A bad example of an electronic portfolio
http://depts.washington.edu/tepacct/tucker/indexl.htm
I think there is too much information and writing on this electronic portfolio. It is very overwhelming to read. I do like the part on classroom management because I think how a teacher manages a classroom says a lot about the type of teacher they are. I wish their were more forms of artifacts other than writing. I wish he would have shown more examples of his own pieces of work he created.
A good example of an electronic portfolio
http://www.cesa8.k12.wi.us/teares/math/it/samplePort/SARAH%20B/Index.htm
I think this is a good example because it has all the aspects needed in a portfolio. It shows examples of the teachers work as well as his views and philosophy of education. I like how simple the page is to navigate around and how the sections are clearly labeled. Her background section really allows you to get to know her as a teacher and you get the feel that she truely loves what she is doing, especially with her memorable moments section. I think adding the resume was a nice touch and also the professional development peice and what she learned from each training session. I think this electronic portfolio was put together very well and is also user friendly.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Reaction to Online Presentations
I really like the way the glogster posters turn out. I actually tried to do one for my notebook project but I couldn't figure out how to work the website. I found a lot of useful and beneficial information when viewing my classmates' online presentations from the notebook project.
When viewing Adam's glogster poster, I was reminded of the importance of getting to know your students so that you can relate to them. The teachers from the meantioned study from the article Adam chose, found a way to connect with students and find out what motivates and interests them. Every student has different strengths and weaknesses and it is the teacher's responsibility to talk with the students and assess those strengths and weaknesses. Communication between teachers and their students is extremely important in the management of a classroom and I think the teachers from the study were able to communicate and connect with their students to increase the students' performance and give then a more positive outlook on their school career.
I found Kevin's narrated powerpoint very interesting. I thought it was interesting to know that the implementation of technology is slower in k-12 than in higher education. Other than my education classes taken at Albright, there has not been much technology in my college curriculum. In fact most classes were only textbook and lecture style class. I feel that there is more technology in the elementary school I am currently in and even when I was in high school, I used technology more than I did in my undergraduate classes. Yes, I used technology outside of class when checking my grades, email and typing papers. But I rarely, other than my education classes, had assignments to complete online or with technology. I found the article very interesting when comparing it to my experience.
Lisa's glogster reminded me that not all country's have access to technology for their students. I think it is important for the teachers of America to realize how much technology can add to a curriculum and there is so much technology at our fingertips that unfortunately some teachers are reluctant to use. Lisa's online presentation serves as a good reminder to be mindful of the resources that can be used in the classroom. Teacher's shouldn't be afraid to try new things because as the one note stated, technology can extend the curriculum.
When viewing Adam's glogster poster, I was reminded of the importance of getting to know your students so that you can relate to them. The teachers from the meantioned study from the article Adam chose, found a way to connect with students and find out what motivates and interests them. Every student has different strengths and weaknesses and it is the teacher's responsibility to talk with the students and assess those strengths and weaknesses. Communication between teachers and their students is extremely important in the management of a classroom and I think the teachers from the study were able to communicate and connect with their students to increase the students' performance and give then a more positive outlook on their school career.
I found Kevin's narrated powerpoint very interesting. I thought it was interesting to know that the implementation of technology is slower in k-12 than in higher education. Other than my education classes taken at Albright, there has not been much technology in my college curriculum. In fact most classes were only textbook and lecture style class. I feel that there is more technology in the elementary school I am currently in and even when I was in high school, I used technology more than I did in my undergraduate classes. Yes, I used technology outside of class when checking my grades, email and typing papers. But I rarely, other than my education classes, had assignments to complete online or with technology. I found the article very interesting when comparing it to my experience.
