Excel Crossword Puzzle (Nets-2)

I used Excel to create a crossword as a way of making a fun learning tool. Within Excel I was able to add hints to the crossword and it also has a cool feature that lets you know if the first letter is correct by it turning a different color.

iMovie PSA (Nets-3)

I used iMovie a tool on Apple that helped me create a public service announcement for CSUSM.

Classroon Newsletter (Nets-1)

DRnewsletters

This is a classroom newsletter I created using Microsoft Word. I used different tools on Word to create a creative and artictic way of communicating with my potential classroom students.

Wiki (Nets-3)

The wikki I created is for a learning tool called Kubbu. Kubbu is a cool tool for educators because it allows you to create quizzes that your students can take online. It also allows you to grade and give back feedback on the site. The wiki gives you access to many cool teaching web 2.0 tools. All of the ones I explored could be very helpful if implemented in the classroom and best of all they were free!

Cyber-Safety Website (Nets-4)

This is a website that I worked on collaboratively with some of my peers. It is a cyber-safety website created with Google sites. The site covers identity safety, cyber predators, cyber-bullying, inappropriate content, piracy and plagiarism, and social networking. This site has many tips for teachers, students, and parents in regards to cyber-safety.

Journal #10: No, Never Alone (Nets-5)

Conley, K. (2010). No, never alone. Learning & Leading with Technology, 36. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/

This article is about the advantages of building a personal learning network. Many teachers feel that they need to do all their learning on their own which can be very limiting. With resources such as the Internet and Web 2.0 collaboration tools, like Nings, wikis, and video/photo sharing sites, no educator should be trying to do it alone.  With so many tools available it can be easy to be overwhelmed and not use any of the tools.  A great tool to help educators start up there learning network is Educator’s PLN which is especially designed for educators and provides an easy to use format. You can quickly learn how to view videos, photos, articles, twitter feeds, and forums that are accessible on the site. Sites like this one will allow you to connect with educators from all over the world and give you resources that you otherwise wouldn’t have at your fingertips. With all of the resources available educators need to take advantage in order to become more effective teachers.

Q1. Do you think there are benefits to having a PLN?

I do think there are great benefits from having a PLN because you have knowledge from so many people throughout the world. You can learn from people that have been teaching for many years as well as from new educators that have new ideas.

Q2. How does this change your view of teaching?

This makes me feel more comfortable with my decision to become a teacher. I was one of those people that thought I would have to learn everything on my own but since I’ve taken this course I have realized there are great avenues for information available. I now feel that my transition into the classroom will be easier because all of the valuable information I can get from other educators in my personal learning network.

Journal #9: Stop Making Students Type Nonsensical URLs (Nets-5)

Bellow, A. (2010). Stop making students type nonsensical urls. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/

Adam Bellow the author of this article believes there is solution to the problem of not being able to share multiple links easily with students and teachers.  The solution is a website called Only2Clicks (www.only2clicks.com) which is a tool on the web that allows you to create a free webpage where anyone can access any number of links you put on the webpage. Within the site you also have the ability to create tabs to separate different types of links, like school subjects, grades, etc.  The site is easy to work with and is great for all ages.  It is especially helpful for young students or students with special needs who have difficulty reading.  Teachers can use this site in many different ways. Some teachers might use the site as a default homepage for student computers or they can post the address where all students have access to it. With this free online tool, students no longer have to suffer trying to type in long nonsensical URLs.  The site allows easy access to all the sites you want your students to locate by only two easy clicks.

Q1. Do I see myself using this tool in the classroom?

Although it seems as if this site is designed for younger students I think it’s a cool tool to be aware of because you never know if you might be able to use it in the classroom in the future, even with high school students.

Q2. What are the benefits to this site?

The benefits are that you can access many sites from one easy to remember webpage. You no longer have to worry about typing long nonsensical URLs. It also helps that this site is completely free.

Journal #8: Communicating and Collaborating for Studnet Success (Nets-5)

McAnear, A. (2010, November). Communicating and collaborating for student success. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/

This article discusses how the category of communication and collaboration is the easiest of the NETS to meet.  According to the project manager for ISTE’s NETS Seal of Alignment program teachers focus on this NET early in their professional career.  Since students and teachers use these skills in their personal, professional, and academic lives it makes it easier to design learning activities that incorporate this NET than it might be for others.  Studies have shown that schools that implemented applications focused on communication such as administrator blogs, professional learning communities, and online interactive communication systems for parents were more effective in applying innovative technology. In Kannapolis City Schools they model great communication and collaboration. Administrators shared their vision with the teachers and they collaborated to create the lessons. The teachers helped each other create effective lesson plans that modeled the use of digital age tools for communicating and collaborating.  It is also important to keep the communication and collaboration focused on the students desire to learn by finding out what they like and encouraging them to seek that knowledge.

Q1. How can this information be used to better incorporate the other NETS?

Since this research shows how and why teachers are being more successful at incorporating this NET into the lesson planning maybe they can use the same model to help develop ways to incorporate the other NETS.

