Strenghts and Weaknesses

As anyone who has ever read this blog (all one of you) may attest I do not know ANYTHING about technology.  Needless to say there is most definitely room for improvement in that area of my future classroom.  I really should not say I do not know anything, but technology is something that I see and understand that it is extremely beneficial in classrooms but also something that I tend to shy away from because I do not feel entirely comfortable with it.
However, there is one area that I would really like to work on and become familiar with so that I can use it in my future classroom, that would be to learn to apply technology to assess and evaluate my students.  Students get bored with the written exams and paper work everyday.  I feel that being able to incorporate technology into their assessments presents it in a new, fun, and exciting way.  In the article, Why Integrate Technology into the Curriculum it states that technology is allowing teachers to reach their students in a way that they have not been able to before.  In the article The New WWW  it states that technology is amazing for students because it is available whenever, wherever, and whatever. 
Students are going to be using technology one way or another so we as educators may as well learn to embrace it and show them the proper and most efficient ways to use it to their advantage.

My Beliefs

As I have mentioned in my other posts, I am a strong advocate for technology in the classrooms. It allows both teachers and students the opportunity to research or display information that they may not have been able to previously.  However, I also feel it extremely important that students still receive the opportunity to read from a text book, and write on paper.  Students are so influenced by the media today that they still need the opportunity to put the world on hold and go outside and just be kids. 
Also in my case, technology causes great stress.  When it works, it works so very well but when it is bad it can be the source of a major headache.  I think that it is important students are able to learn the curriculum in new and exciting ways it keeps them interested and engaged in learning.

Lessons Learned

I have to be honest it was a little guilt trip seeing how wonderful these teachers are, I don't understand where they find the time to make all of these amazing lesson plans.
I understand that technology is a tool that can be extremely beneficial inside of the classroom however, I fear that in some schools it may be used too much.  When children return home from school they spend countless hours on computer, gaming system, and television sets I firmly believe that students need to flip open a book at least everyday, incorporating to much technology into the classroom does not allow students this opportunity.  Also, showing students to many videos can put a hold on their creativity.  There has to be a happy medium for students and integrating technology.

Week four in Field

I cannot believe that field is over this next week! I am really going to miss it. 
This week my supervisor came and watched me teach.  I thought it was going to be extremely difficult, but  for the most part the students were well behaved, and I only had to deal with a few management issues. 
During our observation the students made a possibles pouch because we have been learning about the mountain men. After their pouch was completed the students were given a piece of rabbit fur, and a piece of leather to store in their pouch just like a "real" mountain men.  During my observation I was terrified that I was going to ask the students questions, and they were not going to know anything that we had been discussing for the last four days.  However, I had got a great self assurance when it came to time for the kids to answer questions they knew the answers! I was very relieved that the information I had been presenting to the students was sticking. 
On Wednesday a "real" mountain man came an spoke to the students.  He told them stories of what it was like to be a mountain man, and exactly what being a mountain man entailed.  This was something that the REALLY REALLY enjoyed.
I know that I am going to miss being in the classroom.  It has been a tough, but awesome experience and makes me excited to one day have my own classroom.

Bye, Bye Love

This was our final week in field for the semester.  I do not even know where the time went!! I loved being in the classroom and working with the students, all of the observing in the world could never prepare someone for the actual experience of teaching.  I have a new found respect for full time teachers.
This week we continued working with the students on their mountain men presentaions.  Since the school uses MAC's rather than PC's the students were using a presentation program called key notes, one that I was not familiar with but seemed similar to Powerpoint. 
I really enjoyed my experience, and now am looking forward to Spring semester field.  However, I do not know if I could ever love the students as much as I did this semester :).

Week Three in Field

Each week is getting better, which also means however, that each week we draw closer to the end of our field experience.  For the most part I have loved field, and while this group of students is rowdy, I have loved getting to spend time with them. 
This past week I have been teaching the students about mountain men.  Yesterday (Monday) I was going to show the students a digital story I had made about the mountain men life. However, when we went to present it to the students it would not play.  In lou of showing them the video I read to them about mountain man myths in hopes that I could work out the kinks and present it to them today.  I am now hoping that third times will be charm, and that when I attempt tomorrow it will work.
Last Friday I did my technology integrated assignment.  As I mentioned earlier, I have been teaching the students about mountain men so I wrote a list of items we had discussed on the board.  The students were then able to choose one topic and during their computer time they began researching, and compiling information to put together a PowerPoint presentation for the students to present to their classmates.  Hopefully all continues to go as planned.

