So my first professional development was a little nerve racking. My papers were not copied until that day (which I know was my fault, but still), and I was just nervous that no one was going to show up except my department - because I told them they had to come to the first one - even though people said they were.
Well, good news people came like they said they would. I had enough papers - even a few too many. My principal came in to see what was going on and stayed for a while. After the class was over, she told me that what I was doing was a good thing and she hoped it would make a difference. She said she could see some teachers really getting into it.
Time ran over a bit and I could feel people getting restless. It is basically the same as a class of regular students, some are more advanced than others and want to know more, and others need more help and ask more questions than others. It is funny in that way......when put in a position where we are the student, that is how we act.
I know some of the teachers have beefed up their PowerPoint presentations with the information I taught them. Some of them still feel that it would take too much time for the kids to do it. I hope they give it a chance to work somehow. I would be more than happy to help them with a lesson for it! Others were already sharing ideas about how to incorporate some sort of PowerPoint making into their upcoming lessons. Overall....a success!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Rewarding
Helping other teachers incorporate technology into their classes for their kids is very rewarding. Having watched my kids use the technology I have learned about is rewarding in itself, but passing that knowledge on to see other kids have fun using technology is also great. I can't wait to hear about other presentations or better yet, I hope I get invited to watch the presentations made by students. It is so fun to watch them use what is sometimes so new and since they know other people will be watching it, they, for the most part, do a better job than they would just presenting in front of people as a one time deal. This is so much more permanent for them. We can do some many other things with it like upload it to websites, send it to the staff, and even the parents. I had a great time using the technology with these teachers and their students. I was glad to pass on my information and hope they will do the same.
Watching Students Use Technology
I have had my students create commercials using a Flip Camera to record them for the class. I then put them together and show them to the class and other teachers and administrators. They get so excited to use the camera....I had to create a part of my rubric that scores camera use. That way everyone gets to use it as part of their grade. Some don't think that they are good at recording, but this gives them a chance to try new things, which all students need to experience in order to become more well-rounded. Some of them are so used to using technology that it comes easy to them. Others hate being in front of a room filled with people, but don't mind the camera because they can almost hide behind it. Some students got nervous using the technology and wanted to read their scripts, but the somewhat memorized ones turned out so much better. (They had to have a script for their commercial, but didn't have to memorize it, just have an idea about what they were going to say.) One of the videos is attached.....they chose to read their script, but the product is humorous and the camera is done well.
Sharing Ideas while Mentoring
While mentoring Christina and Leigh in the computer lab a few weeks ago, we were discussing ways to provide opportunities for our students to use technology in the classroom. We came up with having them create scenes that they make up or that we give them. Then we could watch it in class and have the other students create a plot chart using the elements of the story that are being studied. For example, if we are studying figurative language, students could create first the plot chart about what happened in the story and then explain why the figurative language supported the scene. This would give the students many opportunities to teach others using technology and the concepts in language that are required for the TAKS. Although it might take a while the first time it is done, it would be worth it in the end. They always say that if you can teach another person something that means you have learned it and understand it well. This could be one of those instances!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Exercise 9.5
I recently attended the Portal training for accessing the GISD portal from my home. The training was held on a day of professional development and was mandatory for all teachers. It was held in the computer lab on our campus and lasted 30 minutes. What I learned was how to access my home directory from my home computer through a portal website where we must have a username and password. The only thing I cannot access from this portal is my school desktop. So anything I save should be on the home directory at school.
I can apply what I learned by working from home and sending it to my home directory at school so that I can have it when I am ready to use it there. It will be easier to look for worksheets that I have made or have access to from home. What I make at home I can either email to my school address or save it to the directory at school. If I needed help with my portal I can go to the Master Technology Trainers at my school. They were trained on this before we were and if they can’t answer the questions I have, they will know the people to ask. Since I do not use this all the time, it would be helpful to have a paper or tutorial to refer to while accessing from home. Practicing with the portal will let me know whether or not I am using it successfully. Since it is new this year, I have not had much time to play with it. Hopefully in the future, I will have a better grasp of what it is capable of helping me with.
I recently attended the Portal training for accessing the GISD portal from my home. The training was held on a day of professional development and was mandatory for all teachers. It was held in the computer lab on our campus and lasted 30 minutes. What I learned was how to access my home directory from my home computer through a portal website where we must have a username and password. The only thing I cannot access from this portal is my school desktop. So anything I save should be on the home directory at school.
