Angela Maiers stated that passion is one of the most important aspects of teaching. I completely agree with this statement. I believe that when teachers have a passion for what they are teaching this inspires students to be passionate about a subject they deeply care about. This passion allows for perseverance and tenacious in school. This needs to be apparent in school because it will create an enriched environment for their learning. Having passion allows students to integrate technology with this passion. They would be able to publish their ideas online and create a much more engaged learning system. Technology should not be the way we engage students, because students already are engaged in what they enjoy. We teachers need to notice this and help these students to find technology that suits these needs.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Podcast Reflection #6: NPR 2-17-2011 Stories: Science Diction
NPR: Education Podcast
This podcast brought me mixed emotions. When the mayor of L.A. was talking about removing the ability to obtain tenure from the teachers, he started to rile my emotions. Some of his statements made believe he thinks poor scores and issues in the school district are solely the teachers’ fault. This did not sit well with me. Although, I agreed with his statement about teachers, parents, and communities needing to come together to be innovative and remove the impediments of education. When parents and the community become involved in education I believe it makes the school district much better. Blank was another person interviewed. She was a former educator and had great ideas on how to improve the way teachers receive tenure while still protecting the teacher and improving on student issues. Her point addressing the issue of reviewing teachers was very correct. She stated that teachers should be peer reviewed instead of a principal stopping by a classroom every once in a while. I think this would be a great way to be reviewed because current teachers would know what works the best and could give many helpful hints on how to improve the way you teach. I highly recommend checking out this podcast
This podcast brought me mixed emotions. When the mayor of L.A. was talking about removing the ability to obtain tenure from the teachers, he started to rile my emotions. Some of his statements made believe he thinks poor scores and issues in the school district are solely the teachers’ fault. This did not sit well with me. Although, I agreed with his statement about teachers, parents, and communities needing to come together to be innovative and remove the impediments of education. When parents and the community become involved in education I believe it makes the school district much better. Blank was another person interviewed. She was a former educator and had great ideas on how to improve the way teachers receive tenure while still protecting the teacher and improving on student issues. Her point addressing the issue of reviewing teachers was very correct. She stated that teachers should be peer reviewed instead of a principal stopping by a classroom every once in a while. I think this would be a great way to be reviewed because current teachers would know what works the best and could give many helpful hints on how to improve the way you teach. I highly recommend checking out this podcast
Fun with Text Reflection: Wordle/Tagxedo
Creating word clouds could be a fun simple way for students to complete projects in my classroom. I am planning on being a science educator, which means dealing with many environmental issues. I could have my students create these word clouds for various environmental aspects such as carbon dioxide usage, water, and elements. It would allow the student to do research on an area of study while creating something that is fast, simple, and pretty. I think word clouds are an excellent resource on the Internet and will be very interesting to use in my classroom. This is one I created about math and science.
Animoto in my Classroom Reflection
Finally!!! A super simple way for students to create interesting videos. I am very excited to use this website in my classroom. It puts an end to the boring, same transitions slide-show and creates an interesting presentation. There are so many possibilities for using this video technology in my classroom. Students could create short videos explaining properties about elements, sharing simple math techniques with each other through these videos, and I could combine students’ art work or writings into an interesting video they would enjoy. Animoto opens up so many possibilities in the classroom and I am thankful this technology has been created. Here is an example of an amazing video created about the civil rights. It is short simple yet breath taking.
Podcast Reflection #5: Driving Questions, School as a "Life Practice" with Ginger Lewman
Driving Questions
It is always interesting to hear the different viewpoints of teachers. Ginger Lewmans interview was especially interesting to me because she had many great thoughts. I especially liked her quote “If schools are supposed to prepare students for the real world then why aren’t they mimicking the real world?” This is a great point and I think teachers and future teachers should always be thinking about how to relate the information to the real world. This is the best way for students to keep interest in a subject. Another great point mentioned was that teachers and students are learning together. I forget about the teachers learning experience in a school. We are always very focused on talking about how to help the children learn, but forget we learn from the students also. This is important especially with all of the new technology that the students will use. I might not be able to figure out the information but some of the students might and because of this they might be teaching me how to use it. This podcast was full of many “aha” moments.
