Post #10

I must say, I really enjoyed this classed and I like the structure and the way were given tasks to prefect what we learned. I learned a great deal from this class and had a lot of fun with it at the same time. A lot of classes are forced learning because it’s something that you have to do, but this class was a class that made me want to learn. I picked up a lot of skills that I will not forget and will be very helpful in my future.

As I stated in my previous blog, I really like this project because I know the fact that a teacher will actually use the finished product for educational purposes in the classroom. I enjoyed working with my partners and learning new communication techniques. This was a great way to utilize multiple skills that we learned throughout the semester.

Throughout the semester, I feel every new skill that we learned can be utilized in not only a classroom setting but other professional settings as well. The Microsoft Word, power point, excel, wikispaces, and a lot more are all tools that I know I will be thankful that I have an in depth understanding in my professional career.

Most of the time, when commenting on my classmates blogs, it is apparent that we think alike on a lot of different subjects. I feel that I was surrounded by a group of students that are very intelligent and will all have promising futures based on the great responses that they gave.

Post #9

Knowing that the fact a teacher is actually going to use this finished project for educational purposes in the classroom, I feel this is a great project for use to do. We have the opportunity to utilize a lot of skills that we learned throughout the year. I have great partners who are hard workers and very fun to work with. My instructor had also been very helpful with making sure we are taking the correct steps towards having a successful finished project.

My contribution to this project has been to produce a Power point slide show to tell the story. I was responsible for breaking the story up and imputing it into slides at a ratio that does not have too much text in one slide. I was also responsible for gathering pictures and making the slide show look entertaining for a group of middle school kids.

An important thing that I learned in the previous week is “communication is key” for a group project of this nature. Had we not communication and collaborated on what needed to be done, there is no way possible that this project would’ve gotten done or been a success. My group worked very well together and stayed in contact on numerous occasions outside of the classroom.

Post #8

I can adopt WebQuest into my project by creating a WebQuest that correlates with the short story that our project is on. Our project is primarily for 6-8th graders in a Language Arts class. A WebQuest will be valuable to them because I can create the WebQuest that compliments the short story, "The Seventh Grade." The resources that I can use are websites about the author and the short story. After the students read the story and answer the questions, they will be more acquainted with the story, and will be prepare for a test.

A good example of a WebQuest that I could have for students would be to tell what career they want to pursue and find all the information they can about it. They will find what educational steps they would have to make, what locations they can pursue it and how it has affected our country throughout history. Through this, the students will have the opportunity to think and begin to plan for their future and learn better tactics for web searching.

A skill that we learned in class that would be very beneficial to my future career would be use learning how to use wikispaces properly. Through this program I would be able to collaborate with not only fellow teachers and co-workers but also parents of the students as well. I could post critical information in a constant and continuous manner. This way parents would have consistent avenue of staying updated with what is going on with their children in the classroom

Post #7

A great internet tool that I found that I know would be beneficial to all teachers is called Easy Text maker. Easy Test Maker is a free online test generator to help you create your tests. With Easy Test Maker you can create multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, matching, short answer and true and false questions all on the same test. You can also insert instructions and divide your test into multiple sections. Easy Test Maker automatically generates alternate versions entirely randomized and master answer sheets with a single click! Just click the "Generate Alternate Versions" or "Print Answer Sheet" link when you are done creating your test. http://www.easytestmaker.com/default.aspx

A way that I will be using Excel as an educator is to handle my grades. Excel will allow me to manage, monitor, and manipulate the student’s grades and progress throughout the year. There are functions in excel that will allow me to generate the final grades automatically and have charts and data show averages and individual student progress.

A great example of how teachers used Excel in the school setting is to manage their curriculum. Teachers were able to create a specific progress guideline as to what should be done on what day, and what progress should be made at a specific point in time. In using this tool, teachers where able to ensure that are not moving too fast, nor are they slowing a student’s progress.

Post #6

In critiquing my PowerPoint 1 assignment, I feel as though I worked closely to the guidelines required and did the same with the concepts given in the text. I made sure that I had legible text throughout the entire slide show presentation. I was careful in not choosing colors that conflict with each other or colors that made it difficult to read the text. The text did mention to not use too many color schemes for the slides and I do feel like there is a slight variation in the colors of the different slides, but for the most part they are pretty consistent.
In my classroom, I could use cameras and printers as types of peripherals with the students to give them more of a hand on and visual experience. The students could use the cameras to snap photos of their choice and upload them to make short stories through power point. This allows them the opportunity to actually use the equipment, use their artistic minds, and increase their computer skills in the process.
I think last weeks lesson on developing skills using Microsoft Power point was a very important and helpful one for everyone interested in having a successful career in the field of education. Power Point is a very important tool that can increase visual aid and better your chances of getting a message across to your intended audience. I feel as though I have learned a great deal about this program and I am sure I will be appreciative of this in the future.

post #5

I critiqued http://fsu.edu/and according to the rules discussed I chapter 6, it is a website that conveys information very well. This site has a general design that can be easily navigated, explaining clearly where in the site you currently are. The site does not complicate comprehension by using multiple text styles, extreme colors, or meaningless images or text. This site keep information lines at a decent length and makes the words as easily visible as possible.

