Final Class Overview

Overall this class has been very enlightening. It has shown me that their is still a lot about technology that I have not grasped yet. This has caused me a little bit of frustration at times but I am sure that it will all make me a better teacher in the end. The fact that it has never been hard to get extra help has made things much less overwhelming. I feel that this class is extremely important and that all future teachers should take it. Whether we like it or not, technology is becoming more and more apart of our lives everyday. Future generations of students will be much more adapted to a technology driven world and technology in the classroom will be the most effective way for them to learn.

Website Project

The website project will become very useful as I begin my teaching career. Creating a website such as this one will be a very useful tool for my students to use. It can be used for classroom announcements, a teacher bio, and other tools that parents can use to monitor their student's progress. I have already seen the websites of current teachers that know. They have been very useful for them.

Movie

Movie Maker Assignment

The movie maker assignment was very interesting. I think this will be very useful in helping students to understand various concepts because it provides them with visual examples. This is important because with every passing generation students are becoming more and more visually and digitally based. As teachers, it will be up to us to adapt to the needs of the students of future generations and put the material into formats that will be the most effective in helping them learn.

Lesson Plan

The topic I chose for my lesson plan is understanding the concept of federalism. I incorporated the inquiry based learning activity from earlier in the course. This will require use of the school's computer lab. The concepts that I want students to grasp include how the Constitution divides power between the federal government and the state governments, what some of these specific powers are, and that the Constitution denies power to one level of government or all of them. This lesson will require independent study which will lead to greater understanding.

Spreadsheets

I think that spreadsheets are a very useful tool for classrooms of all subject areas. Many people believe that they are only useful for math but they are useful in both social studies and science as well. Examples of how they can be used in social studies include having students name state capitals, the positions of political parties, or the locations of certain historical events. Spreadsheets allow students to practice and affirm their own understanding of the material. If the spreadsheet is web based, the students can test their understanding anytime they have access to the internet.

Inspiration Project

This is my Inspiration project. I based on the concept of federalism. I displayed 3 examples of both the powers of the federal government and of the state governments. I also included 3 examples of things that both the federal and state governments are prohibited to do. This is a very useful visual aid. I could also use this for US History classes as well as US Government.

Digital Scavenger Hunt

I thought the digital scavenger hunt was a very helpful activity in using digital cameras. It also gave me a very creative and fun idea to use with students. When students are assigned an activity such as this one it gives them a chance to unwind and have a little bit of fun while still learning a valuable skill. It also gives them an opportunity for them to be creative themselves in what images they decide to use in their scavenger hunt. Overall, I thought the activity was very useful both for this class and to use in the future.

Digital collection

teacherscorner.net Winter Olympics

This is a great website for collaborating ideas. It allows students and teachers to share useful activities on certain subject areas. The particular activities on this website concern the Winter Olympics which can really capture the interest of young students concerning foreign nations. This can also help them to gain understanding and appreciation of other cultures. All in all, the website is very well organized and easily navigable.

Learning Activity Assignment

I have selected United States Government standard 4.0 for my learning activity assignment. The topic of this standard is Governance and Civics. I will specifically address learning expectation 4.6. The topic of this LE is understanding the concept of federalism. This will be very interesting as it covers a subject that is central to American Democracy.

First Impression of Webquests

My first impression of Webquests is a good one. When properly created and organized they can be a very useful tool for having students complete projects on certain subject areas. I feel that they would be most useful if they contained various multimedia programs such as videos and audio files. I feel that these are much more effective than just text or links to other websites. Students are so used to using websites such as youtube and audio files that they would be more likely to take interest in an assignment that involved these programs.

Wikis in the Classroom

Wikis are a valuable tool for connecting with students outside of the classroom. They are a very effective way of providing students access to various websites that they can use for their course work. They can also be used to post various other items that will be used during the class such as study guides. Wikis are very easy to use and are very easy to edit when necessary. I would recommend them to any current or prospective teacher.

Website Evaluation Reflection

The website review activity will help me in my teaching career in a variety of ways. It will help me to evaluate websites on how effective they are in helping K-12 students learn the curriculum that has been assigned to them and to consider all aspects of the website before doing so. The activity also taught me that, while unofficial websites may contain some good information, it is important to usually take them with a grain of salt as they may contain some inaccurate information.
The activity also reminded me that some websites do contain some images that may be too graphic for K-12 students and would need parental approval before the students could view the website.

New Blogger

Hello, welcome to my tech blog. This is the first ever blog I have ever posted. I never thought I would end up doing this but sometimes school changes things. Just creating this blog has already made me more open to blogging and I am now very excited about using this blog for the rest of the semester.