How many tools??

As a future teacher it is going to be very important that I use many different types of technology in my classroom. I have assessed 8 different browsers or tools below. Some I found were useful and some I found were not.

My rating scale:

18-20 Four stars

16-17 Three stars

14-15 Two stars

12-13 One star

0-11 No stars

FIREFOX



Total = 17

Comments: This is a browser. Most people use internet explorer. I honestly didn’t see that much of a difference in the browser. I like that I can personalize the top of the page to make it look pretty, but is it really necessary? The search engine seems to pull in the same information that my internet explorer pulls up. The speed of the site also seems to be the same. I really don’t have a preference between the two, except that I had to download firefox to my computer. THREE STARS 




MOODLE



Total = 19

Comments: This is a VERY useful tool. I have used it in the past for 4 classes. The content depends on the creator. The professor has to create the content and the links. I have had some professors who have not used this program well and others who have used it beautifully. I think that this is a useful tool if used properly. FOUR STARS


DELICIOUS http://delicious.com/ed.tech



Total = 19

Comments: This is a VERY useful tool. I usually bookmark my stuff in favorites in the internet explorer. It has taken me a bit to get used to using this site. It is designed by me and will only be successful by me, the user. It is an awesome website for teachers to help organize all of the sites that will help with the teaching process. FOUR STARS


DROPBOX www.dropbox.com

Total = 20

Comments: This is an amazing tool! This tool is a way to save your files online. It makes your files available to you wherever you are and on whatever computer you happen to be using. I will definitely use this tool. FOUR STARS





GOOGLE APPS


Total = 19

Comments: This is a collection of applications that can be used through google. It contains searches, blogs, alerts, news articles and more. It is a one stop shop if you like google. The links are still active. I have recently been introduced to the blog tool. Definitely useful tool. FOUR STARS

PHOTO PEACH

Total = 20

Comments: This is a tool that would be useful for putting together pictures for the end of the year. You can import pictures from facebook, picasa, or your camera. Sound can be added, along with sound. This website does require registration, but it is easy and free. This is definitely an easy site to use. FOUR STARS

PREZI http://prezi.com/

Total = 17

Comments: Prezi is a program for presentations. It uses flying slides to present information. I found it to be a bit more challenging to figure out than the rest of the websites that I have experimented with. It has an introduction video which explains how to use it, but it still requires some time to get it the way you want it. It seems to be something that could make awesome presentations if the user has time to sit and play. This is not a program that you can just sit down and instantly make a presentation with. Takes practice. THREE STARS

PICNIK http://www.picnik.com/

Total = 20

Comments: This website got me addicted quickly. I spent way too much time using it. It is a program for editing photos. Over half of its features are free and if you want to use the more advanced features, there is a minimal fee. I ended up spending hours editing photos. (whitening teeth, cropping, changing color) I definitely think this could be used for the classroom. Sometimes we take pictures that need to be cropped. This program can then be used to make a collage. The collage can then be put into a slideshare program and shared at the end of the year. Awesome. FOUR STARS




Photos by Lynn Morris

Rules, Rules, Rules!

“Deliver it using 2 forms of technology, and have your students use two forms of technology.” Wow, how am I going to do that?

This lesson plan is supposed to be centered around technology, while still delivering a regular classroom lesson. Strangely, I found this a bit challenging. I know that there are many ways to incorporate technology in the classroom, but it is something that we are not conditioned to do throughout our training to become teachers. We are taught to mostly lecture and give paper based tests. I eventually decided to create a lesson about classroom rules and their importance. I believe it is important for students to understand the meaning of rules in order to further understand government and the way that things have been done throughout history. I was going to incorporate the “creation of rules” into this lesson plan, but decided that the creation of rules lesson is an entirely different lesson. I have carried out the creation of rules lesson plan before, so I decided that this would be separate.

My brain automatically goes to the non-technology things like: group work, poster board presentations and written tests. I had to search the net to find ways of incorporating technology. I decided to used visual demonstrations of new websites, group activities, group discussions, internet searches, epals, zolo, and web video clips to assist the students with this lesson. I felt that students that are in the 5th grade shouldn’t have any trouble working with the technology offered. Students in the 5th grade should have already been introduced to some technology and should be able to follow visual directions on screen while I am giving instruction. The NETS*T that I was using was NETS*T standard III A, because it uses technology to enhance learning (NETS for Teachers 2000, 2000).
Students should be able to use this new introduced technology to create a presentation to show their understanding about the importance of rules.

One concern that I have about my lesson plan is the use of epals . I have never used epals before (Epals Global Community 2010). It sounds like a wonderful idea. My children have had internet e-pals before, but they have been with people that they know from previous places we have lived. I am planning on doing a pen-pal/e-pal exchange with some of the friends I have made here on Guam when I move back to the states. We will use our classrooms. This is different, however, because the teachers will know each other. A big problem with the epals is that the students are depending on students from other areas to complete their projects. I would have to take into consideration the fact that some students may not get responses to their questions. I decided that if this happened, that the students would be given time to search the internet for classroom rules that are posted on the internet. This would be a bit less personal, but at least they would still be able to see rules from different places.