Week Two in Field

Who knew that teaching was so wonderful.  My entire life I have never fully understood why myself, or people like myself have wanted to make a career out of teaching.  I mean let's be honest, the hours are terrible, the pay is border line for government assistance, and to many people it is glorified baby sitting.  But after one week in field I think that I am beginning to understand it.  I didn't realize how comfortable I was going to be with the students, but it is almost second nature. 
As for technology in the classroom, instead of the school having their own computer lab they have about sixty mac laptops that they wheel from class to class and that is how the students get their computer time in.  When I saw this I was shocked, I did not have this luxury until I was a senior in high school!  Technology is defiantly something that this generation will not be able to remember what life was like without it.

What in the World

Today was my first day in field work. I was assigned to Edgemont Elementary in Provo to Mrs. Sara Martin a fourth grade teacher.  She has a big classroom with thirty-two students! 
The students were so cute, and it is making me really excited to get in the classroom and start working with them.  Time has a crazy way of playing tricks on you.  The students were so small and all I could think to myself was that there is no way that I was ever that little.  They also seemed so immature, I realize they are only eight and nine years old but I remember thinking when I was that age that I was so mature.
I was however, extremely impressed with how much they knew.  In all of my field experience I have only worked with younger grades so this was fun to see that for the most part they can pretty much do things on their own.  I think that fourth grade could defiantly be a grade that I would be interested in teaching.
For today all we did was observe Mrs. Martin and the way she teaches, but the one piece of technology I noticed she had was a smart board.  It was actually a really cool tool, and is what she used for her math, and language arts.
Although I am super nervous to teach in front of the students, I am really looking forward to the experience.  

Protecting my rights!!!!

Besides classroom management my other main concern for my future classroom is copyright laws.  I never really thought much about the importance of it until about a week ago when we were required for Foundations of American Education to read about copyright laws.  It never occurred to me that we have to cite EVERYTHING!!!
I hope to learn how to appropriately cite everything.  When I was in computer technology my professor taught me to basically fear Google (which is silly because I know that Google can be a great resource.)  I hope to become comfortable enough with google and with citing material that I can use any of my resources.

An Ulcer the size of a small Planet

I stress!  You name it, and I worry about it.  Things that have absolutely nothing to do with me such as a distant relative getting married or having a baby make me stress.  Needless to say when it comes to the program I am a total wreck.  That being said it is a good stress feeling (my friends, and family may tell you other wise.)  But it is a nice feeling knowing that I am working towards something that I love, and that I want to make a career of. 
Today, when we began our digital story unit the ulcer (that I thought had disappeared since math 1050) has now resurfaced.  I understand that digital stories can be a great asset in our classrooms, but they look extremely complicated!  I am really excited however, to begin experimenting with them and hope that I become well enough acquainted I will feel comfortable enough incorporating them into my future classroom.
**Note: I really do not have an ulcer the size of a small planet.  However, it would not suprise me that by the time graudation rolls around if I do:)).

Stressed to a new Level

Vidcast Reflection

               This assignment was an interesting one.  Although it was extremely stressful and time consuming (which is to be expected of a key assignment) I found it to be quite interesting and hopefully useful in my future classroom.
               The main point of the assignment was to make a video that fits one of the objectives from the core curriculum.  For our core we chose sixth grade visual arts to make a video displaying art that the students can view to learn about Hue, Value, and Intensity which is what we titled our video.  The reason I chose to do the art curriculum was because growing up I always wanted to be an art teacher (that is until the cruel reality hit me that I am not a very good artist.)  However, ever since then I have always had a special interest in the arts, particularly visual art.    
               My hesitations of using a vidcast in my classroom is that I do not feel extremely comfortable in creating one.   The program that we chose to use was photo story and although it was fun to learn a new program and relatively user friendly I know that as a first year teacher I am going to be pressed for time leaving me little time to create a vidcast to display in my classroom.
    Our video presentation fits in with the NETS curriculum when it states  that the document “Provide students with multiple and varied assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.”  It also ties into INTASC curriculum when it states, “Use research-based technology strategies to enhance student learning of content.”
    As I mentioned previously I know that my first years of teaching are going to be more stressful than I ever thought possible (there is the slight possibility that it will beat the stress of my first semester in the program.)  However, I understand that students really do benefit from technology presentations so it is my goal to incorporate them into my daily teaching.                                                             
                                                                                                                         

Something must be wrong...

