So, I wanted to do another blog post about the classroom in five years . . . because class discussion today made me think a little bit differently about it then I did originally. We discussed the differences that technology will make in our society's need for educators. Although that definitely did make me feel afraid at first, I can't foresee technology truly making a huge dent in the teaching industry. I think that, despite the technological advances that the western world especially has made in recent years, people still value relationship and person-to-person connection. My hope and prayer is that this value will not be something that changes within my lifetime.
Like Jenny mentioned in class today, I think that the way that my classroom will appear is highly dependent on where it is that I am teaching. Naturally, the technological resources of a school rest heavily on the availability and economy of that area. If I were to stay in this area, though, i think that my classroom would look far different than I can even imagine. Definitely, I think that we will have SMART Boards in every classroom, and no doubt each of my students will own a lap-top, which will pretty much replace entirely the need for notebooks and taking notes the "old-fashioned" way. Probably, paper usage will be minimal and most student papers will be emailed to me, where I will correct them on-line and email them back.
It was interesting to hear today about the newest classroom technology . . . the blue-tooth phone chip that allows a teacher to write on the SMART Board from anywhere within the classroom. I'm sure that if this is a hit, within five years that will be one more thing that is pretty typical to see in any classroom. Overhead projectors will be as foreign to my students as record-players were to me and my friends.
Technology to me is a world that is just opening up, and it's crazy to imagine all of the new and useful things that may arise within the next couple years. How exciting to think of the resources available to my students . . . but scary at the very same time!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Into the Future . . .
My future is . . . Water lilies!! Just kidding.
As to my future . . . funny to be writing this, because I just made a list over Thanksgiving weekend (this past one) noting all of the different opportunities I have planned to do during this past semester just NEXT year . . . not even mentioning FIVE YEARS down the road! Right now, it's difficult to think that far in advance . . .
But I have to say, I have definitely been enjoying the journey. I find there's so much freedom in the ability to dream, and trust that God is going to take my hand and lead me . . . regardless of WHERE I end up or WHAT I end up doing. Overseas . . . or down the road . . . teaching . . . or, I don't know . . . becoming a professional water lily gardener . . .
The lilies are there because I've been thinking a lot about that passage in Matthew 6, where Jesus talks about the way that His Father, in such perfect faithfulness, always clothes the flowers of the field with such splendor and grandeur . . . how much more will He clothe me? Therefore, He tells me, set your eyes on God's Kingdom and His righteousness . . . seek His face, and all other things will fall into place as well. I guess that's true whether I'm worried about clothes . . . money . . . or even MY FUTURE!! I trust His will and His shepherding in my life.
That said, I still love dreaming . . . and I think Jesus is all for it, too! So in five years, I hope to be overseas . . . maybe in a refugee camp outside of the Sudan planting schools, or maybe teaching women somewhere deep in the Middle East . . . or maybe even at an inner city school in Chicago after finishing Seminary at Wheaton. That said, I kinda wonder what the technology available to me will be . . .
I wonder if there will be SMART Boards available in places that currently struggle to get even pencils and paper : ) ?
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Final Project Reflection
I'm finished with my Final Project!! It's a lesson on Sentence Diagramming and Prepositional Phrases for a 7th Grade English Class. I have already been frustrated a great deal, even though thus far I have mostly only been observing my cooperating teacher, with the lack of knowledge that high-school students have of even minor grammatical concepts. Though the lesson is fairly basic, I think that even my high-school students would benefit from it. The real answer, however, is for the students to get a stronger grammar foundation even from a very young age.
I have really enjoyed putting together this project so far. I have been very frustrated with my You Tube link that doesn't seem to be working right no matter how much I mess with it. But I'm sure that I will learn . . . and now it DOES seem to be working! HOORAY!!
It's been incredible through this process just to see how much I have learned, and what a great platform that provides for me to be able to share knowledge with my students . . . in the hopes that someday they will each be Grammatical Nerds, just like their teacher!!
The three primary types of technology that I used for this lesson are:
1) SMART Board
2) S-Present
3) You Tube.
