Week 11: Technology Lesson Plan

Last Friday I used a Powerpoint of a Jeopardy game. I first instructed students that learning new vocabulary will make them better and more interesting writers. We then reviewed the Vocabulary we have been covering in Charlotte's Web by entering in definitions as the "answer" (since Jeopardy questions are actually the answers), and then the answer would show up after the students guessed an answer. I had 4 teams, and a list of all the possible answers on the board. This was an activity that I got really excited about, and the students were really excited about. All the students were engaged in this activity, and all the students had to take responsibility for thinking of the correct vocabulary word when it was their turn to go up to the board. This was a lot of fun, and I think I'll use it again!

Week 10: Technology-Enhanced Lesson

One idea that I have is to use powerpoint during the next reading lesson. We are reading Charlotte's web, and I could use powerpoint to keep a list of vocabulary words up on the board. While we're reading, the students could look up at the words, and notify me when we read one of them. I could make a slide that gave the definition of each vocabulary word, along with pictures to help them gain a visual of what the word is, and what it means. I would use a laptop and a projector which are available in the computer lab. Maybe I could include a fun game that tests the students on the vocabulary they learned from that chapter!

Post one idea for a technology-enhanced lesson that you think you might be able to do given your classroom context and the technology available to you. Make sure that you tag your post - s#, wk10, lastname.

Week 9: Reflection on Technology Inventory

I was interested to find that the school I am at doesn't have a whole lot of technology. It is a very traditionally run school, and does have a computer lab, but doesn't have computers for the students to work on in (my mentor teacher's) the classroom. You can check out a computer projector, but my mentor teacher is in a trailer, and so I think it is harder to get these things into her classroom. She does however have access to her own lap top, t.v., vcr, and cd player. It's interesting to see that how things are done in the classroom, seem extremely similar to how I was taught. I think this can be a hard thing for students. They have a half hour of computer lab a week, and they aren't exposed to computers at any other time in school. When society is run on the latest technology, this could be hard for students in the future, even when they get to high school, because they may not know how to effectively use a computer, let alone the various programs on a computer.

Another thing I noticed in the classroom is that there really isn't any social studies, or science instruction. There also aren't really any technology science tools to use in the schools. This too seems detrimental to students learning. Sooner or later they are going to be tested on these things, and I think it's important to start teaching these things while they are young. Technology can be a great tool to do this. Technology can really help students see the application of science in their very own lives, and this can be a great teaching tool.

Although I don't think naturally I would have used very much technology in the classroom, I sort of hope to use more technology that what I am seeing in the classroom where I am at. I think it can be a great help to teachers in remembering to cover all the desired material, as well as provide images and visuals for students in something as simple as a powerpoint. My mentor teacher does however use her laptop to create Worksheets for students, and also uses the internet for multiple ideas when creating an agenda for the day. She loves the internet, and uses it often to search for great ideas! I plan to do the same!

Week 8: Virtual Tour

Take a look at this Google Earth Art Tour!