Week 10- Teching Integration Project

Teaching Integration Plan

This week I made an outline for my teaching integration plan. To view the outline of my project, you can click here. The integration project goes along with a third grade lesson that I gave on children during World War II. In the lesson I will be using VoiceThreads and Google Maps to help me showcase what life was like for children during World War 2. At the end of the unit the students will be assigned to design a presentation that they can make to shawcase their learning and understanding of World War 2. Student will be able to make PowerPoints, VoiceThreads, brochures, webpages, and video's for their presentation. Once the unit is over, I will organize all of the projects into a Wiki Gallery that my current students can view or that my students in the future can observe as well. The grade level expectations for this lesson are listed below:

• Michigan’s Educational Technology Standards (METS) - “Use a variety of media and formats to create and edit products (e.g., presentations, newsletters, brochures, web pages) to communicate information and ideas to various audiences”.
• Michigan’s Grade Level Content Standards- S.DS.03.03- respond to multiple text types by reflecting, making connections, taking a position, and/or showing understanding.

To create my final project I will create a Google Map and a VoiceThread which can be used as an example to how I could use the technology in my unit. I will also make an example of a project that a student might be able to make using one of the technologies I listed above. To showcase my final project however, I will plan on creating a digital story on my lesson and experiences with working on this activity.

Week 10 continued

Video Podcast

Week 10

Podcasts

This week I used the programs Audoacity, Windows Movie Maker, and iTunes, to make a audio/video podcast of a third grade lesson on homophones. I made the Video Podcast with Windows Movie Maker and Microsoft Powerpoint. I made the Audio Podcast with Audoacity and then imported it as an mp3 file to Window Movie Maker. The grade level expectation for the lesson was from the GLCE's. The expectation was:

R.WS.03.08 in context, determine the meaning of words and phrases including synonyms, homonyms, multiple meaning words, content vocabulary, and literary terms using strategies and resources including context clues, concept mapping, and the dictionary.

Teachers can use podcasts in their classroom to help improve the content and environments of the classroom in many ways. Podcasts also allow accessibility for all students because they are free to use as long as you have a computer and iTunes. With podcasts, teachers can post lectures or important notes for students to listen to at home. They also can post video as well which allows basically a virtual classroom where the teacher uses visual and audio combinations to teach classroom material or even facilitate classroom agenda.

Besides being a good source for teachers, students can also benefit from podcasts. Students will not only be more in touch with their classroom outside of school, but can also make and contribute their own podcasts for class projects. Any involvement with the internet with kids is always a good thing as well since they live on the internet. Depending on your teaching and your technology skills, you can use podcasts to enrich the type of learning takes place not only inside your classroom, but outside the classroom as well.

Week 9

View Larger Map

Maps and Mashups

For this week I created a google map that goes along with a third grade Language Arts lesson on the different experiences children had during World War 2. I believe that students can learn a lot from mashups if they are used appropriately in the classroom. As a teacher you can use mashups in a variety of situations and integrate it with all type of classroom curricular. One situation in which I would use mashups would be when my class was working with maps or world events (aka geography). My own map for example gives students a tool to explore different views, perceptions, and other resources about children during World War 2. By having the map with a summary along with it, the students are able to make connections to the data I am showing them and pinpoint it with a direct location on the globe. This will help students understand the magnitude of the size of the earth as well as make what they are learning more personal because of the fact that they can make an immediate connection between what you are teaching them and a physical point on the globe. The map also gives students other options such as clicking on links for further information, pictures, and even an option to view the map I created through google earth. Mashups are also good with helping you mix the type of literacy and learning styles you incorporate in your lessons. For example, a mashup that combines text with sound may help better facilitate both visual and auditory learners because they are required to read text and comprehend audio. Multiple types of learning are therefore occurring at the same time. Mashups like mine also give teachers the ability to teach virtually or digitally. This is important because most students have an interest in technology and working with computers. If the students are enjoying what they are doing then they will be more engaged in your lesson which will in return help them learn more and have the information that they do learn be more authentic. The learning will be more authentic because not only are the students engaged in the lesson, but they also making far more connections by using the tools that mashups provide as well. They are looking at pictures while reading text, listening to audio, clicking on links, watching a video, etc… I believe that if you use mashups appropriately, they will benefit both the teacher as well as the students in a classroom.