The SMART Board was something I found very intimidating at the beginning of this semester, but now I feel quite competent and adept in my use of it. I am so excited that I was able to create my own lesson that my students can use with the SMART Board! They can diagram sentences directly on the computer screen using the interactive pens provided.
Secondly, I used a You Tube video within my presentation. Shockingly, I had never used or been exposed to You Tube before this class, except for hearing of it briefly and from a distance from friends, etc. Now, I feel like I can not only look up any kind of video that I would like to use for my class, but I can even link it to a lesson or copy the HTML or URL code to a slide in a presentation . . . like I did for this lesson! I can't believe how easy it is for me now! Pretty soon, maybe I'll even have the courage to MAKE MY OWN VIDEO!!
Finally, and what I am MOST proud of, I used S-Present . . . which is free software that I discovered during the on-line conference! It's power-point software, but SOO much cooler than Microsoft . . . plus it's free, and you can use it to publish your own presentations and then either email them to yourself or someone else, or embed the URL inside of a blog (like I've done here). On S-Present, you can add audio links, video links, or a huge array of clip-art, images from Flikr, etc., or different URL's within the lesson. It's an amazing device that links all the new technology with a power-point presentation . . . so that we can use all of the great software we've learned about in Tech. in Ed. directly in a lesson plan! Plus, it becomes EVEN cooler once you hook it up to SMART Board, because you could link a web-based game right directly onto one of your slides, and then play it on the SMART Board within that slide . . .and then move right on to the next one.
I'm pretty excited about it . . . although I'm sure that there's still plenty I can discover about S-Present, I feel like an accomplished EXPERT when using this software, and I am sure that I will use it for other presentations and lesson plans in the future!! Thanks to the creators of S-Present!!
I have really enjoyed putting together this project so far. I have been very frustrated with my You Tube link that doesn't seem to be working right no matter how much I mess with it. But I'm sure that I will learn . . . and now it DOES seem to be working! HOORAY!!
It's been incredible through this process just to see how much I have learned, and what a great platform that provides for me to be able to share knowledge with my students . . . in the hopes that someday they will each be Grammatical Nerds, just like their teacher!!
The three primary types of technology that I used for this lesson are:
1) SMART Board
2) S-Present
3) You Tube.
The SMART Board was something I found very intimidating at the beginning of this semester, but now I feel quite competent and adept in my use of it. I am so excited that I was able to create my own lesson that my students can use with the SMART Board! They can diagram sentences directly on the computer screen using the interactive pens provided.
Secondly, I used a You Tube video within my presentation. Shockingly, I had never used or been exposed to You Tube before this class, except for hearing of it briefly and from a distance from friends, etc. Now, I feel like I can not only look up any kind of video that I would like to use for my class, but I can even link it to a lesson or copy the HTML or URL code to a slide in a presentation . . . like I did for this lesson! I can't believe how easy it is for me now! Pretty soon, maybe I'll even have the courage to MAKE MY OWN VIDEO!!
Finally, and what I am MOST proud of, I used S-Present . . . which is free software that I discovered during the on-line conference! It's power-point software, but SOO much cooler than Microsoft . . . plus it's free, and you can use it to publish your own presentations and then either email them to yourself or someone else, or embed the URL inside of a blog (like I've done here). On S-Present, you can add audio links, video links, or a huge array of clip-art, images from Flikr, etc., or different URL's within the lesson. It's an amazing device that links all the new technology with a power-point presentation . . . so that we can use all of the great software we've learned about in Tech. in Ed. directly in a lesson plan! Plus, it becomes EVEN cooler once you hook it up to SMART Board, because you could link a web-based game right directly onto one of your slides, and then play it on the SMART Board within that slide . . .and then move right on to the next one.
