little bit on what is going on out there and how to prevent it.

2. I decided to focus on the importance of getting a filter for the computer and how careful you need to be with personal information on the internet. I used the movie on i-safe (http://www.isafe.org/webcasts/?videoid=1&school_id=10079) to show them what kind of information should be given out on the internet and how easily you can be traced or hurt. They were really shocked by this and they had a lot of questions. I also had us take turns reading the talk by Elder Ballard on the importance of the family unit to tie in the gospel. We had a really great discussion on being involved in each others lives and filtering our computers. My mom said she called one of her good friends this morning and got a website for a great filter. I had given her some ideas as well. The whole talk went really well and I think I scared my parents. All of the kids are pretty well grown up now, but grand babies are starting to come so they are going to be prepared. Plus, I scared my sister to death :) Just kidding but she will be very careful on the internet.

Article Reading Reflection

1. What article did you choose to read for your fourth article?
"Fighting Internet Filth" by Mario Hipol
2. What were the most important things you learned from the readings?
I was blown away by Elder Ballard's talk on the family unit and the destruction that the internet and television can bring to it. He was so straight forward and harsh, but it made me realize that even the shows that I do not think are a big deal because they are funny and everyone watches them carry an underlying message that sex is good and the family is dysfunctional. He said, "The choices we make in media can be symbolic of the choices we make in life." I remember I used to watch a show in high school that everyone watched and my parents had to sit me down and tell me I couldn't watch it anymore because I was acting like the characters. It's scary, but it happens. I also really loved the tips that the church website gives on how to safeguard your home from pornography. Keeping the computers in open areas where everyone can see the screen and having a reliable filtering system are great ways to keep you and your family safe. I also learned that I should not let my kids surf the internet or just get on to chat. If kids have other things going on in their lives, they won't have to do that! The Grahams taught me that I need to keep up on technology and talk to my kids about it so they know I am on the same page as them and also provide technologies that you can do together that are fun and wholesome. This would be like a family blog or creating a movie from pictures. Finally, Elder Hipol taught me that I can make a difference. I have to have confidence that I can control technology in my own home.
3. How will what you have read influence your actions as a parent and/or teacher of children and youth?
I realize now that I will be much more aware of what is going on in my home and in the world of technology in general. When I first started reading I decided that I would be the kind of parent that only had set hours or limits when my children could get on the internet or use computer technology so that I could monitor it and no harm would be done. But I realize that is not very likely or possible and the other readings taught me that there is wholesome technology that I can introduce my kids too. We can do technology together and it can be a good thing. I will need to continually update myself on the computer games and technologies so I can be prepared to help my kids make the best decisions. I will also do this for my students at school.
4. How can you use what you have learned from the reading to have a positive influence on family and friends?
The best way that I can influence my friends and family is to be a good example. I have noticed throughout my life that some people just need someone to show them that they can say no. I can also introduce new technologies to them so that they do not think that I am trying to take away their freedom. When you do that, kids rebel. My showing my peers and family that my house will be a safe internet and television home, they will see the good and do the same.

Two Best Ideas from Presentations

First, I really liked how someone used photostory to create imaginative narrative text in a writing lesson. She was able to create this before hand so she was prepared and it got the kids excited about reading. Second, I really liked the idea of using i clickers. A lot of people used i clickers to assess students. I did not have a lot of technology so we did not have these, but they did and the kids loved it. They felt like they had their own little remote. It gave the teacher quick feedback and the students got to interact directly with the technology. I will remember to use i clickers next time I am teaching a math or vocabulary lesson because it is simple for the teacher, but effective and fun for the students.

Technology SlideShow

Technology In The Classroom!

View more presentations from fabbygirl.

Technology enhanced lesson plan

I taught the students about flip, slide, and turn. In order to do so I first taught the concepts and attributes of each. After going through some practices and a twenty minute lesson it was time for the technology. I then took them down to the computer lab ( we go down there twice a week). Before my lesson I had uploaded an assessment test for third grade flip, slide, and turn. I had them work indepndently on the YPP computers and answer the questions. I then put on the fourth grade level for those who thought it was too easy. YPP is a great resource for teachers. I love it because I can have it all ready the day before. All the student have to do is log in. I was then able to print out their scores and assess what I needed to review the next day. It was a great experience with technology.

technology enhanced lesson

There are always trays of laptops available for the students. Thir geographicald grades focuses a lot on math and does not leave much time for other subjects. But they need other subjects. I would use google earth to enhance geography, but integrate it into math. They would research different places within Utah and they could find out how many miles are between each landmark. Third graders could even create their own google earth tours. But I would create one in advance that would be pulled up on each of their computers. They coudl work in groups to fulfill the activities.

Technology Inventory

There are no computers located in the classroom, but laptops are accessible for the entire class anytime (as long as you sign up for them in advance). Some of the classrooms have promethium boards, unfortunately mine does not. So i have not had the opportunity to use one. There are a few different computer labs through out the school. They students get to go to keyboarding twice a week where they work with many different technologies. They also get on the laptops quite often and do math and science work. It seems like there is a lot more that could probably done to increase technology, but my class seems to get quite a bit of it. My teacher tries to incorporate it whenever she can and she does a great job of it!
I am amazed by how much the students know about technology, so I realize how important it is that we take this class. We gotta keep up with them!

