Final Reflection

What?

This last day of class before finals we worked on our digital stories. I did not go to class though because I am using iMovie and so I worked on my digital story from home.

So What?

This technology of being able to put videos on Youtube is really cool. It allows us to give back to the Youtube community because I am sure a lot of us have used Youtube in the past. I really like the digital stories but I didn't realize they would be so difficult to make. It is really time consuming.

As a student digital stories are great because when I see them I get more excited about what we are going to learn about. They really hook me in. Also as a student we could use them in presentation we give in other classes. In some of the history classes I have taken here we have had to do presentations. It would have been really neat if I had already known this technology because I could have created a digital story and used that in my presentation. That definitely would have hooked in the audience.

Now What?

Now that I know how to create a digital story I will be able to use them throughout my teaching career. The more I create the easier I am sure it will get too. I really feel that my students would really enjoy the digital stories and connect more and be more excited about the content we are learning about.

If my colleagues and I can collaborate using digital stories that would be great. We could have so many different videos if we all worked together and shared what we had created. We could also collaborate on new ones we create which would also make the workload lighter on all of us. I am sure some of us are better at different aspects of a digital story so we could share our talents with one another.

Video:

I thought as a music video that video was really cool. I liked how it gave the dates of the people and events it was talking about as well. For an overview of modern history I think it was really neat. I also liked how it had real video footage. I was kind of confused by the cartoon at the beginning...was it South Park or something? But overall I really liked it.

Reflection 4/18

What?

This week we learned how to use Photostory. We also learned some places where we can get photos to use for the project that are not copyrighted.

So What?

I have a Mac and will be using imovie to create my digital story and so this lesson on how to use Photostory did not pertain to me. Learning where to look for non copyrighted material was very helpful. Creative Commons is a great resource to find media to use on the assignment. Another great source to use is UEN and Pioneer.

Because today's lesson was about Photostory I spent the majority of the time finding material to use for my assignment on Creative Commons. I also finalized my storyboard. Knowing where to find material that didn't have any copy right laws was really helpful.

Now What?

Now that I have decided to work on this project alone it has been much easier. I have been able to decide on a topic that interests me and am able to do it how I want. I also am able to work on it when I want and that has allowed me to get a lot of things done.

I am still really excited about this assignment and am looking forward to seeing my finished project as well as my classmates. Learning where non copyrighted material can be found will be extremely helpful in all things I do in teaching.

Video:

I am 99.8% sure that we watched this video before. I know that we watched the older one but I also think we watched this newer updated on as well. All the same I still think this video is really cool. It shows how technology is such a part of the world we live in and if we want to survive and do well in this world we have to know technology. We as teachers need to make sure we teach the students about through technology because that is how the real world is.

Reflection 3/11

What?

This week in class we were introduced to digital stories. As a group we came up with what we would do for our digital story.

So What?

Digital stories look really neat. I saw some of the ones my friends made last semester and they looked really good. I have been looking forward to making one. As a student right now I have seen some digital stories in my other classes. They really connect to your emotions, especially ones about history, which is my content area.

This technology means that we can create movies. I think this is really neat not just for educational purposes but we can also create personal digital stories. It would be cool to create one using pictures from a vacation and putting some music to it. This technology can be spread out to other areas of our life which is really really cool.

Now What?

Digital stories are really cool because they can say and express a lot more than we teachers can do with lectures. In history I think this tool is especially powerful. Students will get so much more out of watching a digital story about genocide in Rwanda than they will by me talking about it. The students become much more engaged by viewing digital stories.

Another idea I was thinking about was having our students make digital stories in our content area. For history I think that this is would be great because the students could have a lot of freedom in choosing a topic. This would allow the students to learn about a subject more in depth and become an expert in it. Then they could share them with their classmates and learn more. This would also allow the students to collaborate with one another and learn from each other.

Video:

I liked the NASA digital story. My favorite thing about it was that it used real audio from actual speeches and events in history. I also thought it flowed well and got across the message it was suppose to. The narration did not always sound like it was done on high quality but it was pretty great overall.