It is always interesting to hear the different viewpoints of teachers. Ginger Lewmans interview was especially interesting to me because she had many great thoughts. I especially liked her quote “If schools are supposed to prepare students for the real world then why aren’t they mimicking the real world?” This is a great point and I think teachers and future teachers should always be thinking about how to relate the information to the real world. This is the best way for students to keep interest in a subject. Another great point mentioned was that teachers and students are learning together. I forget about the teachers learning experience in a school. We are always very focused on talking about how to help the children learn, but forget we learn from the students also. This is important especially with all of the new technology that the students will use. I might not be able to figure out the information but some of the students might and because of this they might be teaching me how to use it. This podcast was full of many “aha” moments.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Podcast Reflection #4: Learning in Hand, Classroom Do's and Don'ts
Learning in Hand
While listening to Mr. Vincent's podcast on iPods Dos and Don'ts I realized I would have not been very successful using iPods in my classroom. He had many helpful hints and explanations of procedures that I had never thought about. For example, syncing the iPods to one computer instead of multiple computers. It makes it easier to have the students' iPods sync to one computer with all of the up to date information instead of trying to put this information on 20 or more different computers. I also thought the idea of having color coded iPods was a fantastic idea. I would have numbered the devices and called it good, but having the color coding makes it easier for the students to find their individual iPod. The last idea that really struck me was having a contract for the iPods that clearly states the proper usage of the device and repercussions for misusing the device that both the student and parent must sign. The idea of having the parent sign it is wonderful because then they clearly know how the technology is being used in the classroom. I am very excited to see what technology I will be able to use in the classroom and will be using these helpful hints when I begin to teach.
While listening to Mr. Vincent's podcast on iPods Dos and Don'ts I realized I would have not been very successful using iPods in my classroom. He had many helpful hints and explanations of procedures that I had never thought about. For example, syncing the iPods to one computer instead of multiple computers. It makes it easier to have the students' iPods sync to one computer with all of the up to date information instead of trying to put this information on 20 or more different computers. I also thought the idea of having color coded iPods was a fantastic idea. I would have numbered the devices and called it good, but having the color coding makes it easier for the students to find their individual iPod. The last idea that really struck me was having a contract for the iPods that clearly states the proper usage of the device and repercussions for misusing the device that both the student and parent must sign. The idea of having the parent sign it is wonderful because then they clearly know how the technology is being used in the classroom. I am very excited to see what technology I will be able to use in the classroom and will be using these helpful hints when I begin to teach.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Podcast Reflection #3: Tech Chick Tips- By the Numbers
Tech Chick Tips
This podcast was amazing. There were multiple different sites discussed that dealt with my two fields of math and chemistry. My favorite one was the NSF (National Science Foundation) Science of the Olympic Winter games link. It brought me several answers to the old question “How does this apply to the real world and why do I need to know it?” I can now tell my future students who are athletes or are pursuing an athletic profession that science, mainly physics, is the key concept behind many ice skating competitions. I could also tell them that geometry and angles are used for the angles of shots in hockey. I think this will be interesting and relate to them even if they are not interested in ice sports because other sports use the same concepts. Another groovy site mentioned was Wallwisher. I loved the ideas behind this shared post-it note system. I will definitely use this site to create an assignment where the students post some sort of math equation, geometrical shape, or real world examples of math being used. It will allow them to use the computer and branch off from the boring days of always doing math assignments on paper. Another project I was excited to do was to have students write what chemicals they can decrease usage of to help the environment. I believe seeing all the multiple different ideas their peers have can help them create their own idea and also, hopefully, my future students would decrease their use of other items that their peers posted.
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