Week 13 blog

Hey every one, sorry I'm a little late on posting this. I have been out of town for over a week and there is no Internet where i was. Nick and I have created a biology lesson plan that will cover the cell and what it contains. I think this will be a good lesson because i like science and my partners majoring in it. I would like to teach science, however all the lesson plans I have done are for physical education. So this will be a fun and new lesson for me. There has not been any problems i can think. We were able to put it together pretty fast since we Knew the subject so well and are already familiar with making lesson plans. We are ready to teach are lesson to the class at any time. We actually finished it well before the break.

I really liked this class more than i thought i would. I am not the most tech savvy person and I get frustrated with computer classes that move to fast. How ever I think you did a good job of making sure that every one was staying along with you. I think this class really helped me in respect to what i can do with technology in a classroom or even school related stuff out side of school. I don't know if there is anything that I would do differently. I liked the class the way it was because I was able to follow easily and to me that's a plus when dealing with computer classes. I think that I learned several ways to use technology and how I can uses it to my benefit in teaching classes and that it can be good for the student as well. Even more so now that this generation has grown up not knowing what it was like before every one had a computer or even a cell phone. I need to at least know enough to keep up with my students. I have learned several things like blogging and power points and how to utilize the web and its resources in a class. There are several things that learned that I don't think i will ever use, but that's just cause I think that there are better way of accomplishing what I need to do or simply I think the students would would not want to use. I defiantly think that teachers should and have to know have to use at least the most commonly used technologies. Technology's are not only used in the classroom but also outside the classroom in the school setting. You also use technology when dealing with all aspects of your job, like a grade book or a budget for your department. If you are a teacher and you are not or can not utilize today's technologies then you are not striving for the best that you can offer your students.

VoiceThread.com

I like this web sit and think it could be very useful in a classroom if the student body knows how to efficiently use the site. How ever i can see trying to use this in a class as a wast of time because there are more efficient ways for a class to communicate other than this. Also i don't know if it would be of much good unless you are using it a lot and i think it could be hard to incorporate a class with this site on a regular basis. I don't think i would use this for my lesson plan unless i was already sure that everyone in the class knows how to properly use the site. Who knows i may change my mind if i see a good one related to school and how it is effecting the class and there learning. For now though i think i will use another way for my class to communicate and such online.

Power Point Project

My power point project is going along very well and I have had nothing but help from my partners. The topic we chose to do are power points over is the use of laptop computers in the classroom and the benefits and drawbacks that come with them. I feel my partners are doing a good job and they have stayed in contact with me even outside of class. I think as long as both partners understand the content and are willing to do some work than it is better to work in groups. You can get done faster by splitting responsibility of the project. The only way i can see having a partner as a bad thing is if they don't know the content and such. Then you end up babysitting them and trying to explain everything instead of actually getting the work done.

communication with technologies

I think that it is important for teachers to try and incorporate the technologies that there students use into the class room. Its a way to incorporate education into the students life out side the class room, school, state, country, and world. The benefits to asynchronous communication over face to face is very clear in today's world. Though some people learn and under stand things better in person, there is much we can learn from people all over the world. Being able to communicate with people in different places allows a broader range for people to learn, talk, teach, and live socially. It also helps that you can go back and look at what was said or posted. One of the best things about this is that you can meet and become Friends with people on the other side of the world with out it being a hard process. Online chats and instant messaging are of a great value in the class room when real time communication is desired with a person or group of people that are some where else. Using either of these ways of can increase communication and allow easy collaboration. If these types of communication are use properly then they can be a great benefit and not a distraction. A podcast can be another great way to communicate and distribute information. Podcast is a advantage to some one who may be a better talker than a speller. It can also allow you to learn better if you are more of a verbal learner. I can see how some people might think that podcast are a passive way of communicating since it might be a little slower than messaging, but some things are better off said...

communication with technologies

I think that videogames can help with studying because it relates with what alot of students do for fun. If it is designed right and had the content that is needed to be learned than I dont see how it cant be educational. Other than learning the content that the game, they also learn skills that deal with computers and technologies that can be used with them. This is very helpful in a world of today where every thing is going technological. I agree with the artical on the fact that this can expand the learning enviroment by grouping content from several subjects together. My only question about its effectiveness is how much time will it take up. To me it sounded like it mite take a little while for a student to make a videogame, leading to a less broad knowledge of the subject there making the game about. I dont know if i would let them play every day or not. I think that as long as my kids have been active for an hour or two after school they can have an hour or so playing a game. I have grown up playing videogames and I still do every now and then, so I dont see anything wrong with them. I would not let them play all day though.

personality test

Yes i do think students have different learning styles because of their personality's. I think that the test that i took can help me to be aware of what some of my weakness might be. That way i can focus on them and make myself a better teacher. It would be a great advantage if you could know your students personality types because it would allow you to accommodate them on a more personal level in regards to there learning styles and ability.

personality

Yes students do have different learning possibility's because of there individual personality's. Yes knowing them can be important because it will allow me to know how to connect with that student. Some students will respond to one thing and another may respond in a completely different way. Knowing there personality's can really help when trying to get them all to do the same thing and have all of them do good on it.

I don't know what i think yet because i have never used one much. I can see how this can be a good thing for school setting if its done right. After reading the book i can see how blogs can better a class by giving them more info than what can be covered in class. Its a useful way to teach technology in a non tech class as well. Its also useful because the info is there at all times for the students to look at and respond to. I don't see it as a waste of time as long as its a benefit to the students and there understanding of the class. It may even be benefit of there time and learning if the blog is structured right.

I really like the idea of having extra info in a blog for students to look at. You can create it so that its kinda like are ecollege. I wish we had something like that back in high school. I'm a bad at taken notes, so having power points and extra info online is a great thing for me and I'm sure I'm not alone.

Jason Roberts

Hi im Jason Roberts and im making this blog for my ETEC 424 class. Im a student at Texas A&M -Commerce. Im 25 and live in Rockwall, which is about an hour away.