Technology Review

During this unit the students will be learning about other cultures. We will be learning about the history of other areas of the world as well as customs, traditions and their way of life. During this unit the students will be assigned a pen-pal from Germany. Their pen-pal will be their same age and will be attending school as well. Throughout the unit students will be required to email back and forth with their pen-pal by creating a gmail account. Luckily our German pen-pals know English so language won't be an issue. The students will be able to see how life is for someone their age in another country. They will be able to see some similarities and some differences between their lives and their pen-pals. Our students should be able to learn a lot from this experience. Another thing the students will be required to do is to make an account on Picasa. On Picasa they will create a photo album. Students will be required to take pictures of their daily life and post them in photo album on Picasa for their pen-pal to see. This will help the students in Germany be able to see what their life is like. The students in Germany will be doing this as well.

Gmail Email:

Article #1

Article #2

Our students will use gmail to email back and forth with their German pen-pal. Students will be required to answer and ask certain questions in their email. Emails will be sent out every other day. Gmail email is great. First of all creating an account is free. There is also tons of storage room. Students will be able to create files and save the emails that have been written back and forth with their pen-pal. Gmail offers great organization to keep everything sorted. By creating this account students will also be able to keep in contact with me as will the parents. This will really help our class stay on the same page. This will really impact the classroom and the curriculum because what we learn by using gmail for this activity will help us throughout the semester as we integrate more and more technology into the curriculum. Gmail also does a great job of keeping junk mail out of your account. Gmail is very user friendly and easy to use. One con about gmail is that ads do show up on the side of your screen. It uses key words in your email to see what things you would be interested. This should not be a problem for the students though. Gmail does not allow inappropriate ads to show up. To further understand the pros and cons to gmail please read the two articles that I have linked above. That is where most of this information came from.

Picasa:

Article #1

Article #2

Once students create a gmail account they will also be able to use Picasa, a photo sharing site from Google, for free. Picasa is awesome. It lets your upload your photos and place them in an album. Once you create an album you are able to share them (through email) with anyone. The students will create an album about their daily life for their pen-pal in Germany and then share it with him or her. Picasa is very user friendly. Students are able to create titles for their albums as well as captions for each picture. This will be great because their pen-pals will be able to understand the picture better when their is a caption. Picasa also makes it easy to organize your photos. Another great thing about Picasa is that it allows you to edit your photos. Another cool thing is that you are able to add text anywhere on your picture. After reading up on Picasa and doing a little exploring I have decided that I am definitely going to download it and use that instead of iPhoto. This will be great for our students because after they learn how to do this in class they will be able to use it for themselves anytime. Another great thing about Picasa is you can create slide shows. This would be really neat to create for our pen-pals. For more information read the two articles above.

Reflection #6

What?

This week we learned how to make videocast, podcasts, acquiring videos from various sites to use in the curriculum and how we can use National Geographic in the curriculum. In our teams we are going to create a video and a podcast.

So What?

This technology is really neat. In my current classes some of my teachers use podcasts. For some class periods my teacher records the session on her ipod and then links it onto the classroom website. This is great for those who might be home ill or have some circumstance that did not allow them to come to class. Another way I have teachers that uses podcasts is by having us listen to ones made by other people that have to do with the content we are studying. It is really cool because it allows you to listen in on something without being there. It also is cool because you are able to replay it. I find a lot of times that hearing something something once is not enough. Over time I will forget. By having lectures or other important messages on podcasts we as students are able to listen to them again and are able to get clarification on things we might not have understood super well before.

The things we learned in class this week are really cool because they can be applied to many other areas in our life, not just education. If there is anything we are interested in we are likely going to be able to find podcasts, videocasts and videos to learn more about the topic. I especially like Zamzar because it does not require us to download something to convert files. I don't like having to download applications onto my computer very much so I really like Zamzar.

