Field Reflection (For Real This Time)

Our field experience was awesome. Plain and simple. Our teacher was nice and accommodating and the students were responsive and active learners!


. Provide demographics of school, number of students in class and who your cooperating teacher is.

Our school is located in American Fork, Utah just a few blocks south of the Timpanogos Temple. The socioeconomic status of the area is mainly middle class. Our class had 27 students and it was almost exactly half and half boys and girls. Our cooperating teacher was Mrs. Wakefield.


a. How is your relationship with your cooperating teacher? Explain.

Our relationship with our teacher was great! She was very nice and actively concerned with making sure we had the best field experience possible. We had a couple of mis-communications on how we thought we planned our lessons. Sean and I planned our lessons together and then basically told her what we were going to do. I think she would have preferred to been part of the process. That's something I plan to do better on the next time I go to teach.

b. How does he/she feel about the technology piece you created?

When we told her that we were going to present a digital story she had no idea what we were talking about. :) After we had presented it though she really really liked it and I gave her the youtube address so that she can use it again next year when she does the same unit. She said that she liked it because it gave them a good overview of what we were about to teach before jumping into it. She liked that there were different pictures showing that even the same cloud type can look differently sometimes.

c. How does he/she feel about the lesson you completed?

The funny thing about our field experience was that we were only supposed to do 5 lessons but after we gave 2 of ours the teacher liked us so much that she asked if we could teach the whole unit. Slightly panicked...we accepted. So we had MANY opportunities to teach and get practice. Obviously she had suggestions for us at the end of each day and that helped us shape our future lessons to be better and better. We were flattered that she asked us for copies of handouts and lesson plans that we used because she had never thought to teach some of the things the way we did. Overall, she liked us and our lessons


We ended up using technology much more than I planned on it! We did our digital story but we also had many other opportunities to use technology. We had Mythbusters which they went nuts over! We also showed them weather forecast videos and google images. It really got them engaged! I think that children's (and everyone for that matter) lives are so infused with technology that it's what they respond to! As soon as that projector went on they were there with 100% attention. I loved this field experience because it showed me first hand how much students need to have technology in the classroom to learn!

Lessons Learned...

One of the biggest lessons I've learned in reading these articles and watching these videos is that technology stops for no man. Just because a bunch of people have gotten used to doing something one way does not mean that's the way it should remain! The Tools For Change article addresses just that concern! Of course we are all used to reading from text books and regular books but it's very possible that it's going to be more cost effective and easier for students do download their books and texts to e-reading devices! The teacher shouldn't be the one telling the students how to do things EXACTLY. They should be letting the students explore new ways with new technologies. It should not be left up to the "geeky" teachers to stay current with technology. No teacher should rely on another one to teach their students about the technologies that exist for them to use. Every teacher should be actively seeking new and better ways that will help them teach students and for students to better understand and learn.

The Social Networking article taught me a lot more than I knew about social networking websites. I (along with millions of other people) am on Facebook but I never really saw any potential for it beyond status updates and looking up old girlfriends (which I don't do anymore because I'm married...anyway). I never thought that every class could have a group on Facebook that could allow students/parents/teachers post questions, comments, assignments, or basically anything. In fact this is the first semester that I've experienced something similar in my own learning experience. Our cohort has a group on Facebook and it's amazing at how much information I have gained from it. I am reminded of assignments that are due, I can post questions that I have for other students or teachers, and I can live chat with anyone if I want to go over specifics of an assignment or test. I never made the connection that I could do the same thing with my own future classrooms. Obviously there needs to be the understanding that not all parents want their kids on Facebook or something like that but there must be other more "kid friendly" social networking sites that could deliver the same results. This is an idea that I will definitely use because I really want to stay connected with my class on a day to day basis.

One of the biggest lessons I learned was regarding the workshops that are available to educators. I know there are some listed on the class website but in doing a little more research I found hundreds of different workshops that can help educators develop their skills further. I always assumed that workshops were day long events where you had to listen to someone lecture for 8 hours and you had to pay 200 dollars to get in and all there is for lunch is some cheese and crackers. With online workshops, however, you can complete them at your own pace and don't have to do them all in one sitting. I did notice that they had workshops that you can participate live though. The benefits of this is that you can ask questions and get almost instantaneous responses! Who doesn't like attending a workshop in their PJ's? :) I love the idea that no matter what form of technology I may be struggling with or have questions about I can basically find any workshop to fulfill my and my student's needs.

My Beliefs

I have always been a strong proponent of technology in the classroom. I think as a student I craved it because it was the new up and coming thing that was being introduced in our lives. I'm not that old but I have seen computers go from being a black and green screen to the new ipads! That's a crazy jump in technology in just a few (relatively) short years! I remember when the internet was starting to be integrated into the schools and how we were allotted 10 minutes in our typing class at the end of the day to get on and see what there was out there! AOL still offered trial packages where you could get 10 FREE hours on the internet! Nowadays some people spend 10 hours trying to locate the sword of (insert weird world of warcraft term here) with people from all over the world. My point is that I have seen technology grow over the years and still get excited by the newest and greatest thing!

Ideally we would all be learning the same things all across the country but that's not the case. In the Millenial Generation video you can see that most of these kids have access to quite a lot of technology. Whether their parents give them cell phones or laptops etc...or whether their computer lab is full of brand new macs. Such is not the case in every class in the US. We'd like it to be but it isn't. So it all really depends on the school I work for. It would be great to have access to projectors and smart boards and things like that but if it isn't provided...that's where the problem comes. How do you prepare kids to function in a world that operates daily with technology without giving them the tools they need to learn it. I think the teacher has a great deal of responsibility. They should make every effort to either try to get a hold of supplies or invest in a classroom projector...etc that they can use.

