Technology has become such a huge part of the world today. As humans we rely on it to accomplish so many things. When I sit back and think about how many times I use it in a day, it shocks me. I also realize however that it would be very hard to live without it.
I would not be able to communicate quickly with my family and friends I do not get to see very often and it would make doing something like this blog impossible. Technology makes everything much easier, even though technology too has its glitches its great to have around.
During my EDU315 class I have learned so much about technology and cannot wait to build off of what I have learned. I will now be able to use technology confidently with in my classroom and as a result will be teaching it to the students as well.
When I look around a I cannot believe at how big of a part technology plays in my life, but I am very happy it is here.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Wii in the Classroom
This week in my classroom it was really exciting because the kids got to have their AR party. What this meant is all the kids in the classroom had read books and scored good grades on the tests they took following those books. What was exciting was that during this party the students got to use all sorts of different types of technology.
Some children chose to get on laptops and play games and create storybirds. I even sat with some of the children and watched them create all sorts of different storybirds. It was really exciting to watch them do this because storybirds was something we were learning about on a college level, so to watch them create them so easily at the 4th grade level was fascinating.
Also in the classroom was a Wii, all the students had a chance to participate and play this sort of technology as well. It was exciting to see this in a classroom because a lot of teachers do not even bother with technology when they do not have to do it. However, my host teacher does a fantastic job at introducing the children to a different types of technology on a daily basis.
Some children chose to get on laptops and play games and create storybirds. I even sat with some of the children and watched them create all sorts of different storybirds. It was really exciting to watch them do this because storybirds was something we were learning about on a college level, so to watch them create them so easily at the 4th grade level was fascinating.
Also in the classroom was a Wii, all the students had a chance to participate and play this sort of technology as well. It was exciting to see this in a classroom because a lot of teachers do not even bother with technology when they do not have to do it. However, my host teacher does a fantastic job at introducing the children to a different types of technology on a daily basis.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Piedmont Students Getting Citywide Wireless
In this article on eschool learning it talks about how a school is working extremely hard to get wireless internet for the whole town. This school has already worked hard in getting each of their students a mac laptop but it is time to take it a step further and make it so each of the children are able to access internet in their own homes.
This would be a huge step for these students because no more would they be limited to only using internet within the classroom. The teachers would finally be able to assign internet related project outside of the classroom to enhance the students technology skills even more. Also the internet at home is important because the students will be able to explore on safe websites and teach themselves about the internet as well.
In doing this the students would really be able to make their internet skills even stronger by working on them outside of the classroom and then bringing what they learn into the classroom. Also in getting internet for the whole city it is going to set the younger generations to become very familiar with the internet even before they enter a classroom.
This is going to be a huge step for the town and as a further teacher it is a great to see schools working at providing home internet for their students.
This would be a huge step for these students because no more would they be limited to only using internet within the classroom. The teachers would finally be able to assign internet related project outside of the classroom to enhance the students technology skills even more. Also the internet at home is important because the students will be able to explore on safe websites and teach themselves about the internet as well.
In doing this the students would really be able to make their internet skills even stronger by working on them outside of the classroom and then bringing what they learn into the classroom. Also in getting internet for the whole city it is going to set the younger generations to become very familiar with the internet even before they enter a classroom.
This is going to be a huge step for the town and as a further teacher it is a great to see schools working at providing home internet for their students.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Ways Schools are Teaching Internet Safety
Internet safety for students is so important now with all thats going on with cyber bullying. When using the internet students need to know how to navigate around and ensure they are not getting into trouble while using the internet.
One teacher talks about how when he has the students go on the internet for his class it is required by them to first watch several videos on how to be safe while on the internet. In doing this the students can be sure to avoid situations like cyber bullying and use the internet how it is suppose to be used. This teacher states that he is teaching internet safety within the curriculum that way the children are constantly learning about how to be safe on the internet.
Another teacher uses analogy's relating to the internet that way students are more likely to remember what she is saying. For instance on of her analogy's relating to the internet was about Little Red Riding Hood. Using this she says that just like Little Red Riding Hood the internet is not always what it seems to be and children need to be careful while they are on it. Children need to understand that bad things can happen on the internet and they need to be prepared if something does go wrong while they are using the internet.
