Overall Impact

I came into this class, having absolutely no idea how much I would learn and take with me at the end of four weeks! I knew that it would be a course that offered valuable information, but I couldn't have predicted how much I have learned in this short period of time! I have gained, not only the opportunity to see all that is available to me, but also the knowledge of making sure that students understand what I am teaching them! I have been introduced to several technologies that I had never even heard of, that would now be on a wishlist for having in my own classroom!
I am so excited to take everything that I learned in this four weeks, and apply it to the rest of my life!

Using ipods in the classroom

I have always thought that ipods and podcasts were a little on the side of intimidating.  After using the ipods and watching various podcasts today, I have really opened my eyes to the different uses for ipods in the classroom.

First, I think that having students record their voices as they read is a great idea!  The students can then listen to themselves, make any necessary connections, and re-read to practice their fluency.  

I also think that watching podcasts which are already available can be beneficial to students.  These could be great for students who struggle with a particular phonics problem.  The student can watch a podcast on that particular phonics instruction and that is a building block to helping that student become a more confident and fluent reader.

They would be great for literacy centers for students!  The students could record their voices and then listen, they could also watch podcasts and then complete assigned activities.

For upper-grades, I also thought that a great use of ipods would be to show half of the class content on a topic from one point of view, and the other class content from another point of view.  This would be a great set-up for a class debate/discussion.

In conclusion, numerous possibilities could come from using ipods and podcasts in a classroom.

TPACK Lesson

Creating a TPACK lesson and paying clear attention to all aspects was a great way to look at creating a lesson.  I paid extra close attention to all of the different possibilities that could be used.  I found myself wanting to add more constantly.  My final product was absolutely loaded and would take longer to present than one day.  I really feel like there were several lessons that were brought into that one particular lesson though.  

One problem that I did have was that I found myself saying that I would need at least one volunteer for some parts of my lesson.  With first graders, I just don't want to get to the point where there are multiple groups of students that are having difficulty using the technology and have to wait on me to get to all of them.  The way to prevent this, I know is to make sure that students have a good understanding of the use of all materials before using them.  

I do know, that I will definitely use TPACK lessons when I am teaching my own class!

Blogging in my own classroom

Being a first grade teacher, I didn't know about blogging in my classroom at first.  I have decided that there are various options that I do have, though.  

The main idea that I have thought about is having a classroom blog.  I would use this blog to keep parents informed about what is going on in the classroom.  A blog would allow this information to be both easily accessible and updated conveniently.  I have also contemplated holding a blog about certain units that we cover in the classroom.  We would brainstorm as a class then add the ideas to the blog/view the blog together.  These units may include specific quotes from students and what they learned, their views on the lessons/topics, etc. 

Blogging in the classroom is a great way to interact with your students, encourage higher-order thinking, and also help them to feel more comfortable with technology!

Resource Article #2 (Using Digital Images to Engage Young Learners)

An article that I found interesting was one titled, Using Digital Images to Engage Young Learners. The author mentioned," images stimulate curiosity and provide rich opportunities for language and literacy." This is a statement that I really agreed with! Children are curious about everything that is going on around them and digital images are a great way to capture this!
Giving students open-ended tasks that allow them to make their own choices help them to feel challenged but also shows them they are capable of succeeding!
The article focused a lot on the fact that digital images support language development, which is a major focus in the early elementary grades. Using a combination of technology options such as their own digital images, software such as Kid Pix, and their own voice recordings or text; students are given a variety of options for telling their stories.
Making class books is something that was covered in the article, and we also discussed in this course. These are such a wonderful way for students to use a variation of their skills! With class books, the students are also only in charge of one page and so they are able to put their creativity and skills to use and really make their small portion come to life! These books can also be saved and shown on a slide show as well as sent home at the end of the year! The use of technology also offers some students who wouldn't be able to participate normally, a chance to make something with the rest of their class!
Using digital images is allowing students to look at these pictures in a variety of ways and see the different types of meaning that may come from them. They are allowed to capture different perspectives they may not have seen. Walking tours where students are asked to capture images on a walk is a great way for students to show their creativity! They can take the images they took and put them into a slide show. It doesn't stop there, though! They can record their voices in the program and describe what they saw/really let their perspective be known. Students will then be allowed to revisit this experience and also share it with their parents/families! They are also allowed to revise/edit their material as they wish, which is a great option!
After reading this article, and taking this class, I am extremely excited about using digital images in my own classroom, even though I used to be a little bit nervous about using technology in an early elementary position. I have really opened my eyes to the fact that, using digital images to engage your learners is truly an authentic way to allow your students to experience story telling in a meaningful way!