While we were learning about vid casts in class on Thursday there was one thing that I kept thinking, something must be wrong because I was one of the few students who understood everything that was discussed.
I really am enjoying this class and am super excited to use Photo Story 3 to create a video to take out into field with me.
Today I was with my dad trying to convince him to invest in a cam corder rather then using his digital camera to take video with.  When he gave me the excuse that they were to expensive and not practical for him.  I was like a small child on Christmas day when I was able to tell him about a Video Flip (I actually surprised my sister that I even knew what it was.  As mentioned several times before I am not very technology savvy.)
Students today are so lucky and I don't even think they realize how many opportunities await them with only the click of a mouse. 

Pod What???

As you may have guessed by now, I am not the most technology savvy person, so this class is very interesting for me but also challenging and a little on the stressful side of life.  When you brought up pod casts I realized that I had heard of them and had actually used them before, I just never knew their technology name.  This made me happy, and I realized I am not as technology illiterate as I thought. 
After learning and experiencing with pod casts today, I feel the confidence that I could actually use pod casts as a learning tool in my future classroom.   
I am actually really learning a lot from this class, and am really excited to explore with some of these things (especially pod casts) in my future classroom.

It's a love hate Realationship

Three class periords into the semester, and I can already tell this class is going to run up the Advil bill:).  I love the websites. I love that students, parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles anybody can get onto our "class website" and find out what we are doing in our classsroom without reveling all of thr students personal informaiton. 
I however have found that the google website are complicated!!!  The website itself is prettyself explanitory but getting all the google features to work together is where it gets complicated (That might have something do with 35 students trying to do the same thing at the same time:)).
For me as a studnet I have found our class website to be more helpful then the classes that use blackboard because they can offer more information more clearly then the blackboard classes can.  I really am excited to learn more about the website and to incorporate it in my classroom because although it is annoyingly stressful I really can see the benefits of using it.

What the...

I have to be totally honest.  When we began experimenting with google tools I had one thought pop into my head, is there still time to drop out of the program? 
Google tools was something that I had never even heard of let alone experimented with.  When we began learning them in class my head would not stop spinning.  However, the more I have played around with them the more I am beginning to like them.  I love that they are universal, and that you don't have to have the same writing program to open up a document that the publisher wrote it in.  I also love that it is free.  Being a poor college student anything with the word FREE stamped on it is immediately going to get my attention.  I really would like to learn more about google documents so that I can become more comfortable with them and hopefully use them in my future classroom.
As for UEN I love it!  Last semester in my computer technology class my professor insisted that we only use websites found on UEN so I became very familiar with the it.  There are several things that I like about it but two things that really appeal to me.  First, that it is teacher and student oriented.  Either teachers or students can log onto the website and have information specified for them in a matter of minutes.  Which leads me the second reason, it offers an abundance of websites.  I love that they have tried to make the website as interesting as possible.  The websites range from:  lesson plans, informational websites, classroom management, the list is endless.  This is defiantly a website that I plan on using in my experience throughtout the program and for sure in my future classroom.

Educational Hero

Growing up I never really liked school.  I know that is the case with most young students but I seriously despised having to wake up and attend the local elementary school for 6-7 hours a day.  So what are that the chances that a student who hated school so badly, now wants more then anything in the world to be teaching it her self.  Irony I think, not I contribute my desire to teach to several people but for the sake of time will discuss just two.

Mom: Growing up, education was never really something that my grandparents impressed on their children.  After high school the kids (especially the girls) were expected to get married and have a family.  When my mom was 18, having just graduated from high school, her oldest brother was killed in a tragic accident. Needless to say my grandparents were distraught! My mom decided that following her brothers death the best way to deal with the loss was to keep herself busy.  She enrolled in BYU for the fall semester without the support (rather the discouragement) of her parents.  Four years later she graduated with her bachelors in Elementary Education and went on to teach 1st grade in Lehi for the next four years.

Mr. Olsen: When I was in 5th grade I was diagnosed with petite mal seizures a medical condition where several times throughout the day I would stare off into oblivion for about 30 seconds.  It does not seem like that big of a deal but when is happens about 15-20 times a day I would be missing important curriculum which caused me to fall behind in my school work.  Not only was it causing me to fall behind  but it was causing me to think negative thoughts about myself.  Mr. Olsen however understood my situation and was willing to work with me.  He also helped me to understand that some things are out of our control and worked very hard with me to help me understand that I was still a bright student.