Final Week

This week I have finally met with my student and parent! We have had to work fast, but we are making progress.We have to finish the project with in just a few days, but hopefully everything goes right. I have been in contact with his mother and we have discussed many aspects of the project and what needs to be done.

I am being assissted by Alysha Lomba. Alysha and I went to my students house to help him start up a blog, complete a KWL chart, and get started on a voice thread. Here is a link to his blog on volcanos. He has done a great job on his first blog post describing his project. It was so nice to see how eager he was to create a voice thread. He was fascinated with the idea of making a movie and show it to his classmates. We had a bit of trouble recording, so we had to stop, but he continued to work on it with his parent. Over the weekend my student has been able to create a voice thread of many slides. He has added audio to his first slide, which sounds great. Here is a link to his unfinished storyboard. He still has to add to it, but he has it filled out for the first slide. My student did a great job so far on his voice thread and I am sure he'll continue and use voice thread for other upcoming projects.

This experience has really taught a lot about teaching technology to children. Technology is a tool that requires a lot of hands on learning. At first I could tell my student didn't understand what I was talking about and seemed to not get into the conversation, but as soon as we started working on it he became totally engaged with it. He took over the lap top and was really excited about voice thread. He showed all of his books to us that he got for his research. This was a great learning exprience for me to see because it allowed me to practice teaching.

CCMS Tour

This week I had the privilege of visiting the Corpus Christi Montessori School. What an experience! I have learned about Maria Montessori’s teaching philosophy’s many times in school before, but I don’t think I really understood them very well until now. CCMS is a dual-language charter school that is funded solely by the state. It is an amazing school that has so much to offer.

As I walked through the halls I was blown away by the artwork, pictures, and learning tools that were displayed throughout. Mrs. Sylvia the director of the school was generous enough to let us walk through the classrooms, and observe the students. I observed the students during their work cycle, which was so neat to see. Each child has a work plan, which they are able to pick a task and work on it by themselves on their mat uninterrupted. CCMS classrooms are composed of the lower el classes (1-3rd), and the upper el classes (4-6th). Each classroom is a prepared environment, which Montessori strongly emphasized. The classrooms all had live animals in them, which was awe-inspiring. The students take on the responsibility to take care of these animals. The classrooms flow into each other, which makes the classrooms feel like a big home. The also have many windows that let in a lot of sunlight. In the afternoons the students take part in art, music, and physical education. Sports and other extra curricular activities are also offered. One aspect of the classroom that I notice was respect the students had for their teachers, classmates, and their principal. They have three rules at CCMS, which are 1) Respect of self, 2) Respect of others, and 3) Respect of the environment. These three rules our really taken seriously, which allows the school to run smoothly.

This experience has really made an impact on how I want to teach in the future. I do not know if I will teach in a Montessori school, but I will definitely take some aspects of it and use them in my future classroom. I couldn’t believe how happy the students looked while learning. It is reassuring to see students want to learn because most children aren’t that eager to learn and do work in school. If every child would show a bit of eagerness to learn then we as teachers would prosper even more. On a closing note one thing that I absolutely loved about CCMS was that even though they have to follow state guidelines they are not a TAKS driven school. I don’t like how TAKS is taking over the classrooms, so it was definitely nice to see CCMS not placing so much emphasis on doing TAKS worksheets all day.

I have not met with my student yet, but I hope to soon! This week I am still preparing to meet with my student. He has e-mailed his answers to my open-ended questions that I have asked him. He seems to be a really bright student, so I think this project should turn out great!

CCMS Service Project

This week I have began working on a sevice project for class that entails previous knowledge from my past assignments. I have been assigned a CCMS student and I will assist him with his volcanoe research project. There is a lot of interesting information on volcanoes, so I think we will have a lot of fun doing this project. I am excited to show my student the many different tools I have learned this semester, and hope he likes using them as well. I have not met with my student and parent yet, but there is still much preparation to be done in the mean time.