It is so important the students start to learn about internet safety especially when they are using it at such young ages!
One teacher talks about how when he has the students go on the internet for his class it is required by them to first watch several videos on how to be safe while on the internet. In doing this the students can be sure to avoid situations like cyber bullying and use the internet how it is suppose to be used. This teacher states that he is teaching internet safety within the curriculum that way the children are constantly learning about how to be safe on the internet.
Another teacher uses analogy's relating to the internet that way students are more likely to remember what she is saying. For instance on of her analogy's relating to the internet was about Little Red Riding Hood. Using this she says that just like Little Red Riding Hood the internet is not always what it seems to be and children need to be careful while they are on it. Children need to understand that bad things can happen on the internet and they need to be prepared if something does go wrong while they are using the internet.
It is so important the students start to learn about internet safety especially when they are using it at such young ages!
Friday, November 4, 2011
US school kids showing slight improvement in math
This was a very interesting article to read. This article was about how children in fourth and eighth grade are showing some slight improvements in math yet how far the children are from achieving the no child left behind status.
Even though there were improvements in math, which is great, by 2014 all the children were suppose to be at the no child left behind status. The article states not in a single group of academics is there more children above mastery then below on the state testing.
This is alarming because in 2 years the no child left behind stated that the children were going to be where they need to be academically yet more then half the children in each subject are below the mastery level. This shows that the United States still has such a long way to go in just 2 years.
Its great that the children are improving but they are improving at such a slow rate that they are most likely not going to be at the level they should in 2 years.
Even though there were improvements in math, which is great, by 2014 all the children were suppose to be at the no child left behind status. The article states not in a single group of academics is there more children above mastery then below on the state testing.
This is alarming because in 2 years the no child left behind stated that the children were going to be where they need to be academically yet more then half the children in each subject are below the mastery level. This shows that the United States still has such a long way to go in just 2 years.
Its great that the children are improving but they are improving at such a slow rate that they are most likely not going to be at the level they should in 2 years.
SMARTboard in the Classroom
I know I have mentioned before that my host teacher has a SMARTboard but every week I am able to witness something new he is using it for.
Not only does he do his mathster Vakkas movie productions on the SMARTboard but he also deisplays things like the daily schedule and lessons for other subjects.
Just this past time during a social studies lesson my host teacher listed some vocabulary words the students would be reading about in their chapter. Before reading the chapter the students got into groups and talked with the group about what these words meant. After the students came up with what they though the right definition for the word was all the groups went and wrote their thoughts up on the SMARTboard.
After doing this the students read the chapter and then got back into their groups to talk about the correct definitions of these words based on what they read. This was interesting because my host teacher then wrote the right definitions up on the SMARTboard and so the children were able to see what they thought the definition was and the actual definition and they were able to see how close they were in their guesses.
The children were really interested in seeing the before and after definitions and this is what the SMARTboard allowed them to do!
Not only does he do his mathster Vakkas movie productions on the SMARTboard but he also deisplays things like the daily schedule and lessons for other subjects.
Just this past time during a social studies lesson my host teacher listed some vocabulary words the students would be reading about in their chapter. Before reading the chapter the students got into groups and talked with the group about what these words meant. After the students came up with what they though the right definition for the word was all the groups went and wrote their thoughts up on the SMARTboard.
After doing this the students read the chapter and then got back into their groups to talk about the correct definitions of these words based on what they read. This was interesting because my host teacher then wrote the right definitions up on the SMARTboard and so the children were able to see what they thought the definition was and the actual definition and they were able to see how close they were in their guesses.
The children were really interested in seeing the before and after definitions and this is what the SMARTboard allowed them to do!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Teaching Resources
Rubistar would certainly be a very helpful teaching resource. We learned about this in class today and now whenever I need to make a rubric I am going to go to this site. It a very easy way to make a rubric for any lesson. It gives you the whole outline and you can even save it and come back to making it later.
So instead of sitting and starting from scratch this resource gives you and entire outline and makes creating a rubric much easier on the teacher.
We also learned many more resources in this class. One being about the states. The website gave you a picture of a map and then a picture of a state. It was your job to take the picture of the state and move it to the spot on the map where you thought the state went. This would be a really neat resource to use for the children after just teaching about the states, because it allows the students to extend on their knowledge of what they just learned about the states!
