Pomethean Activboard: required

I Google searched " About Promethean Active Board" and found the following two videos showing the board being used in classrooms.

News Report of Activboard in Maryland

Math and the Activboard

This was very interesting because I did notice some differences in format such as the way transitions are made between slides. I also noticed just how much you can do, especially regarding math. I assume that most of the math, you could also do in a similar way on a SMARTboard. In the short news clip, I learned that this product in from the UK, so I assume that this may be more popular on the east coast. However, I am curious to see if this is also being used in the area. Overall, when teachers were interviewed they really loved the Activboard, especially because it kept students on task. It was also interesting to see that it was also very successful in special needs classroom as well as in upper level math.

Questions:

What is the difference between the SMARTboard and the Activboard?

Which board is more user friendly?

Who decided what brand will be used in the classroom?

Which is more popular in the Seattle area?

Reflection #3: To Educate the Broken in India

Teacher Advocates in India, Review of 2009

Wow, I can't believe it has almost been a half a year since I was last in India! I miss it so much, and my heart is to return again. I really do believe that a part of my heart will always be in the Jungle of western India, help gently in the hands of broken women and precious children.

What:

I was looking over a blog for a ministry that I actually came in contact with in India last summer called ANM Advancing Native Missions. This ministry is based out of Virginia and works with ministries overseas that are run by natives of each country. While I was Interning with the Home Foundation at Bombay Teen Challenge, I had the chance to meet a team of women who run this organization. It was amazing because one lady in particular was focused on training teachers in local schools in India. I immediately hit it off with her because, ultimately I would love to teach in India one day or to help in education in some way.

Today I glanced over their blog and my heart strings were pulled as I looked over their accounts of the very trip to India that I met then on. I ended up reading an article on the situation of school in India. They also have profiles of teachers that need prayer and stories of situations in which children and girls my age were given hope and a new life because of the educational opportunities that they have received.

So What:

Well, get on board! I want to get on board with education on a global scale, maybe you do to. I know a lot of the girls in the education major at Northwest want to use education as a tool for ministry or missions. Well, here is an opportunity. Think out of the box, think of the possibilities of a life surrendered to God. He is limitless, and so are the doors that we may choose to walk through, our degree in education in hand. Maybe He says go, maybe he says wait, or maybe he has another plan for you. All I know is that this makes me EXCITED! So what? Ask yourself.

Now What:

For me this is the hardest question. I love to help people learn, and I want to help the poor have better lives. Not only in Christ but also through education. I find myself asking the question: "Now What Lord?" and you know, I don't have an answer. All I can do is walk forward in the direction he has set me and to trust that His plan is greater then I can even imagine. I urge you reader, be inspired, or use this article to inspire your students. There is so much that we take for granted here in the U.S. To be honest, many countries don't even know how to teach children with text books let alone SMARTboards and computers. See the opportunities that you have been given and run with them. The world in your oyster.

Reflection #2: To Raise One's Emotions

What:

Today I went to a women's coffee tasting at World Concern headquarters in Seattle. This was an amazing experience, one of those experiences that, for me, rekindles by burning desire to be involved in the lives of children overseas. As the afternoon progressed, we heard many speakers. However, one thing that particularly blew me away was the fact that most of the speakers used videos as either an opening to talk or a supplement for it.

I realized just how much we connect with a video. There is something about seeing the moving faces of children in different countries that connect us to something greater then ourselves. We become emotional. The child in a statistic is no longer a floating imaginary being, but someone we have seen, someone who is real that we could know. That child connects with us.

So What:

Media, is an excellent tool that can be used for great good. It can be used to fundraise for a necessary ministry, or to call an audience to think outside itself. It is vitally important to embrace media in order to reach not only my generation but the generations to come. We no longer are satisfied with a statistic on paper, we need to know that another human being is in fact looking for our help. Therefore, as a teacher I hope to use video as a tool to connect my students to the world around them.

