Final(ly) Reflection

In IT 365 we were introduced to several different types of technology. Many of which I have already used in my professional courses at the Elementary Education Program at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Kidspiration-

I had never used Kidspiration before and I enjoyed how simple, yet interactive it was to use. One of the things I loathed in Elementary School was brain storming because they wanted you to draw all of these maps and charts. That always frustrated me, but I know if Kidspiration would have been around when I was in Elementary School I probably would have had a more pleasant experience.

Rubistar-

Instead of making tables in Word or Excel, all you have to do is click a topic, then from a drop down menu select what the students will be graded on and the website fill in rest. It was so convenient, all we had to do was print from there. Any website that makes my life a little bit easier and saves me time from formatting a rubric from scratch is a winner in my book.

Quizlet-

We won't have time to make everything from scratch. We will have to adapt and borrow from what has already been made. I can search for already created sets by other users, and then use those in my classroom.

Google Groups-

I learned that Google Groups is like a morph between a chat room and a Word document. Within Google Groups a group of people can simultaneously create, share, and edit a document.

My strong point in this class would be using Blogger on Google. With in the first few days of being introduced to Blogger I had learned a few little knicks and knacks and had even followed a few of my other classmates blog for this class. The next class period after that they were all asking me "how did you do that?" and "show me how you follow some one!" 

My weak point, I think, would be integrating Assistive Technology into the class room. There are so many things a laptop or desktop is already programmed to do that would include students who may need assistance. My problem is that I do not know how to access the settings of the computer and change or activate the feature. I’m not even sure what all the features the computers already come with.

Honestly, I think the best way for me to improve on that weak area is to attend a seminar or workshop that would break it all down. Seeing it broke down into step by step of how to access each and every assistive feature already offered on the computer as well as the software that can be downloaded from the internet or purchased would help me out.

One of the ways I would integrate technology into the classroom would be to have my students keep a blog (similar to what we did for this class). During Centers Time one of the centers would be to log on to the computer and make a new blog entry in response to the book we’re reading as a class. It’s a great way in imbed literacy skills in the classroom. I would have a sample of the writing for assessment and also the parents could follow the blog at home and see how their child is progressing and what he or she is learning. 

Assistive Technology

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1nIkh8dQ3SVBEHGWkuvn4XA2VvQamcv6LqyGbLAQphLo/edit?usp=sharing

The link of above will take you to Google Slides. It is a presentation we made in class with PowerPoint. We did took several Print Screens and copy and pasted them into our Power Points. I have never done a print screen before. It is real simple. It is similar to taking a screen shot on an iPhone. Just press "Crtl" and "PrtScn" at the same time and the action will take a screen shot of the computer screen. The screen shot can then be copy and pasted as a picture. I adore that feature! It is so simple and will be really useful in a lot of arenas.

Using the Print Screen feature would be really useful in a class. If the students are learning something new on the computer using a Print Screen as a step by step tutorial would help the Visual Learners you may have in the class room. Also, a picture is worth a thousand words. If you, the teacher, are having trouble using words to explain to a student, using a Print Screen picture could be much more beneficial.

This would meet the second NETS-T standard of designing and developing digital age leaning experiences and assessments by providing students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards, and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.

Google Sites

https://sites.google.com/site/flowers3rdgradeclassroom/home

The link above will lead to a website I created using Google Sites. I have never created a website before, so I was a little stressed during this assignment. However, it turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. It is basically what my high school Trig teacher would refer to as "Plug-n-Chug". There's a basic template you can choose from (what a relief) and then plug in the information you wish to have on your website. 

Having a classroom website would be an extremely beneficial tool to have in an Elementary Classroom. As a teacher I could upload classroom rules, a schedule and even materials the students would need in the classroom. Students could log on at submit assignments to the website. Parents could log in and receive up to date information on their child's progress all year long as well as be able to learn more about person educating their child this school year.

This would adhere to the first NETS-T standard that teachers would facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity by promoting, supporting, and modeling creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness. The students learning would be supported by easy access for parental involvement. 

Movie Story

For the Movie Story assignment we used Movie Maker to to share a collection of photos from an event in our lives. The photos were to tell the story of the event. What I learned from this assignment was how to use Movie Maker. I got familiar with the software and the neat little things that it could do. I was really pleased with the way my movie turned out. What I liked about this project is that the instructor required us all to us a certain movie making software, Movie Maker. That is great strategy to use in a classroom, especially an elementary classroom.