Now What?

I loved the National Geographic site, especially the interactive where you could learn all about the landing on the moon. Students would probably really enjoy exploring sites and things like that. I definitely planning on using these resources in my future classroom. I also think that podcast and all the video tools we learned about will be neat to use in the classroom as well.

Podcasts and the video tools we learned about are really great because they allow us to collaborate with our colleagues. From what I have heard teachers are really busy and put in a lot of work. I am sure that we won't have a time to create tons of videos but if we work with our colleagues I am sure we will be able to share with each other and have a wider variety to work from. I also think that it would be really cool to have guest speakers come to the classroom and create a podcast from it. In that circumstance it would be great to be able to hold on to what messages was delivered. Especially if that person we unable to come in the future, you could have your future classes listen to the podcast. I like learning about all these different tools because it gives us many more options of what we can do as teachers to make the content richer for our students.


Video:

The video was pretty funny. At first I thought it was really a segment done on Letterman but then I realized it wasn't and I felt kind of silly for thinking it was at first. The video showed the top 10 things they don't teach your in college about teaching.

It seemed like most of it was geared toward elementary teachers and I am hoping that is the case! Hopefully I don't have to worry about cleaning up a student's pee! I am sure though some of those things ring true for us secondary teachers too though.

Field Work Reflection

These last two weeks I have spent a lot of time in the classroom for my fieldwork. I have completed most of it but still have my technology interview. In my fieldwork thus far though I have been able to technology used in the classroom, or the lack thereof.

These last two weeks I spent time in a high school and in a junior high. I really enjoyed my experiences teaching and observing in these settings. Everyone hears those horror stories about teaching in junior highs but I loved it. Maybe it was this particular class, but the kids were great. They were well behaved and really sweet and fun. I noticed this class had a cart that had a projector on it and other cables that I believed would be used for powerpoint presentations and such. When I went to teach this class I asked the teacher before hand if I could use the projector for a powerpoint I wanted to create. The teacher said I could but that it was kind of a pain to set it up. I felt that the teacher did not want me to use it, so I told it that it would be OK. Due to the teachers response I gathered that that element of technology was not used in this class much. I felt it was a shame to not use the great resources available.

In the high school I went to I observed a teacher who had created a really great powepoint that involved the students and had many objectives, graphic organizers, and questions. I was happy to see this teacher use the technology and resources available to her. The students seemed more engaged in this classroom and seemed to like this method of teaching.

From my observations and teaching in these two classroom I was able to see how one teacher used technology in the classroom and how the other felt it was somewhat of a pain to try to incorporate technology in the curriculum. I really enjoyed these experiences and learned a lot. I saw firsthand how technology helps students be engaged in learning. My observation and first hand teaching experiences got me more excited to conduct my technology interview in the coming weeks.

Field Work Reflection

This week we are suppose to blog about our field experience. I am doing my field work on Tuesday so I will blog about it next Sunday.

Reflection #5

What?

This week we worked on our WebqQuest.

So What?

My group is really enjoying this assignment. We are learning a lot of new things in creating it. One thing my group is learning is learning is how to collaborate well. We are using google docs and working on our assignments outside of class as well. Another thing we are learning is different tools in Powerpoint and how to link thinks.

My group is also learning how to research and find good information on for our WebQuest. One thing we have found really useful is using UEN to find information on our topic and good interactive games. UEN has a lot of information on our topic and it has been neat to go through it. We are not only learning a lot about WebQuest but are also learning more about the Holocaust (our topic) in our research.

Now What?

My teammates and I are going to continue to work on our WebQuest throughout this next week. We have broken the assignment into pieces and each person is responsible for a certain aspect of it. I have a great group and we are having fun with this project.

When we are done it will be exciting to publish it. It will also be cool because this is something we could use in our own teaching someday. It is also really cool that others will be able to use our WebQuest as well. I am really looking forward to using WebQuest in my future classroom.

