Expanding the Usual Classroom

By expanding the classroom, educators can include new resources for the students to experiment with and learn new ideas. Education is a learning process for both the teacher and the students, so teachers should always be looking for new tools to use in the classroom. Kidspiration is a great tool to make a classroom a more active learning environment. This software allows for the use of a graphic organizer, and it benefits both the students and the teacher. The teacher has access to sample lesson plans, and the site also helps to provide lessons for special needs students. These students can all benefit from this site because is allows students to participate in activities that will help them further understand. The software also gives access to clip art that can be helpful in creating more motivational and exciting presentations. The site offers create activities for many subject areas, and it gives different opportunities based on age group. This is important because it shows the focus on the needs of the individuals of certain groups and areas, and not students as a whole. The downside of this program is that it has a cost for unlimited use. Therefore, most teachers will have to pay for this on their own if they want access to the new ideas. Teachers can go to www.inspiration.com/Kidspiration to create student centered activities that will help them develop socially and take more ownership of their work. The presentation clearly showed the success of this tool because of the video with students centrally involved in the lesson. Therefore, they are more excited to learn and are having input into their own educational progress.

Reflecting on Tools in the Classroom

One tool to use in the classroom is called Museum Box. The presenter said that this is a great tool for history classrooms, but it has other beneficial applications. Students can involve photos and videos into each box as part of their presentation. This tool is a great solution for the overuse of power point presentation. It is like a mini compact version of a presentation. It also allows students to express their own creative side to whatever extreme they find appropriate. It allows the students to create these boxes and keep them together, which can help many students with the issue of organization. I can also see this being used as not only a timeline in history, but a way to illustrate layers in many other classes such as science. A beneficial technique for teachers is that it allows them to create lessons, and keep them in an organzied fashion all together in a "drawer". Teachers can go to www.museumbox.e2bn.org to create these slides for their classroom.


A tool that is designed to let students express their creativity is Go! Animate For Schools. This tool is a great way for students to experiement with new ideas and have fun annimating their own creations. It allows them to express themselves and have fun. This tool can be used in an educational setting, but also in a fun way outside of the classroom. The bad side is that the site does cost 99 dollars for a sinlge classroom. Many teachers are more interested in a free source because of the amount of money already included into a classroom. The site is private, so it is more likely to be safe to use in an educational setting. Educators can go to www.goanimate4schools.com to let their students express a more creative side, while still focusing on educational topics.

Learning about Tools

In class, we learned a lot about the different tools that are available for classroom use.

Popplet is a great tool for many different students. It allows them to map out ideas, and become more organized. Likewise, it can help educators become more organized when creating a lesson. It incorporates learning for the diverse population that can be found in a class. For instance, many students learn better through pictures and creativity, and this tool allows for this type of learning. I like that you can create your own drawings because it allows the students to personalize their own work. This is often times what can get a student involved in the learning process. It is sad that you are limited to six discussion boards, but one can delete old mappings in order to allow for further instruction using the tool. Educators can go to www.popplet.com in order to create these fun discussion boards for the students to explore and learn through.

Storyjumper is a really cool site, and it can be used in multiple different classrooms. Likewise, there are no age restrictions on this tool. It can be used to create lessons for educators, such as math problems and word problems. However, it can also be used for students to create their own material. Students can personalize this by adding their own photos, which is really nice for students. Many kids like being able to make it more relatable by turning it into a narrative. I like the idea that you can order a hard copy of the book that you create. Parents need to be more involved, and this allows them to see what the students are doing in class. It also allows the teacher to create hard copy of the lesson. An idea is creating a mini yearbook for the students at the end of the year, which many parents and students would be excited about getting. It is important to remember that we are limited to 16 pages in the book, but for my major of early childhood, this would never create a problem. Teachers can go to www.storyjumper.com in order to create a creative new tool for interaction in the classroom setting.

Wordle is another creative tool that can easily be incorporated into the classroom setting. This allows students to create a mix of words, and the students have a say over the size of the different words. Therefore, they can use this to represent themselves and what it more important to them. This tool is great for an introduction and welcome because of the control over what is the biggest vs. the smallest word. If I was creating one, I would put organization as the largest word, and people could really get to know me. Although I do not see this being used by the younger grades, teachers can use this to create fun and interesting posters for these younger children to experience. An educator can go to www.wordle.net in order to create these fun and intriguing new designs for students to experience with.

