Final Post

How important is it to incorporate technology into your classroom? What are the benefits to you and your students? What are some of the challenges? What are the important lessons you will take with you from this class and use?
Technology in the classroom is going to be an extremely important factor in the success of our classrooms when we enter the profession in a year or so. We have all seen how its being used during early field and by taking classes such as this one. Students today need a constant bombarment of activities, pictures, videos, and other sorts of interactions to keep the learning process fun and new. Using technology allows the classroom teacher to bring all of these things to his/her room. Using SmartBoard technology and having the students do the problems will certainly add fun too, but even using technology that seems older such as overhead projectors or watching movies brings the student further into the material. The challenge is taking the time to create the lesson plans; to put the effort to learn the technology then most importantly find a way to attach it to the material. Personally I plan on using as much as I can from this classroom. The current education field is a bit sketchy and anything I can do to set myself apart from the rest is something that I'll do.

Diigo Account

http://www.diigo.com/user/sswope

Copyright Laws

I was really surprised that there were so many cases that I thought would have resulted in the court case favoring the artist but really went the way of the person who used the material. Copyright laws are there to protect the creator but don't always do that. Its important for teachers to understand these laws because if they don't it could end in a law suit and unnecessary attention. Teachers break these rules all the time especially when they show movies to all of their classes, instead of just one time like the fair use laws state. Its important to follow these laws because every kid in the classroom might go to their parents which could lead to bad situations. So if you teach the rules then you'll be ok and the students will know the proper way of using others material.

Informal Lesson Plan

Video Project
12th Grade American Government
Assignment: create a short video 5-10 minutes showing the importance of one of the amendments from the constitution. Be sure to include what the amendment is, how its used, and why its used. This project will be started in class but the majority of the filming and editing will be done outside the classroom.
Schedule: Monday Introduce Project (show examples from years past) Assign Groups
Tuesday allow them to work in their group and have them show you a story board for the end of the class/approval of topic
Wed-Friday normal classroom topics no filming work. No classroom time is given because filming must occur outside the classroom and monitoring 25 seniors would be impossible and for a new teacher you don't want any problems during a fun assignment.
Monday- View Videos

For the success of this project the school where you're at must have access to video cameras and computers with editing capability, if not this assignment is impossible. This project is also based on out of classroom work so it must be assigned to a class that will have fun with it but still take it seriously and get the work done. This is a type of assignment that will draw a lot of attention if something goes wrong so you have to make sure nothing does.

Video Project

I really liked doing the video project, it took me back to my days of digital media classes in high school which I enjoyed a lot. This time around I kind of put a lot of pressure on myself to recapture the talents I had in those old classes. In doing so my final product was a bit different then the story board but overall it turned out well. I would have liked to have had more time on the project both to work and to create a video 90 seconds is not a long time. I have worked with video a lot for multiple classes and this just reaffirmed the fact that its something I'll use in my classroom.

Video Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLRNchCuM4Q&feature=player_embedded

White Board

I have been in many schools including 13th and Union, Southern Middle School, and Hamburg High school and all three have had white boards. These SmartBoards are extremely helpful when it comes to taking notes and having students interact with the material. It allows the teacher to use links and can be used for interactive activities that will only heighten a student's willingness to participate. I really enjoyed the Smart technology and while it was confusing at first once I got the hang of it, it was really awesome. Having created and taught lessons in the past without this tool you can really see the advantages of using the SmartBoard. I created a lesson on explorers and if I would have used Smart tech I could have used interactive maps, videos, and more primary sources. The only major con I can think of is overusing the board, if it is used too much it can become monotonous just like any other form of instruction. I really enjoyed this and plan on using it in my future lessons and hopefully one day my own class.

Web Resources

So far my favorite resource I found was the PBS website for teachers. It helped me find technology, activities, lesson plans, and unit plans. It has primary documents, videos, and what not. I feel like I could use this the most because its important to show students physical evidence from history so they can create a personal connection with the material. As a teacher you can show the students information and they might be able to spit back the information for the test, but forget it as soon as its over. A goal for me is for my students to get a connection with the material and if they can see the information first hand they might be able to remember it beyond my homework assignments, quizzes, tests, and even my class.

Inspiration in the Classroom

I really like inspiration, I've used the idea of concept maps during my methods I class and during my early field experience. In both occasion they were extremely successful for note taking. It can be used for:
1. Note taking
2. Mapping things such as how a bill becomes a law
3. Branches of the government
4. A flow chart for historical events
5. Understanding historical figures and key events in their lives
6. Ranking importances of events
7. Flow chart of American Presidents
8. Timelines
9. Creating study guides
10. Using it for brainstorming for papers, projects, etc.

Social Bookmarking

Yes Social Bookmarking has the potential to be something that can be used in my classroom on a daily basis. In social studies primary articles and primary sources are key to make history come to life and the more you can show to your students the better. The internet is a wonderful tool to show them these sources and instead of having them search online, the teacher can use a social bookmarking tool. If this is used the teacher can have appropriate, relevant material available for the use of his/her class. This makes students feel a connection to the material and can allow them to become more interesting in an area of study.

Diigo Jawn

http://www.diigo.com/profile/sswope

GoogleApps/Advantages-Disadvantages of GoogleApps over traditional Office Apps

Personally I do not use GoogleApps enough to say whether or not I like them. I use the Mircosoft Office package and have used that for as long as I can remember. I would like to explore these Apps more to make an informed opinion on them. The advantages of the GoogleApps: they're free, its easy to access, students can work together in a very easy manner, and it has all of the types of programs the Mircosoft package offers. Disadvantages include the Google Chat function, at Hamburg High School they are beginning to use the GoogleApps and one of the concerns was that the students would use the chat function in class to talk about things not revolving around the class discussion. While the GoogleApps does have the same sort of programs as Mircosoft Office they are not as advanced and may not be as well used as the MO system. GoogleApps include: Mail, Sites, Calendar, and Docs.

Blogs in the Classroom/Advantages-Disadvantages of technology in the classroom

Blogs are something that we as college students use very often whether it be through Moodle or sites like this one. Blogs are easy places for students to post information/opinions about material covered in class, that can be viewed by both the instructor as well as fellow students. Blogs can be used in a classroom by assigning homework assignments to create blog post and to read others blogs. This creates a new environment where students can share their ideas. It is great especially for students who are shy and do not like to talk in class, because it allows these students to be active in dicussions. Despite these advantages there are some disadvantages for example these blogs can turn into sites that include material not suitable for a classroom which can lead to bullying or other inapproiate actions. This new area of the classroom needs management, just like the normal classroom and if a teacher can montior the sites then they can be a successful tool for the education of the youth.