Week 8

Mock Interview

For this week I choose to make an avatar image through Photobucket. The website has an option where you can make your own personal “image” by picking and choosing different options and traits which best illustrates you or any other alter ego you want to create. The options ranged all the way from choosing what facial structure and eye color you had to what you were wearing and what image you wanted to have in your background.

I felt that I answered some of the questions very well considering it was my first experience being in an interview like situation. I thought that I answered the question about what my strengths were the best because I listed 2 or 3 of the traits that I thought best described me and supported them by giving examples of how they have helped me become a qualified candidate for any teaching job position. I also thought that I answered the question about what makes an effective teacher very well. I thought that I incorporated my teaching philosophy into what I believe makes someone an effective teacher. Not only did I answer the question about what makes an effective teacher, I also answered in return how I believe that I am an effective teacher. The last question that I thought answered well was how I would make accommodations for technology in my classroom if it arose. Based on the response after the interview questions, I think that I included many of the exact same examples of how to address the questions by saying that I would give them extra time, directions to access outside of the classroom to a library or coffee shop, or by having the students work with one of their classmates.

I thought that my biggest weakness was the question about my weaknesses. I thought that I struggled with this question because after I explained what my weaknesses were, I didn’t comment on how I was working on correcting them. The other question I struggled with was the question about my feelings on standardized tests. I now realize that I was way to judgmental and that I should have been more neutral in my response. Even though people may not agree with the test, it is still a reality and classes still need to achieve proper scores. Therefore, I should have explained how I would achieve proper scores and the importance they have in my classroom rather than saying how negative they were. The last question I think I struggled on was the question about my classroom management. I think that I struggled with this question because I haven’t had my own classroom really to manage yet. However, I now realize that I should have at least given examples of how I structure my classroom or what type of expectations I have for my students in order to give an idea of how I will manage my room. For examples instead of just saying that my students will have more of an active role in my classroom, I should have explained how they will have more of an active role and what effects this has on the classroom environment and management.

I think that I can take a lot away from this experience in the future. This assignment gave me my first experience of what a real interview will be like. I hope that in the future this will help me be a little less tense in an interview because I will have already had the emotions before, and I will also know what question I may expect in the interview so that I am more prepared and know how to make myself stick out more as a teaching candidate. Not only will I know what questions to expect, I will also know what should be included in the questions in order to make sure that I showcasing my complete package or capabilities, and not just a portion of it. The most important things I learned from this activity however was that during an interview I need to talk less about who I am outside of the classroom and more about who I am inside the classroom, and that I need to back up anything I say with examples of how I achieve them inside my classroom or lessons. It is not enough just to say that I do this or believe this, but that I explain what or how I do it and/or why I believe what I do.

Week 7

VoiceThreads

For this week, I created a digital story that I would you as a teacher to assist me in a lesson about World War 2. I thought it was both fun and intersting when creating the digital story for this assignment. I was amazed to see how powerful the story became once my voice was put behind it, words are truly powerful. I was also surprised how easy it was to make a digital story. After doing it once now, I think that I could do it much faster the second time.

Digital Storytelling can really be a great idea and tool for teacher to use. In the classroom you could use it to view others telling a story through their words and pictures. It is a first hand resource that you can use to back up your lessons and activities. A teacher may also use it to help students who are more visual learners since it provides images with instruction behind it.

A teacher could use digital storytelling outside the class room in the form of homework or research. As a teacher you may give your students the task to browse other people digital storytelling to research a certain topic. Or you may create your own voicethread, such as I did above, that may be used as a mini lesson that students are responsible to complete at home. This is also a good way to get parents involved in their childrens learning which in return enriches the learning community of your classroom.