Q2. How will this information be useful to future teachers?

This will be useful to future teachers because we can be more aware of the NETS that are harder to incorporate in the lesson planning and make a greater effort to accomplish the NETS goals.

Journal #7: My Personal Learning Network (Nets-5)

What is PLN and will it help me as a teacher:

My personal learning network is something that I have created that is web based that will help me get valuable information from other people from around the world that share some of my same interests.  My personal learning network allows me to communicate with other educators, students, and parents.  It is away for me to share my ideas with other people and gives everyone access to whatever I decide I want to have on my PLN.  Having a PLN will help me once I’m a teacher because it gives me access to so many educators throughout the world.  Through my PLN I can easily learn about new and older ways of teaching that can be effective in my classroom.  With all of the tools and resources that are available it is difficult to keep track of everything but with a PLN you constantly have reminders so it is a great way to have fresh ideas for your classroom.  By having a PLN you are constantly learning how to be a better teacher.

Twitter:
I am new to twitter so it’s taking me some time to familiarize myself with this tool but I can already see the resourcefulness of it. I have started following kevcreutz, Ithumann, tonitheisen, smartinez, and jheil65. I chose to follow these people because I took a look at their profile and past tweets and I can see that they share information that is interesting to me as a future educator. I participated on #edchat on November 16^th at 4pm. The topic being discussed was is the education system broken or outdated. Most people believe that our education system is both broken and outdated. One of the major problems is that teachers have to teach inside the box because of having to teach to the test. Even with teachers being limited on how they teach education is slowly seeing improvements. If we are a product of bad education and we managed to continue to go to school then there is hope for students now and in the future. I think the twitter chat was interesting because you get live response from people that have knowledge on the topic being discussed

Delicious:

I am using Delicious to read information about educating so that I can learn to be a more effective teacher.  By adding people to my Delicious network that I find share valuable information gives me access to more resources I can possibly use in my classroom.  I have added these people (Elizabeth Wilson, Jeffery, JendeW, Karlene, & L) to my network because they are interested in education and they share information that is interesting to me.  There were several things that I tagged “PLN”

-Respect Essential In a High Poverty School/Connected Principals

-What is Good Teaching?

-Personal Learning Networks 101

-A Primer on Personal Learning Networks

-23 Resources about Learning Networks

-Jeff Goldstein: The remarkable Power of Twitter

The reason I tagged these is because I think they are either interesting topics to read about in education or they can help me improve my personal learning network.

I joined The Educator’s PLN because it has lots of useful information that should concern everyone involved in education. The blog post I read was about how immigration is an educational issue.  The teacher who posted the blog discussed how one of her students shared his concern about college and scholarship applications because his mother was deported last year.  The student is currently living with siblings and has no money for college.  This is an important topic because as future teachers we will encounter students that are facing these tuff situations, especially here in California where Latino students make up over 50% of student population and raids by ICE continue to separate families.  As future educators we need to be aware of the issues some of our students will be facing.

Journal #6:Change Agent (Nets-5)

Rebora, A. (2010, October 11). Change agent. Education Week, Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/

This article was about Will Richardson a former teacher turned technology expert and his ideas about transforming education.  He has written books on how to integrate Web 2.0 technology in K-12 classrooms.  Richardson argues that schools need to transform their teaching and learning models to meet changes in technology and the world. He believes teachers should be transparent and easily accessible.  To accomplish that he believes all teachers should be “googleable” meaning they can easily be found online.  If teachers build an online presence they can more easily build connections, share your work, share ideas, and become more effective teachers by collaborating with other teaching professionals.  He also believes schools need to take more responsibility for teaching students how to use the internet effectively to find information they need so that students can learn better.  Kids need to learn to collaborate to solve problems, exercise critical thinking skills, and learn how to handle failure instead of memorizing useless facts they can easily look up online.  If kids learn how to use the internet effectively they will know how to find the information they need and they can learn on their own.  He wants to see schools get away from teaching to the test and instead use curriculum that will show students how to solve problems.  Much of the learning going on in schools today is about content and not key traits they will need to be built up to be successful in the real world.

Q 1. How can you incorporate technology into your classroom?

I think a good start is for teachers to be “googleable” because my doing that they give themselves access to the world of education.  As teachers I think it’s important to be an example of what you are trying to accomplish.  By being an active learner teachers can learn from other educators how to effectively incorporate technology in the classroom.

Q2. What is one of the problems with transforming education?

As a teacher there is only so much you can do because you don’t have control over the curriculum in your classroom.  With federal, state, and local policies that require certain material to be covered and tests to be implemented it makes it difficult to make progress in changing education.

Inspiration (Nets-T 3)

For this assignment I used Inspiration an online tool that allowed me to layout my presentation and ideas. I showed my familiarity with the Nets T and how I have met those requirements. I chose some assignments done this semester that reflect the Nets T standards. I also placed pictures on the presentation that correlate with the topics.