I'm pretty excited about it . . . although I'm sure that there's still plenty I can discover about S-Present, I feel like an accomplished EXPERT when using this software, and I am sure that I will use it for other presentations and lesson plans in the future!! Thanks to the creators of S-Present!!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Technology at Bothell Senior High
It's been interesting to me to observe the utilization of technology in the classes I observe. It appears to me that the Language Arts department within the high-school does not have access to the same technological tools as some of the other departments, for example the maths and sciences. While the science department has SMART Boards that they can access at any time, the English department must make a request to use them. Aside from that, their building is under construction right now . . . which means that all of the classrooms are temporarily located within portables. Therefore, transporting the SMART Boards from classroom to classroom through the rain and wet, bumpy pavement is not only inconvenient, but also not advisable because of the risks that that incurs to ruin the expensive technology. Consequently, my cooperating teacher and the other teachers I have observed in the department have not used the SMART Boards or other forms of interactive technology during my observations, excepting the use of an Elmo on a few different occassions. The digital projector (Elmo) seems to not only be useful but also easily accessible and efficient. We have used that for various lessons on literature, grammar, and drawing inferences about ideas/themes in class readings.
For the last couple of days, I have spent time with various different classes in the library. It has been interesting to see their various levels of comfortability with the computer systems available to them. This morning, the librarian was speaking to me and observed that she finds it very interesting that often, the students with lower GPA's who tend to not be as diligent in class work are the first to run to the computers, whereas those students with higher GPA's tended to use the books more often. She found this interesting, and thought that perhaps the less diligent students found it easier to "hide" behind a computer screen, where they appeared to be working hard when they may have actually been napping. I disagreed with her observation, because I think that they could just as well pull a book off the shelf and appear to be reading when they are actually doing nothing. I think that computers are often a realm where students are able to meet on equal ground, because computers provide for the eclectic interests and intelligences of each individual. It seems that often, technology empowers students who don't succeed as well in other realms to experience success and learning.
For the last couple of days, I have spent time with various different classes in the library. It has been interesting to see their various levels of comfortability with the computer systems available to them. This morning, the librarian was speaking to me and observed that she finds it very interesting that often, the students with lower GPA's who tend to not be as diligent in class work are the first to run to the computers, whereas those students with higher GPA's tended to use the books more often. She found this interesting, and thought that perhaps the less diligent students found it easier to "hide" behind a computer screen, where they appeared to be working hard when they may have actually been napping. I disagreed with her observation, because I think that they could just as well pull a book off the shelf and appear to be reading when they are actually doing nothing. I think that computers are often a realm where students are able to meet on equal ground, because computers provide for the eclectic interests and intelligences of each individual. It seems that often, technology empowers students who don't succeed as well in other realms to experience success and learning.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Questions for the Panel!
I'm super excited that we're going to get a chance to discuss technology in education with some alumni from Northwest . . . who have now been teaching out in the field . . .
How great to have the perspective of those who are out there now, looking back!!
Some of the question I would love to discuss with them will be:
1) Looking back, what do you wish you would have learned/spent time investing in before you started teaching?
2) What have been some of the most useful/helpful technological tools that you have used in the classroom so far?
3) How do your students respond to technology? How has it enhanced their learning experience?
4) As a teacher, do you feel like you have been well-prepared technologically speaking? Do you feel capable and competent to use technology efficiently and effectively in your classroom?
5) What are some resources that you feel it would be well worth our time to advocate for when we enter the teaching profession?
I'm excited to see where the discussion takes us . . . I'm sure I'll learn a lot and I'm really thankful for their time!!
How great to have the perspective of those who are out there now, looking back!!
Some of the question I would love to discuss with them will be:
1) Looking back, what do you wish you would have learned/spent time investing in before you started teaching?
2) What have been some of the most useful/helpful technological tools that you have used in the classroom so far?
3) How do your students respond to technology? How has it enhanced their learning experience?
4) As a teacher, do you feel like you have been well-prepared technologically speaking? Do you feel capable and competent to use technology efficiently and effectively in your classroom?
5) What are some resources that you feel it would be well worth our time to advocate for when we enter the teaching profession?
I'm excited to see where the discussion takes us . . . I'm sure I'll learn a lot and I'm really thankful for their time!!
Reflecting on the SMART Board
Wow! I loved to see all of the variety in presentations on Tuesday night! How awesome to see all of the various ways that SMART Board can be used . . . from "clickies" to Jeapoardy to learning what vowels looks like! It's so exciting to me just to see how useful and helpful it really is as an educator. I love it to for being so applicable to my generation . . . really, it is very entertaining to be able to play interactive games in order to learn lessons, and it makes learning seem so much more fun and . . . adventurous!!
