Journal # 9: How to Do More with Less

Journal 9: How to Do More with Less

Pape, Liz, Tracy Sheehan, and Colleen Worrell. "How to Do More with Less." Learning and Leading with Technology. 39.6 (2012): 18-22. Retrieved from: http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/March-April2012.asp&xgt;.

Summary: The article by Liz Page titled, How to Do More with Less, is about how schools are struggling with our budget while our government is demanding better education. Not only are our students’ classes becoming larger and less teacher-student bond, our digital age is advancing faster than our schools. The two strategies that would help our students in the classroom are blended teaching and flipped classroom instruction. The term blended teaching refers to mixing traditional face to face instruction with online learning practices. If you were to observe a blended classroom you will find students engaging in note taking or lectures as well as online assessments for example online peer editing. Flipped classroom instruction is the idea of replacing homework with classroom practice at home. This is where students are using the time at home to become familiarized with content, or a digital lesson that will be assigned the next day of class. This is designed to increase classroom communication between the students in class rather than the traditional book reading and worksheet. Discussion is just as important for the development of students as much as reading and writing. This change in educating our students is a drastic change, but in the long run more beneficial to our students. They are learning through multiple approaches to allow them to become aware of a variety of teaching styles.

Q: How is this approach working together with the decrease in money in our nations education?

As mentioned in this article our schools are receiving less support from our government spending. These changes in teaching styles are different, but no harm to our spending or our schools. We are working with software that is free and simply needs a user name and password to access. Students are more and more familiar with this because most programs on their latest technology require the same.

Q: Do you think the parent response is positive or negative to this kind of teaching style?

Once I read this article the first thing I thought was what are the parents view on the change in style of classroom structure and homework? At first I felt that parents were opposed to this because they would view the teacher as not doing their job. They are having the students do work, but having them learn on their own. This is one of the most important strategies a student could grasp at a young age, to take resources and teach themselves the material. I think parents should almost feel a relief, because their child is not coming home with pages of math, or worksheets, they are becoming familiar with a software that they will discuss in class the next day. This is way more beneficial than having the students struggle with homework they have to take home and turn in the next day.

Journal #4: If You Give a Kid a Video Camera...

Journal 4: If You Give a Kid a Video Camera...

Campbell, L. O. (2012). If you give a kid a video camera. Learning and Leading with Technology, 39(5), 30-33. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/February-2012.aspx


This article was my favorite out of the four. This is something that I will definitely use in my elementary classrooms. The article mentioned how a video camera can be used in all subjects, allowing the students to get a visual about the material. For language arts, I think it would be a great idea to use it as a pen pal with students the same age from other states, or even other countries. Students today are more and more familiar with blogging and posting, I feel they would benefit from learning how to make a video, post it, and respond to another video. This is enhancing skills such as listening, public speaking, and becoming familiar with technological forms of learning. I really liked the math scavenger hunt lesson. When I was in high school trigonometry I remember walking outside and measuring every angle I could find with my group. It would have been so much easier to have a video camera, or even a camera to help with the recording. Giving a kid a video camera is a great idea and I think it will help many lessons in the future. 

Q: Why would some teachers be opposed to using a video camera for lessons even though the article shows how effective it can be? 

Most teachers are in a completely different generation of technology then we are today. We are only advancing more and more through incorporating technology in the classroom, you cannot avoid it. Teachers need to learn more about how our students can use their every day technology. This will make their education journey more fun and they will want to use these new gadgets in their given assignments. 

Q: With a lesson such as having the students create a video for a pen pal in another country, what are they learning from using this video camera?


You assume with having the students use a video camera in the classroom it will be more of a fun assignment then an academic one. By doing this particular assignment they will be exposed to multiple learning strategies such as public speaking, working a useful piece of technology that can help them with other future schools projects and becoming familiar with posting and blogging their video. Just because they are not reading a textbook chapter does not mean they are not learning something useful. I posted a video on my prezi of clips of students who were in second grade who were filming a partner about family traditions and other interests. They seemed to have a lot of fun doing it, and they are also learning other multicultural facts of people just like them, and how lifestyles can be different. AWESOME.

