Monday, March 23, 2009

Technology Lesson

Part of the 3rd grade core curriculum includes writing. In particular, it expects that students produce traditional and imaginative stories, narrative and formula poetry. After producing pieces of writing such as these, students should "share writing with others using illustrations, graphs, and/or charts to add meaning."

As the teacher, I would first demonstrate and model the writing process for my students. I would then show them how to create a final draft; this would involve explaining the importance of making your work look presentable and appealing. I would create my own story on PowerPoint, giving them an example of how to share one's personal writing.

After the students have gone through the process of drafting and editing their writing, I think it would be awesome for them to share their final drafts using PowerPoint. Each slide could have a sentence or two written on it along with pictures and illustrations. The final PowerPoint presentation would be like a published story. Then the students could share their story with the rest of the class without having to worry about making sure all the students could see their pictures.

Another benefit for including technology like this is that when all the stories had been created, it would be easy to post the stories on a class blog so that parents and others could read the stories. Also, a cd could easily be created which contained each of the students' finished stories. At the end of the year, each student could get a copy of the cd as a kind of momentum from their 3rd grade school year.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Lesson Idea

There is so much technology available at Spring Creek and so many ways to incorporate it into lesson plans. My mentor teacher showed me a cool way to create a game on the computer that can be projected using the Smart Board. For math review, she and I created a Jeopardy game. When the students chose a category and number, we would just touch the board on that number and the question would pop up. When we returned to the main screen, it would show that the question had already been asked. The game also kept score for the two teams so that the students always knew who was winning. At the end, when all of the questions had been asked, the game showed a funny cartoon dancing to celebrate the victory of the winning team. The students loved how interactive the technology was and it kept them very engaged!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology Inventory

As I take note of the different technologies available in different classrooms and schools, I am amazed at how much is available in some schools and how little is available in other schools. I have learned that Title 1 schools are provided with some of the most modern and advanced technology, while schools that are in more affluent areas lack modern technology.

At Spring Creek, there is some awesome technology available! As I learn more about what is available, I realize that technology can really enrich a lesson! If teachers would take the time to find out everything that the technology in their classroom can do, they could create some rich learning experiences. But I think many teachers avoid technology because it is intimidating to them.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Urban, Suburban, and Rural Virtual Tour

The link to my virtual tour is under "My Links." But here it is again: http://sites.google.com/site/thejennssite/my-files. Have fun!