Technology is something that is becoming a big part of our daily lives. Students are becoming more and more technology proficient. It amazes me about how well students adapt and are able to quickly figure out programs. I gave the zoho program to my fifth grade daughter to play with to see if she thought it would be a fun alternative to Microsoft Powerpoint. She was able to maneuver through the program quite quickly. As a fifth grader, she has already been introduced to so much. I believe that with this lesson plan, the students should be able to discover the uses of the program to make a creative presentation, while learning about rules and why they are important to use as a society and as a classroom. I hope that I will continue to incorporate technology into all of my lesson plans.


Resources:

NETS for Teachers 2000. (2000). Retrieved April 21, 2010, from ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) website:
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2000Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2000.htm

Epals Global Community, (2010). Retrieved April 20, 2010, from epals website: http://www.epals.com/

Zoho Show, (2010). Retrieved April 21, 2010 from the Zoho Show website:
http://show.zoho.com/Home.do

Chaos

In this lesson the students will explore fairness and order as they experience relationships with others in their school and learn about rules in other schools. The NCSS standards state, “they develop an increasingly comprehensive awareness of rights and responsibilities in specific contexts.” The students will do research to compare old laws with new laws, compare their school rules to other schools and will create fair classroom rules for their class.

Analyze Learners

This is a fifth grade class. There are 22 students, 14 boys and 8 girls. All of the students are from military families. The students are learning a unit in social studies about examining the purposes and characteristics of various governance systems. They are learning how nations attempt to resolve conflicts and seek to establish order and security. The students have already had discussions about laws and why we have them. In the previous week, the students signed up with epals.com and were assigned different students around the world to communicate with as an epal for the year.

The students in this classroom are fairly well behaved, but there are some behavior issues. The students do not always follow the posted rules. There is one student with a learning disability in my classroom. He has a para-educator who assists him with his learning goals.

State Objectives

Students will:

1. Request a written copy of their epal’s classroom rules.
2. Discuss (in groups) the commonalities and differences of the rules that they found from their school and their epal’s schools.
3. Verbally state at least 2 reasons why they feel the rules could be different or the same.
4. Create a 2 minute presentation (within their group) using show.zoho.com showing some rules that they found to be similar and some rules that were different.
5. Verbally present their presentation to the class.
The students will individually request the school rules from their epal. After a week, the students will meet in their group and discuss the rules that they were given. The students will then make hypothesis’ about why they would be similar or different. The students will them choose which rules should be included in their presentation. The students will then work collaboratively in their groups to create their presentations. The groups will be given a week to organize their presentation and then will present their conclusions to the class. This will be an ongoing history lesson. This lesson will be followed by a making the rules lesson plan.

Select Instructional Methods

Methods

• Group Learning

The teacher will discuss rules from the past and why they may have been important. She will show an old rules poster and ask the students why they think that the rules were different a long time ago.

The students will have collaborative group discussions about their epal. The students will discuss where their epal is from and the possible reason behind some of the rules they may have found.

The students will work together in small groups to create a presentation regarding their findings.


• Individual Learning
The students will individually make connections with their assigned epal. They will ask questions and respond to any questions asked. They will develop a year long relationship with their epal.
Media

• The teacher will introduce epals by demonstrating the registration process to the students using her laptop and the projector. The teacher will show a video of different classroom rules throughout the country.

Materials

• Laptop computer, projector, video clip, paper pencils, internet resources.

Utilize Media and Materials

Preview the Materials: The teacher should ensure that she has introduced government and laws. The students should have at least an idea about why we have laws, so that they will hopefully be able to make the connection between rules and the classroom functioning smoothly. The teacher should know how to register for epals. She should have set up an account with epals and already know how it will work.

Prepare the materials: The teacher should ensure that all of the materials are available before the lesson. She should ensure that the projector is working and that the link for the video is pre-loaded. She should ensure that the internet access is available for the day and that the website search engine that she wants the students to use is written on the board.

Prepare the environment: The computers should be turned on and ready for use. They should be checked to ensure that they all have access to the internet.
Prepare the learner: The teacher should give the students a few moments to calm themselves and prepare for the lesson. This is an ongoing lesson. The teacher should review the previous lessons by asking questions at the beginning of the lesson. The teacher should ensure that all of the students state that they understand the directions that she is giving before moving on.

Require Learner Participation

Each student will have an assigned epal. Each student will email their epal and ask them to share their classroom rules. Each student must provide a minimum of 2 written rules from their epal to contribute to the group discussion and group presentation. Each student will be required to write in their own words why they think the rule that they are presenting would help maintain classroom order. Each student will write why they think that some of their rules were the same.
Each student will create a minimum of one slide in the presentation. Each student will verbally discuss their slide during the presentation.
The student with the learning disability will verbally tell the teacher the reasons that he feels that his rules were important. He will be given more time to complete his presentation slide. His para-educator will assist him where needed.

Evaluate and Revise

Evaluate student performance
Content: Were the students able to register for epals? Did the teacher have to assist them with the registration process after the demonstration? Were the students able to create a document requesting information from their epals? Did the students follow directions?
Were the students able to make connections between rules and classroom organization?
Were the students able to navigate through zoho to create a powerpoint? Was their powerpoint organized? Did it follow the format of the unit being studied?
What was the difficulty level of the excel bar graph? Were the students able to work together to complete the activity? Were the students able to follow the written instructions to step by step create the graph? Did the students work well within their groups? Did they take turns on the computer application?

References

http://www.epals.com
http://www.zoho.com
http://www.educationworld.com