Reflection #14

Back at school!

So this was our first technology class since we have been in field. We learned about webquests. I thought I understood what a webquest was, but turns out I was a little bit foggy. I am excited to be working on a webquest, hopefully it will turn out great.

I like the idea of giving students an assignment/task, and then helping them to accomplish that task by use of the web.

A webquest involves two main pages a student page and a teacher page. They are almost like mirror reflections of each other. (Both containing similar information.) The student page contains links to Introduction, Task, Process, Evaluation, Conclusion, Credits, and Teacher Page. The teacher page contains links to Introduction Learners, Standards, Process, Resources, and the Teacher Page.

Webquests are cool, and I am excited to look at webgarden, and see what it has to offer.

Reflection #13

I was just told that my reflection for my technology interview needed to be posted as a blog. Ooops.  I have the reflection done so here it is.

This technology interview was enlightening.  Westside elementary school seems to lack technology that I assumed they would have, yet they have technology that I assumed they wouldn't.  I am shocked that they don't have any Apple computers in the school, but I am thrilled that they have two computer labs plus one traveling lab.  I am surprised that they don't have wireless Internet.  I am glad that they will be getting wireless Internet in the near future. To be limited to wired Internet is ridiculous in this day and age.  

This Experience has greatly affected  me as a teacher.  I am going to be very careful when applying to various schools and districts.  I want to make sure I am in a school and working for a district that supports modern technology.  I want to work for a district that provides laptops and wireless Internet for their teachers.  In order to be the best teacher possible, I will need support from my employers.  One aspect of that support will be technologically based.  

I am excited to use technology in my future classroom.  Technology opens countless doors for not only teachers but students.  Technology is the future.  Students need to be comfortable learning from and using technology.  I want my future students to succeed in their lifetime endeavors.  To succeed they must be comfortable with technology.  I surprise myself by admitting that I am excited about technology, I can't wait to become more fluent in various aspects of it. 

Reflection #12

Last Friday my  husband was in a motorcycle accident on the freeway.  He had surgery on Saturday, and came home a few days ago.  (It happened while he was on duty, so the police department has been both concerned and helpful!  Our LDS ward has also been great with bringing meals this week, etc...) 

Needless to say my last week of field has been interesting.  It has been challenging to balance my school obligations with my family responsibilities.  I was able to teach my last two lessons on Monday and Tuesday of this week.  They went very well.  The kids had a blast, and things went according to planned.  On Monday we set up the teams for the Classroom Olympics, and then on Tuesday we had the students participate in the Classroom Olympics.  

We assigned each student to one of the five Ancient Greece City-States.  That became their team for the Olympics.  They were required to take on the role of an Ancient Greek citizen and act accordingly.  They did awesome!  Both lessons were super fun.  Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to reuse all of the lesson plans I have created, because they turned out great!

Well, I need to head out the door to take my husband to see  his orthopedic surgeon.  Wish us luck.  With luck I will find a way to make it to classes next week.

Till then Adieu.

Reflection #11

Today we taught our first lesson.  It was our technology integrated lesson.  We have been prepared for a while, our lesson plan has been written for a few weeks and we felt that everything was good to go.  

But, then the drama began.  Yesterday we obtained the projector that we were going to use to present our power point.  We wanted to do a trial run before our actual lesson, and boy am I glad we did.  We couldn't get our computer to hook up to the projector. (We lacked the proper connector.)  

We thought we would solve the problem by burning the power point and using one of the schools computers to show the presentation.  We then realized that the computer the school provided did not have a power point program; so that wasn't going to work.

After brainstorming we figured that we might just have to scrap the presentation.  But then good things started happening.  Late last night I came across the cord that we needed to piggy back our computer into the projector.  

Early this morning we tested it out and it worked great.  We went on to teach our lesson, the kids loved it.  I was surprised that our presentation really did gain and keep the students attention.  It was a smooth lesson, and I don't think we would have changed a thing.  the kids were involved, active listeners, and on task.  what more can a teacher ask for? 

I am looking forward to the lesson that we will teach tomorrow.

Reflection #10

Hello again,

I have now been doing field for a week.  (One down, two more to go!)  I have been enjoying the experience.  I might regret admitting this, but it is way better than regular school.  

It has been nice to be around young students, it is refreshing to remember why I have an interest in teaching. 

We haven't done any student teaching yet, we start on Tuesday.  I am looking forward to that.  I think that it is going to be a lot of fun.  Our first lesson that we teach is going to be our technology enriched lesson.  We have a really cool PowerPoint introducing Ancient Greece that we are going to show to the students.  It should be a lot of fun.  My only concern is with the teacher obtaining the projector we will need to show the presentation. Hopefully she takes care of that and things go smoothly. 

Moving on to a technology related aspect of field...For the next two weeks the students in our sixth grade class will spend forty-five minutes per day in the computer lab practicing their typing skills.  Crazy!  I am glad that they have the opportunity to work with computers and practice skills that they will rely on for the rest of their lives.  

Hopefully I enjoy this coming week as much as I have enjoyed this previous one.  

Stay tuned for my next exciting entry on "Field Work Week 2"

P.S. I am anxiously awaiting a grade for my digital story!  I am curious as to whether my teacher likes it as much as I do!