Snow days

Snow days??!! Living in Northeast Ohio there is always the possibility of having school called off because of bad weather. This week was no exception. Many people believe that is bad for a teacher to want a snow day but in reality I feel it is just a break in an already hectic schedule. The only reason I want a snow day is because I do not want to drive in bad weather. I have had a job where there were no snow days but after attending college for 5 and 1/2 years and currently working on my masters I do not feel bad when I have a snow day. I love my kids I teach and I am commited to them and their learning. So if a snow day means we have to go well into June to teach our children then so be it. As you notice I said "our children". I love my kids. As tough as teaching can be, the lives of many of my children are tougher. I love my job as a teacher and would be willing to work year round to get my students to have that "ahh haaa" moment. Snow days were not created to give teachers a break from their students but to protect the students from the elements which could cause them harm. Because of budget cuts most High school students have to walk to school if they live within 2 miles or less from the school. That is quite a bit of distance to expect the students to walk. So I will say I love my "kids" and will do whatever I can to further there education.

Why should we utilize a Learning Management System

Our school has recently has become a part of a Learning Management System called Schoology. Some teachers have been using it but many do not. My presentation is to them and how and why it should be used in our classrooms.

Final reflection on integrating technology and DI.

Two immediate adjustments I will make in my instructional practice are when I start the biome project in January. We will be using online organizers, websites for research and then the students will be able to use various forms of technology when they have to present the information. This can be in the form of PowerPoints, podcasts, video or any other way they want to present as long as it is approved by me.

Another adjustment I will make is to I want to integrate more technology in my classroom is by providing more opportunities for the students to have access to the computers in our school so I can have online discussions with my students on our school districts social website. I will need to be aware of when I can have access to the computer lab.

One area I am slowly going to work on is getting a support system started which can include calling on colleagues and bringing on principals as partners (Tomlinson, C., 1999). I would build a portfolio of activities I have done in class, what worked, what did not work and how other teachers can integrate technology in their class. In doing this I hope it would encourage other teachers to get more involved with differentiated instruction.

Tomlinson, C. (1999). Differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners.
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.
Retrieved from the Walden Library ebrary. Chapter 9, "How Do Teachers Make It All
Work?

Final Reflection

When I was working on my GAME plan I discovered many websites which I can use for locating information. I also discovered websites for blogging, interactive websites and online collaboration. I also appreciated the comments from my peers which helped towards the completion my GAME plan.
What I did not know before starting this class was the NETS-Standards. Even though I teach science I will incorporate these standards into my teaching. In incorporating these standards it also provides students another way to practice 21st century learning skills.
In our video series Dr. Arnie Abrams states not to just use technology for the sake of using technology but using it “to accomplish your goals and hopefully matching those to state, local and national standards” (Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer), 2009). I really like this statement because it challenges me to find new and significant ways to use technology as an educational tool. I always want to make sure when I use technology that it has a strong educational and instructional purpose. I do not want to just develop a PowerPoint for notes but to use it as a learning tool which my students can use to show me what they have learned such as creating a digital storybook.
I am working on locating additional websites for online organizers so students can either have a hard copy of an organizer or the option of using an online organizer to help them organize their thoughts and information. I also would like to one day let my students have the option of doing their journal work online or in a notebook.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author

Using the GAME plan process with students

The GAME plan can be used quite easily to help the students to develop their technology skills. One way to establish ways students could communicate and collaborate with each other as by using collaborative websites. They could monitor different collaboration websites and determine which website would work best for them. They could then use a blog to evaluate and extend their thinking. Another example would be for the students to develop a GAME plan for critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making. They would take what they already know about collaboration and start on a problem-based project which would require them to set a goal of identifying problems in a particular area. Then they would take action to find out more about the problem and what could be done. The students and the teacher would continue to monitor their progress through the use of the blog. They can also evaluate the information they collect to see if they need to look beyond the initial problem to finish their project. As students are working on the GAME plan for critical thinking, problem solving and decision making they will also incorporate the research and information fluency standard as well. The standard states “students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate and use information”. (National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T), 2008). So one GAME plan can incorporate more then one technology standard at a time plus it would also combine the technology standards with our state learning standards for science.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/
2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

More of my GAME plan

As I continue on with my GAME plan I am still trying to collect my websites. I have found some while doing work for my Master’s Degree. Right now we are looking for interactive websites and I was pleased to find out that Wikispaces is no longer blocked at our school. I had set one up last year but then a couple weeks later it was blocked. I was very frustrated because I wanted to use it for classroom collaboration. An online collaboration website our school is using is Schoology.com. In reading about how to best integrate science into the classroom it states that part of it depends on the teachers way of communicating with students, parents, administrators and community members through technology and print. (Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P.,2009). Schoology is an interactive site which the students can go and access a teacher’s webpage in order to work on assignments with students or teachers. The school is hoping to be able to make it available to parents as well in order to see what their child is doing in class. Our media specialist worked very hard at keeping this from getting blocked because she feels this is a great way to encourage 21st century learning skills.

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Continued evaluation of my GAME plan

Another evaluation of my GAME plan

As I begin to start my lesson for my graduate school project I realized that many of the websites which I have gathered will work well for my problem-based project. I already have several environmental, governmental and science websites which will help with the final project. One observation I am making is that the list of websites I am gathering will be helpful for projects I have planned this school year.

What I want to do now is locate interactive organizational diagrams which can help my students to organize their thoughts and information before working on a final product. The students could use a website which incorporates a web-type organizational diagram while doing research on the Gulf Oil Spill. They will make the oil spill the center issue and then use the outer circles to add the rest of the information. My students have not had experience using the online webs so we would have to do one together prior to the activity. This way the students will not feel too overwhelmed when they work on their project.