The next day in Instructional Design, Prof. Garrett (who was there with her MIT program students on Tuesday night) was commenting on the SMART Board. She was noting how in her early years as a teacher, the administration at her school chose to only provide one single computer for the school. They explained to the teachers that computers were simply a passing phase, and in a few years no one would even use them anymore in education anyway . . . so it was useless to invest a lot of money in them. I laugh to think that that was their perspective at the time . . . how preposterous!! Technology, and specifically computers, have changed education entirely and given my generation, and increasingly for those that follow, opportunities never dreamed of before the era of computers. I projected my thoughts forward into coming years . . . how easy it is for me to be trapped into the same way of thinking: that SMART Boards may be just a passing phase. But then I laugh to think that there's a good chance that in only a few years, every teacher and every classroom will have one and will wonder what teaching was like before they existed.
It's so great that I get to spend time now learning how to be comfortable with it and use it, because each week I grow increasingly aware of its many uses in the classroom . . . and continue to dream up new ways that I can use it to enhance the learning experience of my students, whether in Sciences or in Language Arts. The SMART board is so . . . SMART!!
I felt like the presentations on Tuesday night were really fun, and I learned a lot. I especially enjoyed presenting . . . how amazing that I feel so comfortable using technology that scared me so much only a few weeks ago!!
The next day in Instructional Design, Prof. Garrett (who was there with her MIT program students on Tuesday night) was commenting on the SMART Board. She was noting how in her early years as a teacher, the administration at her school chose to only provide one single computer for the school. They explained to the teachers that computers were simply a passing phase, and in a few years no one would even use them anymore in education anyway . . . so it was useless to invest a lot of money in them. I laugh to think that that was their perspective at the time . . . how preposterous!! Technology, and specifically computers, have changed education entirely and given my generation, and increasingly for those that follow, opportunities never dreamed of before the era of computers. I projected my thoughts forward into coming years . . . how easy it is for me to be trapped into the same way of thinking: that SMART Boards may be just a passing phase. But then I laugh to think that there's a good chance that in only a few years, every teacher and every classroom will have one and will wonder what teaching was like before they existed.
It's so great that I get to spend time now learning how to be comfortable with it and use it, because each week I grow increasingly aware of its many uses in the classroom . . . and continue to dream up new ways that I can use it to enhance the learning experience of my students, whether in Sciences or in Language Arts. The SMART board is so . . . SMART!!
I felt like the presentations on Tuesday night were really fun, and I learned a lot. I especially enjoyed presenting . . . how amazing that I feel so comfortable using technology that scared me so much only a few weeks ago!!
Monday, November 5, 2007
Assgn #4: Animal and Plant Cell Differences
Biology is so exciting . . . especially when we really get down to the nuts and bolts of life: cells!! It really is astounding to be able to study the building blocks of life, especially when we look at the similarities between the cells of plants and the cells of animals. How fascinating that cells so similar could produce life forms that are so . . . DIFFERENT! What powerful testimony of the intricate design molded by a Creator God. Check out my lesson plan on Animal and Plant Cells, created with the help of SMART Board.
Pay special attention to slide 7, which I created on my own. In this slide, I added links to two internet sites. One of them is a picture of an animal cell with a crossword puzzle directly to the right . . . the other is very similar, except focused on plant cells instead. I found this addition to be helpful to my students, and add a bit more fun to the lesson plan. I additionally asked my students to use the SMART board tools to draw out an animal cell and a plant cell, and then pull down the covering shield to reveal actual photos and see if they were able to highlight the similarities and differences correctly.
My lesson plan designed to identify the differences between Plant and Animal Cells meets the NETS for 9th-12th grade students #8, which is "Select and apply technology tools for research, information analysis, problem solving, and decision making in content learning. (4, 5) " Through class discussion and participation, my students will be able to apply technology which will help in informational analysis and problem solving in the content area of biology. Likewise, it meets these Science GLE's: "1.1 Properties: Understand how properties are used to identify, describe, and categorize substances, materials, and objects; and how characteristics are used to categorize living things. 1.2 Structures: Understand how components, structures, organizations, and interconnections describe systems." Consequently, this lesson plan not only provides for state determined knowledge standards through the content area of science, but also continues to develop my students understanding and use of technology according to state standards.
