Personal Learning Reflection

Learning about UDL guidelines and applying them to the Weather Report lesson I created was very beneficial for me in learning about effective teaching strategies. These guidelines really opened my eyes to how technology can be such a huge asset in a lower elementary classroom. In a lower elementary classroom you have such a variety of reading levels, so the simple tool of text to speech is very valuable. I really liked the website Vozme, and I also loved the feature included in powerpoint to add a sound recording. This is such a great tool to use and takes a frustration out of learning for some students. Another thing I learned about effective teaching strategies was the importance of reaching the TPACK “sweet spot” by blending knowledge of technology, pedagogy, and content when creating a lesson. After evaluating the TPACK webquest it was interesting that a lesson may be strong in content, but very weak in other areas, such as technology. The strongest lessons were those that addressed and blended all three areas.

Finding effective ways to integrate technology in a lower elementary classroom has been one of my main goals. After learning to create a StAIR, and creating my own StAIR for learning coin values, I have found that this is a very valuable tool for a lower elementary class. A StAIR is a great way to create a teacher guided activity and incorporate tutorials, online activities, or videos, while still allowing students to work independently. This is definitely something I will use in my classroom.

A new goal I have for myself is to be conscience of the UDL guidelines, as well as TPACK, as I create lessons. Making a few changes to a lesson to incorporate more UDL and blending the content, pedagogy, and technology will make my lesson plans much stronger.

Online Teaching Experience

In a lower elementary classroom an online experience that would work well with students is a webquest. Webquests can be used to teach any content area, and can also be used to teach cross curricular. The focus could be on science or social studies, but also ask students to incorporate some reading and writing tasks. When using a webquest students are able to see a task defined for them, the teacher can even model an example of the task, and then students have interactive practice through games, or use other internet resources, where they apply what they have learned.

One technology that might be harder to use with lower elementary students is interactive discussions with experts. I believe this would be a challenge due to the lack of an actual person coming to the classroom and the short attention span of lower elementary students. Another online experience that might be challenging is an online project. I feel it would be very overwhelming for students to learn how to organize all the information to create an online project.

Wiki Lab

I created a wikispace to describe the curriculum in second grade: Wikispace This could be used for parents to view throughout the year.

On wikipedia I added a little information about my school, Central Grade. I wanted to share how large the school is, so I added the amount of students and the different classrooms in the building.

UDL Checklist

Using a first/second grade weather lesson plan I created I analyzed my lesson using the UDL checklist. I was surprised to find some wonderful ways to enhance my lesson plan.

UDL Checklist

MERLOT Evaluation

STAIR Elapsed Time

Quality of Content:
Provided is a STAIR activity for students to practice elapsed time. Students are able to practice a variety of elapsed time problems and also watch a youtube video modeling how to solve elapsed time problems. This is a great reinforcement and practice of an important concept for students to grasp in second/third grade.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching-Learning Tool:
This STAIR would be beneficial to use as a reinforcement tool and/or drill practice of elapsed time. Students need to have a basic understanding of telling time before learning about elapsed time. This would be a great tool for students to use to apply the curriculum to “real-life” problems. After using this material, students should have a greater understanding of how to solve elapsed time problems and strategies to do so.
Ease of Use:
This STAIR is very easy to use. Students are asked an elapsed time question and if they answer correctly they move to the next question. If they answer incorrectly a helpful hint is provided for each wrong answer that addresses why the student possibly chose that answer. Students click a return arrow to try the question again or, if answered correctly, click a forward arrow to move on.

Personal Learning Reflection

One thing I have learned about effective teaching strategies when using technology are all the options to incorporate collaboration and teamwork through technology. Using technology can be an effective way to meet many different learning styles, especially students who learn well through collaborating. Another important thing I have learned is how important it is to use technological tools appropriately and use them to enhance learning, not just use them. I loved how this course was setup to use a variety of technological tools, but always with a higher goal of learning in mind. For example, we were asked to collaborate with a group to create our SIG proposal and used Google docs to do so.

