My Future Classroom

Welcome

The ideal school I would like to teach in would be Belle Valley Elementary. Belle Valley is a close family atmosphere of a school. Each grade level has a “pod” which all of the classrooms are connected and many of the teachers call this pod the “family room”. This close atmosphere helps the students feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves and that is why I want to teach in a school like this. I believe a school like Belle Valley could adapt to the changes in technology very well due to the close family atmosphere. My classroom will be a room that students feel comfortable in and are willing and ready to learn (for the most part). I plan on having every resource and mind stimulating tool I can get my hands on available for the students to use all of the time. With all of these intimidating tools and resources I will have fun and enjoyable games and activities that shall be used in an educational way to keep the students interested and active in their learning. I plan on being the fun outgoing teacher that every student is excited to get for their teacher. I plan on making learning fun and trying a variety of learning styles and adapting them to each year’s class. I know that all students are different and so are their learning styles and abilities so I plan on adapting my lessons to be challenging to those who need a challenge but easy enough that even the students who need an extra hand can grasp the main idea and gain some sense of understanding. I know this will be a challenge but I feel that a teacher is not truly doing their job unless they make a difference no matter how big or small in each of their student’s lives. My vision is that I will touch every student’s life in one way or another. I also plan on introducing the means of technology to my classes in an easy non-overwhelming way (http://www.netc.org/earlyconnections/byrequest.pdf). I believe that everyone yearns to have an understanding of technology and I think that technology can be very beneficial in a student’s educational career. If children start out being aware of technology and how it can be used then they will have a greater understanding of new technology and how to apply it to their everyday lives in beneficial ways (http://www.edutopia.org/stw-differentiated-instruction-technology-integration).












A Typical Lesson
Students will be welcomed into the classroom with a multimedia source being used right away. In this case it will be a combination of a smart board and a CD player. Students will walk into the class hearing a educational and appropriate song about mathematics. Once all of the children are sat down and paying attention to the front of the classroom I would start the program on the smart board. Hopefully by this point I have everyone’s attention.
Next I will introduce today’s math topic and call up two students to the smart board. There would be an interactive lesson plan on the smart board that as I walk through the lesson I can have a child click on the correct answer and help walk through each math step as we go. Each child would get a chance to come up to the smart board and participate. I will know if they understand the material by their selection of answer and how they work through the problems. All of this lesson would be done as a class then once the program has been fully completed students then would go on to independent work. Each child will get a handout explaining what they need to do then the students would get onto a computer and follow each step independently until they have finished all of the steps required. Once the child is done he/she is to raise their hand as I go around checking their work and helping where needed. The children once done will return to their desks and together as a class we would discuss what we each did and what questions or problems they had. With each question a child has the closure to the lesson becomes a lesson in itself helping the children who still need that extra help.

My Future Classroom on Prezi

Sources:

http://floorplanner.com
http://www.edutopia.org/stw-differentiated-instruction-technology-integration
http://www.netc.org/earlyconnections/byrequest.pdf
http://prezi.com
http://photobucket.com

PSA

PSA for my SEDU183 class. I had a good time making the video with my group but the program to edit and create the final video was very frustrating. I was somewhat pleased with the final outcome but I believe that if we knew how to use the program better we could have made a better video. Next year I would hope that Mr.Smith would show is classes how to make and edit a video before throwing them into the project.

Instruction

I think that making a video could be helpful for when the teacher is absent and also to help introduce or conclude a lesson. Many teachers do not use a variety of resources and this is one that can be applied in many ways.

Assessment

Teachers can record lessons and or activities to evaluate the students work and progress and even their own work and progress. This can be helpful so that the teacher can alter their teaching styles and help the children in their weaker areas.

Communication

Teachers can send videos to their students for homework help or test hints and review. Teachers can also send a video to each parent of how their child is doing and even add in clips of their child working. This would help keep the parent and teacher relationship close and on the same page when it comes to their child's education.

Prezi and Finale

Prezi

Prezi seems to be a great tool for the classroom. I would use this site in the future and even for class presentations now. I think Prezi could be used for group projects and individual assignments for students. I feel that teachers could use this tool to help introduce a new lesson or get the students attention to learn harder material.

The presentation was good but I still don't really know how to use Prezi. I also am not to certain of its limitations. I will have to explore Prezi some more and teach myself of ways to use the website to its full potential.

http://prezi.com/

Finale

Finale is a very interesting program and it could be useful in classrooms just probably not mine. This tool would be ideal for music teachers or teachers with a background in music. personally I know nothing about music so the program is pretty much useless to me.

The presentation was good I got the general idea of the program (especially how costly it is). If I knew more about music I feel I would be more thrilled about this program but I got lost in the explanation of what you do and how you do it with all the music terminology.

Let me Know

Reflection on Popplet, Storyjumper, Wordle

Popplet

Popplet seems like a very good source for teachers to use in expanding the classroom beyond school doors. Personally as an Early Childhood and Special Education major I plan on using this site often in class and out. I think it would be great to help students get a jump start on assignments and create classroom discussion. Another reason this tool is great is that the students can share information that others may not know yet and therefore expand a simple lesson into a great lesson with many inputs and views.
Colton did a great job presenting, he made it easy to understand and even explained ways to use this site that I wouldn't even think of. After his presentation I feel like I could go onto the website and create a Popplet with ease.
http://popplet.com/


Storyjumper

Storyjumper seems to be a very limited tool but yet useful. Personally I would like to create my own books to help with lessons in the classroom. If there is a way to share each story with one another in the classroom it would be a very useful tool. Students could create their own story or the ending of a story created by the class then share them among the class. Once this is done the class could talk about what stories they really liked other than their own and why. This would be a great way to get children thinking creatively and give them a sense of sequencing through a story.
The presentation was very good and helped me get an idea of the pro's and con's of the website. I still don't really understand how to use the site to its full potential but it will be investigated.
http://www.storyjumper.com/


Wordle

Wordle is probably the only website I wouldn't use very often if at all. The only ways I could even think of using this site would be to create posters or have the children introduce themselves. If the website had more opportunities for sharing and saving the finished product then it would be a different story.
The presentation was good for how limited the website is, I couldn't have done it much better. I got an idea of what the site has to offer and definitely got an idea of what the site lacks. If Wordle plans on being used more frequently they need to step it up and become more useful.
http://www.wordle.net/

Glogster

Tutorial of Glogster:





So we are supposed to find a different type of technology that can be useful in the classroom that we have not used in class yet. The only issue I am having is the simple fact everything we have used in class is all I know like Google docs, PowerPoint, blogs. I stumbled upon this site called Glogster and even though I have never used it but it looks like a fun tool for the classroom. Glogster is a site where students or teachers can make a virtual poster about anything they desire. this can be helpful for presentations and even how to get to know your students in the first few weeks of school. Personally i believe i will try this site out as a teacher and maybe even for some of my classes in college.


Here is a video of how Glogster can be useful in the classroom.

Education in the Smallest Places

I think this video is good for teachers and students so that they can see how children learn in other countries. this video will make you realize how lucky we are to be in America and how a lot of us do not take advantadge of all the educational resources around us.
This video also shows how the ways of teaching need to change. Teaching is more sucsessful through fun, if you were to make a lesson through the fun of dance or music learning becomes easier.
Its time to set back and learn from those less fortunate than ourselves.