While I am preparing to meet my student I need to gather information together to present to him and his parent. I need to provide a project plan to show what progress should be made weekly, and also provide a K-W-L chart to see how much information my student knows, and what he wants to know. I also need to provide my student and parents with links on 21st learning , and other interesting links, as well as my blog link. I need to apply inquiry-based learning skills to help my student withh his project and give him tools to suceed in his project. I have been able to come up with some open-ended questions to ask my student to broaden his mind and ideas.

Spreadsheet Opportunities

Using spreadsheets in the classroom may not sound very interesting, but it can be! Spreadsheets are great tools to calculate, compare, and modify data. With the right mix of formulas, and brainstorming you can really find many ways to use them. Spreadsheets are a great tool to use for inquiry based learning. The students won’t be reading out of a text book tediously, they will be able to get their brain going using all the tools that spreadsheets have to offer. They need to experience their own individual knowledge and take it beyond someone else’s words. They will be able to create their own data, and see the different comparisons, and even modify what they want to change. Student can create graphs to show their data, and notice trends in their data. Spreadsheets can really make you think, and enable you to use great tools.

My unit theme is on social behavior, so I have a few ideas how I can use spreadsheets for my unit theme. I could ask the students “to collect data on how they feel each day of the week”. For my movie I had had the children say what color they felt like today, which meant they felt a certain emotion. I could also ask them to “create a graph to show the difference in the days”. I could also ask the students to “create a second graph using new data from a new week”. That way they will have two graphs to compare from. They will visually be able to see the similarities and differences. This may be a little bit challenging for younger children, but once they use it a few times it will get easier. Here is my Google Doc SpreadSheet.

Movie Magic

What an experience! Creating a movie was such a great learning experience for me. I was really hesitant about doing it because I am so intimated by new technology, but luckily it was fairly easy. I had some trouble, but not a whole lot. My movie is really a minute long, but for some reason it shows over 2 minutes. I don’t know why and I haven’t figured out how to fix it, but maybe I will figure it out soon, so just ignore that black space at the end please.

The movie above is formulated from my unit question “How can I express my thoughts and ideas with others? I was given many tools to make the movie happen. Let me tell you about a few of these tools that are available to use. I used Window Movie Maker to make this movie. It was already on my computer, so I just had to click on it to get started. It was fairly easy to import music, images and video onto it. It allows you to add effects, transitions to your movie to add a finishing touch. The effects and transitions really make your movie come alive. I also used FreePlayMusic, which is a tool to access music. They had many songs to pick from and I picked great background music for my movie. This tool is available online and you are able to download the music onto Movie Maker by importing it. Very user friendly! Another tool I used was Audacity, which is a software program for recording and editing sounds. This software lets you edit your sounds they way you want them to sound. There are different versions of this software, so you have a lot to pick from.

This experience taught me a lot. I really enjoyed viewing everyone else's movie. People got really creative. I really liked Sarah's movie because it was so funny. I commented on her movie and gave her some more ideas on what else she can use in the future.I hope to use this technology in my future classroom. I would love to share this with my students because this is something I know they will love. This takes learning to the next level and incorporates so much. I know that new technology is scary, but you will never learn it till you get your feet wet. I have definitely learned that! All of these tools can really bring magic into the classroom. Give it a try!

Digital Story Telling

Have you ever heard of digital story-telling? Well if you haven’t, you need to be aware of this innovative way to teach in the classroom. Forget the chalk board and get ready for an enhancing tool that will change the typical classroom scene. Digital story-telling is formulated on the idea of combining the art of telling stories utilizing digital multimedia, which consists of images, video, and audio. You can use an assortment of tools using digital story-telling to enhance or better a specific unit plan. You can use pictures, text, personal narration, music, and even videos to enhance your student’s minds. They will love to interact by using digital story-telling, and well teachers will too! Here are the seven elements of digital story-telling:

1.Point of View
2.A Dramatic Question
3.Emotional Content
4.The Gift of Your Voice
5.The Power of the Soundtrack
6.Economy
7.Pacing

