Personal Reflections

I signed up for this course because I thought it was a highly interesting area of education, and incredibly valuable knowledge to know/have. I went out of my way to sign up for this course considering it was not part of my required courses, and I was already a full time student with a full time job.

Thus far, the course has met my expectations. I have been exposed to programs/software that I was not previously informed of, and also more thoroughly introduced to already known programs. the teaching method has been clear, direct and to the point. I have not yet struggled in understanding any of the content or assignments, and have found many useful ideas and technology programs that I am positive that I will use in the future.

As of now, I have no complaints with the course, teacher, or teaching method. As a side-note, I LOVE the online website for the course, syllabus, assignments etc.

A blogger response

While surfing through a teacher-blog, I found one posting that was really interesting:

Kurt Vonnegut, Facebook and the Teaching Life

In this post, a teacher reminisces over the idea that with the advances of social networking these days, teachers and students have the ability to connect and over-lap in time. That is, in the past this teacher remembers specific students, in specific times. Now however, her past students and current students are able to connect and communicate which creates an over-lapping in time for the teacher of past and present students. 

This is a testament to how powerful technology and social media is in this day and age. However, it also brings to mind the concept of using the technology appropriately. Now, more than ever, our past mistakes can come back to haunt us. Students now not only have the ability to connect with past and future students, but they can also know much about you (me) as a teacher and a person. .... Have I used good judgement in what I have allowed to be posted of me on social media sites? Have I been the teacher that students rave about in a positive, or negative light (and what they will post of me on the internet)? How will these choices affect my future teaching career and/or reputation? 

The rise in technology and social media sites can be extremely useful when used appropriately. however, teacher need to always be careful about how they use this technology, because it can be quite harmful when used inappropriately. 

Blog Website: http://practicaltheory.org/blog/

Digital Story

Attached is my first attempt at a digital story!

It is titled "Maggie goes to the toy shop" and is about a little girls who has been saving her money all week to go to the toy shop on Saturday. After she picks out all of the toys she wants to buy, she finds out that she did not have a enough money. The story then goes on to the process of figuring out how many toys can be bought with the money that she does have.

This digital story addresses the 3rd grade SOL which has to do with adding and subtracting money up to $5.00

Use of inquiry is not particularly heavy in this story, but it does engage the watcher/listener to the extent that they may want to stop and pause the money to figure out the math problems themselves and/or to try to figure out how Maggie will be able to afford the toys that she desires.

This digital story does follow in line with UDL because it appeals to both the auditory and visual learner, and also it puts learning how to make change out of money into a new context (story context, rather than problem sheets etc.).

Inquiry-Based Learning

Inquiry-based learning is a concept that although I did not previously know its formal name, was integrated into my education from a young age. I had an alternative education from grade school through high school of being home-schooled/tutored. My mother was/is a Montessori teacher, and always put an emphasis on not just memorizing facts, but understanding the "bigger picture" and asking lots of questions to come to that understanding.

At my first teaching experience in a small private school, I taught in a unique setting of a combination of inclusion and self-contained students who all had intellectual disabilities. I was trained to teach the students in a manner in which I should constantly be asking them questions that make them understand and come to conclusions themselves. This type of questioning was particularly used while focusing on areas such as life skills.  

Inquiry-based learning will absolutley be in my future classroom, and will be integrated into all subject areas. This quote from the website http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry/index.html really emphasizes the importance of inquiry-based learning in today's world:

"Memorizing facts and information is not the most important skill in today's world. Facts change, and information is readily available -- what's needed is an understanding of how to get and make sense of the mass of data."

Resources:
Concepts to Classrooms http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry/index.html

Webquest

After learning about WebQuest from the website http://webquest.org/search/index.php, I found a great unit on money. This unit looks at what money is, what each piece of currency is (dollar, quarter, dime, nickel and penny) and what they look at. this WebQuest will fit in great with my unit on money!

Link to money WebQuest:
http://questgarden.com/124/35/6/110414113136/

Below is an image created using Adobe Photoshop Element 12. I created this picture so that it can be both printed poster-size for the classroom, and given out at individual handouts. This will be especially useful when covering the unit on money exchange. 

Website Link

Below is the link to my website:

https://sites.google.com/site/ed554marydelmare/

UDL concept map

Displayed is an image of the concept map that i created based on the UDL chapters 3 and 4. This map was made specifically for myself, which means that I focused on concepts that i was not very familiar with and wanted to remember for future use. Concepts such as the history and explanations of UDL I am already familiar with, and did not feel a need to include in my concept map.

Selected SOL

The SOL that I chose to work with for the purpose of this class, is in 3rd grade mathematics:

Reporting Category: Measurement and Geometry

3.8 The student will determine, by counting, the value of a collection of bills and coins
whose total value is $5.00 or less, compare the value of the bills and coins, and make
change

I chose this SOL because it can involve many different activities and it also can be very easy to create cross-curricular lesson plans. Activities can include (but not limited to); the use of manipulatives, online activities/tutorials, activity sheets, group work and individual work. In addition, History and English can both be integrated into the lessons very easily.

"Free Technology for Teachers" Blog Response

The Blog that I chose to read is title "Free Technology for Teachers" and is a blog that posts all different kinds of technology available for free for classrooms. Many of the posts are of online videos that are interactive tutorials on subjects such as the change of seasons, coral reefs and much more. Other posts consist of different lesson plans that can be found online for free, or tutorials on how to teach different subjects matters.

I found this blog to be very informative, and provided many great ideas on how to incorporate technology into the classroom. However, after exploring a bit, I did find it a bit frustrating because it was difficult to search for a particular technology, website etc. If one has time to simply browse through the blog to find good ideas, this is the blog for you. If you are looking for something a bit more specific, this blog may not be as helpful. Note: there are several tabs at the top of the page for some specific categories (Android, Ipads, Youtube etc.) but are limited.

"Teddy Bears Go Blogging" Response

After reading the article "Teddy Bears Go Blogging", I learned a very interesting way in which blogging can be used in an appropriate manner in the classroom. The article is written by a teacher who uses a blend of Internet, global participation and collaboration to help improve her students interactive writing skills. In on particular project, her classroom (in Canada) worked cooperatively with another classroom from Australia. The classrooms exchanged teddy bears with each other, and would blog about the different experiences, places and activities that the bears participated with. eventually the students were given an opportunity to blog both from school, and home to post and respond to the blog.

Initially, I was somewhat skeptical of this project. However, after reading the safety measures that were taken, I have a much more positive perspective of this great idea. The teacher placed safety measures such as reviewing all comments and posts before they were published on the blog. this taught the students safe Internet usage, and prevented any inappropriate material from being shared.

I love the idea of being able to safely use the Internet/blogging in the classroom! Not only is the Internet extremely useful in motivating students, but it also allows the teacher(s) so teach skill such as safe Internet usage, and Internet skills in general.