There are many new tools available on the internet for teachers. The important thing to remember is the age group that you are working with and how you can incorporate these tools in a beneficial way for that particular age group to gain information from. Exploring the options is important to create an interesting classroom for all students to have a fun learning experience in.

Using Edmodo in Educational Settings

Edmodo is a great tool for introducing technology into the classroom setting.  Remember back to high school, I used this tool, and it was an excellent way for communication among classmates and teachers. Edmodo has many opportunities for both the students and the educator, and it is a free source to use.  Many times schools do not provide money to teachers for such resources, so it is helpful when sites like these are free for use in the classroom.

Edmodo is a great tool for communication in the classroom. It is a form of blogging on the site, and it allows for teachers and students to communicate outside of the classroom. It also allows for teachers to create calendars for the students in the program. These calendars alert the students when an event, such as a test, is coming up. Teachers can also post grades on here for the students to see if the school does not have any other online system.  Along with all of these great things, Edmodo allows students to upload files that teachers can collect. Students can also upload a file that is causing him or her an issue, and the teacher can view the problem before class the following day. As mentioned earlier, this resource is also free for use.

Along with all of the wonderful aspects of Edmodo, there are some negative downfalls. Students cannot create an account without a passcode from the educator.  The teacher must register the class and then receive a code, so that the students can be added to the class.  Edmodo can also be a distraction in class because the students in a class can "chat" or blog together instead of paying attention to the instruction. Although Edmodo is easy to use, it does take practice and corporation.  Communication is a great tool for this, but both communicators must be willing to use this.  Once this is lost, the communication is no longer available and helpful.

I do have some personal experience with this program, and I loved it!  I am a student who likes to be able to ask teachers for help and clarification.  My math teacher in high school used this very effectively.  I would send him a question, and within minutes he could respond.  Edmodo allowed my teacher to send the updates to his phone, so he was able to keep up with his classroom.  After being added to each class I was involved with, I could also communicate with peers over group projects.  An example from the program using communication will follow.

Me to Mr. Stitt    

I have been trying to watch the screencast for about 15 mins, but it will not load for me. you talk for maybe a couple seconds and then it takes 5 mins to load again....any suggestions? Also, what did i miss in advanced math today?

Mr. Stitt - I gave the class the period to do HCB 16 in Advanced Math. Let me check the screencast.

Here, I had missed class and was able to get the homework by using Edmodo.  It was a way for him to upload files to me and give me the assignment that I missed.  This was very helpful for many students in his classroom.

Edmodo can clearly be used in a classroom setting, and it would be most effective for students in high school because of the typing and communicating. Edmodo can clearly be used to communicate with the teacher over a question or a peer over a group project. It is a way to communicate with one person by sending it as a message or to the entire class as a blog.  This is a great way to create an independent classroom for the students.  Edmodo can also be used as an online grade storage device. Teachers can grade files that you upload to them, or they can put in other assignments from the classroom.  Finally, Edmodo can be used for reminders to students because of the calendar aspect of the tool.  It comes up and alerts the students that a grade has been posted or an event is upcoming.  This is helpful for all students, and students who frequently miss class are sure to benefit.

Edmodo is a fantastic program for the educational settings today.  Many students need a better way to talk to people in the classroom.  This allows for great communication, while providing the educational atmosphere that is safe for classroom use.  Although you have to be added to a class to have an account, it is very helpful once your teacher takes the time to set the tool up, and everyone will benefit from everything that it has to offer.

Here is a tutorial video on using Edmodo.

Cyber Bullying...Let's Put a Stop to It Before It's Too Late

Cyber Bullying has become an increased problem in educational settings.  Cyber Bullying involves bullying over a technology resource.  As we all know, technology is the life of the upcoming generation, but the students are often unaware of the issues that can come up in using these resources. Many students are responsible enough to use sites like Facebook appropriately, while others are still using it to bully. This video outlines the issues that arise over technology communications and gives shocking statistics as reasons why we need to act on the problem.  As future educators, this video should inspire us to help students be aware of the cyber bullying in the world, so that the students do not find themselves caught up in a bullying disaster. Cyber Bullying causes deaths and many depression problems among children.  However, this can be avoided through the awareness of teachers, students, and the community of parents who can all help to make a difference in the lives of students who have experienced cyber bullying.