Lisa's glogster reminded me that not all country's have access to technology for their students. I think it is important for the teachers of America to realize how much technology can add to a curriculum and there is so much technology at our fingertips that unfortunately some teachers are reluctant to use. Lisa's online presentation serves as a good reminder to be mindful of the resources that can be used in the classroom. Teacher's shouldn't be afraid to try new things because as the one note stated, technology can extend the curriculum.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Interactive Whiteboards
I feel as though interactive whiteboards can add so much more to a lesson and a classroom curriculum. Interactive whiteboards are easy to learn as well. I knew very minimal on the smart board before our class where Mrs.Mislevy taught us all about its features. When I was working on my smartboard project, I remembered the features and I was able to navigate pretty easy around if I did forget something. With only one 3 hour class on learning about the smartboard, I was able to create my own lesson on it. I can only imagine what I will be able to do with lessons after I learn more and more about the smartboard technology. Interactive whiteboards can spice up a lesson. It can get teachers away from the typical ways of teaching and steer them away from lecturing at the students. Interactive whiteboards get the students up and out of their sits and participating in the lesson. It has been stated by many different researchers, many different times that students who are actively participating in their own learning process, learn and obtain the information more than if it was simply taught directly to them. Students have technology at their fingertips constantly and they are good with technology. They grew up with it so they get it. When technology and interactive whiteboards are added to the curriculum, they allow students to learn in ways that are familiar to them. They are feel more confident with the content material because they are confident with technology. I feel as though students would be much more engaged if interactive whiteboards were used in classrooms more often. It takes me by surprise to learn that some school districts received grant money for interactive whiteboards and they are sitting in the closet. I understand that some teachers are reluctant to learn technology but the software for interactive whiteboards is not difficult to understand and I feel as though if they gave them a try, every teacher would be fighting for one in their classroom. When I have my own classroom, I would love an interactive whiteboard. I would use it for teaching all the time. Interactive whiteboards can be used with any content area to make it more interesting and it allows the children to participate and stay engaged.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Video in the Classroom
I think video definitely has value in the classroom. Take our video project that we did in class as an example. We were given a project to use our creatively to relay a public service announcement. The video encouraged cooperative learning because it was done with a partner and we had to work together to create a video and complete the project. It teachs students how to properly use the technology that is at their fingertips. I have been at Albright for five years now and not once have I opened the programs we used to create our video before last class. It also teachs students the resources that are available. This would be a good project to teach copyright when showing students the website for free music downloads that do not have any copy rights. Video projects in classrooms go away from the traditional way of teaching and keeps learning interesting and exciting for students. And students are more likely to feel more comfortable sharing a video than doing a prepared talk. This allows them to relay the same information in a more comfortable way but still allows the teacher to assess their learning. I think video is such an awesome addition for the classroom. And the best part is that it can be used with all ages from kindergarten through post-secondary education.
When thinking about ideas where video can be incorporated into the curriclum, the idea that came to mind was teaching current events. We do this in our methods course with Doc and a great way to present current events would be to do the research and create a little news report video to share with the rest of the class to relay the information. The class could be split up into partners or small groups to complete their current event and it can be an ongoing project throughout the entire year. A group could present a current event each week to the rest of the class. I think that it would add a little spin and fun to the current event. It is more exciting than reading and then summarizing to the rest of the class what you read in the current event. Of course, like with anyhting else, there will be some challenges. Students may not have access to video cameras or the programs to create the videos, but these challenges can easily be fixed. The teacher can give classtime to record the videos and a program is not neccessarily needed to create a video. There are several other ways to use video in the classroom such as morning announcements, prepared talks, creating a video to show how to conduct a science experiment, etc. Video is a great tool to adding to the classroom curriculum for all ages.