I can apply what I learned by working from home and sending it to my home directory at school so that I can have it when I am ready to use it there. It will be easier to look for worksheets that I have made or have access to from home. What I make at home I can either email to my school address or save it to the directory at school. If I needed help with my portal I can go to the Master Technology Trainers at my school. They were trained on this before we were and if they can’t answer the questions I have, they will know the people to ask. Since I do not use this all the time, it would be helpful to have a paper or tutorial to refer to while accessing from home. Practicing with the portal will let me know whether or not I am using it successfully. Since it is new this year, I have not had much time to play with it. Hopefully in the future, I will have a better grasp of what it is capable of helping me with.
Learning Objective: The participant will be able to identify an area in their content where they believe technology would improve the learning process.
Heading: Outline class and present technology to be used in this period.
Key Points: Use of PowerPoint, inputting sound into PowerPoint and the benefits for all students. My availability for help during school hours, changing their minds about using technology in the classroom.
Technique: Discussion, structured experience, exercise
10 minutes
Learning Objective:The participant will create an example of what each student will complete in their class
Heading: Teachers will choose TEKS or area of their content to create model for their students.
Key Pts:I will choose example of using PPT with inserting sound for ELA. Teachers will brainstorm using PPT with sound for their content area. Teachers will choose TEKS that would lend itself to producing a PPT while the student inserts his voice or other educational sound into the PPT
Technique: Simulation, trial and error
10 minutes
Learning Objective: The participant will challenge themselves to use the examples of technology they create today and allow the students to create their own examples using the same technology.
Heading: Teachers will choose time in their lesson and sign up for the computer lab with the intention of using this technology.
Key pts: Benefits of using technology in the core classroom and how it helps all students. Work on changing beliefs of teachers so they are motivated to use technology for their students.
Technique: Lecture, discussion
10 minutes
Learning Objective:The participant will devise a plan for the students to use while incorporating the specific technology.
Heading : Teacher will use their lesson plan to find ways to incorporate this technology into their class.
Key Pts: Teachers will have time to work on their own plan during the professional development. I will be here for questions concerning technology and a creative outlet as well.
Technique: Question and answer period, simulation
45 minutes
Assessment plan - Discussion for change and examples of how to incorporate the change into the classroom.
Resources for instructor- computer lab, how-to paper for participants, ConVa screen
Resources for participants - computer, how - to paper, TEKS for content, lesson plans
Room arrangement - check with computer lab for availability
Heading: Outline class and present technology to be used in this period.
Key Points: Use of PowerPoint, inputting sound into PowerPoint and the benefits for all students. My availability for help during school hours, changing their minds about using technology in the classroom.
Technique: Discussion, structured experience, exercise
10 minutes
Learning Objective:The participant will create an example of what each student will complete in their class
Heading: Teachers will choose TEKS or area of their content to create model for their students.
Key Pts:I will choose example of using PPT with inserting sound for ELA. Teachers will brainstorm using PPT with sound for their content area. Teachers will choose TEKS that would lend itself to producing a PPT while the student inserts his voice or other educational sound into the PPT
Technique: Simulation, trial and error
10 minutes
Learning Objective: The participant will challenge themselves to use the examples of technology they create today and allow the students to create their own examples using the same technology.
Heading: Teachers will choose time in their lesson and sign up for the computer lab with the intention of using this technology.
Key pts: Benefits of using technology in the core classroom and how it helps all students. Work on changing beliefs of teachers so they are motivated to use technology for their students.
Technique: Lecture, discussion
10 minutes
Learning Objective:The participant will devise a plan for the students to use while incorporating the specific technology.
Heading : Teacher will use their lesson plan to find ways to incorporate this technology into their class.
Key Pts: Teachers will have time to work on their own plan during the professional development. I will be here for questions concerning technology and a creative outlet as well.
Technique: Question and answer period, simulation
45 minutes
Assessment plan - Discussion for change and examples of how to incorporate the change into the classroom.
Resources for instructor- computer lab, how-to paper for participants, ConVa screen
Resources for participants - computer, how - to paper, TEKS for content, lesson plans
Room arrangement - check with computer lab for availability
Exercise 9.3
I would like to make the teachers realize the need for technology in their classes. It will engage learners more and give students more of a real-life simulated learning experience.
One of the techniques I will use is the Exercise, Structured experience. Teachers will participate in planned exercises while I show them how to incorporate different technologies into their everyday lessons on the computer in the lab. They will follow my mouse strokes to make their own example of what to show their students in class. I hope to change some of their feelings about using technology in class. I know that some are frustrated about the lack of time available in the lab, but if I can show them that incorporating technology doesn’t take much time and is giving students more of a realistic experience in learning, hopefully they will attempt more technological learning in their classes.
