This is an Earth Science podcast. I really like it because the readings are only 1-2 minutes long and I think it would hold the attention of middle school students. Also, there are a number of options to choose from for the category on the page.
Take a look!
http://www.learnoutloud.com/podcaststream/listen.php?url=http://webcast.berkeley.edu/rss/course-archive.php?seriesid=1906978356&all=1&title=19704
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Week 5 Reflection
Reflection Week #5
I think using photo sharing in my classes would be very easy. As an Earth Science teacher I could have loaded many pictures dealing with geology, astronomy, rocks, minerals, land formations, you name it. Michigan is a great state for viewing these, but I would not have enough photos to get a class that interested. I think in some classes or situations this could be a good tool. I don’t think I would really use it that much, because I think I can do the same think on other links for my classes. On my web page itself, you could/should find those photos, but as I stated I don’t have enough to build a great file, YET. I don’t know what you would do for Math, or Language Arts, but I’m sure some energetic, technology geek has some great uses for these and the class is much better for it. I personally will just not use technology because it is there. I want to be comfortable with it and really see what my students are getting from it, from a Science standpoint. If they want to improve their science technology skills, then I am probably not the teacher for them.
One concern I would have with letting students play with these sites, is exactly that, PLAY. I think you are asking for much more of your time to monitor these sites as well as other things you need to focus on. An Art class, a Photography class, a Technology class, I think that would be great, but be prepared for a lot more time to monitor actions. I just don’t think it would be for me, and I’m not saying it is a bad thing to use. Some, I am sure love it.
Family things, classroom comparisons, or teacher comparisons I think would be great, I just stress the fact that you MUST find the right thing and make sure it works for you. Have a purpose for using it, other than the fact that it is more technology and it is cool. I think it needs to be beneficial for the right reasons, and you need to make sure it is meeting your goals.
I have to refer to the videos Dr. Horvitz mentioned on the discussion page, I am pretty open on gaining more technology skills, but they really make you think about “HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH”. I have enjoyed the things we have looked at so far, I have heard of most, but have not tried most either. I will use them in the future, but I will also delete some from memory, because I believe they do crossover in some aspects. I had a really negative feeling about technology after I watched the videos.
I think, or hope most unit plans and lessons are delivered and derived as the authors, discussed in the ADDIE activities. If you follow the 6 steps mentioned in the characteristics of instructional design you should have a very successful classroom. I mean this in an academic way, your students should be getting all the information they need, because you have spent the time improving, adding, deleting things that are or are not relevant to the concepts you are trying to get across. When I am working on designing a unit plan, I want to analyze what we will be working on, design activities that relate to this concept, develop plans to follow, implement strategies that help us reach our goals for this unit. After I have had a run through of the entire unit, I always try to tweak it for better production or evaluate how this went. I think this same holds true on many of the large scale construction projects I have worked on as well. In the commercial field, there are so many people involved you really need to follow a specific plan or the projects rarely run smooth.
I think using photo sharing in my classes would be very easy. As an Earth Science teacher I could have loaded many pictures dealing with geology, astronomy, rocks, minerals, land formations, you name it. Michigan is a great state for viewing these, but I would not have enough photos to get a class that interested. I think in some classes or situations this could be a good tool. I don’t think I would really use it that much, because I think I can do the same think on other links for my classes. On my web page itself, you could/should find those photos, but as I stated I don’t have enough to build a great file, YET. I don’t know what you would do for Math, or Language Arts, but I’m sure some energetic, technology geek has some great uses for these and the class is much better for it. I personally will just not use technology because it is there. I want to be comfortable with it and really see what my students are getting from it, from a Science standpoint. If they want to improve their science technology skills, then I am probably not the teacher for them.
One concern I would have with letting students play with these sites, is exactly that, PLAY. I think you are asking for much more of your time to monitor these sites as well as other things you need to focus on. An Art class, a Photography class, a Technology class, I think that would be great, but be prepared for a lot more time to monitor actions. I just don’t think it would be for me, and I’m not saying it is a bad thing to use. Some, I am sure love it.
Family things, classroom comparisons, or teacher comparisons I think would be great, I just stress the fact that you MUST find the right thing and make sure it works for you. Have a purpose for using it, other than the fact that it is more technology and it is cool. I think it needs to be beneficial for the right reasons, and you need to make sure it is meeting your goals.
I have to refer to the videos Dr. Horvitz mentioned on the discussion page, I am pretty open on gaining more technology skills, but they really make you think about “HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH”. I have enjoyed the things we have looked at so far, I have heard of most, but have not tried most either. I will use them in the future, but I will also delete some from memory, because I believe they do crossover in some aspects. I had a really negative feeling about technology after I watched the videos.