So instead of sitting and starting from scratch this resource gives you and entire outline and makes creating a rubric much easier on the teacher.
We also learned many more resources in this class. One being about the states. The website gave you a picture of a map and then a picture of a state. It was your job to take the picture of the state and move it to the spot on the map where you thought the state went. This would be a really neat resource to use for the children after just teaching about the states, because it allows the students to extend on their knowledge of what they just learned about the states!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Ways Schools Are Using Technology
Schools now are trying to make technology a bigger aspect of the curriculum. In this article written by Meris Stansbury it talks about the different ways schools are starting to use social networking. Teachers are using the social networking to communicate with parents and students. They are also using them to post homework and school assignments.
One teacher even mentioned how she uses twitter to do end of the unit discussions. After a unit she will tweet certain topics and questions and then the students can see this and respond back.
Using technology in the classroom is so vital and it is important that school allow more of it to happen. The article states how some parents are concerned about the bullying that can happen on the internet. I understand this but I feel that if the teacher is on monitoring the students through a social network site they set up for them, it should not be a problem.
One teacher even mentioned how she uses twitter to do end of the unit discussions. After a unit she will tweet certain topics and questions and then the students can see this and respond back.
Using technology in the classroom is so vital and it is important that school allow more of it to happen. The article states how some parents are concerned about the bullying that can happen on the internet. I understand this but I feel that if the teacher is on monitoring the students through a social network site they set up for them, it should not be a problem.
Math Problems
In my host teacher's classroom this week the kids got to share their math problems they made on the SMARTboard. In to previous class the students worked on problems they would like to see up on the SMARTboard that they had created. Then the day I was there my host teacher picked some of the problems students had created and put them up on the SMARTboard for all the class to solve.
This was a really neat lesson because the students loved seeing their problems up on the board for the whole class to solve. My host teacher made sure to tell the class who made the problem, read it out and then the whole class went on solving the problem. After the class had solved the problem a student would come up and then do out the problem on the SMARTboard for the rest of the class to solve.
Its a lot of fun watching the students engage in the SMARTboard. It's also amazing to see how much the students already know about SMARTboards since they have been working with them so much in the classroom
This was a really neat lesson because the students loved seeing their problems up on the board for the whole class to solve. My host teacher made sure to tell the class who made the problem, read it out and then the whole class went on solving the problem. After the class had solved the problem a student would come up and then do out the problem on the SMARTboard for the rest of the class to solve.
Its a lot of fun watching the students engage in the SMARTboard. It's also amazing to see how much the students already know about SMARTboards since they have been working with them so much in the classroom
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Time in the Classroom :)
Today I had the great pleasure of being in the classroom. I have a great host teacher who I know I am bound to learn a lot of teaching skills from him!
Today was really exciting because my host teacher introduced the SMART Slate! His class room was the first ever in Parker school to use one. Basically it was a SMART Board but on a smaller scale, one that could fit right in your lap! This was such an exciting tool because all the children were so excited about it and could not wait to use it. Having the children be so excited was a great thing because now I knew the children were engaged in the lesson because they were learning about the math but then so excited to get to use the SMART Slate to show their answer up on the SMART Board.
This SMART Slate was also a great idea because it was another piece of technology the students were getting to learn about, which in return was making them more prepared for using this type of technology in the future.
As a future teaching I am constantly hearing about how it is so important to begin to teach through more technology and it is a great experience to see the children using technology in the classroom and also seeing how excited they get about it!
Today was really exciting because my host teacher introduced the SMART Slate! His class room was the first ever in Parker school to use one. Basically it was a SMART Board but on a smaller scale, one that could fit right in your lap! This was such an exciting tool because all the children were so excited about it and could not wait to use it. Having the children be so excited was a great thing because now I knew the children were engaged in the lesson because they were learning about the math but then so excited to get to use the SMART Slate to show their answer up on the SMART Board.
This SMART Slate was also a great idea because it was another piece of technology the students were getting to learn about, which in return was making them more prepared for using this type of technology in the future.