Simulation is another technique that I will use to persuade teachers to use technology in their classes more. I will give the teachers example projects that could be used in different content areas. They will be required to use different technologies to complete the project. The simulation will be something that they would give to their students as a real-world situation and have them present about it. The requirement will be that they incorporate three different types of technology in the presentation of the project. This will be at the end of the professional development. They are to make an example to show their students what they will be required to replicate. This way they will be able to answer questions for their students because they will have already done one. Hopefully they will be excited about using the simulated project.
The assessment will demonstrate clarity because it will outlined as to how to successfully complete each objective. Each professional development session will contain a plan that is outlined for a particular technology to incorporate into a classroom regardless of what you teach. By concentrating on only one technology at a time, the directions will be specific to that certain objective. If questions arise from individuals, those can be addressed; however, they will not dominate the class.
I am going to ask the teachers to sign up for the computer lab after each professional development so they can incorporate what they have learned into the classroom. Hopefully they will leave motivated and excited to transfer their knowledge to the students. I will keep in touch with them frequently to see what else they need to continue using the specific technology in their content area. Some might want to increase what they are doing with regards to technology which could involve my expertise.
Unfortunately I am not necessarily in charge of accessibility. We have two labs at our school and they are on a first come first serve basis. In addition, they are generally full of math and science classes. I can encourage the teachers to sign up early enough to get a certain day in the lab. I think that once the teachers get into the lab and see for themselves that their classes can be improved with a little technology they will want to incorporate it more into their classes. I hope to change their feelings that using technology in the class is involved and bothersome. I hope to instill a feeling of engagement, ease, and that technology is worthwhile.
Technology is justified in the TEKS. It has been proven that technology is more engaging and provides students with more of a real-life simulated learning environment than other types of learning. If the TEKS are aligned with what the students are accomplishing, the end result will be the same if not better with the incorporation of technology. I am truly concerned with how our students will be successful in their futures and believe that technology will be the key in achieving that success. I would encourage them to come back and show me examples of what they have done in school or on their own. I would also encourage them to publish what they have done on websites. What they learn will exhibit a piece of their personal journey.
One of the techniques I will use is the Exercise, Structured experience. Teachers will participate in planned exercises while I show them how to incorporate different technologies into their everyday lessons on the computer in the lab. They will follow my mouse strokes to make their own example of what to show their students in class. I hope to change some of their feelings about using technology in class. I know that some are frustrated about the lack of time available in the lab, but if I can show them that incorporating technology doesn’t take much time and is giving students more of a realistic experience in learning, hopefully they will attempt more technological learning in their classes.
Simulation is another technique that I will use to persuade teachers to use technology in their classes more. I will give the teachers example projects that could be used in different content areas. They will be required to use different technologies to complete the project. The simulation will be something that they would give to their students as a real-world situation and have them present about it. The requirement will be that they incorporate three different types of technology in the presentation of the project. This will be at the end of the professional development. They are to make an example to show their students what they will be required to replicate. This way they will be able to answer questions for their students because they will have already done one. Hopefully they will be excited about using the simulated project.
The assessment will demonstrate clarity because it will outlined as to how to successfully complete each objective. Each professional development session will contain a plan that is outlined for a particular technology to incorporate into a classroom regardless of what you teach. By concentrating on only one technology at a time, the directions will be specific to that certain objective. If questions arise from individuals, those can be addressed; however, they will not dominate the class.
I am going to ask the teachers to sign up for the computer lab after each professional development so they can incorporate what they have learned into the classroom. Hopefully they will leave motivated and excited to transfer their knowledge to the students. I will keep in touch with them frequently to see what else they need to continue using the specific technology in their content area. Some might want to increase what they are doing with regards to technology which could involve my expertise.
Unfortunately I am not necessarily in charge of accessibility. We have two labs at our school and they are on a first come first serve basis. In addition, they are generally full of math and science classes. I can encourage the teachers to sign up early enough to get a certain day in the lab. I think that once the teachers get into the lab and see for themselves that their classes can be improved with a little technology they will want to incorporate it more into their classes. I hope to change their feelings that using technology in the class is involved and bothersome. I hope to instill a feeling of engagement, ease, and that technology is worthwhile.
Technology is justified in the TEKS. It has been proven that technology is more engaging and provides students with more of a real-life simulated learning environment than other types of learning. If the TEKS are aligned with what the students are accomplishing, the end result will be the same if not better with the incorporation of technology. I am truly concerned with how our students will be successful in their futures and believe that technology will be the key in achieving that success. I would encourage them to come back and show me examples of what they have done in school or on their own. I would also encourage them to publish what they have done on websites. What they learn will exhibit a piece of their personal journey.
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