Reflection #4

UEN REFLECTION PAPER
UEN is a tremendous classroom tool to know how to use! There are so many different resources throughout it that it definitely takes time to get to know each one, but once you know the resources, your possibilities to use it in the classroom are endless. Pioneer library, interactive, lesson plans, and core curriculum are just a few of the many different sources UEN offers.

Pioneer library offers a variety of activities for kids to learn from. Kids could definitely use EBSCO in the classroom to learn what research is and to learn how to find things they are interested in online. I love it because it is safe for kids and home friendly. I would think that such an awesome website would spark an interest in kids to use it even at home. SIRS Discover Deluxe had so many awesome options on it. One thing I’d use it for in my classroom is to have kids look up news articles and then present those articles as a “newscaster” in the classroom. I think kids could get very creative and explore what they are interested in this way. This tool is so interactive and a great way to get kids to learn and explore on their own because there is never enough time in the classroom to teach them all they need to know.

Interactives are almost my favorite thing I discovered on UEN. I absolutely loved how they had lists upon lists of fun games that kids love to do. I had my little second grade sister test out a couple of the interactive games and she absolutely loved it. She was challenged yet had a lot of fun and forgot she was actually doing math problems. For math, you could use math magician to have all of your kids pass off add facts and then mark on a sheet where they are at each day because it is timed and shows the score after every round. Kids love games so why not let them play games that teach. The best part is that the interactive contains games for each and every subject according to grade level and what the kids need to be learning. How awesome is that?!
Lesson plans was also a resource that blew my mind! Being a new teacher, this is a huge resource that can help you every step of the way. You can revise the plans any way you choose, but it’s so nice to have a base idea of where to begin and it goes along with the curriculum perfectly. Core curriculum was also fascinating. I knew a lot went into teaching, but to be able to access it there on your computer in your classroom or at home. It’s great! It gives teachers a chance to continually evaluate how well they are doing with each area of the curriculum and know what they need to spend more time on. What an incredible resource!

I am so excited to have a website that links to so many different tools to use in my classroom. Hopefully, it will be something that is easy for parents to access at home and work with their kids on. There is just so much to UEN, it is overwhelming, but in a good way. I will be able to find tons of activities that kids think are fun and use them in my classroom constantly. I wish I would have had this as an Elementary student! I’m excited to keep learning about it and apply it.

Reflection #3

This week was so much fun to interract with other students in the classroom and put together a powerpoint slide show to convey classroom rules. I think this is such an incredible tool for the classroom. Kids can do so much and be extremely creative with it. Kids could create stories about their lives and send it to kids in different countries and become google buddies with someone in say Japan. Then that person in Japan could send a slideshow back of their life. It'd be such a cool way to learn about other cultures. Group projects and presentations would be fun for students and they wouldn't have to meet together, but they'd have the information and be able to collaborate from thier own homes. Teachers could create lessons on it together. If it was something each student needed to learn about in the school, each teacher could show it in their classroom. Teachers can actually post for all their students what is due in class the next day and what to bring and the lesson plans. What a great way to help kids be prepared! There are so many incredible things to do with this google tool. Its awesome!!

Video Reflection #2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYPjJK6LZdM

This video really opened my eyes to some new insight about google docs. I had this thought come to me while watching, think if each teacher used google docs which is free instead of passing around paper how much money and how many trees it would save! If EVERY teacher did it? I thought to myself that maybe it would save enough money that each classroom could afford to have a computer for each student in the classroom!! This video shows how much students are getting into google docs. They use it for peer review, to talk to kids in other parts of the world, and to write essays within the classroom. The teachers in the video commented on how awesome it is to see their students exerting special effort on assignments in google docs because these students know so many people are going to be looking at it and they want it to look good. It is a technological age and kids can relate so much better to typing than using paper and pen. I'm so excited to have learned this new tool and to be able to learn more about it and apply it in my own classroom!

