Week 12 Reflection

1. What technology use and attitudes did I see modeled? I saw my teaching partner use an overhead projector and I saw my cooperating teacher use a stereo and a DVD/VHS player. Other than that I just noticed that both my cooperating teacher and my teaching partner used a microphone again so that students could always hear them during their lessons.

2. What was my own experience trying to use technology in this setting? I used the microphone in all of my lessons so the students could hear me. For a literacy lesson I taught about "opposites" I used a stereo and taught the students "The Opposites Song". Also, I created a power point presentation for a guided reading lesson I taught in order to introduce the students to new words. One last way I used technology is I had the students type in a score of 1 to 3 on my lap-top depending on how they thought they behaved throughout my lesson.

3. Share 1 idea that you have for using technology for a lesson or content area that you observed being taught this week. I saw the students being taught math on worksheets where they counted, measured, added and subtracted m&m's. I think an Elmo or an overhead projector would have enabled the teacher to model how to do the worksheet which would have helped the students get more practice before they had to work independently.

Reflections for November 10-16

1.  What technology use and attitudes did I see modeled?  This week in my cute little first grade classroom I noticed that  when students got finished early with their assignments they would go to the back of the room where listening centers were set up.  The way listening centers work is the kids just put on head phones and listen to a book on tape while they follow along in their own books.  It is a really cute idea and is something they can easily do on their own.  

2.  What was my own experience trying to use technology in this setting?  This past week I was able to use the microphone again so that all of the students could hear me while I taught my lesson.  Also, next week I plan on making a power point presentation for a literacy lesson on homophones.  With this lesson  I also plan on teaching the students a song about homophones and using the stereo located in our classroom.  

3.  Share 1 idea that you have for using technology for a lesson or content area that you observed being taught this week: My teaching partner used a web cam in her most recent literacy  lesson.  She taught about long and short vowel sounds for the letter "a" and about the silent "e".  Then she taught the kids a chant and let them perform the chant on web cam so they could view themselves.  The students loved this idea and were so engaged all throughout the technology portion of the lesson. 

Week 11/03-11/08 Technology Self Report

1.  What technology did I see modeled in the classroom? This past week I saw my teacher use a microphone so that all of the kids could hear her during her lessons.  I also observed that she used a CD player for the kids to sing Thanksgiving songs with.  Last but not least, our class had the opportunity to go to the computer lab where Mrs. Reire helped the students to create their own turkeys on a Mac program called "kid pix".  It was such a fun activity and the kids really seemed to enjoy it.  

2.  What was my own technology experience in the classroom? This week I had the opportunity to use a microphone when I read the students stories and taught lessons.  It really helped me feel like I didn't have to strain my voice and all the kids could hear me without me having to yell.  Also, I was able to help the kids create their turkeys in the computer lab using the "kid pix" program.  It was definitely trial and error for me at first because I had never used the program but I figured it out and it was fun to see what the students created and see them expand their knowledge of technology. 

3.  Share one idea that you have for using technology in the classroom? I think it would be such a great idea to do a Guided Reading lesson with the use of an "elmo" projector.  This way if all of the kids don't have a copy of the book they can all still view the text.  Another idea I have is to use a powerpoint presentation about the book I am going to read to the students to get them excited about what we are about to read.    

TPACK and Fair Rights Use

I learned a lot about TPACK and correct fair rights use.  I now know that it is illegal for teachers to use more than 30 seconds of audio and/or 30 minutes of video unless they have received legal permission to do so or are getting their music/videos from a website such as www.freeplaymusic.com.  I learned that TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge.  It encompasses three elements of knowledge, content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and technological knowledge.  This knowledge is required for teachers who wish to bring technology into the classroom.  I'm really glad we learned about such important issues because I know we will have to address these issues at some point or another as future teachers.