Virtual Tour- Mountain Ranges

Virtual Tour Link http://sites.google.com/site/mountainranges/my-files

virtual tour-tpack

Content: Mountain Ranges, their locations, and interesting aspects that set them apart from the rest.

Pedagogy: To me, it would be difficult to teach mountain ranges with out a tool like Google Earth. I could use this presentation to begin a unit on landforms or geography. After teaching the material, students can search for the mountain ranges themselves on Google earth. By giving students interesting questions about each mountain range, they will better remember where it is located and it's uses. This gets students excited about geography which can sometimes seem like memorization. They are doing the learning!

Technology: Using Google Earth students will be able to identify mountain ranges and interesting aspects that help remind them of where they are located.

Virtual Tour Plan

Location	Activity	Google Content
Rocky Mountains In North America (Picture)	Where would have been a good place for Mormon Pioneers to pass? Where do the Rocky Mountains stretch from? What states does it pass through?	text here
The Andes in South America (picture of mountains and civilization)	Look up the civilization that made it's home in the peaks of the Andees. What type of lifestyle did they have?	text here
The Pyrenees between France and Spain (picture of mountains)	What different languages are spoken in the Pyrenees? How many languages?	text here
The Himalayas between China and India (picture of Everest)	What famous peak is found in the himalayas? How tall is it?	text here
Details of image overlay/ path/ polygon	pictures of each mountain range in relation to civilization.

Digital Storyboard- Sick, by Shel Silverstein

This is a digital story created to show students in order to introduce them to poetry. It is fun and gets them excited to learn.

TPACK-storyboard

Content: We will be using the Shel Silverstein Poem Sick in order to fulfill Standard 1 Oral Language. Students will develop language for the purpose of effectively communicating through listening, speaking, viewing, and presenting. We will be using poetry as our genre for our digital story. Our medium will be pictures from the internet (URL).  The pictures we have chosen from the internet focus on cartoons of sick and injured children to enhance our poem. 

Pedagogy:  In order for kids to enhance communication and technology skills (as outlined in Standard 1) in Second Grade. We will create this digital story in order to introduce poetry (especially Shel Silverstein) to students in an interesting and interactive way. They will be able to engage in this themselves and get excited to do it themselves or learn about poetry.

Technology:  We will be using Photostory which is a program that allows us to put together a short film about poetry that we can show to students. This program allows us to speak through a microphone and put words to pictures (like a powerpoint) and even use music.

Storyboard

TPACK in my science project

Content:
This particular assignment is meant for third graders and it teaches their science standard 1 by having them understand the motions of the earth, the sun, and the moon. As the children become engaged in what they are learning they will want to understand why and how the earth rotates every 24 hours and that is why we have sunlight. Students should know why the sun, planets, and stars seem to be moving when you look at them.
Pedagogy:
The students will be observing and identifying how the earth rotates in accordance with the sun and moon on their own. I am using a hands-on observing method of pedagogy where students get to try to make sense the Stellarium program. I would have questions ready for them to answer as they explore the rotation of earth about where certain buttons are located and how you can do different things. This works well with the content because it allows students to explore freely with out feeling intimidated.
Technology: I chose Stellarium for my technology. This technology focuses on rotation and constellations. It gives a wide perspective of what is out in our solar system. I remember being very confused about the Earth's rotation because my teacher did not use a combination of content, pedagogy, and technology to push understanding. You either got it or you didn't. Now kids can feel like they are looking up to the sky and figuring out for themselves why things are the way they are. This technology is perfect because it shows the earth revolving and rotating so clearly that children can't miss it!

Sun, Moon, and Earth: A Tech Savvy Teacher!

During this shot, it is easy for the child to see why it looks like the planets and stars are moving when we look up at the sky at night. They observe that they are the ones that are actually moving as they speed up time.
In this caption the earth has become transparent so that the child can see both the moon and sun in the same shot. As the child takes prior knowledge that the sun gives light to the moon, they can analyze the rotation of the sun and moon to verify.
If this caption were in motion the students would observe how the moon evolves around the Earth. They would collect data concerning the time it takes for the moon to go around the Earth by changing the speed and constantly watching the time in the left corner. This is so fun!
By right clicking and draggin the mouse to the right, you can jump away from the Earth and look at it from another perspective. This is also the best way for students to observe the Earth rotating on a 24 hour period.
This is an example of the tools that the students can use. Students can identify their location on Earth to discover how the sky/solar system looks from different perspectives. After analyzing the data in different locations they will be able to conclude that the Earth must be rotating.

Students will observe that the moon orbits around earth every 28 days.

Attention all teachers interested in giving their students a fun education!! I have discovered that technology has become a natural part of our children's worlds and needs to become a natural part of ours. Let's face it: We need to become tech savvy! As technology continually expands, teachers can easily become less engaged with students because they are not aware of the "new age child's" interests. I have chosen to inform you of an incredible technology called "Stellarium" through teaching 3rd graders Standard 1: Students will understand that the shape of the earth and the moon are spherical and that Earth rotates on its axis to produce the appearance of the sun and moon moving through the sky. (Objective 2). Using Stelarium is a fun and challenging way for students and teachers to gain a deeper understanding and interest in the solar system, and I am going to tell you how and why!