Learning & Leading with Technology: Using Digital Images to Engage Young Learners. (2004) ISTE.http://www.shstech.org/SCOP/ using%20digital %20images%20to%20 engage% 20young %20learners.pdf

Digital Storytelling

I will admit, digital storytelling, using imovie is not my favorite project. I always seem to struggle in atleast one area and somehow allow myself to get frustrated. I do however need to say that this time using imovie was a much better experience than the last time I tried it. Once everything is put together, it really does turn out to be a brilliant way to tell a story. Children would absolutely love to be able to put their voice and music to pictures or video. Especially when you compare it to writing their story on a blank sheet of paper and drawing a picture to illustrate it. It is a challenge, and everytime you think you might be finished, you find another feature that will add more to your video.
Yesterday I attempted to get into garageband and create my own music for my video. I didn't know how to use the program properly and so it was only about 1 min. before I decided that music was overrated and my movie didn't necessarily need it! Today after being taught how to properly use the program, I was so excited to use it! I went from thinking that I completely had to make my own music from scratch (which I am really not capable of doing), to realizing that there were several selections of music to choose from! I'm very excited to see some of my classmate's videos when they are finished! I think there are a lot of great stories that I am excited to hear/see!

Keyboarding

When I think of keyboarding, I mainly remember class being long, but I also remember being happy to know how to type.  Once I could type, it seemed like my world opened up.  I was able to talk to my friends on AIM, e-mail, and type homework projects rather than write them out.  

As long as a school has access to several computers, I do think it's a great thing for a teacher to work on keyboarding.  I do, however understand that there is not a lot of extra time in the day to teach a keyboarding lesson.  I feel that keyboarding lessons would need to come in the initial part of the school year, ideally.  Once the students know the basic skills they need, they will just be allowed time for practice throughout the year.  One of the literacy centers could be made and so that students are able to practice their typing skills.  Aside from this, students can also be encouraged to  practice their keyboarding skills at home.  I have never thought about teaching my students their keyboarding skills at a young age, but it is a life skill that they are going to need to learn.  The earlier, the better.

"Wandering Willie"

I had no idea the possibilites that Power Point offers. I have always used power point for class presentations, but I didn't know the extent of what it could be used for! In the past couple of days, I have seen how it can make a book come to life with pictures, words, and audio, it has also served as the software we used to make several class books. Just yesterday we saw how it could become an interactive game! We were given several clues and forced to problem solve in order to solve particular problems. I was put in the position where I felt completely like an elementary student again, but it was exciting! I got somewhat frustrated when I made a mistake or couldn't find the information that I needed. At the same time, I was excited and motivated the entire time! It was great to be reminded how much fun you can make lessons, but still allow your students to learn new information while problem solving!

Using Technology in the Kindergarten Literacy Curriculum

I recently read a professional Journal, A Researcher Goes to School: Using Technology in the Kindergarten Literacy Curriculum. This article was written by Jan Turbill.

My interest in reading this article was that I am going to be teaching in a first grade classroom this fall.  I have seen several perspectives of what the children at an early grade level are capable of, and I was hoping to find an article written with high expectations.  

This article discussed the fact early literacy activities that take place in the classroom reflect varying practices as well as differing perceptions of both literacy and technology and how they are related.  The author mentioned the fact that there seems to be quite a resistance to technology and it's use in a majority of early literacy classrooms.  The initial focus question for the research of this article was alternated to, " Why do teachers of early literacy find it difficult to implement technology into their literacy curriculum?" (Turbill) 

I somewhat agreed with some of the difficulties which included: lack of time and expertise. Throughout this course however, I have realized that if we really want to provide an exceptional learning experience for our students, we need to try the best that we can to get past these difficulties.  

For the lack of time, maybe I will only have 20 min. total during the day.  This time may also be seperated into groups of 5 minutes at a time.  This is extremely difficult to work with, but as a class, with the proper technologies, you can do beneficial whole group activities in 5 minutes.  As far as lack of expertise, I know all about this one because everything I have learned to this point, I have had to practice to retain.  I think the key word in this is practice though.  You can take open times during your day, or also some time out of school to practice and explore the different technologies you are interested in reading.  A lot of this depends on the district you are at, how much technology is available, etc.  Several other factors come into play, but if you really want to integrate technology and you are flexible, I think you are capable of doing it.  Early literacy is a crucial time for students.  At this age they should be learning to love to read.  Not all students have the same interests, some need diverse ways of being drawn into reading.  The different possibilities with using technology is a great way to capture these students' interest!  If you just take some time to explore the possibilities for yourself, I think you will get excited about your students' learning!

Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, Vol. 1, No. 3, 255-279 (2001).

IPTV

http://www.iptv.org

Today we had a guest speaker come in and inform us about all of the opportunities we have through Iowa Public Televisions website.  I visited the website yesterday and found a few things on my own, but I had no idea about all of the access there is at that website!  

There is a separate section on many of the pages for teacher and parent links.  As a teacher, I will be able to access several lesson plans grouped by age and subject that were written by teachers.  When I figure out which programs I will be using, I can share this information with guardians. If the family has access to a computer, the guardians will be able to work with their child at home.

Some of the educational television programs that we focused on included: Martha Speaks, Word World, Sid the Science Kid, and The Electric Company.  All of these programs seemed extremely educational as well as entertaining.  As we all know, it's difficult to take 30 min. out of our day for a video.  There are options for short clips which will allow you to work on an individual skill and then several activities and extensions to go along with these clips.  

I never knew that there were so many great activities, videos, lesson planning materials, etc. at one website!  I still need to explore the website a little bit more to really find everything and know how to access all of the links when it comes time to use them, but I am extremely excited to continue this search!

Technology out of the classroom

Today we learned a few ways to tie literature into technology and you don't necessarily have to be in the classroom. The first lesson we did was read the book, "It Looked Like Spilt Milk." We then used the program Kid Pix to design our own page. It was an extremely cute idea. I'm not a creative person, but all you need to do is come up with a shape that can look like a cloud. I know students of all ages would love this!
The next project we did was after reading the book, "Rosie's Walk." We were then given digital cameras and went outside to take pictures describing prepositions. After we had the pictures, we made our own little books out of the photos and prepositional phrases. I thought to adapt this activity to a younger age, if you had parent volunteers you could put students in groups and help them through the process.
Another great activity we learned was with the book, "I Spy." We were all asked to bring in 10 items. We took those items and put them all together, trying to make a few of them difficult to find. We then took a picture of the objects and will take some of the words that rhyme and make an I Spy activity out of our objects.
These activities were interactive, student-centered, and gave students the chance to get out of the classroom and explore.

TPACK

In class we have been discussing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). This term seemed extremely complex to me before our readings and discussions. After breaking apart the term and defining each section, it became much more clear to me. Technological knowledge is the knowledge about standard technologies, as well as more advanced technologies. Pedagogical Knowledge is basically the art of teaching. It's understanding strategies of how to teach. Finally, Content Knowledge is knowledge about actual subject matter to be learned or taught. After understanding the seperate parts, it makes even more sense when you give each area an example. An example of pedagogical knowledge would be guided reading or differentiated instruction. An example of technological knowledge would be using imovie for digital storytelling. Finally, an example of content knowledge would be teaching vocabulary.
Once everything was broken apart and we had the chance to brainstorm, it made perfect sense to me. I don't come from a great background of technology. I like using technology, have pushed myself to learn more about it and try new things, and am excited about learning more! I am hoping that with this class, as well as extra exploration on my own, I will develop a comfort of working with new technology everyday.

CI 556 Getting Started

I just started taking the courses to earn my reading endorsement yesterday. I student taught in the fall and my last placement had limited access to technology for all students. I tried to do as much as i could with the class as a whole and my computer projected, but I feel they would have gained more as upper-elementary students if they had access to their own computer.
I am extremely excited to be taking a technology course. I have been looking forward to it because I think there are so many things that we have access to if we use technology. Just in the first couple of days of class I have been introduced to a couple of programs that I had never heard of and would really like to use in my own classroom! Along with the positive aspects of technology, negative aspects come along. There is always fear of the unknown when you are trying something for the first time. There is always a chance that something won't connect or work. I do believe that as long as you have a backup plan, you can always recover even if something doesn't work. Even when you aren't using technology, problems are still going to occur. If something doesn't work out, I usually just resort to my backup plan and then fix the problem when I get the chance. The students aren't going to notice if you planned to work on a project in the morning and you work on it in the afternoon instead. Students are going to notice if you bring in an exciting new way to look at things! Students are always up for a challenge if it is presented to them in an interesting and enthusiastic manner. Technology is going to be a great way to draw in students!