The End is Here

This technology class has taught me so much. I have really enjoyed making this blog site even though I forgot to write sometimes. I cannot wait to incorporate technology into my classroom. I loved the digital scavenger hunt and the digital collection. I might be a little slow when it comes to creating my digital masterpieces, but I have a blast making them. Learning about all these different tools and techniques has been really helpful and I loved being walked through step-by-step on how to find helpful and useful sites. I would take this class over again in a heartbeat. I love how it allows us to relate to kids of today. I hope that I am able to show my students how to use all the technology in projects and presentations. The spreadsheets were fun and the website is looking nice. Technology is now my friend. (somewhat at least :) )

Digital Movie

This is one of the coolest things that I have done this year with technology. I cannot believe that someone like me was actually able to pull this off. I gave myself a pat on the back. The digital movie was a very helpful tool to allow me and other students to tell a story that we want to share with each other. I told a story about when I took a trip to Europe and was able to see the beautiful architecture. I cannot wait to creat stories with the students in my future classroom. This is a way to get to know each other on a different level.

Digital Movie: A Stroll Through Europe

Screen Shot of Spreadsheet

This spreadsheet activity was really neat and fun to do. I think that this is a great program to incorporate into the classroom to allow students to experiment with different programs and be able to create practice sheets for their classmates. I like how this program allows the students to be interactive and have fun with the subject at hand, and not just sit there and do boring worksheet after worksheet. It allows them to view material from different points of view and in chart and graph form. I can definitely see me using this in my classroom if I have the technology in my future classroom.

Technology is a Teacher's Best Friend

I love the idea of using the different kinds of technology in your classroom. For example, the digital scavenger hunt is a great way to get students active in the class and still relate it to the material at hand. I enjoyed being able to have a little bit of freedom and creativity with a project. I love how we were trusted to go about campus and retrieve pictures without supervision. I really like the animoto videos. They allow students to create a short videos of random pictures, no matter if they are personal photos or related to a subject or project for school. Inspiration 8 and 9 are excellent ways to create maps and diagrams for students. These maps, which can also be put in outline form, allow students to be creative and make their own connections with information. I cannot wait to use different resources in my own classroom.

Inspiration

Animoto

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Digital Collection

Lesson Plans

I did not realize how much time and effort goes into making a lesson plan until this semester. I have had to write three lesson plans so far and they took me forever to do. You have to take in to consideration the standards that each teacher has to meet that are required by the state, you have to know how you can accomodate students with special needs, you need to have objectives that you want the students to meet, and so on. It takes hours to prepare, or it might be just me, and is done in the classroom in about an hour. Now I understand why the teachers in the education department are telling us that we need to learn how to collaborate with each other, because one day we are going to need the advice and help from our co-workers. After you get the hang of making lesson plans, I am sure that it becomes a little easier the more you make them. Like I say, practice makes you better. Lesson plans are very useful in organizing your class and keeping the class moving from one thing to the next.

Lesson plans are great for my organizational skills, but a horrible time consumer. Lesson plans allow teachers to teach their class with fewer bumps in the road. Of course there is always room for changes and reflections.

Dabbleboard and Blogger

The internet is full of amazing resources that teachers can use and incorporate into their classroom. By a teacher incorporating technology into the classroom, they are relating to the students on their level. Students now days are growing up with technology that previous generations did not have. It is harder to keep students interested in what you are doing if you do the same old thing. We as teachers need to incorporate these technologies in our classrooms to help keep up with the times and keep our students interested.

Dabbleboard is definitely one of those inventions that I would love to incorporate in my classroom. To me, it is kind of like a smart board on wheels. It is portable and is very easy to use. Dabbleboard allows you to insert drawings or create your own. Of course every drawing that I do will be a masterpiece (hahaha like that is true). It is a way to bring technology into the classroom and get students involved. You could even let the students use the dabble board during the lesson being taught to work out a problem and find the solution. Dabbleboard does not need extra programs to run because it runs of the hardware that you already have and the software that you use on a daily basis. I know that teachers are on little to no budget when it comes to the classroom. Dabbleboard allows the teacher and students to use it for free. This is a great tool to integrate technology into the classroom.



