Last class 510

When I began this masters program I was a little worried about a few things, the time commitment, amount of work, and if it would be applicable to my Third Grade classroom. Well, it turns out that the time commitment isn't too bad, the work load is manageable and everything that I have learned about so far could be used in my classroom. What I find most interesting is being able to go back to school and share the information that I have learned with my class as well as the teachers in my school. I may not be able to use Google Docs, Spreadsheet, or Presentation with my class, but I can use it as a tool to organize my information, write letters to parents, and make a presentation for a lesson for my class. I also found all of the web sites shared were very helpful. If anything they give you ideas that you can adapt and use in your class.
The group work that was also completed was very helpful. Even though I am in a group with all high school teachers, our diverse backgrounds make our conversations rich and informative. It is amazing to me how much we have learned from each other and helped each other with things that we may not understand. We have even gotten to the point that we can complete each other's sentences and thoughts. I can only imagine where the rest of the classes are going to take us because I already feel like I have gone so far!

On-Line class and Software Eval

This week we tried to have our class online. At first, I was excited to try it out and then it came to the actual class time. As I was getting ready, I missed the interaction with the other people in the class. The good ol' how was your day, etc. After the first part of class, I was actually beginning to like the online class again because all was going well and I realized I was in my pajamas in my big leather chair, how much better could it be? Then the conference call came. I had was not connected on the conference call and was very frustrated. I could see Louis talking thinking that I was supposed to be hearing him but know that everyone else could hear him. It was like being a caged animal. I was very uncomfortable because I was not sure what was going on. Luckily, Louis called me and another classmate separate and re-explained, but I still felt like I was missing out. I also feel a little lost on some of the assignments because there was no one there for me to double check with, so I decided to get in the car and meet with my group.

I also worked on a software evaluation. Since our district got all new software this year this was a great thing to do. Before we bought the software, I was asked to preview and give feedback informally. I found that doing the actual software evaluation helped me to understand the software even more. I even learned things about the program that I didn't know it could do. It is a detailed process but and important one so that a district can be sure that what the are investing in is worth the time, money and resources.

M&M Graphing Lesson Grand Rapids, MI

After looking through the Intime website, I found a lesson on third graders graphing individual packets of M&M's. They began by doing their own, then combining with a partner and then eventually with a small group. I can see how I can use this in my class. First of all, my kids love food and second we have a program called the Graph Club that would be perfect to use with this lesson. I find that the children are really struggling with graphing and this would be great practice as well as being fun. I was thinking that they could even eventually come up with their own graph, collect the data, graph it, and share it with the class. Maybe this M&M lesson would be a good way to start out and see where the kids would take it. It would be really interesting to do a BIG bag as a class. I also have an M&M man in my class that when the kids are good they get to shake his hand. The number of M&M's vary on the shake so it would be great to keep track of how many they get in each shake and graph that information. After all, that is the one thing they want to know after someone shakes his hand-"how many did you get?"

Spreadsheets...arughhhhhh!!

This week caused me to step out of my comfort zone and try spreadsheets. I have very little to no experience with them. I was very nervous at the beginning and then we had class time to work on a spreadsheet. There were two that we could pick to do and it was very nice because it walked me through the activity step by step, there was no creativity needed, but feel I walked away knowing a lot more. I can also say that I also feel a bit more comfortable with spreadsheets. Could I teach them to my class, NO WAY, but at least I feel like I could maybe attempt to do my own class spreadsheet on assessment data. It was actually good to feel this way because now I know how many teachers feel when there is new technology introduced. I never really understood their anxiety, but I did in this class!! I just need to remember to take it slow and not just let it go because then I will forget things if I don't use it.

Word Processing in the Classroom

This week in class, only five of us were there, but we still had some very meaningful and thoughtful discussions (and good licorice thanks to Bryan:)). We did two major things, looked at different search engines and learned more about Google docs. I found but of these activities to be very applicable to the classroom.
It was very interesting to look at different search engines. You get so used to using just one you wonder why you should try another. I learned that the different search engines may serve different purposes. Google, for example, is the search engine that I use and I was not aware of the function of making your own search engine. This is great for the classroom because then you can somewhat control and filter the information that the kids are looking for. I also discovered askkids.com which is a kid-friendly search engine that I would also feel comfortable using with my class. In fact, I used it the next day with a student who was looking for images.
As far as Google docs goes, I think that it is a great tool for the kids to know about since it is free, accessible from home and school, has a presentation feature, and can have multiple users. However, one draw back for my level of students is that it is written in HTML and there is no tab. I have to teach them the proper rules of word processing a paragraph and that is a major one. Our district has been looking at new word processing programs for elementary and it would be a HUGE cost saver to just use Google docs.

My new class

We began a new class in my MEIT on November 6th. We had some interesting discussions and then got to get our hands dirty and tried some programs that designed graphics. We were also introduced to many online presentation websites. I had a lot of fun with both of these things, but find my head overloaded after this first class. It did lead me to a discussion with our technology instructor on using the online presentation programs versus Appleworks presentation which we currently have at school.
We also began a new book, Supporting Learning with Technology by Joy Egbert. The first chapter was very helpful with definitions and explanations about technological "stuff". It was a very interesting read and got me thinking about many things.
This is my first year teaching third grade. In the past I have been a kindergarten and first grade teacher. I have used technology with both levels and was very successful and also very limited in what I could do. I am trilled about teaching third grade because I think that my technology options have increased, but I am not sure how. That is what I am looking for. I am interested in learning about new technologies and how I can adapt them to my class and third graders. I am also looking to share these ideas and philosophies with other teachers at different grade levels so they can try what I have learned with their classes. In fact, we had a district meeting about a new curriculum that we are implementing and we are at all different levels. One teacher was very proficient and I suggested to him that he should start a blog to communicate what he does on a daily basis in this new curriculum so that we could have an on-going conversation without actually getting together.

Here is my story...
I am a Third Grade teacher taking my Masters in Instructional Technology. One of the things we have to do is to learn how to Blog, so here I am. I am not sure what I am going to blog about yet. I have been teaching for 9 years in the same district. In that time I have taught 3 different grade levels at 4 different schools. I actually like it (don't tell because I don't want to be moved AGAIN) because it keeps me fresh as a teacher. I have learned a lot about education and a lot about myself as a person. I am looking forward to adding more thoughts about education and how I plan on using technology (especially with elementary students.)