OK, so I know I am a little late but I am getting caught up on my homework. I have a very demanding job being a mommy to a pretty little girl :::GRIN:::!
After listening to the session I realized there was a lot I missed out on, I hate missing class but I felt like I needed to go to my meeting that night...long story! Anyway, here is my account of the class... I really enjoyed the talking circle exercise. I think this would be a fun activity for childrent do as well. I would use it when we are having a class discussion and EVERYONE wants to talk at the same time. I decided that I would have talked about "we are all digital citizens" to me this makes me think about the world in which we live, we have have something digital in our lives from an Mp3 to a computer we all have this. We are also living in a digital era we are "citizens" of this digital era. I checked out the ASTE.org website. The confrence seems like it would be very beneficial for teachers to attend. It looked like it would have been fun and informative. I noticed that the theme partained to living in a digital word...see we are citizens in this digital world :) I saw that I missed out on the KWL chart and I learned a lot from them, who knew there was so much that went into copyrights? I am also upset that I missed the wikibook imput. I loved my topic but it would have been nice to have been able to participate. I hate that I had to miss class. I hope to not miss anymore but I probably will as we have a convention coming up that I need to be at meetings in order to get the information. (I don't think I will miss more than 1). I learned a lot but would have loved to be in class and participate too.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The Autistic Mind
On the blog Free Technology for teachers I came across a very interesting article that I think ALL teachers can use! It was about how the autistic mind works. There is a video from a woman named Temple Grandin, and autistic woman who speaks about her experiences growing up and how she think and how teachers can benefit from this. Here are a few things I took notes on: Autistic children think in pictures. When you hear a word and think of that, you get a generalized picture in your mind, autistic people get a slide show of sorts in their mind of those things that they have seen. There is a movie about Temple and in the movie they give and example of what her mind sees, someone says "shoe" and she has a flash of LOTS of different shoes in her mind.
The autistic mind is good at one thing and bad at another. She talked about how she was horrible at algebra but excellent at trig and geometry, she was never allowed to move on to these things because she couldn't pass algebra.
There are three types of learners, the first is the photo realistic visual thinkers, they are poor at algebra. The second are the pattern thinkers who are great in music and math and the third are the verbal mind who are poos at drawing.
Autistic minds are similar to animals in that they are sensory thinkers they don't think in language, they think in pictures.
Autistic minds tend to be fixated. If there is something they are into like race cars, use that to help them with the subject they are having trouble with. We need to help students who have unique minds to be sucessful.
Give autistic children a specific task, break it down into exactly what you want them to do in order for them to be successful.
And finallyy one thing that truly stood out to me from a teaching stand point is to think about the different kinds of minds. This is something we need to think about when teaching. How to make something work for so many different students. How would you be able to do that?
The autistic mind is good at one thing and bad at another. She talked about how she was horrible at algebra but excellent at trig and geometry, she was never allowed to move on to these things because she couldn't pass algebra.
There are three types of learners, the first is the photo realistic visual thinkers, they are poor at algebra. The second are the pattern thinkers who are great in music and math and the third are the verbal mind who are poos at drawing.
Autistic minds are similar to animals in that they are sensory thinkers they don't think in language, they think in pictures.
Autistic minds tend to be fixated. If there is something they are into like race cars, use that to help them with the subject they are having trouble with. We need to help students who have unique minds to be sucessful.
Give autistic children a specific task, break it down into exactly what you want them to do in order for them to be successful.
And finallyy one thing that truly stood out to me from a teaching stand point is to think about the different kinds of minds. This is something we need to think about when teaching. How to make something work for so many different students. How would you be able to do that?
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
A new blog
I decided to check out a new blog. The one I had been following wasn't really doing it for me. I am one of those people who has to be interested in something in order to keep coming back to it. So I came across the blog called 21apples.org the first post caught my attention right away. It was about children using google buzz and parents getting upset about it. I read the article "Google Buzz may put children at risk, parents fear" on LA Times. What a scary thought, it talks about how many parents are letting their children use google buzz to have conversations with friends but those conversations are being seen by anyone and everyone and also how children are being followed by older pedifile people...WHOA!! After reading this I was scared for my daughter to use these kinds of things when she is old enough, then I read the blog post on 21apples. He talks about how parents should be watching and monitoring their children. DUH!! If you are that upset about your children doing this then put a stop to it immediately! He says that if your children want to have an email account they should do it through your account that way you can monitor what is being said. He says something that made me think...."would you give your kid a car as soon as they wanted one? Start them off with a tricycle in the carpeted basement and you’ll see them progress much more successfully." Great idea!
