Spring Break Map

3 ways we could use this in class would be:

-have students plot where they are from
-have students locate places they want to travel to
-have students locate historical sites and landmarks

an interesting thing that could be done with this map program is that they can get directions to or from where each student has traveled to and then put it on a big map and have them compare distances traveled.

Lesson Plan Ideas ~ Jill

2nd grade - Math

Big Idea: Students are learning about geometry

Goal of the lesson: To get the students to understand 3d shapes and symmetry using the computer. I am going to find 3d objects online that you can actually virtually see moving and this will make it easier for the student to see the dimensions of the object and hopefully they will understand more clearly.

Resources: http://www.teach-nology.com/




3rd grade - social studies

Big Idea: Presidents

Goal of lesson: I am going to assign each of the students a different president to research on the computer during the lab time that we receive each week. I am then going to have the students each create a power point presentation of their president following the guidelines that i tell them. I am hoping that they will be able to include graphics, animations, sound, and more!

Resources: http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/history/government/presidents/




1st grade - Science

Big Idea: Planets

Goal of lesson: The students are to each constuct their own model of the solar system. I want them to use the computers to type out the names of each of the planets and the sun to label on their planets.

Resources: http://atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Space/

hilary - Lesson Plan Ideas

# 1 Student will be able to use Google Earth to look at the earth’s volcanoes. They will view images of the volcanoes from close up, and far away. The student will then go to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program website. (www.volcano.si.edu) to get more information about the volcanoes. (4th and 5th)

#2 Student will complete an activity on money with out the use of a calculator. Once they have gotten all of their answers they will go back and answer the problems using a calculator. (2nd )

#3 Student will use the internet to collect information about an animal that they would like to research. Once they have collected all of their information they will create a PowerPoint presentation about their animal. The presentation will include pictures, sound clips, and a resources page of the sites that they used to collect their information. (6th)

3 LESSON IDEAS

LESSON IDEAS
2nd Grade—Math

- Students are working on times tables, and other computation problems. With this activity they are working on grocery shopping. Have them use a simple calculator to budget quickly while they are doing their “grocery shopping”.
-The calculator is the technology in this lesson, and I think it is appropriate for 2nd grade students.
-It is aligned because it helps the students apply their skills to the real world, by using the calculator to shop in a reasonable amount of time.
- It also allows them to foster their technology skills of working with a calculator--- something they will continue to do in their future years as a student.


2nd grade- Social Studies


- Students will create a short power point presentation on a country & culture they have been assigned for social studies class. Students will do this in pairs. They will use the basics of power point and they will use this to present their project to the class.
o It is appropriate because they will be using the power point features that are appropriate for their age level.
o It is teaches them new technology skills that they will continue to use in their futures as students.
o They will be able to apply these skills to other areas of school.


2nd grade- Math
-Students will visit manipulative websites while in class to play fun math games and to learn in a way that is outside of the textbook and pencil and paper.
-Students will go only to sites that offer appropriate content for their level of math.
- This will foster ideas such as problem solving and critical thinking.
- This will allow them to not only get more familiar with the math content they are working on, but also with using the internet and computer.

Resources: http://www.cut-the-knot.org/Curriculum/index.shtml

http://resources.kaboose.com/games/read1.html

Aimee Reflection

http://www.edutopia.org/video/movie.php?reset=cookie&keyword=137&id=Art_1126

This video was about an elementary school in Hawaii who included their entire school, grades k-6, in their morning show. Each grade level got to do their own segment of the show. They had a lot of expensive technology that they used to do the show.

The technology was definitely student centered. The students got to work with all of the technology to create their show. The older kids got to do a lot more, but the younger ones were still involved. It looked like the technology was very helpful. Without the cameras and TV's, the show would not exist. It engaged the entire school, not just one class.

To prepare for such a project, the teacher had to explain to the students exactly how they were supposed to handle the equipment and how it was important that they take care of it. Toward the end of the video, we were in a first grade classroom. The teacher was introdicing the internet to her class. This was a preparation for when they will have to use the internet and such technology in their "news room."

Challenges for both students and teachers included getting the entire school involved. The teacehrs also had to put a lot of trust in their students by allowing them to work with such expensive equipment. One teacher talked about the criticism he recieved by letting younger students in the "news room."