The seven elements of digital story-telling helped me create enhancing unit plan. My unit question is “How can I work with other students and hear their thoughts and ideas?” This is very important for students early on to understand because your voice in a classroom is extremely important to hear. Your voice may teach someone else, or your voice may help you talk out an idea you may have. Communicating in a classroom is a vital part of the learning process. I have created a project plan, and a story board, which enables you to see how I used a digital story-telling movie to enhance my unit plan. I have incorporated the seven elements of digital story-telling to help me outline my plan. The movie will be based from my point of view, I being the teacher and instructing the students. My dramatic question is “How can I work with other students and hear their thoughts and ideas?” I have incorporated a lot of emotional content to keep my unit lesson personal, and meaningful. I used the gift of your voice, and the power of the soundtrack to address to the students personal, and also entertain them as well. I used the economy element to address the main issue, and keep the students focused and not bored or overwhelmed. The last element I used was pacing. I purposely paced my stories progress, so the unit plan would smoothly and at timely speed to get through the unit plan, and have time for discussion afterwards. Check out my Storyboard, and Unit Activity Plan to see how I used digital story-telling elements to create a movie.

How do I behave in the classroom? *Voice Thread*

Through technology teachers have found a new innovative way to teach students. Digital storytelling is a great tool to use in the classroom. It enhances student’s minds, and throws them into a whirlwind of emerging technology. This interactive tool can be used in many ways, such as through Slide Share, Slide Cast, and Voice Thread. These tools are very similar, but they do have their own uniqueness too. Place-based story-telling is a tool of digital story-telling that merges with digital mapping tools and with the power of narrative. This tool is a great way to motivate students, and bring something new to the classroom. I would suggest this tool for older students, but it can certainly be used with younger students as well, but would be modified to their needs, and capabilities. The theory behind digital story-telling entails strategic thinking, and useful strategies to use in the classroom. Learning the same old way all the time bores students, so they need interactive tools to open up their minds and excel in the classroom. Students would encounter an international audience, which would only make learning more interesting. This unique tool could be the key to success in your classroom!

Voice thread, Slide Share, and Slide Cast are great tools to use in the classroom. I was a bit hesitant about them at first because they seemed too hard for me to understand, but I never would have guessed how easy it was to use. I used Voice Thread and was able to find neat ways to incorporate pictures, and audio into my unit plan. Voice Thread has great helpful tips, and voice threads for you to follow if you need help using one of their tools. Adding audio was easy for my because I have a microphone in my laptop, so I just has to click a few buttons, and I was ready to go. It was a lot easier to use once I began to explore the site.

My unit question is “How can I behave in the classroom?”. I used Voice Thread to create an innovative way to show students how to behave in the classroom. I used pictures of students behaving good and bad in the classroom, and used audio to explain the instructions. Each slide has a comment, and way for the students to leave their own comments. I could definitely use Voice Thread in the future in many ways. I could use it to show other teachers different lesson plans, or I could use it in my classroom and give the students projects. The audio helps a lot for the students to hear the teacher’s voice because it focuses the students on what actually needs to get done. If they are still in kindergarten they may not know how to read, so incorporating audio is a great tool to use. I the interaction between a student and technology engages the students to want to learn. I definitely recommend this tool! Take a look at my Activity Plan for my Voice Thread.

Exploration Tools for the Classroom

Technology has taken over our society in more ways then imaginable. We are entirely dependent on the resources that is has. Technology isn’t the easiest to learn, but it also isn’t the hardest thing to learn. With a little bit of exploration and time you will learn just how much technology has to offer. I have learned a lot this week exploring different search engines, and sites trying to find resources pertaining to my unit plan.