I think, or hope most unit plans and lessons are delivered and derived as the authors, discussed in the ADDIE activities. If you follow the 6 steps mentioned in the characteristics of instructional design you should have a very successful classroom. I mean this in an academic way, your students should be getting all the information they need, because you have spent the time improving, adding, deleting things that are or are not relevant to the concepts you are trying to get across. When I am working on designing a unit plan, I want to analyze what we will be working on, design activities that relate to this concept, develop plans to follow, implement strategies that help us reach our goals for this unit. After I have had a run through of the entire unit, I always try to tweak it for better production or evaluate how this went. I think this same holds true on many of the large scale construction projects I have worked on as well. In the commercial field, there are so many people involved you really need to follow a specific plan or the projects rarely run smooth.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Week #4 Reflection
Week #4 Reflection
I would first like to start off with a comparison with something we are discussing in another of my graduate classes I am currently taking. This is a Special Education class that deals with student behaviors and how to manage these behaviors. A term we are using a great deal right now is maintenance. If you are not reviewing and using these behavioral changing ideas, then your information or gain in your intervention will be lost.
I feel that to be the same with the things we have used in this class. I know this sounds a bit negative, however I do not want you to think of it like that. I really like using my blog space for communication, and I believe I will use it often, so I should not have any maintenance issues with my blog or anything attached to it. I also really like the idea of social bookmarking, especially as seen from a teachers perspective. I mentioned in an earlier reflection of mine that I have spent hours reviewing websites that were of little use to me, but still countless hours had gone into this. Social bookmarking should take all this away if I can get some of the teachers I share websites with to use the bookmarking techniques. In a very simple form we do use social networking, but none of has yet spent the time to follow through with our site as in “delicious”, and this is just do to plain laziness on our parts. Setting up the delicious account is simple, free and really a no brainer for educators. Any educator that has a link on a district website should have a blog or link where students, parents, other faculty can log on and look at what is going on in class. With social bookmarking, your students and viewers can easily gain relevant information from your class. This should be a great tool. One thing that really jumped out at me from the reading was, “WHAT ARE THE DOWNSIDES?” I would fit right into this description, because my tags would be poor. As I look at some of the others and how they are organized I will do my part to help everyone have clear and relevant searches on my site. As stated in the video…searching for the sites now becomes organized chaos, which I think is an outstanding term. I was quite surprise while reading the first chapter of the Trends and Issues text. When Dr. Horvitz stated it was as fundamental as you can get, I was thinking along a little different line I guess. I was shocked at the time spent in really defining and naming the field. I was also thinking of a very basic chapter explaining how computers and curriculum had crossed paths, or something simple like that. Truthfully, Monday night is the first time I have even picked up the book since its purchase in late December. As the authors stated at one point from an earlier definition, “it does not separated teachers from media, and it focuses on the improvement of learning as the goal of the field, with instruction being viewed as a means to the end. I couldn’t agree more. Take full advantage of the technology, use what is good for you, but don’t waste time on something that might not be helping you or your students reach the goals you have set. Sometimes technology tools are just used as filler and really are not helping or improving your teaching, or helping the students learn the content any better
I would first like to start off with a comparison with something we are discussing in another of my graduate classes I am currently taking. This is a Special Education class that deals with student behaviors and how to manage these behaviors. A term we are using a great deal right now is maintenance. If you are not reviewing and using these behavioral changing ideas, then your information or gain in your intervention will be lost.
I feel that to be the same with the things we have used in this class. I know this sounds a bit negative, however I do not want you to think of it like that. I really like using my blog space for communication, and I believe I will use it often, so I should not have any maintenance issues with my blog or anything attached to it. I also really like the idea of social bookmarking, especially as seen from a teachers perspective. I mentioned in an earlier reflection of mine that I have spent hours reviewing websites that were of little use to me, but still countless hours had gone into this. Social bookmarking should take all this away if I can get some of the teachers I share websites with to use the bookmarking techniques. In a very simple form we do use social networking, but none of has yet spent the time to follow through with our site as in “delicious”, and this is just do to plain laziness on our parts. Setting up the delicious account is simple, free and really a no brainer for educators. Any educator that has a link on a district website should have a blog or link where students, parents, other faculty can log on and look at what is going on in class. With social bookmarking, your students and viewers can easily gain relevant information from your class. This should be a great tool. One thing that really jumped out at me from the reading was, “WHAT ARE THE DOWNSIDES?” I would fit right into this description, because my tags would be poor. As I look at some of the others and how they are organized I will do my part to help everyone have clear and relevant searches on my site. As stated in the video…searching for the sites now becomes organized chaos, which I think is an outstanding term. I was quite surprise while reading the first chapter of the Trends and Issues text. When Dr. Horvitz stated it was as fundamental as you can get, I was thinking along a little different line I guess. I was shocked at the time spent in really defining and naming the field. I was also thinking of a very basic chapter explaining how computers and curriculum had crossed paths, or something simple like that. Truthfully, Monday night is the first time I have even picked up the book since its purchase in late December. As the authors stated at one point from an earlier definition, “it does not separated teachers from media, and it focuses on the improvement of learning as the goal of the field, with instruction being viewed as a means to the end. I couldn’t agree more. Take full advantage of the technology, use what is good for you, but don’t waste time on something that might not be helping you or your students reach the goals you have set. Sometimes technology tools are just used as filler and really are not helping or improving your teaching, or helping the students learn the content any better
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