No What:

Well, as far as World Concern goes, support that ministry, it is amazing. As for me, I walked away convinced that I want to help teach "school on a mat" in Bangladore or Thailand. Is this entirely because of the video I watched in a two hour session, no. But a hunger that was already inside of me re-birthed, oh yeah. Now, I hope to use the tool of video to encourage my students to think out of the box. If we are studying Africa in class, we will watch a video on an African village. If we want to learn spanish, We will Watch a video on another class in Chile learning English. If we want to analyze current events, we will watch a video on the earthquake in Chile, or the Winter Olympics. Really, there are endless possibilities for inspiration when students can see a living picture of something in which they have never experienced before.

World Concern Video- Human Trafficking

SING: Website Page

Sing! Website page

Just an experiment... these things are more challenging than you would think. :)

King's Schools Website Reflection (required)

It was fun looking at the website of my old elementary school. I think one of the major surprises that I encountered was the fact that there is a huge difference between this private school website and the public school websites that I have been looking through. The King's website was helpful but was very broad on a lot of topics. For example, the curriculum was addressed merely by topic and the topics addressed were also very vague. Also, there was no indication of things such as teacher web pages and blogs. It seems that, in general, the school is a bit behind in the area of technology. I also wish that there were more specific answers to things such as disciplinary problems and grade expectations. However, I do appreciate the fact that each family has an interview process that probably explains most of these things to each family.

On a positive note, the website was very easy to maneuver and was well organized. It also provide good information on a variety of topics including frequently asked questions. It also had smooth transitions to other campuses of King's Schools as well as other CRISTA ministries. These were also very helpful tools.

Overall, I was happy with the website, but also can see room for improvement. I also was amazing at the large difference between public schools and private in areas such as technology, special needs and academics.

King's Schools Website

Reflection #1: Nicole Meets the SMARTboard

What:

I nanny once a week on Tuesdays, right before our technology and education class. A few weeks ago, I had Nicole, the 7-year-old that I watch "try out" my SMARTboard lesson that I later presented to the class. It was fascinating just how enthralled she was in technology. I never would've guessed that in a split second she would be so interested in a simple lesson on the four seasons.

She was immediately interacting with the different activities and I really think she learned a lot about the seasons. I was also surprised at how little instruction she needed to understand how to use the program.

I also think that she felt very excited to "try out" my lesson before I showed it to the class.

So what?

This was very exciting because it was the first time I have been able to see a child interact with the SMARTboard. I have not been placed in a cooperative classroom yet and my elementary school did not have the SMARTboard. So, I was able to see first hand, the technological ability of an elementary age student. I finally do believe all of those articles :). This also gave me more confidence about presenting my project and also let me know what things I needed to "tweak" or change.

Now what?

Well, I hope to continue to learn to use the SMARTboard and to understand better how it works. I think that I may use Nicole as my "expert" to check out any future SMARTboard lessons that I may put together. I am interested to learn more about the SMARTboard and to see an entire classroom interact with the interesting new learning tool.

THANK YOU NICOLE :)!

What I Learned About the SMARTboard ( required)

Well, I definitely learned that I have a lot more to learn about the SMARTboard and about technology in general. It is also hard to plan with technology because there are always little things that can go wrong or happen in ways you do not expect. I think it is important to always have a back up plan and never be too prideful to ask for help from students. I think that if I have learned one thing in this class it is that students know an awful lot about technology, and really they can be your best resources. It also shows students that you are real if you are willing to learn from your mistakes. However,it is also important to give any technological tools a test run and to try to be ask prepared as you can be. If you are calm, the class will be too. I also noticed that it can be hard to get a good amount of class participation when using a SMARTboard. Even in our class it was easy to see that the same students would volunteer to help and others would sit back and tune out. I think one way to solve this is to deal with the SMARTboard in small groups such as stations, this allows more students to have a hands on experience with the SMARTboard. I still have many questions. I think that ultimately because I learn by doing, I need to personally play around with it more. It doesn't help me much to be told how to do things, instead, I need to figure them out for myself. This I realize requires more time of me. I would really like to learn how to record and post lessons, also I would like to become more savvy with the creation of games and also using template as a spring board for my own lessons.

I conclude: I have a lot more to learn, but I have come much farther then I thought :).

