Presentation Idea

My plan for my presentation is to teach about Homophones. I am seeing this lesson be taught in my Clinical I Second Grade classroom, and I've seen how the students have understood it some, but have also struggled. I'm hoping that a presentation with more pictures and such would help. I am going to use this website some, as long as looking for a few more.

Edited Scratch - Moon Phases

Click here to view my edited project.

Blogging with Fairview Middle

I thought this was a very neat activity. It was fun to see how the students responded to the magazine covers that were made, and to see what caught their attention/what they liked most. I have never seen blogging used in a classroom before, so it was neat to see how good the children were with it, and how they seemed to enjoy the communication with others. I am still just unsure of whether or not this is something I would want to use in my classroom. I can see how it can be educational, but it worries me that it is taking away from learning some. I am seeing through my younger sister's learning how certain technologies are taking away from her learning things that were mandatory when I was her age. I know that technology is "the way of the future", but I often feel we are becoming too dependent on it, and using blogging in the classroom, to me, just adds to that. I don't know; I have a lot of mixed feelings about this, and I'm just not sure how I really feel about any of it, even though this was a neat activity/experience.

Scratch

As I looked through the Elementary Education projects on Scratch, there were several that caught my attention, but one really stood out to me. The one I liked was Moon Phases. I think I liked this one for several reasons. One, this was neat to see because it is something we have just learned about in exosphere, and it is neat to see a way it can be taught to elementary students, instead of just learning about it and thinking of your own ways, which can sometimes be difficult. Two, I liked it because the students in my clinical classroom have also learned about this recently. In fact, I was able to teach them this lesson, and I noticed how it was difficult for some of them to fully grasp the concept at the second grade level. This is a good way for them to play around and see how the moon phases change. There could also be a second part made that is a little more interactive for them in some way. Maybe asking them to identify without seeing names with the phases, having them use a drawing tool to illustrate the phases, etc. There are many possibilities in how this can be expanded on/improved, but overall, it was a very good learning tool.

Think Aloud

Click Here to View my Think Aloud.

Convergence Culture - Henry Jenkins Video

Convergence Culture is a sort of process that combines old media with new media with the intent to make a better media for the present day. Convergence culture's implications in education are basically how teacher's are able to use technology in their classrooms (Powerpoints, TeacherTube or YouTube, blogging, etc). This class is a great example of convergence culture, because we are learning hands-on how technology, old and new combined, can be used in the classroom. Some schools, however, limit kids use to these forms of technology, mainly to protect them from the dangers and the non-educational areas of the internet, etc. Some schools are also having trouble financially updating and being able to provide these technologies. I know from personal experience, I had not been able to use much of this technology until now. I live in a very rural area without accessible internet, and my school did not use much technology in the classes, at least to the extent I have in college. I think it is good for students to be able to use technology/convergence culture in the classroom, but I don't feel it needs to be the main focus. This could possibly because I didn't use much technology in school, and the idea of using it for everything seems odd to me. This is also because a lot of students now use so much technology everyday, that if they had a lot of access at school and it was not moderated properly, they could be doing other things (Facebook-ing, talking to friends, etc.)