My unit plan is based on social behavior, and I have found a lot of great sites and information. You can look at my Works Cited to see some of the resource that I have found. The resources that I have cited also lead into more extensive sites, so your search will be never ending. Trying to search on the internet can sometimes be difficult, but I have learned some new tools this week to make it easier. RSS is a great tool to use if you live a busy life. If you subscribe through Google it will search for you and keep you updated on certain things you are interested in. Tagging is also a great way to keep track of your favorite sites, and be able to bookmark them, so you can always go back to them. It will save you some time, and should always be able available to you. Social media is also great tool to use because it allows you to get information from other people, and even leave feedback, or have a video of your own. These tools are great for searching on the computer. These tools will be greatly needed in the classroom, and would take teaching to the next level. Students could use kid friendly search engines to get valuable information on a research paper, or learn how to use the computer more effectively. Teachers can use these sites to find new innovative lesson plans, and learn new tools to show to the students. Class projects can be done using the computer, which would only allow children to learn more valuable information through socializing and collaborating with different classrooms.

Blogging is just the beginning!

Throughout the years modern educational tools, such as technology have taken over the new wave of learning. Blogging for example is a new modern tool used in many ways for personal reflection, educational, and business purposes. Technology more than ever has really taken precedence in the classroom. Many teachers, students, and parents are using technology to close the gap between them and beyond the classroom walls.

Blogging is great to bring into the classroom because it allows students, parents, and teachers to get involved in the learning process at a whole different level. It is great for students to learn new technology, and learn how to blog. Blogging is great for a personal reflection journal, or even homework assignments. It is also great for students to communicate with other classmates and see their views, and ideas. The students could even communicate internationally by looking at other student blogs from different countries. Parents could look at what’s going on in the classroom by looking at their child’s blog, and learn how to help their child’s learning process without having multiple teacher conferences, or ever wondering how they can help. Teachers can utilize blogs tremendously throughout their career by posting their ideas, class projects, and great educational tools for students, and other teachers to use. They can create class projects with students using their own blog, and help them find new ways to express themselves. They can have a class blog to communicate with students and parents to keep them updated with deadlines, and upcoming projects, and ideas. Teachers can help other teachers with new ideas to use in the classroom, and maybe even get advice on certain subjects. In David Warlick’s blog http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/ his post More on what matters.. he states “the tools the new technology offers are impressive and do enable me to expand the boundaries of my class room”. I love that statement because that the key to teaching students. Warlick’s reflection on technology really makes you realize the importance behind technology. Blogging is just the beginning!

Inquiry & Project-Based Learning: Unit Lesson

Throughout history inquiry and project- based learning have been two of the stepping stones for a child to succeed in the classroom. Many educators have diverse views on these two learning approaches, but some still use these approaches as a window of opportunity in the classrooms to help students learn at a different level. Inquiry based learning is based on natural thinking and human experiences through the human senses, such as seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. It is a very hands on approach that involves a great amount of involvement that obtain skills, and behaviors to inquire resolutions, and a better understanding for a subject. This approach is needed in the classroom to broaden the student’s minds. Students need to get their feet wet and stop reading out of a text book all day long. They need to experience their own individual knowledge and take it beyond someone else’s words. Project-based learning is based on students working together with other students to obtain a common goal, but are assessed individually. Experimenting real-world topics is great for students to explore the many answers in life. This learning approach is needed in the classroom because working collaboratively will broaden resolutions. Students can learn from each other and help each other in the same process.

How does social behavior affect our lives? This is my essential question that I have constructed for my unit plan. I chose this for my essential question because social behavior in education is extremely important, and it relates to many key subjects, such as languages arts, social studies, science, and of course any aspect of a child’s life as well. My three unit questions are; How can I behave in school?, How can I express my feelings and thoughts?, and How can I work with other students and hear their thoughts and ideas? All three of these questions touch a specific part of social behavior, but also enable the students to really discover the many answers and ideas they may have on the topic. These questions are great to utilize them in inquiry and project-based learning. Inquiry based learning would be utilized because the second unit question states “how can I express my thoughts and ideas?”, which asks the students to express their individual thoughts and ideas in the classroom. Project-based learning would be utilized using the third unit question, which states “How can I with other students and hear their thoughts and ideas?” which enables the students to figure out a way to work with other students on a specific project and achieve a common goal.