In my AP English class senior year we were required to make a video, but the guideline were super lax; it could be however long, and we could use whatever software we wanted. Like most of my other classmates, I had never made a movie before. I was ignorant on all movie making software and techniques. When it came time to present, there were wide scale problems from about 45% of the class.

A sure fire way to cut through a vast majority of those problems is to have all the students use the same software. By using the same software, you, the teacher, will specialize in that software and be knowledgeable of all the features of that software when our students come to you with questions. Having mastery of 1 movie making software is so much more feasible than trying to maintain fundamental knowledge of multiple movie making software. This falls in line with the third NETS-T standard, to model digital age work and learning by demonstrating fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations.

Google Docs

For the Google Groups Assignment I was in a group with Emily Carroll, Kelly Johnson, and Rachel Reimsnyder. This assignment was actually really cool. We got to explore another feature from Google and Gmail. Google Groups is like a morph between a chat room and a Word document. Within Google Groups a group of people can simultaneously create, share, and edit a document.

A great way to implement Google Groups into the class room would be to use it in Literacy Circles for discussion of the book. Students would be paired in groups by choosing their preferred book from a list to read. Then, each group would create a Google Group using the name of the teacher and the name of the book and then discuss. Different types of discussion would be hypothesizing what might happen next, compare and contrast 2 characters, what message was the author trying to convey, or to discuss parts of the book that the reader didn't understand.

Using the Google Groups to discuss parts of the book the reader didn't understand meet the 1st NETS-T standard Facilitate and inspire students learning and creativity by promoting student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students conceptual understanding and thinking.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1s-oU0ciZydv-zz3M-XKBlAZ9dVKnOHS9Mu8I06KSSz8/edit?usp=sharing

Web Tools

There are so many web sites and downloadable software that are available for teachers and students to use. This week we worked with some different Web Tools. We found websites where we could download free worksheets for the classroom. There was a website, Eclispecrossword.com, where we could basically make our own crossword.

On rubistar.4teachers.org we made our own Rubric. I was so pleased with this website. Instead of making tables in Word or Excel, all you have to do is click a topic, then from a drop down menu select what the students will be graded on and the website fill in rest. It was so convenient, all we had to do was print from there. However, by far what I am most impressed with is Quizlet.com. In Quizlet we signed up for our own account and then made a test on whatever subject we wanted. I chose Spanish   to English definitions. This website, though, would be so valuable and time saving for when I become a teacher. Which is the point, I think, of this lesson: as teachers, we're going to be so busy all the time. We won't have time to make everything from scratch. We will have to adapt and borrow from what has already been made. I can search for already created sets by other users, and then use those in my classroom. The same thing applies to worksheets from ABCteach.com. It’s like what my mom has always told me, “Work smarter, not harder!”

Turn It In

Turn It In (turnitin.com) is a website that students and teachers can use to submit work and view submitted work, respectively. Turn It In is a great tool to ensure academic honesty.

In the assignment this week we were instructed to copy and paste information directly from a website and then submit it on turnitin.com. After submission the site scans to see if any work is plagiarized. Turn It In will give you a percentage and it's kind of like Golf; the lower the better. Since we copied and pasted my plagiarism score came back at 98%. For the second part of the assignment we were to summarize and paraphrase the same content we orginally copied and pasted and compare it to our new summarised report score. Mine came back at 2%. The acceptable percentage was set by the teacher at 20%. So at 2%, that's well within the acceptable level, so I left my report the way it was.

It's an amazing tool for students because students will get a report back that shows them how much of their work is plagiarized and what parts they need to change or reword. Even if the plagiarism score is not 0% it doesn't necessarily mean you will get a failing grade and be penalized for plagiarizing. Most teachers set their acceptable plagiarism percentage around 20%. For the teachers it's an extremely useful tool because Turn It In informs them when students work is being plagiarized. Teachers have the capability to go in and change the acceptable percentage for each assignment, then once the assignments are in they can choose to ignore certain plagiarism marks if they don't feel that it's really a problem. For example, say I quoted something from CNN.com and even though I included quotation marks and a parenthetical citiation, I still gor marks for plagiarizing. Well, the teacher, when grading, can choose to ignore certain marks.