"Stellarium" can be found online and can be easily downloaded onto any computer. There are easy steps to follow to get the program. Stellarium makes you feel like you are lying outside in a field looking up at the stars, except you can move the sky to new angles, speed up time, change your landscape, go to the moon, find constellations, and calculate distances of planets and stars. Oh yes, and did I mention you can look at the sky from any location on earth! Now, this is just a brief summary of the things you can do, but I will expound on one aspect for the classroom. For my science project I wanted to use this technology to enhance the concept of the motion of earth (the revolution of the earth around the sun), and the earth rotates on it's axis every 24 hours to produce night and day. In Stellarium there is a bar that pops up at the bottom of the screen that gives you different options for new things to do and see. On the right at the bottom there are speed up and slow down buttons. Using these buttons students will be able to speed up time and watch as the sun continually appears and disappears. They then can look in the top, left corner and discover that it calculates the hours each time the sun shows up. It will be exactly 24 hours. It was so fun to watch the time and wait for the sun.

In the captions of each picture I mentioned how Stellarium will enhance student's learning of science. When using Stellarium children must be constantly observing as the Earth rotates. As they observe they will aquire and process data that will further enhance the idea of the rotation of the earth, the sun, and the moon because they are doing the hands on work. Another important aspect that I did not mention is that they will make predictions as they drag the earth into new views and figure out when the sun and moon will come into view. If we as teachers can realize the potential that technology has for our children we will do everything we can to get our hands on programs like Stellarium and incorporate them into our lessons.

Science/Math Technology Exploration

One of my favorite technological resources that I explored was the Stellarium. It is a software that allows you to see what you would see with your eyes or a telescope when looking at the sky. You can just drag the mouse around to change your view of the stars, you  can zoom in on a particular part of the sky. You can find planets. In fact, it has an entire feature list of observations you can do with this program. What an amazing piece of technology!!! I am a little embarrassed at how excited I got :). Children would have so much fun with this program. This makes learning astrology (etc..) really exciting for kids. 

I also really liked the idea of having kids use digital microscopes when learning about plants and how they grow. I really want to focus my project on the objective of having kids observe and learn what happens as a plant grows. I think we could use digital microscopes so the children can see what a plant is made up of and watch the different stages it goes through to become a plant. Anytime children get to use something like a microscope they become completely engaged. This is a great hands on tool. Some of the digital microscopes that i saw online  can take pictures of what you are looking at so we could post our plant development.

TPACK

As our society and world continues to change and develop with new advancements in technology, it is important for us as teachers to be aware of these changes. The students that we will be teaching will have a lot more background and knowledge about technology than we will, which can be frightening, but we can keep up with them if we do a little research. Students today will get a lot more out of lessons if we incorporate technology into them.  TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge. The most effective way to t each is to fulfill the needs of each knowledge. As a teacher, you cannot just come into the classroom with the ability to teach, but know nothing about what you are teaching. Also, you cannot expect to walk into a classroom with a lot of content knowledge and expect to gain the interest of the students with out new technology for them to use. These knowledges need to be used interchangeably throughout your teaching.

I learned that there are many different technological tools that teachers can use in order to accomplish the  TPACK goal that involve both pedagogy and content knowledge, such as concept mapping (kidsperation), desktop publishing software, etc. There are many wonderful tools that will help teachers reach all students on all levels.

Week 2: RSS and Web 2.0 Tools

Adding RSS feeds to my blog was difficult! It gave me a headache. But now that I have figured it out I think it is awesome. I have feed from Education Week (Diversity) and the Learning Now Journal as well as Daily Scriptures! I had to stop myself from adding more. I am so glad that we learned how to get RSS feeds. I never would have figured that one out on my own. I especially never would have figured out all of the gadgets I can attach to my blog.

Web 2.0 tools have been wonderful! I especially love Goodreads. I have spent a lot of the day on there because I cannot stop adding books. I know that I will use this particular tool forever. Even if I stop teaching I can use it to find good books for my own children. Goodreads is so easy to use and I love being to share recommendations with others and receive them as well.

Del.icio.us was so simple and exciting! I love how I can access these bookmarks from any computer. The URL's that I chose are going to be so helpful in my classroom. I can use Google Earth for geography and other subjects. I am especially excited about TeacherTube where I can find fun video clips for the kids. I remember always liking video clips in junior high and elementary school.

Web 2.0 tools are very effective and I will keep practicing so that I become more efficient in each one! Thanks technology..you rock.

Technology Ain't My Thing

Here it is! Ok I know nothing about technology. I had the option of getting a really cool blackberry phone but i declined because it would just frustrate me. You could say I am simplistic. I think the only way I will be able to complete these assignments is if there are word for word directions! I will say I am excited for this class and my new blogging mates. We are gonna learn so much, though i'm not sure what that is yet. My goal... like technology by the end of this.