Week 15

The other day I could hear my 12 year old son talking in the other room.  The only thing that made me go see what he was doing was I knew there was no other person in the room with him.  When I came in the room I saw him playing his Nintendo DS.  I asked him who he was talking to.  He immediately got mad and yelled "Mom you ruined my tutorial!"  I asked him what he was doing, he said he was making a video on his ipad for his friends on how to capture a special character in his Pokemon game.  I apologized and left the room.  It was then that I realized that he was actually making a flipped video for his friends. 15 weeks ago I would not have been able to tell you what a flipped video was or why teachers or anybody would use them.  I don't think I have ever talked to my sons about making flipped videos, or about how they are used.  I thought it was just ironic that he actually was creating one.  Ironic that I have been learning about how to make one and how they are used in school and that he just knows how to create one and he was doing it to help his friends to get better at a video game.  This showed me that children are using this technology and it is second nature for them to learn from a video.  I think about him learning a new dance or how to do almost anything by watching a flipped video.  I guess the old proverb is correct.  It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

Here is about a minute clip from his tutorial on how to catch a legendary Pokemon.

I hope this clip works, I trip to capture a portion of the 15 minute video then email to myself and then upload it to blogger.  I am still learning how to use technology.

Week 14

When I was in middle school I was able to get a pen pal from Scotland.  Eileen and I kept in touch all the way through high school and lost touch when she moved to a new school.  I learned so much about Scotland, and how different the educational system is there.  I also realized that Eileen were different but also very similar.  We had similar fears about the future and about relationships with boys and peers.  Our tastes in music and fashion differed but that did not stop us from sharing our lives with each other.  I also had pen pals from Trinidad and Sweden.  Neither one of them had the connection I had with Eileen.  When we talked about the Epals website, it brought me back to the excitement I would get when I would receive a letter from any of my pen pals.  Social media has made the world seem so small but I still think it is important for people to still make that personal connection with another person through letters.  Epals though was not just a website about writing letters to other students in another country, it was a way for teachers to bring other cultures, histories, and stories into a classroom.  While we were exploring the site, I was amazed as how many different activities and lessons that could be done from this website.  Another great site to add to my wiki to have as a resource for my future classes.  I would love to see a student make a connection like I did with my pen pal/friend Eileen.

Week 13

The Wednesday that we met with Aida for class, I was hoping to get more of chance to know this students.  I guess I was hoping to find out what they are hoping for in the future.  I used to work with minority girls in program called Girls in the House with a non-profit called Journey House.  I can remember that these girls had hopes and dreams but then never acted on them.  Most of the time it felt something that was unobtainable.  I try to be the catalyst to have the girls see that those hopes and dream were reachable. It would take an incredible amount of work and I never hid that from them.  It is something that has always broke my heart, to see children or even people give up on their dreams.  I always want to help them and try to make them see that there is hope.  I want give all the children that walk into my classroom hope for a brighter future.
I only worked at Journey House for a year but after the Wednesday night with those eight graders I thought back and wondered if a program like this would have helped them.  In that year, I had 8-10 girls ranging in ages from 12-17.  I remember taking them to Waukesha County Technical College for a Career Day.  I remember the girls being anxious and nervous.  I remember that they had to take a computerized test that would help them develop an idea of what careers fit with their answers.  So many of them did not know what they would do after high school.  Many of them talked openly about having a baby or working at the local gas station or restaurant.  Many of the fears were of not belonging.  If they had a baby then they would always have a connection with their mothers or with the father of their baby or even with other girls who had become teen mothers.  Many of them stated that their mothers did not approve of them going on to school because that was not what women of their ethnic background did. (the majority of this girls were Hispanic and few were African-American).  I felt guilt much of the time working with these girls.  I was lucky that I had role models and mentors that believed in me and my dreams.  My parents did not go to college.  My mother married almost 3 months after graduating high school.  My father didn't finish high school he enlisted in the Army as soon as he could.  But that never stopped them from believing in me.  Maybe that is way I want to be that person who believes in someone when they have no one else.  I believe hopes and dreams are what keep pushing people to do their best.  It is the cheerleader in me.