Video:

I really liked this video. It was neat because it really showed well how technology makes education more accessible (and pretty much everything else for that matter). With computer technology, cell phones, and other technological devices people don't have to worry about classrooms being too full. Education can be done outside the classroom. This was a really cute commercial and I really enjoyed it.

WebQuest #1 Reflection

What?

This week we were introduced to WebQuests. We went what things to include and the formatting. We also brainstormed ideas for what to do our WebQuest on.

So What?

Webquest are really neat. We are learning about them so we can have another way to incorporate technology in our classrooms. Learning about WebQuests now helps me learn other tools that will help me in other classes, like powepoint and formatting. It also helps me now in my other education classes by giving me lesson plan ideas.

WebQuest look like they are a lot of fun. They are available on the internet for all kinds of subjects and can be borrowed. I can look up these WebQuest to get ideas for other classes and lesson plans. I can also use them to learn about things I am interested in. My colleagues can also use WebQuest and the tools we use to make them in their other classes as well.

Now What?

This new information allows me incorporate technology in my curriculum and content area. WebQuests are so great because they can be applied to every content area. This will allow me another way to differentiate my instruction. WebQuest seem like a lot of fun to me and are something different to do in the classroom. I think my students will really enjoy them because they do incorporate technology and are different than other things they probably do in school.

WebQuests will also allow my colleagues and I to collaborate. We will be able to share the WebQuests we create or that we find with one another. Our students will also be able to collaborate while working on WebQuests. My students will be able to work on the WebQuests inside of class or outside of class. The possibilities are endless with what we can do with WebQuests.

Video:

That was a really cool video. It reminds me of the things you see on movies from the future. It was really cool to see him take a picture, put it on the surface computer, and then onto the cell phone. It would be really cool to have something like this at home but also in our classrooms. We could do a lot of really neat things if we had this in our classroom. I curious as to when the video was made and if these surface computers were being used more and more at other places.

Video-The Connected Classroom

I thought this video was really similar to the Did You Know video. It gave a lot of the exact same facts and really had the same message. Right now I feel like all of these videos are sharing the same message. I enjoy the videos but I don't really have anything different to say about them. Some have been different but the last 3 or 4 have been saying pretty much the same thing, how pertinent technology is today and how we need to teach our students according to how the learn, through technology. I agree with these things but am not really sure what else to say about these videos that I did not say in my previous video reflections.

One thing that sticks out to me is how this video kept saying how they (our students) are growing up in a different and new technological world. I am not going to be much older than my students and therefore have grown up in the same period as them. My life has been immersed with ipods, the internet, social networking, and cell phones as well. I guess I just feel like these videos are speaking to an older generation or something who don't realize how technology is so involved in our student's lives. Having grown up with these technologies and using them a lot myself makes it easier to see how they can benefit my students and makes me more comfortable using technology in my classroom.

My Beliefs

I feel that the use of technology in the classroom is really important.

One reason I feel that it is important in the classroom is because of how our students view technology. There is an obsession surrounding technology today. It is everywhere and is constantly being updated and changing. Our students are seeing these changes and they are excited about technology. A huge majority of our students have cell phones, computers, access to the web, ipods, and are involved on social networking sites. If we can incorporate technology into our curriculum our students will be excited about the content and assignment. One great example I heard of was using cell phones and a certain site that your class is registered on to make audio recordings. Then you can go online and hear them. A guest speaker that came to one of my classes said she had her students create audio sportscasting of chariot races. Her students loved being able to use their phones in class to do this but also gained a deeper understanding of the content in the process.

Another reason I feel it is important to use technology in the classroom is because of all the great resources that are out there for us as educators. I for one love the idea of having a class website. It keeps the parents tuned in with what is going on in the classroom and keeps everyone on the same page. I also love the interactives available on the web. There is also a lot of great information to find for research papers as well. There are also tons of resources on the web that make teaching easier for us. I fully intend on taking advantage of these resources and using them to benefit me and my instruction.

