21 January 2011- "Podcasts"

This week was very informative. I didn't really know what a podcast or a vidcast really was before last week. I know that may seem impossible but the term was always sort of confusing to me and I never really understood what consisted of a podcast and what didn't. I also learned what a Public Service Announcement (PSA) was. As I was creating my podcast I thought about how I could use this in my future math classroom. At first I didn't think I would like this assignment or that it would ever be applicable to me. But like usual, I was proved wrong. I actually really enjoyed making this podcast and I'm sure if I had more time it would be even more cool. As I thought about my future math class I decided it would be beneficial to my students if each week we summarized the topics learned in class so they could review it at home or if they missed a class they would be able to listen to the things they missed. I also thought it would be useful for the students if they were each assigned a math topic to research and make a podcast about. I think the best way to learn something is by teaching it to others. Instead of just giving a presentation to the class they will be able to utilize the technology they know and love to benefit themselves and their classmates.

UEN- 14 January 2011

The Utah Education Network (UEN) is a very useful resource for not just teachers but parents and teachers as well. The first useful tool that UEN provides is called Pioneer Library. This database has a wealth of information for students of all ages and teachers as well. I especially like using EBSCO and SIRS Knowledge source. Both of these search tools contain thousands of peer reviewed journals and books. The tool that I found particularly useful for my future math classroom is eMedia. eMedia is easy to use and has fun movies and audio clips on hundreds of subjects. If I have a student who isn’t understanding how to find the area of a circle, there is a movie clip that demonstrates finding the area of a circle. There are also movies that show how math is used in different jobs. This tool is useful in differentiating my lessons according to student interests. Some other useful collections that the Pioneer database has are newspaper archives, World Book Encyclopedia, Spanish Resources, Library of Congress and many more.

Another tool that UEN provides is called Interactives. This is one of my favorite tools on UEN. Interactives are fun games that students can use and play on the computer. There are tons of games in each level of math ranging from factoring to adding and subtracting integers and even solving the Pythagorean theorem. These interactive games take subjects that may otherwise be difficult and make them fun. One game teaches students about ratios by applying them to recipes. When students understand how to apply the topics they are learning about in real life they will understand them much easier. Another game simulates a 4 week-long road trip and students must plan financially to have enough money for their entire journey. I will use Interactives as fun concepts review and post links to them on my classroom website so students can access them as they please.

My favorite UEN resource as a future teacher is the Lesson Plans. I love looking through each level and math and seeing all the wonderful lesson plan ideas. They have great suggestions on how to differentiate your lesson plans and engage all types of learners. I know that I probably won’t ever just teach the lesson that is provided but I know that I will take ideas from them and adjust them to make them fit my classroom. I am very glad that I have access to experienced teachers lesson plans especially for my first couple years of teaching.

The last resource on UEN that I want to talk about is the core curriculum. UEN provides links to Utah’s Core Curriculum in each of the levels of math. It also provides a link to the new Common Core Curriculum for math. This is very useful as I begin to develop my own teaching style and plan my year out as a new teacher. Some of the other useful things that UEN offers are research tools and homework help for students, and many great links and websites for parents. I am excited to utilize this great network more in the future as I begin to teach my own classroom!

7 February- Google Part 2

This week in class we created our own classroom website. After learning all that we did last week about google docs, google presentations, google forms etc. then putting it all together was very rewarding. I truly felt like a real teacher creating a website for my class. I never thought about having a classroom website but now I will without a doubt. It will be extremely useful for my students to be able to see what they missed if they were absent one day. Sometimes teenagers have a hard time remembering what assignments are due the next class. This problem can be solved by simply by posting the assignment on the calendar. I assume that almost 100% of students have access to the internet, and utilize it daily. Another reason I think that having a class website is useful is because students will be able to take quizzes online at home. Since I will be teaching math I think it would be really beneficial to me and my students if after they completed their homework they took a quiz online. Then I would be able to determine for the next day which concepts are still unclear. As a parent I think a classroom website would be useful so I could contact the teacher whenever I needed or upcoming assignments/projects that are due.

A classroom website is useful for several reasons.

• Reduces student excuses (I didn't know the assignment, you never told us the assignment, I was absent, etc.
• Parents know about announcements/up coming assignments/projects
• Students can access class information if they were absent
• Helps gain teaching time
• Students gain more access to online resources that have been tried/true
• Students recognize the internet can be used as an extension of school subjects taught in the class
• Many many more!

I'm really excited to see what other technology tools I can utilize in my future classroom.