My Mentor Teacher and Technology

The actual classroom in which I attend is pretty limited to the technology that we have available. Within the classroom we have a teachers laptop with internet, a TV, VCR, DVD player, CD player, and an ELMO that we can check out. I have rarely seen my mentor teacher really use the technology besides watching behind the lions on the TV and listening to story tellers or music from the CD player. One thing that I believe she used technology well at however was when she did a read aloud. She began by showing a small clip about five siblings from Utah that all play the piano really well. They play the pianos at once and together to make really cool and interesting sounds. The video ended with them playing a famous classical music song. She then had the children lie on the floor and close their eyes and she played the same song from her CD player. Next she taught them words to the song that went along with the book that she was going to read aloud. At certain points throughout the book, they would all sing the song. It was really cute and the children had a blast. I've memorized the song and thing I will do something similar in my own classroom if resources allow. I know the school I'm at has a computer lab, but so far I have never seen my mentor teacher use it. We are not there the whole day however, so she could be using it and I just don't know about it. It would be nice though to see what lessons are available at the computer lab though. I wish she would use it at a time we are there.


My Lesson Plans

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videos on technology in the classroom

The videos that I watched on technology in the classroom were really interesting. The first video, Bookends of War ( http://etec.hawaii.edu/etecvideos/videos/bow/?page=ft_large), demonstrated one teacher who really was fired up about using technology in the classroom. One thing that really impressed me about this video were the students. I loved how they all came together as a class to create the web page. I think that everyone was excited to work on the project. I thought it was great that they could all work on one project, and get a long so well. The collaboration was really evident in their classroom. I also thought it was cool how the teacher only taught a handful of students how to do certain things, and in turn these students would teach their classmates. Peer teaching is an excellent way to build up classroom unity. Students learn how to respect each other. The other video, Inside Kapunahala (http://etec.hawaii.edu/etecvideos/videos/kap/?page=ft_large), showed us how we can bring technology into the classroom as well. I found this interesting because It was across tall the grade levels. first through sixth were all collaborating and working together to create a new story. The whole entire school had excellent unity and children learned to get to know each other in different grade levels. I also liked how technology never died, no matter what grade you are in, it is still a huge part of the curriculum throughout their elementary years. It also helped students with their oral communication and speaking in front of a group. Both situations really did an amazing job at integrating technology across a wide variety of subjects and curriculum as well as make it relevant for students. The students are really excited to work on the assignments because they know that they will use it again and that it does haave relevance in their lives.

Technology in the Classroom

There is a lot of different things that surprised me when it comes to the technology available in my classroom and school. I figured that there would be more, because I thought alpine was a pretty rich district, but it wasn't really as advanced with technology as I thought it would be. There are not any computers available in the classroom for the students. I figured there would be a couple, but there weren't. So the only computers available are in the computer lab. The computer lab does have available 45 mac computers, however, so that is a lot. They also have some good and fun software like kidspiration and kids pix. I know that this is more technology then other schools, so I can't really be disapointed. I complete part 1 and 2 of the PLE.

Science Project

I commented on Heidi, Karyn, and Heather's blog science activity.

From what I can tell the technology is an incredible tool in the classroom for teaching science. Students don't have to just listen to what the night sky looks like and how the stars are pattern, but they can actually see it. Students aren't just told the temperature of different states of matter of water, but they get to compare the differences from a graph, actually showing the students and giving them a visual. Basically the technology that we had to use was great for students to have a more concrete example. Also doing the video would be great to show parents or students who were absent what they missed or what you are doing in the classroom. It's actually really hard to see many downsides to these different instruments. Technology is unreliable at times however, so it is best not to completely rely on it for your main portion of the lesson. If something goes a rye, as it often does, then you need to have a back up plan.

Technology Enhanced Science Activity

For our activity we will be demonstrating the different matters of water; liquid, solid, and gas. The teacher will describe different characteristics of each matter of water with students help. Teacher will hold up glass of water and ask students what the characteristics of water they notice. Students will also have a 3 way Venn diagram to compare and contrast all three stages. Once the liquid characteristics are described, the teacher will then hold up an ice cube, allowing students to determine the characteristics of water when it is in the state of a solid. Students will collaborate and raise their hands in order to tell the different characteristics they know of. Teacher will be writing these answers on the Venn diagram on the board. The teacher will also provide other any characteristics that were missed. Next if available, teacher will heat up a pot of water until steam appears. Teacher explains that water, when it's hot enough, turns into a gas. Students and teacher will determine the characteristics of gas. At this point the Venn diagram should be completely filled out. Next the teacher will use the thermometer. The temperature will be taken of the water in it's solid, liquid, and gas phase. Before the teacher begins measuring the temperature, students can make predictions of how cold or hot they expect each water matter to be. Add the new information to diagram.

The content that will be taught during this activity is the various characteristics of water at each state of matter, while also determining how they are alike and different.
The pedagogy used during this instruction is a mixture of direct instruction, but mostly guided learning, students are allowed the freedom to discover the different characteristics for themselves and make prediction while the teacher guides their learning. We will be using the thermometers that plug into the computer for the technology for this activity. The thermometers will not only provide the degree of what everything is at, but will shows a visual graph which will make it easier for students to visually see the difference in temperature of each water matter. Basically the thermometers will serve as a more concrete visual aide of a more abstract characteristic of water.

Virtual Tour

This virtual tour takes you on the pilgrims journey from Southampton, England to their first settlement in America. I think that the upsides to having a virtual tour assignment for an elementary class are obvious. Children are able to see and experience places the would never get to see otherwise. It's also good for instruction and watching videos online of erosion, volcanoes, dances, and pilgrims. There is so much you could do with this, especially for geography. Each week, children could have the opportunity to visit a different country or place other than where they live. This way they will develop a better picture of how things are in places other than where they live. It's kind of hard to think of a downside, besides it takes a lot of the teachers time to prepare. One major downside I have thought of is that not kids have access to the technology to to the virtual tour and the assignments connected with it. To solve this problem, I think I would conduct the study in class. using a projector, so all students are able to see the different place, and then do an assignment in class each day until the tour is done. I commented on Whitney's, Heather's, and Heidi's virtual tour.

Core Standards

My Google Earth project will cover the first standard of the 5th grade curriculum in Social Studies. The Standard states: Students will understand how the exploration and colonization of North America transformed human history. it Covers objective one, Describe and explain the growth and development of the early American colonies, A: Using maps -- including pre-1492 maps -- and other geographic tools, locate and analyze the routes used by the explorers, C: Identify explorers who came to the Americas and the nations they represented, and D: Determine reasons for the exploration of North America (e.g., religious, economic, political). I chose this topic because I felt like it would be good for students to see the distance the pilgrims covered in their journey, while also being able to explore where they began and ended their journey as it looks like today. Pilgrims coming to America is a big turning point in history and I believe it is important that the subject is covered well. Students will be able to learn more about the leaders of the the Pilgrims as they read online biographies and explore their lives. They are also able to see first had what life was like on the Mayflower for the Pilgrims through a video reenactment. I think it will help bring the subject to life for them, and they will realize that these were real people who deeply impacted our country and what it is today.