Reflection on a Blog ( required)

I found one particular chain of links that I followed very interesting. I began by following the link "Adventures in Educational Blogging." This website is very insightful. I really enjoyed the variety of topics that the author address. The author was also very interesting. She is not currently in Asia, working to bring technology into the schools there. She seems to be very well traveled and encourages the use of technology as a tool to keep up to date on world issues. What really intrigued me was one post that she had on the events that have happened in Haiti. She mentioned that in her attempt to get up-to-date information she almost had given up in frustration when she found a sight on twitter that offered the names of a few individuals who were giving twitter updates from the ground in Haiti. I followed this link and was amazed to find daily updates that provided insightful information about issues that the country of haiti is currently facing in epidemic proportions. Some of the tweets also had links to articles and websites offering more information on different topics. The first one that I followed was about the problem of the vulnerability of women in Haiti and the prevalence of rape. This was very eart- wrenching and hard to read. As I finished the article I found myself amazing that I had just learned valuable information by following a chain of various technological tools. This I believe is really what teachers should strive to do in their classes.

What:

The blog I chose to follow was very closely connected with the international community and the importance of connecting students around the world to global issues. This was seen in the link that I read regarding twitter updates about Haiti.

So What:

Teachers should offer "chain" of resources that students can use to discover information. This can include many different technological tools. In this case the author of the blog provided a link to Twitter and then a link to internet articles that gave updated information about Haiti. I never considered Twitter to work in a classroom but now I can see it is an invaluable tools to connect directly with someone who is in another part of the country or overseas. This could also be a great tool to follow an important author or public figure.

Now What:

I plan to use this idea in my own classroom. I really like the idea of having a blog for parents and also to use this blog as a place to put links to other websites such as Twitter. I hope to explore this tools more in the future and to connect my students to other individuals that are in other parts of the world. I think it would be cool to follow one person a month and to read their twitter updates as a class as part of a morning activity. This I believe is a very tangible way to be connected to the world.

Adventures in Educational Blogging

Live Twitter in Haiti

Rape in Haiti

Reflection on Generation IM (required)

Wow, I am still amazed at how many options there are out there. I know that most of this we have begun to discuss in class, however, I am also amazed at how savvy students are at using technology. For me, I still am not confident that I know much about things such as blogging, wikispaces and podcasts. However, the students in my future classroom will most likely know quite a bit about various technological tools. I would never have been able to construct a blog in 4th grade, however, teachers are using tools such as blogs everyday. I think it is also interesting that the shift in education has turned from a "memorization" method to a "critical thinking" method. I wish that I had learned this when I was in elementary school. I know, especially in math, I am very stuck in the "traditional" style of math where I memorized a list of rules and followed them. However, I have found that many of the things I have memorized are just facts in my mind. I do not know why I followed those specific math rules. This is a problem that I must face now as critical thinking is becoming more and more important. Therefore, in this way, I think that technology is a valuable tools for kids to learn how to think out of the box and to creatively solve problems in the real world.

Assignment #2

Smart Board Seasons Lesson

video

Lesson

Tools I will use in my presentation:

1. writing with a pen

2. erasing

3. video

NETS for students:

1. Creative Innovation

d. Identify trends and forecast possibilities.

why: My presentation meets this standard because students are introduced to the various seasons gradually. Throughout the lesson they are able to see patterns in different seasons and then to participate in questions that cause them to evaluate what they already know about the seasons. They also, in the end are able to see the "trend" of the class in that they can see how many students like a certain season. This lesson will also help students to identify seasons through experiences in everyday life such as nature, activity and weather.

3. Research and Information Fluency a. process data and report results. Why: This is true especially because of the class poll that is taken at the end of the lesson. Students are able to understand how to represent data in a graph and also how to organize information.

NETS for Teachers:

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

b. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

d. provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.

why: This is true because, as a teacher, I am using various forms of technology such as the SMARTboard and video to display an ordinary lesson. This allows students to experience the seasons through technology which in more innovative then merely a book or a weather chart. Also, the questions that the class must participate in help them to assess what they are learning throughout the lesson. This also causes student to have to participate actively in the lesson. Finally they students must evaluate what they have learned in order to form an opinion about which season is their favorite through a poll at the end of the lesson.