Lessons Learned

From watching the videos and doing the readings one thing that stuck out to me was how we live in such a digital age. The youth of today have grown up in this digital age and because of it they are comfortable with technology and use it constantly. This especially stuck out to me in the Did You Know video. Technology is changing rapidly and we need to make sure we are aware of what is changing so we can stay on pace with our students and the rest of the world. We also want to make sure our students stay on pace with the rest of the world. I also learned that using technology can really help to enrich your classroom.

Another thing that stuck out to me was the language students use in their texts and how it can carry over to their academic writing. I don't really think that this happens a lot. I use some of those acronyms myself, like LOL, but I don't use them in my academic writing. I would assume that most students know that that type of writing is not appropriate in academic writing. Some of the acronyms are a little ridiculous and aren't really used very much at all anymore, especially since people are able to use T9 (predictive text). The article where they made up a bunch more was pretty funny, especially the ones that older people could use. It is definitely OK to use the abbreviated type of spelling in casual writing but it should not be used in academic writing.

Strengths and Weaknesses

After taking the UNI survey and comparing my results with the NET standards I realized that I had some strengths in regards technology in the classroom, but I also had some weaknesses. I am not an expert at anything, but I do have exposure and am fairly comfortable and confident with most of the things discussed in the UNI survey and the NET standards. One thing I feel confident with is finding accurate and relevant lesson plans on the web. In my methods class we were given an assignment to explore many different sites and evaluate them. This assignment really helped me to know where and how to find reliable lesson plans. One thing that I consider a weakness is that I have never done or seem a video conferencing. I would not know how to be involved in one. Another weakness I have is that I do not know how to edit or produce video and audio projects.

One goal I have is to learn more about video conferencing; how it works, the purpose and how it would benefit me as an educator. Another goal I have is to learn how to edit and produce video and audio pieces. I think that that would be a really neat talent to have and would allow me to create some interesting things for my classes. It would also be pretty neat to teach my students how to create those types of things as well.

One way I can reach my goal of understanding video conferencing would be to read this online tutorial on how it works. This tutorial would help me grow in my profession because after going through it I would have yet another tool that I could use in my classroom or to collaborate with my colleagues. One way that I can learn how to create audiotapes and videotapes for classroom instruction would be to go through the tutorials that Apple has on how to do these things and others. This would be such a neat tool talent to have and if I could teach it to my students they could do some really awesome assignments. These tutorials can really help me to become a better educator.

Internet Safety Reflection

Although the internet can be a dangerous place, we should definitely us it in education. One reason we need to use the internet in education is because of this technological age we live in. Our students know the internet and are comfortable with it. We need to use it if we want to stay with the times. We also should use the internet in education because it offers so many great resources for us as educators. We just need to learn where to find it. The internet should also be used as a way to differentiate the learning for your students.

We need to evaluate the sites that we use for educational purposes. Just like in the reading about the boy named Zack who wrote the paper on the Holocaust, we may think a source is reputable when in all actuality it is not. If we do not evaluate the sites we use then the material we are presenting could be a wrong and a waste of time. Evaluating websites is something we must do for each website we intend to use in instruction or for research purposes.

Questions to ask when visiting a website you want to use for teaching:

1) Did you link to this site from a site you trust?

2) What is the author's authority?

3) Does the site include the date created and last updated?

4) Is the site easy to navigate?

5) Are sources documented?

6) Is this site as credible and useful as the resources available in print or online through the library?

7) Is the information factual or opinion?

The best way to keep your students safe on the internet is to teach them about internet safety. Play games, watch videos, or read about how to be safe on the internet. It is our responsibility as educators to make sure our students know how to be safe on the internet before we just throw them on the computers. It is also good to set rules and guidelines for proper internet use and to monitor our students as they are using the internet in our classes. It is also a good idea to let your students know that if they come across anything that makes them feel uncomfortable or that they know is inappropriate that they can tell us.