Week 12

I have been working in a 5 year old kindergarten room and recently they began working on a Social Studies project.  The project was introducing them to maps and locations that can be made on a map.  It was very simple.  The teacher read the book daily.  After she read the book the students would then create a map.  The first map was of their bedroom.  The next day it was their house.  Every day it got a little bigger.  The kindergarteners focused on room, house, town, state, country, and planet.  I thought this would be a great way for second grades to use technology and introduce a few more locations that are important to know.  So being inspired by the kindergarten lesson.  I created for my fourth lesson plan a Me on the Map.  I integrated technology by having the students use Google Earth to find all the locations need to create their own Me on the Map book.  I know I could have had them create a tour using Google Earth but I honestly was having trouble myself navigating it.  I have in the pass created a Lit. Trip using Google Earth but I really struggled with that also.  As I created this lesson, I was thinking of so many other ways that students could use Google Earth in a Social Studies curriculum.  I know that I need to "play" with it more so I can overcome some of my own technical difficulties with it.  I think that is my problem with much of the new technology that I have encountered is finding time to actually work with and figure out all the ins and outs of it.  Maybe on my Summer off between this semester and student teaching.

Week 11

This week I had many conversations that related to things that we had discussed in class.  I was listening to conversation between friends the other night.  One works in Human Resources and the other in Customer Services they were discussing about how the attitude of the younger generation has affected getting employees with good work ethic.  They were discussing how potential employees dress for interviews but the Human Resource friend was stating her and her companies biggest problem is that technology.  Employees feel that they have the right to bring their own devices to work and that it is their right to be connected to technology during working hours, especially non-work related.  I know that I am guilty of checking email, texts and sometimes Facebook when it is not appropriate.  But I was surprise that the words she used is that it is their right.  Is this something that we are teaching the entitlement of technology?  She questioned how it should be regulated.  How do schools that have bring your own device deal with Facebook, Instagram,  and all the other social media? I love technology but how do you get away from the constant social media connections.

I came across an article entitled  27 Tips For Becoming A Digital Teacher.  It had this wonderful picture of the characteristics of a modern day teacher. The website Edudemic is a neat website filled with many articles for students and teachers interested in education and technology.

Week 10

As I read chapter 10 on Literacy in Social Studies, I kept reflecting on the fact that I love going to the library with my sons. We love to browse the stacks looking at all sorts of things. I think about easy it is to find books that relate to almost any subject. I have picture books at home that relate to math concepts, health concepts, science concepts and social studies concepts. Some of the books are non-fiction but most are fiction books that concepts can be drawn from. In my lesson, I use a picture book to engage the students into thinking about different types of communities the characters in the story live in. This not only helps the students work on comprehension because they need to recall the events, characters and the details of the settings in the story, but it gives the students an idea of the aspects the different communities in our world have. In the lesson I have the students compare and contrast the communities from the story by using a Venn Diagram. The beginning of this lesson is all started by reading a children's. picture book.

I have seen many different ways teachers have used books, fiction & nonfiction, picture & chapter books to help students dig deeper into their social studies curriculum. It seems like a natural fit.

Week 9

I love Geography.  I loved learning all about other countries and capitols in school.  I know that I am by no means an expert on the subject of Geography however I still to this day love maps and books about other countries, states, rivers, mountain ranges etc.  I am not a world traveler either.  Although it is on my bucket list to travel through Europe, Asia, Africa, Austratlia, and South America.  (I have no real desire to go to South or North Pole)  It surprises me how many people can't identify the 7 continents on a map.  I just read a story about a professor that gives her Sociology students a pop quiz on the 7 continents. (Read the Article and watch her video) She now requires this map primary test to pass her class. I think that there are several politicians and even news reporters that need to take this test.  There are several times I have been watching a news program and have seen a geographical error.  I can't believe that a politician who discusses foreign policy does not have his or her fact checker give them correct geographical information (.  It seems like a simple subject to learn and teach.  It just also seems to be a subject that many chose to forget, when it is a very important subject to know for everyday life.  Here is Mitt Romney (I am not looking for a political debate just trying to show how important it to learn geography) in the presidential debate that Syria is Iran's only route to the sea.  I think he needs a refresher course on the middle east geography. :)

Here are some funny pictures and cartoons I found:

Look closely that is not the state of Wisconsin in between Braun & Rodgers. This is ESPN reporting!

