My Beliefs

I feel that technology advances daily, and if I, as a teacher don't keep up with it, I will be doing myself and my students a HUGE disservice. Many teachers don't feel comfortable using technology in their classrooms, mainly because it will take too much time preparing and besides, they have taught the material enough years that it has become perfected.

This is unfortunate. I do not want to look past using technology. Thank goodness my husband is religiously interested in everything up and coming. I learn alot from him, or at least get a general interest in the new technology and he is more than willing to have my computer be a guinea pig.

The main concern for me is to make sure I use the technology in a way that will enhance a topic, and not just use it because I can. If writing 2 x 2 = 4 on the white board will suffice, I don't think I should waste extra time setting up my computer and projector to show the exact same thing. On the other hand, there are many computer games that students could "play" and end up practicing their times tables while playing an internet game... see www.prongo.com

I already am frequently asked to help out others who are having difficulty working on a computer. This is the best way to learn, since I am not remotely as stressed out as the person with the question. I can calmly assess the situation and work towards a solution. It is usually solved by the person themselves, once they talk through what's not working.

I see myself being the "go to" person (just like you, Doc Waters) to help out other teachers trying to use technology in the classroom. If it gets more teachers to be willing to try it out, then it will be worth it.

Yay for technology!

Lessons Learned

When we showed our digital story, the electrical plug on the cart which had the projector hooked up to it was very faulty. We had tested it while the kids were out to recess, but the projector only worked on that first test run.
After trying just a few troubleshooting tips, I decided to just use my laptop as the screen, and have a more intimate showing while the kids sat in the back of the classroom on the floor. My University Supervisor commented that you can never count on technology...which has helped me to learn at least two lessons.
Lesson 1: Don't base your whole lesson on technology only...always have a backup plan.
Lesson 2: Don't panic when technology doesn't work. If you need to, write down possible troubleshooting techniques (in case you panic and can't think straight in the heat of the moment). Most of the time there is a back door approach that can get you up and running just the same.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Before taking this class, I felt like I had so many strengths and very little, if any weaknesses in using technology. I have been teaching classes for Microsoft Office products and Word Perfect products for over 10 years. Because of my experience, I was allowed to test out of the technology class needed to be taken before this one. The first week in class was very eye opening. One of my weaknesses is thinking I know enough... this will never be true. btw, This week has been a whirlwind of unplanned personal time as I have needed to support my sweet mother-in-law who lives in SLC (yes, I said sweet. She is truly a gem.) is dying of Leukemia and has already lived past her 2 month time limit. Also, my 16 year old nephew (same side of the family) was in a snowboarding accident over the weekend where he was taken to Primary Children's Hospital due to two compressed vertibrate fractures. He is not paralyzed, thank goodness, but we are very close to him and I honestly totally forgot about reading so much before posting these three blogs... Having mentioned this, I didn't finish all the reading and viewing on this assignment but here is my attempt at completing this PDP assignment. Please consider giving me some credit for trying.

MY Strengths:
I am willing to try out new programs and learn something new. I have learned that most computer programs are designed to be similar to others....in where to save, how to find the main info, etc. For example, WordPerfect and Word were created to fulfill a need, and thus till have many features the same. Because of this, the user-friendly attempts in each program I have been introduced has been

I love to have the spirit of discovery. Many times I find myself nervous to test out a new computer program, but I plug through it just the same, since I always am glad that I did. My husband is the king of trying out new technology, and it has somewhat rubbed off on me.

I'm not afraid to search for help online, or using the help feature in any program.


MY Weakenesses:
As I mentioned above, I sometimes am complacent in certain programs to think I know enough about how to use that particular program. It has been eye opening to realize there are so many options the developers have put into programs that many end users never even find out about.

I need to make sure the technology I use will actually make the lesson plan better, rather than just look cool. (I am all about using cool technology which is not a weakness, but can be used incorrectly and not enhance a specific subject).

My Field Experience Learning Project Reflection

Park View Elementary School has an enrollment of 551 students. Demographic information includes: 10% American Indian, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Black. The remaining 90% is White. Almost 40% of the students qualify for free lunch. In Mrs. Ewell’s (our cooperating teacher) 4th grade classroom, there were 30 students. The classroom setup had five hexagonal-shaped tables with six students at each table.