This is something that I think should be taught in school, internet saftey and should be sent home to parents! I can not tell you how many kids from the elementary school I worked at have a facebook page and not only that a facebook page that is public!! Where are these parents? Anyone can look into these kids pages and see what they are doing, where they are going, and who they hang out with...ANYONE! If parents aren't going to watch their children I feel like as a teacher I should. I would be devestated if I found out something happend to one of my students because of something so preventable as setting your page to private or better yet...not having one! What are your opinions on this topic? Am I over reacting?
This is something that I think should be taught in school, internet saftey and should be sent home to parents! I can not tell you how many kids from the elementary school I worked at have a facebook page and not only that a facebook page that is public!! Where are these parents? Anyone can look into these kids pages and see what they are doing, where they are going, and who they hang out with...ANYONE! If parents aren't going to watch their children I feel like as a teacher I should. I would be devestated if I found out something happend to one of my students because of something so preventable as setting your page to private or better yet...not having one! What are your opinions on this topic? Am I over reacting?
Sortfix.com
I came across this website in the blog Free Technology for Teachers. Sortfix is a really cool search engine that gives you the chance to pick and choose the "power words" for your internet searches and also remove words that you don't want in your search so you can get just what you are looking for. I played with this for a little while and I could see how this would be a neat tool for both educators and students. It would help in searching for exactly what you need and not having to weed through the mumbo jumbo to find what it is you are looking for. What a cool website!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Educational Website
I looked at http://www.starfall.com I spent well over an hour looking at everything they had to offer and I was amazed! What an AWESOME website! It is all about reading. it starts from letter recognition and goes up to reading. I played with each level and this is what I found.... On the letter recognition step you can click on any letter and it will give you the name and the sound of the letter along with a picture and a word that coensides with it. The website is very interactive, you just click on the sparkly areas and move on to the next page. Another thing I loved was the Alphabet song. It features a man who sings the song but he gives the letter and a word that starts with that letter it also gives movements that goes along with the word. I can see this helping to aide in memorization. In the learn to read section, you can click on a word in a story and it will sound out the word letter by letter. It also has some really cute movies that go along with the learning to read. One I watched was how the alphabet got it's order. Very cute! The website has lots of fun things that go along with holidays. I looked at the valentines day section and there was a game that you put words together to make a sentence. I am going to bookmark this webpage not only for my students but for Olivia as well! I think she will benefit from it when she is old enough. I also sent this website to a friend who has a 7 and 3 year old. Her 7 year old is having a little trouble in reading so I thought this would be an awesome and fun way to help him out!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Another blog to follow
The other blog I have chosen to follow is called "Free Technology for Teachers". The one blog that I read that stood out to me was about Web 2.0 and students with disabilities. It talks about the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) "UDL is a framework curricula that enable all individuals to gain knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm for learning. Using multiple means of representation, multiple means of action & expression, and multiple means of engagement you can create lessons & curriculum that all learners can participate in." (from the website) The blog gives some good resources to help students with disabilities to recieve the best education possible and to meet those goals. One site that is given is called tar heel reader which is a free online book creator. It is such a cool website that has over 8,000 books and most were written by students. Here is an exerpt from the website "a collection of free, easy-to-read, and accessible books on a wide range of topics. The books may be downloaded as slide shows in PowerPoint, Impress, or Flash format. Each book can be speech enabled and accessed using multiple interfaces, including touch screens, the IntelliKeys with custom overlays, and 1 to 3 switches."
The blog also talks about a program called voice thread, it allows a person to record audio for a presentation. So if a student was deaf or unable to speak they could have someone record what they wanted to say for their presentation and it would then speak for them. What a cool program!
I think these two programs could be so beneficial to teachers and students alike! I will definately have to keep these websites in mind when teaching :)
The blog also talks about a program called voice thread, it allows a person to record audio for a presentation. So if a student was deaf or unable to speak they could have someone record what they wanted to say for their presentation and it would then speak for them. What a cool program!
I think these two programs could be so beneficial to teachers and students alike! I will definately have to keep these websites in mind when teaching :)
More from cool cat teacher
I found the coolest slide show on her blog this morning. It was all about how we learn and how to keep the attention when giving presentations and teaching. Here are a few quotes I took from the slide show. It is called "Brain Rules" and was created by Garr Reynolds.
"There is no greater anti-brain environment than the classroom and cubicle" -Dr. John Medina
Passevely sitting is a very unnatural. Audiences have no patience for tedium. Think of the presentation from your audiences point of view.
People who are interrupted take 50% longer to complete a task and make 50% more errors.
Structure your presentations around meaning and the big picture then support key ideas with details.
"if keeping someones attention in a lecture was a business, it would have an 80% failure rate." -Dr. John Medina
after 10 minutes, audience attention steadily drops. So do something emotionally relevant at each 10 minute mark to regain attention. Tell a relevant story, show a relevant video, do a relevant activity, etc.