Week 8

I grew up in a large city but went to small public schools.  I remember that my grandfather was horribly prejudice.  I remember him complaining about the indians, hispanics, and the african americans that lived near and around his small northern town.  I remember having discussions with my parents about things that he would say.  I never could understand why he hated these people.  My parents grew up in that area and I wondered how I was able to have a better understanding of people of other cultures, skin color, and ethnicity.  I remember being fearful of what my grandfather would say at my high school graduation party.  I had & still have friends from high school that were Native American, African American and Hispanic.  But to me they were just Lara, Deanna, Mike, Jeff, Ron, Ed, and Vonnie.  I remember being scared that my grandfather would affect my friendship with these people, by saying something hurtful to one of them.    I knew that the things he said did not relate to my friends.  I never understood why he said the hurtful things about these people.  Did he think that he was entitled to do this because he was white?  I just never understood it.  My mom always said that there were good people in all cultures, and there were bad people in all cultures.  She always told me that I was not to judge a person on the color of their skin or on their religion or anything that may be different than myself.  She said that I should judge people on their character.

I have tried to live by what she has told me.  I have also tried to raise my sons the same way.  After 9/11 I have to admit I harbored strong feelings toward people from Arab countries and Islamic people.  Then I had the chance to meet up with an old college friend, who reminded me of my mom's wisdom.  Tarique Al-Iesa came to the US when his parents divorced.  His mom chose to live here while his father remained in Kuwait.  Tarique and I became friends.  He was a basketball player.  We talked and learned a lot from each other about our differences and similarities.  We were at a basketball game the night the US bombed Kuwait on January 17, 1991.  He shared with me his fears, and his hopes that night as we both ended up glued to the tv.  Tarique was scared for his father who owned a large construction company in Kuwait.  Tarique's extended family were prominent citizens of the country.  He fear for their safety. We spent a lot of time talking over the course of the next few years.  After he graduated from college, he got a job working in Saudi Arabia as physical education teacher at an international school.  He also coaches basketball.  I have lost touch with him.  But he and his family reminded me that there are good and bad people and that I could not hate one group for the someone's actions.  I try hard to remember my mom's wisdom.  I believe it is that wisdom and the experiences of the people I have met that will guide me as I teach children in our multicultural schools.

Week 7

I remembered looking at wikis and different web2.0 pages during our technology class, I honestly looked at the wikis and then threw it in the back of my mind.  After creating one in class, I find myself using it to add resources for the future.  I also like the to try the Sqworl site to organize my bookmarks and have the access to them anywhere.  I haven't been able to look throughly at it but it really interest me.
The more I  use the wiki I can see where I could use it personally and professionally.  I can see how it can be a resource for me to communicate with parents and to provide them with information and resources for their children.  I don't think that it is the most attractive technology, but then sometimes I find myself caught up on the aesthetics of something than the usefulness of it.

There was a plethora of web 2.0 pages to look at.  I could have perused all of them.  There seems to be so many options for the same process with different options.  I felt overwhelmed and intrigued all at the same time.  How does one choose on which one to use, for example Wordle or Tagxedo?  Where to find the time to explore them all?  I can see how it all be used in teaching Social Studies and also applying it to other parts of the curriculum.  Technology is amazing.  I wish I would have had access to all this as student in middle school or high school, but the Apple IIe computers were the new technology when I started middle school.  I am excited to use all of this information in my future!

Week 6

I am so excited!!!  Something I learned in this class I actually was able to use as I taught.  I have been doing my field experience (TCH602) in a 4th grade class.  The cooperative teacher asked me to teach a unit on weather.  I have been planning my observed lesson.  I want to incorporate technology into my unit.  On Saturday, I was struggling with making a Smart Board lesson.  As I sat trying to make it interesting, I thought there has to be a better way.  Then I had an A-HA moment...I thought I could make a Prezi!  I found a template and even an example of one that was close to what I had in mind.  I created the Prezi in no time.  I wanted add more animation and twists and turns, but decided that I couldn't take too much time fooling around with it.  I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.

On Monday, I taught the lesson.  The students and the cooperative teacher thought it was great!  The Smart Board & Prezi portion of my lesson went great.  However after the lesson I thought it may have been possible that I overwhelmed the students with too much information.  I went into the classroom today, I started off today having the students orally review what we learned on Monday.  I was so excited to hear them recall a majority of the information that we went over on Monday.  I guess it was more overwhelming for me.

My cooperating teacher asked me how easy it was to make the Prezi.  She was interested in using in for other lessons.  She even asked if she could use the Prezi I made for the class.  WOW!!!    Thanks for introducing me to the great technology.