The use of the Internet has helped me grow my personal learning network and find some wonderful tools to use in the classroom. One of my favorite lessons was learning about the RSS reader through Google. I have always wondered about the additional tabs in my gmail account, but never knew how to use them. I am glad I had the opportunity to explore Google reader, calendar, and documents in this course. The RSS reader has helped me stay more connected to educational issues & follow educational blogs that include wonderful teaching ideas; all with little effort.

I believe the assignment that exemplifies good teaching with technology was my SIG project. The group I worked with created a presentation about Storybird. For a lower elementary classroom it can be difficult to find appropriate technology that students can use as an effective tool, but Storybird does just that. First, my group collaborated on a Google document for our SIG proposal. I loved being able to work on one document together, and with such ease. At one point, two classmates happened to be working on the document at the same time as me and we were able to start a chat about what we were working on. The ability to collaborate on a document all at once is very neat. Second, the ability to collaborate on creating a Storybird for our presentation was great. I love the idea that two students can be at different computers and collaborate on one story.

Because the school year has ended, I have not been able to meet many of the goals set in my Personal Growth Plan. I absolutely plan to begin the next school year with two of my goals in place. First, I will begin the school year by collecting parent emails to use Google docs for newsletters. Second, while viewing the SIG presentations I was very intrigued to learn more about the capabilities of Moodle. One goal I had was to use more online tools for homework. I would like to assign more online homework opportunities and quizzes for students and parents to work together on at home. Learning more about Moodle for me is taking an aspect of an old goal and now creating a new goal to explore Moodle and find what aspects would be beneficial in a lower elementary classroom. Another goal that was not met in this course was to learn more about the capabilities of excel. This is a great tool as teacher to collect data and drive instruction, and also a great tool for students to input and graph data.

Learning Style

After taking the learning styles quiz I scored the highest in intrapersonal. This didn’t surprise me because I am very independent, self-reflective, and introverted person and learner. Even today as a teacher I learn best by doing, then reflecting on what I learned and how I can improve. In school I struggled with classes that were focused on lecture and whole group discussions. I never wanted to participate because it wasn’t “my thing.” I still remember dropping my junior year economics class because each class was a lecture. I was learning nothing from his class and was panicking that I would not pass. I learn best when a concept is modeled and I can independently practice the concept directly after learning it.

Meeting the needs of all my students can be difficult. I focus on having a variety of activities in a given unit and making the culmination of the unit meet all learning styles. If a lesson can include ways to meet the needs of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners I will try to incorporate them all into a lesson. I think the most important thing is allowing choice within lessons. During reader’s workshop in my classroom students have the opportunity to read with partners, read individually, and also meet with me in a group setting to learn reading strategies and have discussions about books within their groups. I have a variety of manipulatives available such as retell ropes and wooden checkmarks to practice checking for understanding to support kinesthetic learners.

Creative Commons

Photo Attribution:
Original Image: Waterfall in Donegal, Ireland
Image URL: Waterfall
By: Becky
Creative Commons License

Reflection: I like to incorporate images into many aspects of my teaching. The waterfall image above could be used during a water unit to discuss how water flows and takes the shape of the space it is in. When creating powerpoint or prezi presentations I like to incorporate images from the web to give the audience a visual example.




View Image

PC Maintenance & Security

Which tutorial did you choose?
1. Blocking spam in gmail
2. Installing RoboForm
3. Exploring the settings of Firefox

What was one thing you learned that you will definitely be sharing with others?
1. I learned how to filter emails. I never knew you could choose specific email addresses and have any messages from that email filtered to spam, deleted, or moved directed to an archived area.
2. RoboForm is a great way to store all your logins. I have a file at home where I have all my logins and passwords written down, but this is a great way to keep them safe electronically.
3. After learning about RoboForm it was great to see another way to store logins and passwords. I like that Firefox has the master password option so your computer is still protected if someone gets access to it.

Was there any information that surprised you?
In all three tutorials I was most surprised by not knowing about these features. It is amazing how much is available through gmail and also through Mozilla Firefox. I think I will take some time and explore each of these further.

