New Experiences

I have learned a lot this semester. When I first looked at the syllabus for computers in the classroom I knew very little about the various technological programs we were going to learn. I used Prezi and Wordle prior to the first of class. I have heard of a podcast but did not know what it actually was. I never heard of a wikispace or google docs. Google docs, which was the program used to create our Unit plan, is the application I now know the most about. I am comfortable with wikispaces and audacity. I must continue to use them or I might forget how to use them. Blogging every week on Blogger.com has made an efficient blogger (not that blogging is all that difficult). The SMART Notebook I have heard of prior to class but had no idea how to even turn the application on. I learned a lot from that program. I think the SMART Notebook will be the most useful in my teaching career and the one application most schools will want me to be proficient in. Stating that fact, I definitely want to learn more about the SMART Notebook and SMART board. 

Group Work

Group work is an essential part of classroom pedagogy. It teaches students to collaborate together and accomplish their assigned role/work on time and completed. After students graduate from school and enter the work force they are going to have to work with other people; learn how to deal with different opinions, personalities and how to take advice. Students do plenty of individualistic work in school; they must expand their horizons and learn how to work together on a project. I know, from my own experience, that group can be challenging. I like to work independently; I get the job done how I like it and when I like to do it. In group work that all changes; students must complete work on a set time schedule that the whole group agrees on together. It is challenging! I think that is the purpose of group work.

As a teacher students will receive two grades during group work: an overall group grade and an individual grade based on the amount of work they accomplished throughout the project. The intensity of group work will vary in my classroom. Some days I divide the class into groups of four or five. Each group will receive a primary source reading on the topic of today's lesson. A member(s) of the group will share what the document states and why we are studying it today. Other days students will be assigned projects in groups. It requires multiple lesson days with research on computers, presentations, posters, essays, collages, etc. Students will be assigned specific roles and must accomplish their task or it will hurt the whole groups progress through the assignment. I want my classroom to have a variance of individual and group work, in order to meet the needs of my students; expand their knowledge base and learning techniques.  

Unit Plan

I understand the purpose of the Unit Plan; to learn how to collaborate well with other teachers in designing lesson plans and to think outside the box- incorporate material from other subjects into my content area. I have to say those two responsibilities cannot be completed by researching facts and data. The unit plan needs direction, coordination and a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of drafting, revising, and reviewing! Let me start from the beginning.
     After launching a topic idea that dipped into Spanish, earth science, and social studies we were getting lost in space. We outlined topics for our three lessons and we felt like we were making progress. Nonetheless, the lessons, because three teachers were adding to it, got out of hand. They were too general, and encompassed tons of activities that would never have fit within a days class. We regrouped and narrowed our focus.We switched lesson plans and designed technology-based activities. (Not easy to say the least). We regained our course and saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
However, creating this unit plan would have been a lot easier to do it by myself. Every time I wanted to change a aspect of the lesson I had to find out from my other partners if it was okay to do. Sometimes I would change a piece of a lesson and it would confuse them. Sometimes someone else would change a piece of the lesson and it would confuse me. We always had to have committees about what task each person was going to do. In the beginning we did not write down and assign tasks. It made it very difficult to make progress. We were counter-productive. We learned our lesson and directly stated each teachers role in the unit plan. Things from then on have been a smooth ride. I have learned various things from this lesson; be direct, write down everything, and be patient!

Elluminate!

The Elluminate session for last class was different. I liked how we learned about Elluminate a couple of classes before and then actually experienced the inner-workings of the program. I learn best by experiencing and doing. Elluminate reminds me how far technology has come. No longer a need for classrooms but virtual classrooms. I liked the session because it opened my eyes to the level of technology and innovation around the world. Technology creates new avenues of learning. On the other hand, Elluminate seemed counterproductive. Some people had technological difficulties with signing into the program or using the required functions within the program. The whole class had to wait while the Professor fixed the problem. The time gets eaten up quickly. Another problem was figuring out if all participants were on the same page. We had to click the check-mark button confirming we were understanding what the Professor said. Once again, this eats of time- time, that if the lesson was conducted in a physical classroom, would have been preserved. I did like how we interacted with the program and the professor. Instead of listening to a lecture the whole time, we got assignments to complete. And by posting our findings the professor knows if we understand the assignment. I like lessons that change direction; it keeps me involved and at attention. Overall, the session was a success but I would much rather have a lesson taught in a physical classroom.    

Taking the Driver's Seat

I find myself, after reading "Let Kids Rule the School" by Susan Engel, comparing my school experience to the eight students who taught themselves; the experiences were total opposites. It depresses me. I did well in school but never had the motivation or excitement to answer not only one but two history questions at the same time. I did what I did in school because it was what the teachers required. And it was what I required. To feel good, I needed good grades, not valuable knowledge. I memorized facts, sweated out the tests and then forgot all information I studied the night before. If you do this process continuously then information will stick, but not nearly as much as learning with purpose. Learning to enrich yourself and not just your report card. When I was in school teachers told me what to do. I did my work like a robot. These students in Massachusetts taught themselves. They read novels that they chose instead of novels that were required by the teacher. I find choose and independence have a profound affect on students school habits. I remember while attending my community college my history professor gave us the option to choose out of five historical novels to read. I chose what I liked and I  read the book (instead of going to spark-notes). Teachers still have a role in the school and the classroom. Students discover what they want to learn, find the questions that interest them, and then use the teacher as a resource. Of course, this will not work for every school, classroom or student. Some students need a push to learn. As a teacher I want my students to have independence in their learning and their choices, but at the same time guidance and direction from the teacher.       