Video:

I thought this video was informative. Most of the stuff I already knew. One thing I did learn though was that even if you delete information you posted on the internet, someone could have copied it and put it somewhere else. Make sure you are comfortable with posting something because it may be on the internet forever. I also liked that it reminded parents to watch their kids on the internet. I think a lot of parents just assume their kids will be on a safe site and don't really pay attention. With one click a kid can be somewhere completely different than where a parent may have intended they be. I think this video would be good for parents and students to see.

UEN Reflection

In my future classroom I definitely plan on using the resources UEN has to offer. UEN has so much to offer educators and can decrease our workload by quite a bit if we know how to use it. I will use UEN because I feel that the resources available are fun and interesting and that my students will enjoy working with them. I also will use UEN because it is designed specifically for educators so I know that all the information I come across is OK to use and I don't have to filter through a bunch of junk.

I plan on using UEN to find lesson plans. I also plan on using UEN to find other materials (videos, maps, games) to enrich my classroom and my student's learning experience. I also plan on having a class website, using either UEN or google. I will use UEN in my classroom by having my students do interactives and using the resources there to help them with research. I will teach my students how UEN can benefit them.

There are a lot of social studies resources for students on UEN. One thing I found that I really liked is that they make announcements for upcoming events. For example the second Monday of each month WWII veterans come and speak at the Salt Lake Public Library for free. This would be a great opportunity for students to be able to go and hear from these individuals. My students could also use Pioneer Library to do research for research papers and other assignments. I can put links on my UEN site that my students can go to. These links can be anything from interactives, events, research tools, etc.

UEN has a lot of great resource like Pioneer Library, interactives, lesson plans, and core curriculum. Pioneer Library has great resources. It has information on other countries and cultures, Emedia (site full of media resources), World Book, sites to Utah Newspapers, Spanish resources, links to educational search engines and also links to other libraries. The interactives that UEN has to offer are a lot of fun. You get to learn while doing them but in a fun way. Students would probably really enjoy them. The lesson plans that UEN offers are great. They can be found in the core curriculum under the standards and objectives. There are also links under the standards and objectives to other lesson plans. The core curriculum is available in each subject area. It tells teachers what they are suppose to teach their students. It is a guide for them. The core curriculum and lesson plans work hand and hand to make teaching a lot easier, as do all the resources that UEN offers to educators and students.

Video:

This video was a little bit confusing to me. I was not totally positive what their thesis/main point was. I definitely did agree with some of the points though. We spend so much money on textbooks, classes and other things when what we use more than anything is technology, shouldn't that be what we are spending our money on if we are spending most of our time there? In this digital age times are changing rapidly with the new technology developments. I thought it was interesting that one girl's paper said when she graduates and gets a job it will be one that doesn't exists today. That right there shows how the way we live and technology are changing so quickly each day. I also thought it was interesting how one girl said 18% of her teachers knew her name. What I love about the education program is the small class sizes and that are teachers do know us. It really makes such a different when you feel like your teacher knows you. This video was pretty interesting and I thought that a lot of it rang true.

Reflection #3

What?

This week we learned how to set up UEN sites. We also were taught some of the features that UEN has to offer.

So What?

As a student UEN helps me in my assignments. It helps me to make lesson plans and include other activities in my teaching assignments. It is also good to get acquainted with UEN now, before I start teaching. It also helps me to learn more about my content area. It is fun to explore and see all that it offers.

This information means that as teachers we can plan more interactive activities with our students and get them more involved in the classroom. We can also have our students be involved with the UEN class website. This technology means that my life as a teacher doesn't have to be as hard as some make it out to be. There are a lot of great resources out there, the key is just knowing where to find them.

Now What?

Having a UEN site and knowing the features that UEN has to offer will be very helpful to me and my students. Having a site for our classroom on UEN will help them to stay organized and all of us be on the same page. A UEN site is helpful because it is a site made just for educational purposes and parents really should not have a problem with that. My students will probably enjoy the interactive features that UEN offers and I can use them in my teaching.