Getting Things Done

I started my Getting Things Done process on a Monday when I was feeling overwhelmed by the tasks for CEP 810 and also the week ahead in my own second grade classroom. I have always been one to write down a “to-do” list, so this activity was right up my alley.
I organized my process by sticking with paper and pencil because there is something very pleasing to me about crossing a task off my list. I might try an alternative and paper free method eventually, but feel I would have a hard time not being able to physically cross off a completed task.
It was a little different and time consuming going through this process the first time. I read through each task and made some notes about each one. Next step was to organize each task. I don’t usually add dates to my list, but this was the most helpful part for me. Visually seeing which activities needed to be done and when was very helpful and put my mind at ease.
I feel the process was very beneficial for me. As soon as I wrote down my tasks for the week I felt a weight lifted from me. I have noticed during my first year of teaching that I am responsible for remembering a lot of things! Writing tasks down is very necessary for me. The added step of organizing helped put priority on certain tasks, specifically ones that had a due date.
I will continue using the GTD process. The quote included in the activity by David Kekich, “Anxiety is caused by a lack of control, organization, preparation, and action,” is very true in my life. I never go into a day of teaching unorganized or unprepared because I get high anxiety and feel out of control. This process helps me ensure all tasks get completed and I can feel prepared and ready for each day.

Social Networks

Social networks can be used in a variety of ways professionally and personally. With the options of school choice growing, social networks can help parents and students gain awareness of different schools. The use of a social network to promote the school or district you teach in can be very powerful. Social networks are also a great way for parents to stay involved and make a building have a greater feeling of community when everyone is connected.
On a personal level I found a great connection with a quote in the article, “Social Networking Goes to School.” The author discusses how teachers can use social networks to find new teaching ideas worldwide and not feel so isolated to their classroom. I find this very true. Facebook allows me to listen to co-workers in my building and other buildings share teaching ideas or even just share a funny story from their day. It is great to have such an easy way to connect and network with each other. As a lower elementary teacher I don’t push for my students to be involved in social networks, but I think it would be great to have a classroom facebook page for parents and students to follow.

RSS

I have included a screenshot of my google reader home page, as well as a comment I made on a blog called "Two Writing Teachers."

Since beginning my RSS page I have been following several feeds daily. One RSS page is Michigan Education and Schools found at MLive.com. It has been interesting to hear about the many perspectives of Snyder’s proposed cuts to school aid funding. Almost daily there is an article about a school district fighting back in some way, such as the article, “Bay City teachers hope to change minds at ‘Grade-In.’ Unfortunately the daily articles on MLive are mostly about budget cuts, potential layoffs, and an occasional general education update. Another favorite page I have been reading daily is a blog called Two Writing Teachers. Each day the blog has a different feel to it. Yesterday’s post was entitled “Words that are Speaking to me.” This included an inspirational quote by Dodinsky, which read, “Today, fill your cup with sunshine and laughter.” A few days prior there was a post about misused apostrophes and clever ways to teach the importance of proper apostrophe use to your students. I love following this blog because you never know what you’re going to get when you check in each day.
I have really enjoyed following my Google reader pages. It has become a new part of my daily routine to check in with at least a few of my favorite pages. By following the ISTE Connects news feed I have learned about several inspiring ways to use technology in the classroom. The Two Writing Teachers blog has taught me some great writing mini-lessons to incorporate into writer’s workshop. Last Monday, Ruth, from The Two Writing Teachers, included a very invigorating blog post about a wonderful way to encourage her students to continue writing throughout the summer. The lesson felt so powerful to me that I plan to give it a try this week. What I have learned the most from creating my Google reader account and following several news feeds is that my personal learning network can continue to grow in so many ways, and there are so many great resources right at my fingertips.
I haven’t quite figured out how I would incorporate the capabilities of a RSS reader page into a second grade classroom, but I think it would be great to use in an upper elementary classroom. Students could subscribe to the local newspaper or their favorites sports newsfeed. Students could check in each week and write a response to what they read. As mentioned above I feel I will learn so much about myself and continue to find new ideas to use in my classroom by checking my RSS pages daily.

810 Blogging Lab

Blogs and traditional web pages have only a few differences. Blogs, originating from the term web log, is simply a website organized by blog posts (Blogs in Plain English).  Blogs are generally written by an individual person, and are formatted as a series of entries or posts in chronological order. A traditional web page mainly remains the same, where a blog is updated often with new posts. Blogs become a discussion through comments, where as a traditional web page does not have the option for discussion.