No Child Left Behind creating an issue in the classroom

I am currently taking a class on Multiculturalism in American Schools, which is a class to study the history of teaching and the diversity in a classroom setting. Likewise, we talk about different laws that are passed and how they will impact our future as educators.  One of the most important is the No Child Left Behind Act, which is a huge topic in many educational settings and in the surrounding communities.  This act says that students should all be proficient in math and reading by a certain year. They also punish school districts that have yet to meet this goal.  Although it is important for the state to keep up on the progress of education, this has a flip side with many non-beneficial aspects.
As a future educator, I must be prepared to be faced with these acts. The government is always becoming involved with education and trying to improve it.  We must work with what is given to us, even if an act like this one is in place that we feel is not serving the purpose. A teacher cannot do much on their own because an act like this is in place for everyone to follow.  One must just try to work through it and make the best of a non-beneficial situation.
We all know that no two students are the same.  In addition, not all students have the same learning abilities.  Keeping this in mind, it is ridiculous to think that all students will be able to reach proficient in basic skills.  Let's get back to reality...this is not a dream world.  However, it is important for the state to take into account the amount of progress that students make.  While they are not all perfect, all students do have the ability to progress forward. As educators, we should be rewarding for progress in the right direction.
Punishment is not the correct way to handle these situations.  Teachers are getting blamed when the students do not reach the AYP that year.  However, we are all aware that some students refuse to try on tests that "don't effect their grade."  This can also be easily changed.  We can put more emphasis on requiring a certain score for graduation or a reward.  Students will do much better if they are forced to do it correctly.  Likewise, teachers can only prepare the students so much.  They cannot force them to do well and try, so the responsibility of the scores should never be held to one individual, the educator.
Schools that do poorly also get get funding from the state.  How does this make sense?  The schools that need the money to make better programs to further understanding are the ones that do not get money to do so.  Likewise, schools that are already meeting the requirements are getting more money that they obviously do not need.  The state needs to take this into consideration if they want improvement as fast as they are expecting it.
After discussing this educational issue with the entire class and the professor, I think it is very clear that changes need to be made to this act.  Likewise, the state is expecting to much from children with disabilities to reach proficient.  It would be nice if they could, but they need to be more considerate and focus on the more important aspect...progress.  Teachers get held to a lot of standards with this issue, and they should be held to some. However, all of the blame should not be put on an educator.
What are your feelings on NCLB?  Do you see it as successful?  What suggestions would you make to the government?

Powerpoint used in an educational setting

Power Point...How did we use it?
       As future educators, we were introduced to Power Point as a tool that can be used in the classroom to provide interactive learning for students.  We had to create a presentation that was appropriate for our age group, which we got to choose.  We also had to relate the presentation to two standards for Pennsylvalnia in teaching.  Power Point presentations can be dull and boring, but we had to read on this topic of how to improve them.  Then we were put to the test.  Creating our own presentation that would involve our students in an interesting way so that it was enjoyable for the teachers and the class of learners.

Benefits:
       Although Power Point can be hard to use and keep a class of students interested, Power Point has a lot of new features that allow the educator to make each slide enlightening, while still getting the lesson across.  It is also important to include other tools, such as videos, to further the understanding.  Power Point lets an educator create interactive slides that can be used in front of the entire class or as an individual assignment.  I chose this approach in the tool, and I created questions that students had to answer.  Based on their responce, they could either more forward or repeat the problem to get the correct answer.  This was in large thanks to action buttons and hyperlinks.

Downfalls:
       Some educators use the slides to present a lot of text to a group of students.  This can get very boring and hard to focus on.  Power Point also is not able to be shared over the internet like a presentation on Goole Docs.  Therefore, the teacher would have to work on it on his or her own or possibly transfer though a thumb drive.  Most of the downfalls for this program come with how you use the program.  Power Point can be very successful, but educators must be willing to take the time to create fun and interactive presentations for the students.

What does everyone think about using this tool in the classroom?  Did you think making our own presentatioms better prepared us for our futures?  Do you think Power Point will still be a big tool to use when we are the educators of the world?