Overall, I was very impressed by this video. It was very informative and I liked the ideas in the clip. I think intergrating the entire school using technology is very beneficial. It created a sort of community within the school.

Reflection #6 Video Case Analysis - Jill

http://www.edutopia.org/video/movie.php?reset=cookie&keyword=225&id=Art_636

This video case was about the parents involvement in their children's education. It is showing the faculty talking to the parents and students telling them how they are educating their students. Technology is a big part of this video and it is showing how the students want to learn more due to the new technology that schools are using today. There was an overhead projector, projection screen, a microphone, a computer, and the internet used in this video. The technology used both teacher-centered and student centered. The students used the computers, and the internet to do research and create projects, and the teachers used the overhead projectors and the projection screen to actually teach the students and show them what to do. I do agree that technology makes the lesson more engaging because it is an excellent way to grab the students attention at the beginning. With the technology today i think it allows the students to do more hands on work and be able to actually learn what they are doing in school and have fun doing it. I think that you can make the lessons a lot more interesting and creative with technology by using different programs with pictures and sounds to keep the students interested. I think that it is important that the students know that they are using the computers only for the assignment and not doing other work, or on websites they shouldn't be on. The teacher would also need to think about if there are any students in her classroom that have learning disabilities or are handicapped so that it will be fair for that student. Safety is also a very important part of technolgy and the teacher must always explain safety and rules first with using computers/internet. To assess the student in using computer/internet for an assignment i think that you could have the students walk you through what they did on a power point. You could also have the students present to the class and you about their project and the research that they retrieved from the assignment. By doing this the student will not only be telling you and the other students what they did but they will be walking themselves through what they did and will understand it better. The advantages of using technology in the lesson are that it gives the student so much more information and very good background on different programs and software. The only challenges that I think a student and teacher would face would be if the student wasn't following directions correctly and was going on websites that were inappropriate. If the student didn't have a computer at home it would be difficult for them to keep learning outside the classroom and keeping up with the other students that were using the computers on a daily basis at home after school hours. If a student cannot type it would also be very challenging to complete an assignment.

Julia, Reflection 6- Video Case Analysis

http://www.edutopia.org/video/movie.php?reset=cookie&keyword=137&id=Art_633

This is a video I found under the technology integration section of the website. It is titled Sharing Research Through Techonology. I chose to do technology integration because I am extrmemley uneducated when it comes to technology beyond the basics of internet/powerpoint/word processing.

The video I watched was about an elementary school class that was creating multi-media reports on the computer in partners. The video consisted mostly of the teachers talking about the uses and benefits of using technology not only for this project but in their classes in general.
The technologies used in this video clip were computers, and the internet. They used the internet to do their research and find sounds, photographs and written information. The technology in this video was definitely student centered. The teachers were only assisting the students in using the technology, but the actual use was all by the students. The students had about one computer per pair of students, and they were able to do their own research and create their projects freely. There was a lot of room for creativity and this is why it was so student- centered.

I definitely believe that technology makes students feel more engaged. Technology made this particular lesson so much more engaging because it allowed the students not only to gain and use written information in their projects, but they were able to also find photographs, hear sounds and engage almost all of their senses which is so much more interesting and stimulating.

To prepare for such a technological lesson, the teacher needs to make sure that certain settings are correct on the computers (or the technology being used). For example, if a class is going to be doing a research activity, privacy settings need to be set so that students do not have inappropriate sites accidentally popping up in their search engines. Also, a teacher needs to know how to properly work the technology for him/herself. A back up plan should also be prepared incase there is a technology malfunction, which isn’t uncommon. If a teacher is using technology as the subject of what if being taught (for a computer class, for example) then he/she needs to be able to take what the students already know, their preconceptions and misconceptions and help them learn from that. It is the teacher’s job to help the student’s knowledge grow and change as they experiment more with technology.

To assess student’s performance in the video I watched, I would simply look at the reports that were made. If the students used sound, visuals, written information and learned from making their report (not only learned about the topic, but also learned about the technology they used) then I would think the goal had been accomplished.

The biggest challenge I can think of when it comes to technology is the frequent malfunctioning that can occur which if both an inconvenience and extremely frustrating. Technology can be very frustrating to learn if it is not being taught by someone who really knows what they are doing, but when it is taught correctly, the possibilities and benefits are endless.