Another great site, that I even have an example of on my blog, is wordle.net. This is a great site to make cool looking graphics with various colors. I would tell the students to come up with ten terms that relate to math and various mathematicians and come to the computer and type them in. After every student has added their words, we would create the wordle and see what they think math consists of. This allows the teachers to relate to the students and be able to bond. Wordle gives a new outlook on something that can become tedious and boring at times. Wordle is something that I plan on using with my students to help get them involved.

Even though I am not as good with technology, I still plan on trying to find new ways to incorporate technology in the classroom. It is very fun getting to use all of these neats new toys.

Inquiry Based Learning Activity

The inquiry based learning activity , titled Famous Mathematicians, allows students to explore the past and find mathematicians who have made contributions to the math world. The lesson that is being taught at this time is over the topic of matrices and knowing how to use the rules to solve matrix problems. At the bottom of the inquiry based activity is a problem just for fun using cute shapes in place of numbers in the matrix problem. The students will learn a little bit of math history while making one of their problems being taught a fun activity. Listed below are the standards that are met by the lesson being taught and the fun activity.

Standard 1.0: Algebra
-Students will extend algebraic concepts to model and solve problems in real-world
situations by using a variety of functions, equations, and inequalities.
Learning Expectations:
The student will:
1.1 represent situations that involve variable quantities with expressions,
equations, inequalities, and matrices;
1.2 use appropriate methods and technologies to represent and characterize the
solutions for a variety of equations, inequalities, and systems of equations and
systems of inequalities;
Student Performance Indicators:
- demonstrate an understanding of operations on matrices;

Webquest feelings

I feel like webquests are a beneficial resource for students and teachers. As long as the teacher sets it up with links that works and with instructions that students understand what they are expected to do, the webquests will be beneficial tools to help with the learning of the students. I enjoyed looking at the different types of webquests and what they have to offer to the students. Some of the webquests were very interesting and seemed very beneficial. I am not sure if I would be able to make one by myself because I believe it is a little over my head. I try to make links work but they usually just produce error messages. I will probably try to find webquests that relate to my lesson that have already been created (if that is legal?????). I feel like webquests present a way for students to learn while having fun. I will definitely try to incorporate webquests into my lesson plans. Webquests are A-OK in my book.

Wikis

Wikis are very, very, very confusing with a hint of overwhelming. I guess the longer I work with computers and keep learning what all the mysterious buttons do, then maybe I will get the hang of it. Today I was actually able to attach a picture to the site with the help of five people. This wiki is making me feel inferior. I did find it a bit easier to do when I was adding my website that I evaluated along with my few sentences. I was so proud of myself when I found the button again that draws a line across the screen. It is really sad when you get excited over something as small as finding the button that draws a line. Overall I feel like wikis are a positive invention to the internet and everything else on the web that just blows my mind. I think the wiki I am on will turn out very well after all the work has been put into it. I cannot wait to see what all the wiki has instore for me! All I have to say is bring it on!

Website Evaluation

The website that I decided to evaluate and examine was http://www.aaamath.com/. This website evaluation activity was very long and tedious. When it comes to seeing if a website is credible or not, you have to check out every little thing to make sure it is correct. I did not realize that it takes so much to verify sites. I think that this evaluation was a good experience that will help me in the future when choosing sources and helping my future students make the right choices. I plan on using this evaluation assessment guide to verify sources from now on. Even though it is a bunch of digging, it pays off in the long run. I will even have my future students go through this activity so they can decipher the good sites from the bad. Overall this was a useful activity and very interesting, kind of like you are trying to dig up dirt to catch the bad guys. I would definitely use it again!

Welcome Fellow Bloggers

Hello! Well I never thought that I would be a person that would have a blog site or that anyone would actually follow what I have to say. My name is Rachel and hopefully you will tag along with me and my journey through the technology world and see how it can be related and incorporated in the classroom. You will have to be patient because technology is not my area of expertise. Welcome again and maybe we will find out how technology and the classroom can work together. Feel free to look around the site and leave comments or suggestions to improve the site for the future. Thanks for stopping by and hopefully it will be intriguing enough to keep you coming back for more. Have a good day!