As a future teaching I am constantly hearing about how it is so important to begin to teach through more technology and it is a great experience to see the children using technology in the classroom and also seeing how excited they get about it!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Cathy Sanor
On the eSchool website today, I watch a remarkably inspiring video on Cathy Sanor and her speach about how children need to be engaged.
This video talks about how teachers are starting to attend conferences involving how inquiry learning and the ability to engage children within a lesson. This is so important now because children are beginning to become less interested in school and it is up to us as teachers to rope them into our lessons.
Cathy talks about how teachers are starting to realize that through inquiry learning is when a child is going to learn best. Through these types of lessons children are able to take part within the lesson and this is going to make them want to learn the information being presented.
She also touches on the use of technology within the lesson and how this also engages the children. Not only does it engage the children but it is better preparing the children to learn and want to use technology in the future. This is a very important idea because technology is becoming so advanced it is important we keep children up to date with it and have them working with it so they can use it and excel in the future.
This video relates so much to what we are now learning in the classrooms, I loved listening to what Cathy had to say. The way she spoke about inquiry learning was beyond inspiring and certainly makes me want to use the methods in my own classroom someday!
This video talks about how teachers are starting to attend conferences involving how inquiry learning and the ability to engage children within a lesson. This is so important now because children are beginning to become less interested in school and it is up to us as teachers to rope them into our lessons.
Cathy talks about how teachers are starting to realize that through inquiry learning is when a child is going to learn best. Through these types of lessons children are able to take part within the lesson and this is going to make them want to learn the information being presented.
She also touches on the use of technology within the lesson and how this also engages the children. Not only does it engage the children but it is better preparing the children to learn and want to use technology in the future. This is a very important idea because technology is becoming so advanced it is important we keep children up to date with it and have them working with it so they can use it and excel in the future.
This video relates so much to what we are now learning in the classrooms, I loved listening to what Cathy had to say. The way she spoke about inquiry learning was beyond inspiring and certainly makes me want to use the methods in my own classroom someday!
SMARTboard!
This weekend I had the great pleasure of working with my group to create a SMARTboard presentation! The first day my group got together to do this project we thought it was going to be soooo hard. We could not figure out how to do anything, it's safe to say we were completely lost.
The next day however our group got together with out professor and she showed us so many tricks to use on SMARTboard. Once we learned these new tricks our group met once again to attempt to make a presentable SMARTboard lesson.
During this time our group met it was so fun! We were now able to do so many fun things though SMARTboard to make our lesson so much more engaging. We couldn't believe what we were capable of doing on this SMARTboard. We worked very hard on our lesson and it ended up turing out to be awesome! We made every page special to what we were teaching and we knew the class we were presenting it too would have so much fun with it.
Even though we did learn a lot of new tricks to use on the SMARTboard I know there is still so much to learn, and I am more then excited to come to the edge and try new tricks within SMARTboard!
The next day however our group got together with out professor and she showed us so many tricks to use on SMARTboard. Once we learned these new tricks our group met once again to attempt to make a presentable SMARTboard lesson.
During this time our group met it was so fun! We were now able to do so many fun things though SMARTboard to make our lesson so much more engaging. We couldn't believe what we were capable of doing on this SMARTboard. We worked very hard on our lesson and it ended up turing out to be awesome! We made every page special to what we were teaching and we knew the class we were presenting it too would have so much fun with it.
Even though we did learn a lot of new tricks to use on the SMARTboard I know there is still so much to learn, and I am more then excited to come to the edge and try new tricks within SMARTboard!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Drop Box
In class today I learned all about Drop Box. This is a really neat tool that allows someone to save any file and access it at a later point. This is helpful because if you need to save something and you do not have your usb then you can save it right online and your whole project will still be saved for you.
This is also a great help because it gives you another option of where to save files. This is important because if something happens to the device you were previously saving information on then you now have a back up spot where all your projects and papers are saved.
Another tool we learned today in class was how to save music directly to our itunes. All you have to do is type the song into google and after the song name you type mediafire. When you do this a website comes up with the song saved in mp3 form. Once you see this the website also gives you and option to download the file. Once the file is downloaded then the song goes directly into itunes and it is there to use in a project you are constructing.
This is also a great help because it gives you another option of where to save files. This is important because if something happens to the device you were previously saving information on then you now have a back up spot where all your projects and papers are saved.