Unit Plan: Progress

Our first lesson plan is developing nicely. We have allocated responsibilities for each aspect of the lesson plan evenly. Kat, Christina and I are all doing our part. When we meet as a group we are productive and efficient with our time. I am learning a lot of new things because our lesson plan is interdisciplinary. I have learned about the topography of South America, where gold is most likely found in a region and the enslavement of Indians to mine gold. South America has mostly gold and Mexico has mostly silver. I have learned there is a greater interaction between geography and people than I realized before.

There has been modifications to our first lesson. First, I did not fully complete the standards for Earth Science and Social Studies. I went back to the appropriate websites and found the standards addressed in our lesson plan. This will help me in the future when teaching lessons to make sure I provide a full and completed list of the standards addressed. Second, we included the procedure of how to use the Smart Board. As we learn more techniques for the Smart Board and Smart Notebook we will add more specified steps, but for now they are basic steps. Third, we modified our maps in Google Docs. I learned how to link websites to a Google Docs document. Fourth, we added a rubric for the student activity of writing in their journals. This will help us assess the students knowledge on the subject after the lesson is completed. Overall, our lesson planning is improving.    

Geography and Culture

When we were asked to do an interdisciplinary lesson plan I was skeptical it would not work well with social studies, Spanish, and earth science. What lesson could possible encompass all three content areas? Off the top of my head I had no ideas. We decided to start brainstorming. We knew we wanted to talk about some event in history that dealt with Spanish culture and people, and then find a historical event in which science was a major factor. We landed on Spanish exploration of Latin America. The discovery of the Americas was one of the greatest events in history; the Spanish explorers came for gold and silver- minerals learned in an Earth Science classroom. Geography (Earth Science) shapes the way people move (social studies) and defines culture; dialects and language (Spanish). We got our unit plan on paper... see I told you it would be easy, why did you worry?

    Now the question arises: How do we connect our unit plan to the community? There are plenty of ways to connect our unit plan to the community since we address three subject areas. If a student is of Hispanic descent we could ask them if their grandparents would want to come to the class and discuss living in Latin America during the revolutions. Additionally, the class, as a field-trip, could go to various parts of the community and take samples of soil to determine what minerals preside there. Then determine if their community would be a good location for explorers to exploit the resources. If the community does not provide valuable minerals what else makes the community valuable? Why do people want to live in the community? The students can find out what jobs citizens of the community have. Is the community growing in population or diminishing? Why? These are some sample questions that will get the students thinking about their community.    

Copyright Confusion Corrected

 As citizens of a rich nation we take many things for granted; there are plenty of freedoms Americans have that many other countries do not provide their citizens. Living in this internet savvy world we have blurred the line of property rights. If we have access to it, then it is free to use at our leisure. Unfortunately, this is wrong thinking in many people's lives, including teachers. There are laws for copyrighting, and sadly I have seen most of my teachers break these rules. For example, when I was in high school right before the holiday winter break the school would play a movie broadcasting on all the TV monitors in the building. If classes did not have work and did not want to start a new topic the teacher could turn on the movie, one year I remember Finding Nemo. Nonetheless, this is breaking copyright laws. You are not allowed to show a full presentation of a movie in a public setting unless it is for educational purposes. These movies had no connection to education whatsoever. Additionally, after reviewing the powerpoint on Copyright laws I found it interesting only three minutes or 10% of motion media may be displayed in a classroom, along with only 30 seconds or 10% of a song, 1000 words or 10% of a text, and five images from one author. If you want to show more you must receive permission from the publisher. This seems like a lot of work for teachers, when we already have lesson plans to create, parent and teacher conferences to attend, tests and papers to be graded, and classrooms to manage. I guess if we learn in the beginning to follow copyright guidelines in our teaching methodology it will become habit.      

Google to the Rescue

I watched 21st Century Schools and how Google saved a school. This Bronx school implemented the use of technology in the classroom, in which everyone received a laptop. I thought it was very interesting how the level of proficiency in Math was at 9% before the use of computers in the classroom and then after the use of computers in the classroom the level of Math Proficiency rose to 62%. One student mentions how he likes the computers. The teacher emails the students assignments to work, and then the students use email, search engines and other resources to accomplish the classwork; he feels independent and involved. Nonetheless, students are distracted by the computer; students mess around on My-space and gaming sites to pass the time. But being a realist I understand computers or no-computers in the classroom students will still drift off into La-La Land. We should not blame technology for bad pedagogy. I am definitely in favor of technology in the classroom. I liked what the Principal stated in the video, "technology is like oxygen, no one will make an argument against oxygen." Rightfully so, students will be using technology outside the classroom and its time for teachers to embrace it inside the classroom- in a proper manner.     

Computers in the Classroom

Technology has come a long way. When I was in middle school there was never a whole class devoted to computers, but now, I go into my fieldwork observing classrooms called Computers. Everyday the students meet in the computer lab, doing projects with technology. 7th graders know more about blogs than I do, and probably type faster than me too. I'm excited about Computers in the Classroom, it's a chance for me to learn more about technology and how it can improve learning and pedagogy. Furthermore, technology is a key component of society today, and teachers must stay up with the times so they can show students to properly use technology to better themselves and society as a whole. For the first time I used a smartboard, and i thought it was really neat. Definitely a piece of hardware I want in my future classroom. I want to become more familiar with the aspects of smartboard. Additionally, I like how the professor assigns a technology to teach the class, a great device to help students talk and teach in front of people.