UEN will help me to be a better teacher. There are so many resources for teachers on the website. UEN will also lessen my workload because they have lesson plans for teachers. I can us the core curriculum found on UEN to make sure I am teaching the information the students need to know. UEN will help me out greatly when I become a teacher. UEN will help my colleagues and I collaborate. We will be able to tell each other about the resources we find and how we use them. We can also look up on each other's sites to see what kinds of things each other are doing.

Video:

I thought this video was really interesting. I was interested to see how the statistics had changed because the video was made 4 years ago. The video showed how times really have changed and they are just going to continue to change.

In order for our students to be able to compete in today's world and in the future they are going to have to understand technology. As educators are job is to prepare our students for the future and being successful. We need to prepare our students to be literate in technology and get them comfortable with it. Some of our students may not have very much technology access at home so we need to make sure we are exposing it to them in the schools. The world runs on technology and one cannot be ignorant to technology and hope to do well.

Reflection #2

What?

This week we used how to use Google Sites. We put a site together for our futures classroom.

So What?

As a student today I have many professors that use Google Sites. It has really helped me to stay organized in those classes. It also is great because my professors include other useful tools and resources that can not be put on a syllabus. It also can be updated whenever with announcements and other important information that helps everyone in the class stay better connected.

This technology means that as teachers we can have more than just a syllabus. We can include a lot more information on the website versus a syllabus. It also helps us because it gives us another way to remind out students of what is going on. We can tell our students in class what is going on, we can give them handouts, but by also having a website where they can find the information allows for less excuses from our students.

Now What?

After seeing all the different types of things you can include on your Google Site I think that it is a great idea and I plan on using it in my future classroom. I like the idea of my students and I being connected outside of the classroom but in a way that is not too personal. Having a class website keeps everyone organized and on the same page with regards to what is going on in the class. It is another source for my students to see what kinds of things are coming up in class. It is also great when kids miss class. They can look on the class website and see what they missed. I also think that a class website is really helpful to parents as well. It allows them to see what the class has going on as well and gets them involved.

Google Sites will also be a great tool for my colleagues and I. It will allow us to collaborate more on what we are doing in our classrooms. It would be neat to see what types of things my colleagues have going on in their classrooms by looking at their class website and seeing if there was anything I'd like to implement into my classroom. If we ran our classes the same we could even collaborate on the site.

Video:

This video made a lot of good points. I never really thought about using cell phones and ipods in class and though I am still not sold on the idea I do think that teachers need to have a more open mind about technology and how to incorporate it in their classes. One problem that I feel exists is that teachers do not know how to use these things in their classes. All they think of are the negatives of cell phones, like how texting leads kids to shorten everything they spell and to make up all these acronyms and then use them in formal writing. If we as teachers could learn how to use these things as tools in our classrooms then are students would also learn how to use technology for more things as well, instead of just for talking and texting and listening to music. There is a lot of useful and practical tools that these things have, we just have to learn how to use them the right way and teach our students the same.

I also felt while watching the video that if we are able to incorporate more technology into our students will be more engaged. Technology is a thing a lot of kids now days feel very comfortable with and if we could use it more in our classes I think they would be more excited about the material. It is something they are good at so why not play to their strengths?

Reflection #1

What?

This week in class we learned how to use Google Docs and how to use it to collaborate with our colleagues. We also learned how to use Google Calendar.

So What?

As a student, colleague, and future teacher Google Calendars will help me to stay organized. Not only will Google Calendar help me in my future but today it will help me to manage all that I have to do. I am a very busy person and being able to make a schedule of my week will really help me to not feel so overwhelmed. Google Calendars will also be helpful for my colleagues and I to make appointments and remember our meetings. It also is very helpful to remember birthdays.

Google Docs has already been extremely helpful to me as a student. It was been a great tool to collaborate with my other classmates. It is great to be able to work on assignments together but not have to be in the same place and have to work around each others busy schedules to meet. This technology definitely will continue to help me in my other classes.