Journal #3: Infographics

Journal 3: Infographics 

Krauss, J. (2012). Infographics. Learning and Leading with Technology, 39(5), 10-13. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/February-2012.aspx

Summary: Infographics is a great way to get students involved with graphs, visuals, and analyzing data. This is great for younger students in elementary and middle level because it has more visuals, representations and explanations than an excel spreadsheet. Infographics creates data in a unified way to visually represent any given information. It incorporates both the Linguistic; textbooks and lectures, and Nonlinguistic side of learning through graphic organizers, modeling software, computer simulations, and kinesthetic activities. It is important to use all styles of learning in the curriculum so every student will learn they way that they are comfortable with. The teacher should have data already collected or do a poll in class using the students themselves. First students are usually given the topic the graph will be about, and then they are asked to sketch it out. The next step would be to collect the data, similar to an excel spreadsheet, and develop the proof of concepts. Lastly, they will create the graph using symbols and designs of their choice enabling them to see the data presented in a visual way.

Q: How can Infographics be used in a second grade classroom?

Students should be introduced to graphs as early as possible to help them understand concepts and visuals corresponding to their data. This might look difficult in a second grade classroom but if you start with something simple they will feel more comfortable reading and making charts in the future. For example, if you collect all the students’ hair color and then have them graph the data. There is no significance of the data that is being collected but it shows them what a graph looks like, and helps them how to graph. 

Q: New technologies for teaching are advancing fast, what kind of schools do you see using a program such as Infographics?

Everyone wants to use technology in their classroom but realistically it is not the priority of most districts. Most of the older schools are in the process of trying to buy more computers and other new technology for their classrooms. It is expensive and not every school has the budget. More computer labs and smart classrooms are more and more frequent in schools, but not all. It is going to take years for our schools to convert to this type of learning, but it will be effective for the education of our future students.

 

Journal # 5: Fostering Creativity and Innovation through Techonology

Journal # 5: Fostering Creativity and Innovation through technology

Vaidyanathan, S. (2012). Fostering creativity and innovation through technology. Learning and Leading, 39(6), 25-27. Retrieved from, http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/March-April2012.aspx

Summary: I really enjoyed this article because it focused on teaching the STEM subjects and engaging creativity at the same time using digital design programs. They are already being exposed in the home it makes sense to learn the school material at the same time! By using digital programs students are learning the material along with becoming familiarized with technology.  “Art inspires creativity, and in today’s world the computer is the tool for design and creativity,” (25). In this article it talked about how elementary students are more frequently creating images and projects on the computer and they enjoy it! This shows students that learn with technology are both relevant and exciting. Students will not be afraid to try new digital programs when they are already exposed to it at an early age. It is important for teachers to have students learn in multiple ways because every student learns differently and technology is a great way to get the best of both.

Q: Are parents for or against having their children on the computers not only at home, but now in the classroom? 

The section in the article about the parent reaction was positive. Yes students are being exposed to computers both in the home and at school. This could be considered not appropriate in the classroom setting because reading and writing cannot be present on the computer but parents have seen a positive adjustment. Students are coming home excited to do their homework and more enthusiastic than usual which creates their positive attitude towards learning. 

Q: Why are programs like this necessary? 


The important idea of this article was to use digital design to integrate art, creativity, and technology into one lesson. My elementary school was fortunate enough to have a volunteer mom come in and do art for a half day through "Adventures in Art". This was a way where students could work on their drawing skills and express themselves through an important artist or concept in school. We know how important art in the classroom is, and with a program like this, we can use the computer as part of our lesson as an alternative of doing just art for half a day. they are learning multiple things by doing them at the same time!