Fact: we have better recall fro visual information.
Hear a peice of information and 3 days later you'll remember 10% of it, add a picture and you'll remember 65%.
"pictures beat text...because reading is so ineffecient for us. We have to identify certain featires in the letters to be able to read them, that takes time." - Dr. John Medina
I think that everyone who has to do some kind of presentation or is teaching should see this slide show. I learned so much that I can take with me not only into the class room but also to other classes as well. I thought it was very interesting that after 10 minutes the interest drops off. I know from experience that this happens, if I am not interested in something I will start day dreaming about other things than what is being talked about. I now know that I need to make sure that I do whatever I can to keep the interest of my students. I will have to keep these points in mind when teaching and making lesson plans!
"There is no greater anti-brain environment than the classroom and cubicle" -Dr. John Medina
Passevely sitting is a very unnatural. Audiences have no patience for tedium. Think of the presentation from your audiences point of view.
People who are interrupted take 50% longer to complete a task and make 50% more errors.
Structure your presentations around meaning and the big picture then support key ideas with details.
"if keeping someones attention in a lecture was a business, it would have an 80% failure rate." -Dr. John Medina
after 10 minutes, audience attention steadily drops. So do something emotionally relevant at each 10 minute mark to regain attention. Tell a relevant story, show a relevant video, do a relevant activity, etc.
Fact: we have better recall fro visual information.
Hear a peice of information and 3 days later you'll remember 10% of it, add a picture and you'll remember 65%.
"pictures beat text...because reading is so ineffecient for us. We have to identify certain featires in the letters to be able to read them, that takes time." - Dr. John Medina
I think that everyone who has to do some kind of presentation or is teaching should see this slide show. I learned so much that I can take with me not only into the class room but also to other classes as well. I thought it was very interesting that after 10 minutes the interest drops off. I know from experience that this happens, if I am not interested in something I will start day dreaming about other things than what is being talked about. I now know that I need to make sure that I do whatever I can to keep the interest of my students. I will have to keep these points in mind when teaching and making lesson plans!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Blog to Follow
The blog I chose to follow is called Cool Cat Teacher. One post I found interesting was about facial expressions and how we judge people by their facial expressions. She talks about how when we frown we put off this persona that we are a negative person. When we smile we put off that we are a happy person. If we have botox done you can't really frown or smile. One thing that stood out to me is "Our facial expressions influence both how people to react to us and HOW WE REACT TO OTHERS more than we know."
How true is this? It makes me want to make sure that I smile all the time :) So please Smile along with me :D
How true is this? It makes me want to make sure that I smile all the time :) So please Smile along with me :D
Monday, February 1, 2010
Teaching and Technology
Some of the technologies that teachers need to be proficient in are email, I know of a few people who don't have email. All schools now have them but how many actually use them? Email can be used in so many ways, instead of sending home a note and hopingthat it gets there, or sending home a newsletter about an upcoming event and hardly anyone shows up or brings in anything. You could send these things via email to the parents who have email and know it was sent. Those who don't have email you could still send out a paper copy to. Another thing that is very important to know is a smart board. I personally don't know how to use these and would LOVE to learn how. So many classrooms have these, if you have never been taught how to use them they more than likely will never be used. Teachers should also know how to use MP3 players. There are so many books on MP3 that are available. If you are having a quiet time with your students and need to get some papers graded, put that book reading on and let your students listen to it. This doesn't mean that it is OK to not read to your students but who wouldn't want to listen to a book on MP3? Teachers should also know how to use the computer! My husband is so computer illiterate, granted he is not going to be a teacher but it just suprises me how many know nothing about computers or even how to do basic tasks on the computer! I know that I am always learning how to do new things on the computer, it just goes to show that you are never too young to learn new things! Computers are so important in this day and age, I think everyone should learn how to use computers, and technologies in general!
I do have to tell a funny story. My father-in-law is so technologially lost. He had the hardest time learning how to use his computer. At their house they have a lot of electronics that go along with their TV, DVD players, CD player, surround sound...etc. A long with all of these technologies come a lot of remote controls. He keeps saying that my Mother-In-Law can't die yet because he doesn't know how to use the remotes...we always laugh about that. What will he do with out her to do everything for him? It just goes to show that so many people are lost when it comes to technology.
I do have to tell a funny story. My father-in-law is so technologially lost. He had the hardest time learning how to use his computer. At their house they have a lot of electronics that go along with their TV, DVD players, CD player, surround sound...etc. A long with all of these technologies come a lot of remote controls. He keeps saying that my Mother-In-Law can't die yet because he doesn't know how to use the remotes...we always laugh about that. What will he do with out her to do everything for him? It just goes to show that so many people are lost when it comes to technology.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