This SMART board activity involves full class participation. I think that I will begin the lesson with some direct teaching preparation involving what a cell is: the building block of life. I will then explain to my students that, though cells are the smallest living organisms, even they can be further broken down to reveal all of the various organelles that work together to allow the cell to function. From this point, I will transition into the SMART Board activity lesson in order to allow my students to identify the parts of each cell, as well as their functions. We will participate in discussion throughout the lesson, focusing much on the similarities and differences between plant and animal cells. The first time that we go through each slide, I will have the students choose the option of "Click and Reveal" to identify the parts of the cells. After that, we will use the "Drag and Match" option to identify the organelles as a class. We will walk through the entire lesson as a class, though during the crossword puzzle slide I will break the class up into groups of 3 or 4 to work on the puzzle quietly together with the use of their texts. Learning will be assessed through a written quiz given later in the week on the parts and functions of the cells, which will incorporate the various pieces of the SMART Board lesson and will be modeled after the activity done in class.
This lesson is only one of HUNDREDS of examples of how useful the SMART board technology can be in my classroom. I think that my students benefit from this on many levels. Firstly, they are able to interact together as a class, which provides invaluable lessons not only on science and/or language arts, but also on how to work as a team and cooperate in social skills in order to achieve correct answers and work through a lesson. It is also highly interactive, which not only allows the students to participate in the learning process so that they can more deeply grasp the information presented, but also generally makes the information itself more interesting. Besides this, technology benefits my students because it allows them to have more than one teacher: rather than simply providing my own voice and my own lesson plans at all times, technology opens up opportunities for me to use other lesson plans posted on-line (whether through SMART board or not). This allows my students to get several different perspectives, teaching styles, and scopes on science/english. Therefore, their knowledge base will be more rounded and profound because of the opportunities they have to learn from various teachers. In addition, they will learn to begin teaching themselves and eachother. Because of the nature of technology, SMART board empowers students to learn individually and as a group through participating in the lesson in a way which lecture simply does not allow. Therefore, they become their own teachers . . . and, as it is often said, the best way to learn something for yourself is to teach it to another!!
Technology (specifically the SMART Board) is not only helpful . . . it is a necessity in my classroom. Through allowing the students to have a wider knowledge base, other teaching perspectives, an interactive classroom, and empowering them to teach one another, the SMART Board provides for the enhancement of knowledge and education on many levels.
Pay special attention to slide 7, which I created on my own. In this slide, I added links to two internet sites. One of them is a picture of an animal cell with a crossword puzzle directly to the right . . . the other is very similar, except focused on plant cells instead. I found this addition to be helpful to my students, and add a bit more fun to the lesson plan. I additionally asked my students to use the SMART board tools to draw out an animal cell and a plant cell, and then pull down the covering shield to reveal actual photos and see if they were able to highlight the similarities and differences correctly.
My lesson plan designed to identify the differences between Plant and Animal Cells meets the NETS for 9th-12th grade students #8, which is "Select and apply technology tools for research, information analysis, problem solving, and decision making in content learning. (4, 5) " Through class discussion and participation, my students will be able to apply technology which will help in informational analysis and problem solving in the content area of biology. Likewise, it meets these Science GLE's: "1.1 Properties: Understand how properties are used to identify, describe, and categorize substances, materials, and objects; and how characteristics are used to categorize living things. 1.2 Structures: Understand how components, structures, organizations, and interconnections describe systems." Consequently, this lesson plan not only provides for state determined knowledge standards through the content area of science, but also continues to develop my students understanding and use of technology according to state standards.
This SMART board activity involves full class participation. I think that I will begin the lesson with some direct teaching preparation involving what a cell is: the building block of life. I will then explain to my students that, though cells are the smallest living organisms, even they can be further broken down to reveal all of the various organelles that work together to allow the cell to function. From this point, I will transition into the SMART Board activity lesson in order to allow my students to identify the parts of each cell, as well as their functions. We will participate in discussion throughout the lesson, focusing much on the similarities and differences between plant and animal cells. The first time that we go through each slide, I will have the students choose the option of "Click and Reveal" to identify the parts of the cells. After that, we will use the "Drag and Match" option to identify the organelles as a class. We will walk through the entire lesson as a class, though during the crossword puzzle slide I will break the class up into groups of 3 or 4 to work on the puzzle quietly together with the use of their texts. Learning will be assessed through a written quiz given later in the week on the parts and functions of the cells, which will incorporate the various pieces of the SMART Board lesson and will be modeled after the activity done in class.