When thinking about ideas where video can be incorporated into the curriclum, the idea that came to mind was teaching current events. We do this in our methods course with Doc and a great way to present current events would be to do the research and create a little news report video to share with the rest of the class to relay the information. The class could be split up into partners or small groups to complete their current event and it can be an ongoing project throughout the entire year. A group could present a current event each week to the rest of the class. I think that it would add a little spin and fun to the current event. It is more exciting than reading and then summarizing to the rest of the class what you read in the current event. Of course, like with anyhting else, there will be some challenges. Students may not have access to video cameras or the programs to create the videos, but these challenges can easily be fixed. The teacher can give classtime to record the videos and a program is not neccessarily needed to create a video. There are several other ways to use video in the classroom such as morning announcements, prepared talks, creating a video to show how to conduct a science experiment, etc. Video is a great tool to adding to the classroom curriculum for all ages.
Love at First Bite PSA Video Project
Wow, I feel like its been forever since I've posted on my blog. I really enjoyed working on the group (partner) video project. Minus the fact that I didn't feel good last week, it was a lot of fun to create. When we first went over the syllabus and Mrs. Mislevy went over the video project, I thought it was going to be torture. I knew nothing about creating a video and putting together photos, video clips and sound clips to create one piece and to be honest I was a little nervous about the project. Fortunately, when working on the video, it was easier than I originally thought. Even coming up with an idea didn't take Melissa and I very long. Everything just feel into place. We had to do a little research to come up with our statistic but we knew the direction we wanted to take with the PSA. It took a little longer than I thought it would. The entire project took us about 5 hours between researching, creating the storyboard, finding pictures and video clips from Twilight, recording video, recording audio, creating the audio music track and transitions. We were able to make our project fun with the constant jokes and knocks referring to the movie. It also added humor to our to topic as well. Once we had our script, there were very few changes.
First we picked a topic and did the research for the statistic. We read the script and decided what parts we were going to each read. Then we picked video clips from the Twilight movie and pictures to put in our video. Then we read the script over and decided what video clips and pictures were going to go with the certain lines in our script. We put the photos and videos in order on the computer program. Then we realized there were two places in our script that a picture wouldn't cut it for. So we decided we were going to each read one of those parts as if we were news reports so we went over to Masters Hall to video tape each other. Once we were done, we came back to upload the video and put into our PSA video. Next we recorded our audio, we each read through our lines and recorded them. We had to record a few times because of the quality of the microphone but eventually we got a recording that sounded good. Next we picked a music clip from the website and tampered with it to make it sound the way we wanted for our video. Then we had to blend the music and audio together. This took a little time because we needed to turn the audio up and the music down to hear our voices on the video. Once we got that, we realized we had to mute the music and sound from the video clips from Twilight. Next we put a title and the credits at the beginning and end of the video. And we added tranistions to tie everything together.
I wish that we would have planned our tranisitions earlier because we didn't realize that it would push our timelines around to match the clups with the sound and there were places that we were not able to use transitions because it would mess up the timeline.
Overall, I really enjoyed working on the video project and it was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be.
First we picked a topic and did the research for the statistic. We read the script and decided what parts we were going to each read. Then we picked video clips from the Twilight movie and pictures to put in our video. Then we read the script over and decided what video clips and pictures were going to go with the certain lines in our script. We put the photos and videos in order on the computer program. Then we realized there were two places in our script that a picture wouldn't cut it for. So we decided we were going to each read one of those parts as if we were news reports so we went over to Masters Hall to video tape each other. Once we were done, we came back to upload the video and put into our PSA video. Next we recorded our audio, we each read through our lines and recorded them. We had to record a few times because of the quality of the microphone but eventually we got a recording that sounded good. Next we picked a music clip from the website and tampered with it to make it sound the way we wanted for our video. Then we had to blend the music and audio together. This took a little time because we needed to turn the audio up and the music down to hear our voices on the video. Once we got that, we realized we had to mute the music and sound from the video clips from Twilight. Next we put a title and the credits at the beginning and end of the video. And we added tranistions to tie everything together.
I wish that we would have planned our tranisitions earlier because we didn't realize that it would push our timelines around to match the clups with the sound and there were places that we were not able to use transitions because it would mess up the timeline.
Overall, I really enjoyed working on the video project and it was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be.
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