Here is my Prezi:   Introduction to Clouds

Week 5

I am excited about all the technology that we are learning and how we can implement into the classrooms.  Amber and I created a lesson around animoto.  I was surprised how easy it was to use.  I got excited by how to use it in the classroom and how I could even use it in my personal life!

As I read chapter 4, I kept thinking about the difficult task of establishing National Curriculum for Social Studies.  Social Studies is a such a broad subject field.  Plus, I think it difficult to narrow down what we want children to learn in this subject.  Although I as a teacher find it hard to write lessons without standards.  I know each school district and state has their own, but as I started writing the lesson with Amber.  I  again was focused on writing for a 4th grade, because that was the standards we had.  I also found it hard to zero in on what we wanted to teach students.  We finally did narrow it down.  We had so many ideas.

I had another thought about standards and Social Studies.  At my son's school the teachers have done a lot of units where they incorporate the standards for ELA along with teaching Social Studies.  Students seem to love the units when these subjects are integrated.  It seems easy to teach Social Studies along with a book that is set in history.  The teachers have immersed the students in the history, geography, and social aspects of the books. It just seems like a great way to learn and a great way to combine subjects.

Week 4

I am a person that is constantly asking questions.  When I was in high school I was on the newspaper staff, I never had a problem finding questions to ask during interviews.  I love the fact that inquiry is about asking questions and researching to find the answers.  I love that Science and Social Studies are both looking at inquiry as a way to learn.  I have always had the desire to learn and to keep learning by looking deeper at things.  Sometimes I could sit for hours researching a subject and not just using technology.  I am a library person, I love looking through the stacks and search for different subjects and paging through the books.  I do love the technology side of research and answering the questions I seek answers to.  I hope that I can bring that love for inquiry to my students.

In class, I had so much fun putting together our tutorial video for glogster.  It was easier than I thought. I am unsure though how all this technology fits into the grade levels I am hoping to teach.  It seems like Glogster, Prezi and even the Project Based Learning seems geared to grades 5th grade up.  I can see using some of these for a presentation for students but I am not sure if I can see it actually being used by the students.  I love the thought of Project Based Learning.  It seems like a huge undertaking but I think that it gives students an amazing way to learn.  I did watch some videos where the students were of lower grades.  It seems that the teacher needs to collaborate with many others to make the learning work.  Just watching some of the videos of the teachers planning this takes immense amount of time.  Add in that teachers are now going to have to make sure that they are meeting the standards.

Week 3

In our last class, I again realized how hard it is to narrow down a subject or a standard in order to make a lesson that will not be overwhelming to students. When we finally settled on the big idea, I felt that the lesson started to come together. I can only hope that it ends up working like we intended.

After reading chapter 2, I realized that I often reflect on my teaching. I complain about having to write reflections to the point of saying that I am not good at reflecting. I know that I do reflect, how I could improve lesson after I have taught it. I find that I reflect quite often when I have been subbing in a classroom many time. I try to figure out how I could have possibly explained subject better or taught a lesson differently. When subbing it is hard to know what the students prior knowledge is on any given subject, sometimes you are unable to assess students prior knowledge. I also find it hard when I sub that I know what has been previously taught or how it has been taught. There are so many different strategies that can be possibly taught.

I also reflect on my classroom management styles. Being a substitute, is not easy. Each class has different rules, schedules, and dynamics. It aways amazes me how students crave their rules, schedules, and routines when their teacher is absent. I reflect on how I handle many different situations that I encounter as I teach. I am not always privileged to know all the dynamics and rules of each classroom I enter. Teachers are do not always have the ability to leave detailed notes regarding their classroom. Sometimes when I discover things that may pertain to how I would have handed a situations, I reflect on how I could have been more intuitive to the situation.

I tend to reflect even to the point of over analyzing situations. Sometimes I think of many different outcomes. I do discuss some of my situations with other teachers. I love getting other ideas.

I believe that as a teacher it is essential to reflect but it is also important to teach students to be reflective. I love making students to reflect on what they have learned. Sometimes while students are reflecting students can see that they actually understood what has been taught. I enjoy seeing that they had an A-HA moment. To me seeing the A-HA moment is one of the best things about being a teacher. During reflection however students and teachers can assess that they need more explanation or need for the teacher to re-teach or revise the lesson.