Now What?

This new information will be very helpful to my students. Google Calendars will help me to be organized and to run my class more smoothly. It will also help my students to keep track of all the things they have to do, especially when they are really busy with other things in their lives. Google Docs will allow me to plan more outside group projects while still being mindful of my student's busy schedules. This new information will help me to use technology more in my classes, which in this digital age will hopefully strike a lot of my student's interests.

This new information will be a huge help in my department with my colleagues. We will be able to collaborate more of our ideas and lesson plans over Google Docs. It will allow us to be more in sync with one another and on the same page. Google Calendar will help us to plan meetings. This new information will change a lot about how we work together. Mostly is just makes it so much easier which in turn allows us to work together more often.

Video:

I completely agree with what Rene said in her video. We can't let the bad situations in life that we are in take control of our lives. We have to make the best of them because in the end it is only up to us to reach our goals.

I have been really lucky in life and haven't had many difficult things to overcome. Not all of us are that fortunate though. Having been lucky to have it pretty easy and seeing this video makes me realize that I can't take anything for granted. I have no excuses for not making my dreams come true.

As a future teacher I think that this video would be great to show my students. I can try my best to help them to realize that can reach their dreams but ultimately the decision is up to them. I definitely believe that I can be a source to help them see their potential though.

Ideal Classroom Reflection

Ideally I would teach at a school in California. Either near my sister in Northern California or in sunny San Diego. The community would be involved in the lives of the students and parents and community members would have an active role in student success. Members of the community would be involved in fundraising, guest speaking, athletics and clubs.

My classroom will be rectangular. One wall of the room will have a lot of windows. Outside these windows will be lots of tress and greenery. I believe that seeing the sunshine puts people in good moods, these windows will allow the sunshine to shine into my classroom and thereby help to put my students in good moods. The other side of my classroom will have bulletin boards were student work can be displayed. The front of my classroom will have a large white board on it. The back wall will have a large map of the world, united states..etc. My classroom will also have primary documents such as the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and other such documents posted on the walls. I will have a library full of many history resources that my students will be able to use when needed.

My classroom will utilize technology. My class will have a locker where laptops will be available for students to borrow for the period when needed. We will also have a large projector, tv, and cd player.

I will teach U.S. history and my students will be excited to learn the history of this nation. We will do a lot of group work and interactive activities in my class. I will make history come alive for my students. Not only will I teach them history but I will also teach them life lessons and help them to prepare for their future.

My students will make goals and will feel how great it is to accomplish their goals. Goals will drive student success. My classroom will function as a team and we will all respect one another. No one will be embarrassed to speak up and let their opinions be heard because of the the respect. My students will also come from many different ethnic backgrounds. We will all learn about each others cultures and there will be no racial dividers.

My colleagues and I will work together and share ideas with one another. We will be friends with each other.

My students will be very lucky and will have the opportunity to go on field trips to enrich their learning. They will be able to go back to Washington D.C., Gettysburg, and other historical sites. These field trips will be a huge factor in them loving history!

VIDEO:

My first thought after watching that video was, "Wow!" That boy had so much confidence! There is no way I could get up in front of that many people and give such a honest message like he did. That is what the boy was trying to tell us though, that if we believe in our students than they will believe in themselves and will have the confidence that he did.

I really liked what he said about believing in ourselves. I had no idea that believing in ourselves helped our students so much. But it does make sense because we are their example and believing in ourselves teaches them to believe in themselves.

From what he said I also was struck by how as teachers we aren't just here to teach our students the content knowledge. Teaching is so much more than that. It is teaching our students life lessons, teaching them how to work and most importantly how to believe in themselves and succeed.

I really enjoyed this video. It has inspired me to work to become a better teacher, to get to know my students and believe in them. Even when I have a student that is disengaged from the learning, causes problems, and makes teaching difficult I still need to believe in that student. I may be the only person who does and believing in that student can make all the difference in his/her life.