How an interactive whiteboard can improve student learning:

No that students are mostly digital natives, it is important to teach in a way that is easy for them to relate to. Interactive whiteboards are easy for students to learn and also connects easily with many of the activities that they already do in their spare time. Students also can easily participate in lessons in a very visual way as they come up to the board and drag objects or play games. This is helpful because students are able to learn both the subject and become technologically savvy. Also interactive whiteboards make thing that would have otherwise been impossible or very difficult possible. This is the case with difficult science experiments that would've otherwise required lots of prep time or space. Also it is very beneficially for the development of global awareness as well. It is much easier to "visit" and experience another country through technology then merely through books because technology is something that we all have in common. I am really looking forward to using the smart board for the study of other cultures and also for science lessons. I think a particularly good way to incorporate the smart board for station work. That way one station can always been on the smart board but the teacher is only dealing with a small group rather then the whole class. Therefore it becomes more manageable for the teacher and the students are able to interact with the whiteboard more. Some examples of what this would look like include having students take polls about likes and dislikes related to subjects. Also I really like the idea of having interactive questions for them to answer and games. I believe this is especially helpful in math and science.

Assignment #1

Reflection on Science, the Smart Board and Kindergarteners

Smart Boards in Kindergarten Science

This article was very helpful and I appreciated the fact that it explained the good and bad about the SMART board in the classroom.

The article was a general overview of some classroom science examples. It began with an introduction of what a SMART board is and how is has come to be available in the classroom. Then, it narrowed in on a specific school system and the use of the SMART board in the primary grades, particularly kindergarten. It mentioned that it is a great tool to use for younger grades, especially those that do not know how to read well yet, because the interactive and visual tools on the SMART board are very easy for younger students to use and show what they have learned. It mentioned the use of pictures, instead of worksheets with heavy reading and also mentioned that demonstrations on the smart board are easier for students to understand because they do now get lost in all of the procedures, but instead can focus in on something they can see and interact with easily. Overall, I enjoyed the examples that they gave such as: games where students point our objects that need electricity or batteries, or a power point of "flash" animation. I really think that this tool is a very useful one in the primary grades. However, I was also very happy to see that the article didn't shy away from the disadvantages. The author mentioned that sometimes kids can get bored if they "don't get a turn" and so it is important to realize that the smart board is a tool, no the the teaching itself.

Overall, I am excited to use all of the games, videos and other visual tools in my classroom, especially if I work with the younger grades. I would love to use the SMART board as a way to make what would normally be a painful and complicated experiment possible in a tangible and yet simpler way. I also think that the pictures of objects as well as games are great ways to asses what students know and have learned. I plan to use the smart board as a warm up lesson often, as well as a tool of assessment.

NETS For Teachers:

As a teacher I want to... Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity.

This is very important because creativity is the key to the future. As we have been told time and time again, many of the jobs that will be available to the kids we teach don't exist yet and, as a teacher, the best way in which I can prepare my students for the unknown is to teach them to think out of the box. This involves massive creativity, especially in the area of technology. I also really think that technology is a very tangible tool to use in solving the bigger problems of the world and of the planet. We can communicate cross-culturally so fast and really of the greatest things that we all have in common, on a global scale is technology.

Three things I want to work on:

1. Increase my knowledge of the smart board and work to step out of my comfort zone to use new tools for each class.

2. use the ideas of others only as a starting ground for other new ideas, I want to be creative in my own right in regards to technology.

3. Never stick to one program, I want to use multiple venues to teach a subject ( not just power point, or games but other resources as well), and I want to ask for help when I need it so that I can improve my skills in a timely manner.

NETS for Students:

I want my students to excel in... Communication and Collaboration.

I think this is super important because one of the main uses for technology is in fact communication. Technology allows us to see the world without actually having to leave our classroom. Technology has changed how we interact socially as a community and I think it is important to teach students how to use these skills and also how to balance these skills in everyday life.

Two Ideas:

1. having pen pals over facebook or email and then skyping the classroom full of students from another country for a country or geography unit.

2. have a class event or fundraiser in which students are assigned to make posters or send emails (etc) to announce the event or fundraiser to their peers and their parents.