Another tool we learned today in class was how to save music directly to our itunes. All you have to do is type the song into google and after the song name you type mediafire. When you do this a website comes up with the song saved in mp3 form. Once you see this the website also gives you and option to download the file. Once the file is downloaded then the song goes directly into itunes and it is there to use in a project you are constructing.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Using The Command Talk On Mac
The other week in class we all learned how to use the command talk button in order for the Mac to read something to us on the computer. This is an amazing feature the Mac can do and I love using it now. I let it read me all my essays and anything else I need read to me. It really helps because now I can hear all the information being told to me and so it is easier for me to pick out mistakes and fix them. This tool makes my essays sounds much better and makes correcting them so much easier.
This is also a great tool for children. If children are on the computer reading something and have a hard time they can just highlight the word and press to key sequence that is needed for the computer to read the word and then the word will be read to them. In doing this the children are able to see both the spelling of the word and then the sound therefore they can always link the two together in the future.
This would also be a great tool for children learning vocabulary. The teacher could set up a word document for the children with their vocabulary words and the words within a sentence and the child can go on and have the whole this read to them, so they are able to see the word and how the word in pronounced, that way they can say and use the word correctly.
This was a very helpful tool to learn and I am very grateful it was taught to me!
This is also a great tool for children. If children are on the computer reading something and have a hard time they can just highlight the word and press to key sequence that is needed for the computer to read the word and then the word will be read to them. In doing this the children are able to see both the spelling of the word and then the sound therefore they can always link the two together in the future.
This would also be a great tool for children learning vocabulary. The teacher could set up a word document for the children with their vocabulary words and the words within a sentence and the child can go on and have the whole this read to them, so they are able to see the word and how the word in pronounced, that way they can say and use the word correctly.
This was a very helpful tool to learn and I am very grateful it was taught to me!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Raquette Lake
So I just returned from Raquette Lake and it was amazing! I got to experience so many things that I will never forget.
I had never been in a sauna before and so this was the first time I got to do that! It was so hot in there, we were all sweating, but it was a really neat experience.
Also we were able to take GPS's out and find certain spots in the woods. Besides my group nearly getting lost in the woods it was a lot of fun.
The best part of the trip though, I would say was the skits we had to do. I was very nervous at first about getting up in front of my class mates, but it was so much fun that I completely forgot about my fears. Also all of the kids got so close over the time we were at Raquette Lake that no one even was shy about getting up in front of a bunch of peers because we already knew everyone so well.
I love that because all of the students got so close whenever we see each other outside of class we always stop to talk. This trip made everyone more comfortable with each other and allowed us to meet many more friends!
This trip was completely worth going on and I would love to return to Raquette Lake soon!
I had never been in a sauna before and so this was the first time I got to do that! It was so hot in there, we were all sweating, but it was a really neat experience.
Also we were able to take GPS's out and find certain spots in the woods. Besides my group nearly getting lost in the woods it was a lot of fun.
The best part of the trip though, I would say was the skits we had to do. I was very nervous at first about getting up in front of my class mates, but it was so much fun that I completely forgot about my fears. Also all of the kids got so close over the time we were at Raquette Lake that no one even was shy about getting up in front of a bunch of peers because we already knew everyone so well.
I love that because all of the students got so close whenever we see each other outside of class we always stop to talk. This trip made everyone more comfortable with each other and allowed us to meet many more friends!
This trip was completely worth going on and I would love to return to Raquette Lake soon!
Monday, September 12, 2011
All About Me
My name is Morgan Osborne and I have blonde hair and brown eyes. Unfortunately I only have blonde hair because I dye it that way, but I still love it.
Growing up I went to McGraw elementary school and then started going to Homer schools in 4th Grade. I am very glad I went to Homer because I have met so many people I am still very close with.
I went to a fairly small high school right around the corner from Cortland. The high school was Homer High School and about 500 students attended. There I played both soccer and lacrosse all four years. In doing this I got to meet many people. High school was a lot of fun and I would love to go back.
Now I am attending Cortland college where I played soccer my freshman year. Now I am working at Pontillos and attending childhood education classes. I live in an apartment with some girls that play soccer and others that do not, so it is the perfect mix.
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