Reflection maybe not be my favorite thing to write about, but I know that it is vitality important to learning and growing.

"There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge... observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination. "
Denis Diderot

Week 2

I can say that I feel like I am on information overload.  There is so much technology that has been introduce to me through the readings, the videos, and my classmates blogs.  I feel like I have been missing out on something.  There are days that I feel like I am teaching some of the teachers I work with and then there are days were I feel overwhelmed by all the technology out there that I don't even know about.  I realize that I need to take it one day at a time and one app or technology at a time.  After reading one of my blogs I was excited to add and app to my ipad (Google Drive) but then was even more excited to find that they is an app for Blogger too!  I LOVE my ipad!  I like being able to take it anywhere and now I feel like I will be able to do my school work anywhere I can go.

I enjoyed the videos on Glogster and the Project Gutenberg.  I had heard of Glogster from Sandy but I never actually seen it.  I think that it would be fun to have students create one for many different subjects.  One that popped into mind was a project that my oldest son did in fourth grade.  He had to research a Wisconsin County and then create a PowerPoint presentation about that county.  A fourth grader could do the same research and create a Glogster instead.

I am such a book lover and so I could have downloaded a ton of books after looking at Project Gutenberg.  I am always telling my boys that they need to read all sorts of books especially the classics, now we have access to books that otherwise we might have overlooked.

The problem with technology is that I tend to get so wrapped up in it that I loss myself in it.  In chapter 14, I like that it reminded me that we should not use technology for the sake of using technology.  It is important that we know why we are using it.  There are many teachers out there that do not wish to use the technology that is available.  Many teachers I talk to say they don't have time to learn the technology they have in their classrooms, some have learned the basics of the technology.  Technology keeps advancing and I think it is hard for many teachers to keep up with it all.

As I read about the Flipped Classroom, I kept trying to figure away that this would work in a class in lower elementary grades.  I think that it sounds wonderful for students in high school and possibility middle school.  Another concern I have about the Flipped Classroom is that students need to have technology to make it work, what happens if the students do not have access to the technology.  I know as an adult with a job and family, I think that a flipped classroom would benefit me.  Being able to watch lectures on my time and then be able to jump right into a class.  I am intrigued with the Flipped Classroom.  I am interested in learning more.

Week 1

My house is very tech-oriented.  My kids love using their ipads, ipods, DS, and wii.  My husband while being able to design websites (Donorsnap, the company he & his partners design and run) and program computers doesn't know how to sync his ipod or doesn't understand the ipad or my macbook.

I have enjoyed learning new technology although I would consider myself a novice and believe that I have much to learn about the technology I use currently.  I have learned how to use much of the technology and programs through trial and error.  I know how to use Microsoft Office.  I love my ipad and am still learning how to use my macbook (I received it as a hand-me-down from my husband's partner who loves everything new & shiny from Apple.)

I started a blog, really as a private/personal journal for myself.  I have no followers and only have 3 posts over the course of 3 years.  Why did I choose  a blog to do it.  I really thought it would be easy to be able to write wherever I was as long as I had Internet access.  I am sure there is now an app out there better suited for that.  :) 

I am addicted to Facebook and Pinterest.  I love being able to connect with friends and family, near and far with Facebook.  I love "wishing" on Pinterest.  It seems like I find things I wish I could create, make, have and do on Pinterest.  I have only completed a small amount of things that I have pinned of course it is never as much as I intended too.

As I have subbed in classrooms, I have enjoyed using the smart board.  I love seeing how this technology engages students.  I also take note of how teachers use it not only for teaching but for classroom management. Teachers use to take attendance, lunch counts, to keep take of Daily 5, and Math Rounds.  I was to be able to use technology in my classroom as I teach to engage and inspire my students.  I also realize that students need to learn much of this technology to be productive in the world.

I am excited to learn how to use all this technology in teaching Social Studies.  I loved learning Social Studies, next to music class, Social Studies was one of my favorite subjects.  I think back to my high school History teacher.  I was lucky enough to have her all 4 years in high school and I thought she did an incredible job of bring history to life for me.  She not only taught us the important people and dates in history but she taught us about the culture of the time, including music and art. She brought in slides of her trips around the world, she used videos and film to expose to other worlds.  I feel that if she were teaching history today she would have enjoyed using all the technology that is available to us.