This lesson is only one of HUNDREDS of examples of how useful the SMART board technology can be in my classroom. I think that my students benefit from this on many levels. Firstly, they are able to interact together as a class, which provides invaluable lessons not only on science and/or language arts, but also on how to work as a team and cooperate in social skills in order to achieve correct answers and work through a lesson. It is also highly interactive, which not only allows the students to participate in the learning process so that they can more deeply grasp the information presented, but also generally makes the information itself more interesting. Besides this, technology benefits my students because it allows them to have more than one teacher: rather than simply providing my own voice and my own lesson plans at all times, technology opens up opportunities for me to use other lesson plans posted on-line (whether through SMART board or not). This allows my students to get several different perspectives, teaching styles, and scopes on science/english. Therefore, their knowledge base will be more rounded and profound because of the opportunities they have to learn from various teachers. In addition, they will learn to begin teaching themselves and eachother. Because of the nature of technology, SMART board empowers students to learn individually and as a group through participating in the lesson in a way which lecture simply does not allow. Therefore, they become their own teachers . . . and, as it is often said, the best way to learn something for yourself is to teach it to another!!
Technology (specifically the SMART Board) is not only helpful . . . it is a necessity in my classroom. Through allowing the students to have a wider knowledge base, other teaching perspectives, an interactive classroom, and empowering them to teach one another, the SMART Board provides for the enhancement of knowledge and education on many levels.
Learning Productivity Software
Wow . . . that's a great question to reflect on: How WILL I assist my students to learn and use productivity software? I laugh to think that most likely in many cases, they will be assisting me to learn and use software more than I them. Even so, I am challenged to think of ways in which I can constantly be striving for and increasing my own knowledge in order to be expanding the knowledge base of my students. I think that the first step in this direction is consistent research on my own part. In order to keep up with the times, it will be necessary for me to devote myself to consistent study of advancement in technology and software development, so that I can provide my students with knowledge about all of the most state-of-the-art technology and software. Opportunities like the K-12 Online Conference are perfect ways for me to enhance my own knowledge and continue increasing my personal understanding of technology.
At the same time, this research and knowledge empowers me to be an advocate at my school for the technology that I hope to make available to my students. In order to get a SMART board in my classroom, it will be necessary for me to prove its usage to the administration. Along those same lines, as I discover new technology and software that will enhance the learning experience of my students, I will need to be the one advocating to the school why it is important, in order to provide my students with the greatest resources in education.
Additionally, I will need to make time for technology in my classroom: not only to use it, but to TEACH it. I believe it is important for me to show passion and excitement about current advancements in technology and software to motivate my students to move forward in it with that same passion and excitement. For those students who may be nervous about using technology, like me, I think that showing them how fun it can be (and how user friendly many software programs are), will make it something that they recognize is not to be feared, but embraced.
The gift of technology is something that I have the opportunity to offer my students through research, advocacy, and passion in the classroom.
At the same time, this research and knowledge empowers me to be an advocate at my school for the technology that I hope to make available to my students. In order to get a SMART board in my classroom, it will be necessary for me to prove its usage to the administration. Along those same lines, as I discover new technology and software that will enhance the learning experience of my students, I will need to be the one advocating to the school why it is important, in order to provide my students with the greatest resources in education.
Additionally, I will need to make time for technology in my classroom: not only to use it, but to TEACH it. I believe it is important for me to show passion and excitement about current advancements in technology and software to motivate my students to move forward in it with that same passion and excitement. For those students who may be nervous about using technology, like me, I think that showing them how fun it can be (and how user friendly many software programs are), will make it something that they recognize is not to be feared, but embraced.
The gift of technology is something that I have the opportunity to offer my students through research, advocacy, and passion in the classroom.
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