There are multiple advantages to using presentation software. The main advantage is for its major effect in memory and comprehension. Most students comprehend information faster and able to remember longer when there are visual aids. Without presentation software information is presented to students in word forms only, and when instructing younger children, this makes the learning process a lot harder. Pictures and visual aids make information more appealing therefore making it more desired to be learned.

Power Point helps you to remember and understand information by allowing you to organize information on different slides in order to give easier understanding of information by separate categories. Various charts and diagrams can be made through Power point for purposes of applying the information that is being learned. Power point can be used for analyzing and evaluating information allowing the viewing of multiple slides for comparison of data. It is easy to say that accurate representation of information can be created through power point software.

post #4

As a teacher, I really like the concept of requiring the students to use an idea map when required to interact with unfamiliar content. This prevents students from using the easy route of copy and paste or simply changing a couple words of an already prepared text to answer difficult questions. An idea map requires more complex thought and info gathering to fulfill the requirement.

I would encourage my students to use idea maps, outlines, and story board skills because it aids them in developing their own content in a more thorough manner. I would explain how copy and pasting is cheating and how mapping out your thoughts before beginning writing is the best method to developing a complex well structured story or essay.

Last week’s skills learned on creating a news letter will be very helpful in my future career. I ultimately want to be a high school principal and I will have to relay my ideas and future plans on a consistent basis and those skills taught me the proper way to do that. It also helps in preparing to be more organized when presenting information which is key when in any leadership position.

Post #3

In becoming a teacher, I would like to work with third to fifth grade reading. A lesson plan that would be created would be on telling a story with pictures. I would first present a story that I created by using a projector to show them what is expected and how to search for the images using the web. I would then allow then to use the computer on their own to find images and put them in an order that has a significant plot that could be comprehended without words.

I am concerned about teaching students in a technical environment because children can become very easily distracted. Being that I would be working with elementary students, I know they will be very curious about what the machines can do, especially computers. Today’s technology makes things so easy to do, so it only takes one click of a button for a child to go a completely different route from the instructions that I given.

In working with young children, visual aids are very important tools for increasing their chances for understanding of new concepts. As part of learning new concepts, I would have children to use the google search engine to find images to display the new words or concepts being learned. This too will give them the opportunity to see different visuals of what is being learned, and will also allow them to be decisive about choosing the correct item or choosing the items that helps them understand the best. Images.google.com

Boogie's World intro

Learn a little about me and the future of "Boogie's World: The audio escape to the land of Fantasy and imagination.

Post #2

MS Word has been a very vital tool for task completions through school, up until this point today. For as long as I remember, I have used Microsoft word to write all of my paper assignments. I have also used this program to create flyers for advertising events and posters for labeling objects. In school settings, teachers have made good use of Microsoft word as well. Most exams created by teachers are done on MS word. In the classroom, teachers use this software to create signs to display rules, area descriptions, and labeling objects.

A case that used MS Word creatively at a school setting was when teachers asked students to submit documents and make it available to check the progress time of the document. This allows teachers to see when students last worked on assignment to prevent students from doing assignments at the last minute.

I believe the skills that we have learned about Microsoft word will definitely be beneficial to my future professional career. It allows me to demonstrate professionalism in a business setting and will give the impression of experience and organizational skills. I feel this class will be very helpful for future career aspirations.

Blog #1

Computers and new technologies are important because teachers need to be able present and teach information in the most efficient way by creating a critical thinking and problem solving environment. This environment can only be created through today’s new technologies. I agree with one of the issues proposed in the chapter. Higher and more difficult standards are being set for grade school students to achieve but the teachers technological aids are not advancing at the same rate. Due to this, it is becoming progressively difficult for teachers to obtain the most effective learning environment.

When using the computer in the professional teaching environment, I plan to use computers to teach students to acquire, process, and present information using the computer as the primary tool. I plan to create a complex learning environment and authentic tasks. I plan to implement social negotiation and shared responsibility as part of learning. Most importantly the computer will be used as a primary visual aid in the classroom setting.

Though I agree with the issue at hand that I discussed in paragraph one, I will admit that today’s technology is increasing within the schools. Most public schools have enough computers to supply every 3-5 students and most of the computers are close to being the best sold in stores. Classrooms are also becoming more technical. This is far more advanced then when I was in grade school, so I do feel like students are being supplied with the right tools to achieve well beyond the academic standards

Iota Delta

Blog Journal #0

Technology has been a major part of my life for a very long time. The world that I live in is filled with various forms of technology and I have grown to learn to perfect many of them, from video games and electrical entertainment, to various computer softwares, and different forms of communication. Without some knowledge of today's technology, I believe it would be very hard for me to be where i am today.

In this class I hope to expand my knowledge on various computer programs that I know I will utilize in my professional career. I have some skill in the Microsoft software but with this class i hope to increase these skills so that i can become more marketable in the professional environment.

In understanding my learning styles, I learned that I am an active learner. I like to do things with new information in order to get a better understanding. I learned that I am a sensing learner meaning I prefer learning facts and well established methods as compared to learning ideas and theories. After doing this survey, I found out that I am a Visual learner, meaning I understand and remember things better when I see them or when there is visual aid present while I am learning the concepts. I also came to discover that I am a sequential learner given that i prefer learning things in step order with each step following the previous one.