Field Experience

LINK TO FIELD EXPERIENCE

Sadly Its Over

          In EDU 235 we cover many different topics to help us as future teachers learn how to use technology in our classroom. Since the beginning of the semester I have learned many different Web 2.0 tools, different technologies offered to special need students, and more. I plan to try to use as much technology in each subject that I can. In English I can use tools such as Animoto or Storyboard That to help kids tell a story,  to help students tell a story or explain parts of a story. For math, there are many websites that have games and manipulatives to help students gain a better understanding of the content.


           One thing that I found very useful was actually having to use tools to see how they can be used in education. Trying to figure out the some of the technology proved to be a tad confusing, but after playing around with it, it became fun and interesting. Also, some of the focus questions and TIP models were a tad challenging. If I could o back and redo this class I would be sure to do my work on time instead of waiting till the last minute (I still have not learn my lesson).  In the future I suggest being picky over what focus questions students answer and having more example of the TIP model.


          In the first half of the year we did not cover assessing their own cultural competence. In the second half of the semester we did cover this by participating in a presentation explaining what cultural competence is. We also each watched webinars on cultural competence and how teachers address cultural competence. After watching a webinar, we made podcasts summarizing what we had watch using Audioboo. We also had a whole section in our e-portfolio for global and cultural competence.


          Over the second half of the semester we did more work with the Common Core and ISTE standards. We went over more possible lessons using the TIP model to analyze our own work. Also, we did many samples of TIP model to help us prepare for our final. We also went over how to help students understand what goes on while they are on the Internet. Our Prezis help teach kids about digital citizenship and fulfill the objective for understand the ethical implications of online educational practice. Throughout the second half of the semester we went more in-depth of all the other objectives making sure that as future educators were up to par with our technology pedagogy.

 

My Hero: John Lennon

To begin my research I used two websites to find out about John Lennon, Biography and Biography Channel. As I went through the websites I began to find pictures to go along with many events in his life. This link shows information I gathered and the source of my pictures on a Google Doc.

Common Core State Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.7
Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.7.1
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.8
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

ISET Net Standards:
1. Creativity and Innovation
     Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative                  products and processes using technology. Students:
     a.  apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
     b. create original works as a mean or personal or group expression.
     c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.
     d. identify trends and forecast possibilities.

3. Research and Information Fluency
    Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students:
    a. plan strategies to guide inquiry.
    b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety     of sources and media.
   c. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on                                    the appropriateness to specific tasks.
    d. process data and report results. 

Objectives:
Students will be able to:

• conduct research on someone they believe is a hero.
• use creditable site to conduct their research.
• use the Web 2.0 tool, Animoto, to show what they learned about their hero.
• create a 2 minute video about their hero.

      After using Animoto I think this would be a great tool to use in my classroom. It is a different way for a students to show what they learned about a historical figure, book, or even just plain research. It is an easy to use tool that allows you to choose from many different formats and songs. You can add pictures with captions or just plain text. When it comes time to present the final video, you just have to press play and you are off. There is no clicking like in a PowerPoint.
      I enjoyed using Animoto more than a PowerPoint or Prezi. It is really neat to have a song play as the pictures and words scroll through. There were a few down sides to this tool though. First, it was hard to fit all I had to day in 50 character on the first line and 40 on the next. It was hard to get all my thoughts down grammatically correct. Also, though there is many different choices for music, it was hard to find one that worked well with the video topic or that was the right length.
      If I were to bring this tool into my classroom I would add a template of what and in what order I would want to see the information. Younger kids would need better guidelines so they would not get distracted on finding pictures. For my older students I would just give them a checklist, like what was given to me. I think that this is a good tool to use in upper elementary grade levels, middle and high school. It is a creative way to put a new spin on a traditional PowerPoint activity.