Mrs. Ewell was pleasant and welcoming from the very beginning. She was flexible and allowed for adjusting her schedule so we could be observed when Susan Stone, the UVU University Supervisor came two different times. She included us in discussions about the student’s progress and helped us to feel we were part of the classroom. We were also allowed freedoms while teaching to utilize classroom management as we saw fit.
I don’t know exactly how Mrs. Ewell feels about the technology piece we (Jessica G. and I) created because there was a lot going on during the time we showed our digital story and she was taking care of other matters (in another classroom). The digital story was about Mountain Men and Tall Tales. This was our “hook” for a writers workshop lesson where the students would be writing their own tall tale during the last part of the lesson time.
The lesson we created was integrating social studies into the writing time scheduled for the students. Mrs. Ewell would always comment how prepared we were and that she appreciated that from us. I feel she was happy with how this lesson went and the children were very good about staying on task. The creative tall tales which were read in front of the class were fantastic! One of my favorites was about a man who could blow cheese out of his nose. This character helped out a small community from starving. What great creative minds!
The training session had to be brief due to time constraints. The day before the training session, I was permitted to install Photo Story 3 (free version) to her computer desktop. During recess break the next day, we had her sit down at the computer and actually create a digital story together with us. She selected many class pictures taken during the field trip to the Utah State Capital just days earlier. As we walked her through each step, Mrs. Ewell could see first hand how user-friendly and intuitive this software is. We had her explore in the music section and she created a fun, exciting song and attached it to her Digital Story. Later, I sent her an email with a link to the USOE folk music website. This is where we selected the songs we used on our own Digital Story. Within a few minutes she played her digital story and it looked very impressive. Her smile told us she enjoyed it too.
Being a part of this service-learning project has been a good experience. I am a believer in improving anywhere you are. Helping the teaching community utilize and understand how much more technology can enrich everyone’s life can always be a positive endeavor.
I feel my cooperating teacher gained new knowledge of this PhotoStory Program, it’s capabilities, and her ability to create one without taking up too much of her time. She was already somewhat savvy with uploading pictures from her camera to the computer. So, learning this program was naturally the next step. It was great timing for her.
I always gain enjoyment when I have been able to share some of my knowledge with someone who wants to do something easier or better. It’s even better when they realize it was beneficial to welcome change and learn something new. When you try to help others, it is important that you teach in a helpful and not condescending way. That way the person will accept the new knowledge and not feel pressured.
I feel that this assignment was definitely worth it because I don’t think any student teacher would feel confident enough to present a digital story the first time they taught in an authentic learning environment. I appreciate the opportunity and because I feel it was a success, I plan to incorporate more technology all throughout my teaching career.

Field Experience #12-Presenting the Digital Story in the Classroom

What:

This past week we were observed on Monday and we presented our Digital Story to kick off the Mountain Man Unit. Our teacher asked us to teach social studies during writers workshop time. The cart that was plugged into the wall and to the projector had faulty wiring and it was VERY frustrating to keep the cord at just the correct angle to make sure power would be continual. After a few minutes of troubleshooting, I made an executive decision to not use the projector. Moving the laptop to a back corner of the classroom, I asked the students to come sit on the floor and get to where they could see my laptop. They were extra quiet since the speakers on the laptop could only get so loud. We were also able to easily have a short discussion right after the digital story finished. It was a more comfortable setting.

So, after enjoying the digital story, we read a Tall Tale about Paul Bunyan and then asked the students to create their own tall tale. I feel the students were more focused on the assignment than usual because they had connected to the digital story more than they would have been connected to the assignment without showing the story.

Now What:

In any digital story I share in the future, I will remember to have the students not watch it from their desks. It was much more memorable and made a greater impact when the students were sitting close to the screen and sitting comfortably on the floor. (Although, I know for many adults "sitting comfortably on the floor" is an oxymoron. lol ) I was very proud of this digital story and shared it with close friends and family. Thanks for providing this experience.

Reflection # 10? or 11?

What:
This past week in field was spent teaching our 5 lesson plans to the 4th graders at Park View Elementary. This class is very social and I have learned alot!! One of the lessons was to take the students to the computer lab. During this time they were to follow instructions on their handout to take them to a specific website which tells more about government explorers (Kit Carson, John W. Powell, John Stansbury, Capt. Bonneville, etc.) Each student had been assigned a specific explorer and to become an expert on them.
So What:
I liked that the students were able to do research online in a protected setting. I hope it was liberating for them to know there is so much information available at their fingertips. We had a few not follow directions or computer login problems but that was to be expected. All in all I felt this particular lesson was a positive experience and very memorable.
Now What:
I want my future students to feel comfortable and be well informed about how to use the internet in a beneficial way to learn . We need to keep up with the times.

Reflections #9

What: Being able to meet on Monday and having the experience in the actual classroom on Wednesday was quite a transition. The first two days of field were 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and the first day was very draining. I was glad for the experience to see how a class functions for an entire day, though. The teacher used a "projector" that shows whatever paper is under the "camera" area. She especially used it during math modeling and reinstruction.

So What:
It was good to see that this school has a laptop which hooks up with a projector, and that the teacher was interested in learning about our digital story and how it was made.

Now What:
Our five lessons we have created has one which includes a WebQuest lesson for the students to use the computer lab to find out additional information about their assigned Utah explorer. It will be a great experience to teach (or review) the children how to find out information and use that ability in future assignments. I appreciate the technological advances that, when used appropriately can make teaching even better.