Reflection #2

Everything Google was so interesting to me. I found out so many new parts to google that I never knew even existed. I thought I was pretty down with technology, but it just goes to show that technology is endless. There is always something new to learn with technology. I especially loved google docs and google calendar. These tools will be so useful in my future classroom. I think google docs can definately be used for group projects with creating powerpoints together and giving each other feedback. Students have a new way to communicate which is very awesome and it is also a way for the teacher to look in and see what things the students are doing and give them feedback from home, not just in the classroom. You could even use it for announcements about class. Creating a book club with this tool for extra credit or something would also be a lot of fun! I do believe that this kind of technology would need to apply to the upper elementary students though because it is a little advanced for younger kids. Also, google calendar is such an awesome tool that could help students learn to make schedules and plan and be more prepared. Then receiving reminders on their cell phones about upcoming events...thats just amazing! It would be a good way to get students excited about getting things done and learning how to plan out their time. It would teach responsibility in a fun way. The only downfall I see in this technology is less them meeting together as groups and building strong face to face relationships, which is so important as such a young age. But I do believe that if students are given time in class to talk with one another and have those face to face group experiences, then google is an incredible teaching tool. Google has so many great new technologies that I'm excited to learn more about and think of more ideas of where to use it in my own classroom.

The video this week certainly touched home with me. I truly feel that if more teachers used cell phones, i pods, and computers positively in their classrooms students would respond to their teaching methods so much better! I would absolutely love if you could say "pop quiz students, take out your cell phones." Then you could have multiple choice questions where students texted their answers and somehow it could show up on your computer what their answers were for a grade. Then if you had it connect to your projector so the students could see what percent answered a, b, and so on. It would be a good way to discuss the answers and not leave the students wondering about the answers they didn't quite know. The students would be shocked to use their cell phones for a pop quiz! It would also be really neat if teachers used pod casts more in the classroom where kids could go home and watch the pod cast and then report back on it through google docs and give feedback to one another that way. There are endless options with technology. Teaching would definately be more effective if teachers used cell phones and i-pods positively in the classroom for teaching instead of yelling at students to put them away. Students would respond better and learning would be more fun.

This is such exciting new technology to me! I'm definately planning on learning more about it so that I may understand it better to use it in my own classroom one day.

MY IDEAL CLASSROOM

My ideal classroom will be full of color with work done by my students hung on the wall. It will have learning tools for the kids to use up on the walls such as a word wall for vocabulary, a math wall with the properties, and a science wall with the solar system. There will be big windows that allow a lot of light to get into the classroom. There will be a computer at every desk. The desks will be in groups of four and students will change seats every month or so in order to get to know everyone in the class. It will be an organized classroom, but a place where the kids feel free to make messes while learning. There will be a small corner for a classroom library with bean bag chairs and great books galore. There will be a play corner with learning games and games for fun. There will be a corner where my desk is, a sink with running water for the children to stay clean and wash their hands, and also a small room with a bathroom in it so the students do not have to leave for long potty breaks. It would be a place where students feel free to be themselves and always loved. Everyone would have a different personality, but united because we would be working towards a common goal. And that goal would be to learn and grow. I will be a student-centered teacher that focuses on my students and how they learn best. I would teach in many different ways: visual aids, reading, lecturing, group-work, and hands-on. I will walk around the classroom among my students and listen to their conversations and help them one on one. I will be very involved with my students. My students will feel free to ask questions and question me when they don't agree with me. They will not ever feel looked down upon, but we will all be equal. I will have a projector in classroom to teach with videos, internet, etc. I will also have a smart board where the kids will play interractive games and learn together. The computers at each desk will be used for research, learning, testing, and more. My students will learn how to make powerpoints and utilize the computer to teach other students. My classroom will be a place filled with students at many varying levels, but not a single students will never feel "dumb." They will help one another and learn from each other. I will teach every subject. Math, reading, writing, social studies, science will be among some of the subjects I teach. I will teach with my heart and discipline in a productive way that teaches a lesson. My students will not just learn the curriculum, but more. They will learn how to interract with others and become the best they can be. The main class goal will be to learn something new each day and leave with a greater knowledge than when they came into the classroom.