Whether you like it or not, technology and computers is the future of this country. Every job will involve using it someway or another. I think the days are long gone where students learn typing just so they can make papers look nice for their teachers or to learn to send memos to their future bosses. My 4th grade class I student taught in were learning everything from power points to excel in their computer classes because those are the skills that are needed in the world today. So integrating technology in the classroom isn't really to show them what cool things are out there...it's because they HAVE to know it to function in our world. I hope as a teacher I can remember that and prepare them for this technologically savvy world we live in.

My Strengths & Weaknesses

In reviewing all of the different NET Standards and UNI survey I found out a couple of interesting things. For the most part I am a pretty technologically savvy guy. I may not have achieved "expert" in all of the UNI survey categories but I'd give myself a "practitioner" status. But in looking at what it takes to be an expert I think one of the biggest things that I am missing is being able to transfer my knowledge to a classroom setting. For example, I love playing around with Google Earth but I never thought to take that program one step further and use it in the classroom to teach geography or social studies. I think that it is a simple shift of how I view things. Instead of, "Wow, that's cool," it needs to be, "Wow, that's cool! How can I integrate this into a lesson plan?"

I think my biggest strength is the mere fact that I (for the most part) "get" technology. It's been part of my life since an early age and I have always been fascinated on what a person can do with it whether it be as simple as watching a movie on your laptop to something as advanced as MAKING your own movie on a laptop. Luckily I think I am able to share that knowledge with others. Many times when you call tech support you get someone with 0 personal skills and they get annoyed with you when you don't "get it." I've had a technologically challenged mother my whole life so I've had years of practice when it comes to trying to explain things. :) There will be students who need a little extra help in doing technological things and I'm glad I will have the patience and know how to help them.

With the NET standards I think achieving all of the requirements would take time. It's not as though I don't feel competent in each of the categories. I just think that as a first year teacher (or any year teacher trying to meet each requirement) it would take time integrating into your year's plan. I think I would do several things that would hit several points on the NET standards but not in any specific order or plan. There would have to be careful planning that made sure that every requirement was fulfilled and went seamless instead of last minute, "Wait! You kids need to know this!" sort of moments. :) All in all these surveys have made me feel confident in my abilities but even better it has shown me that I need to focus on how to integrate these great resources into the classroom for the benefit of my students.

Digital Story

It's been an interesting week trying to put together this digital story because we have not been told be our cooperating teacher what we are going to teach! So it's been more theoretical than anything! :) But it has been a pretty cool creative process! I feel like a Hollywood movie maker making cartoon story boards and talking about "where we want to go with the idea." I can see where this is going to be extremely useful when trying to tell a story within the classroom! I think history has a lot of examples you could use or social studies. But you can also use it doing background on characters in literature as well and ACTUALLY telling stories. :) This activity is great and I can't wait to get our topic from our teacher so we can get it started and done!! :)

The Flu PSA

This is Pace and my very first VLOG!! Who knew we could get so creative? We decided to use photo story for our program of choice! As with most projects this one took a little getting used to. First, it was tough to figure out HOW to present our ideas in an audio/visual format. Once we knew what we wanted to present we had to find pictures and sounds to go along with it. So I'd say the organization of the project is what took the longest. Once every picture was in the right order it was much easier and flowed much better from then on. The text on the pictures took a little while to adjust and to make look nice but it ended up great. I think the voiceover is what got me the most confused. I think I recorded 12 different versions before I got the volumes levels and fade outs...etc all right. In the end We were able to compare what we wanted to convey with what was actually conveyed and I think we got the point across like we hoped! Getting to know how to use photo story was fun and if we did this again we would be much more prepared and could probably venture into some more advanced options that we wanted to try!

Vlogging?

I had no idea that this term existed. Mainly because I don't really "follow" people on youtube really. I know my wife loves the Shaytards and another one of my friends loves the talking fruit thing? I dunno...though I do suppose I follow David Mitchell's rants that he posts on youtube. If you haven't seen him before you definitely need to check him out. Search David Mitchell Soapbox and you will have hours of small 3 minute rants to make you laugh to your heart's content. Anyway...I guess I do follow him but I guess I never knew or understood the term "vlogging" until now.

I see this being used in a myriad of ways! There are so many different lesson plans that could correlate a vlog into it. Whether it is a teacher creating a vlog to watch in class, to post on the class website to view for homework, or by having each of the students create their own vlog! With all of the different options available it's hard to think of a reason NOT to do this in the class! The different programs also allow students with different talents able to use them better. Some kids might like to use a camera while others can find better use of photo story and being creative that way. No matter how they do it they will all end up with a pretty professional looking video by the end. What a cool way to communicate!

Podcasts

This was a very informative lesson this week. Mainly because I have downloaded and listened to podcasts but I never really gave much thought to creating my own. I always just shrugged it off as something that "professionals" do for their websites and something I wouldn't even begin to try to understand or try. But, little did I know, it was much easier and much more practical than I ever thought that it would be.

What a great way for students to have classroom access from their own homes or from any computer for that matter! If there was a lesson that was either important or complicated or whatever...the teacher can make a recording of it and make it available for the class to listen to at their own convenience. Students who might have extra trouble in the classroom could benefit GREATLY from a resource like this. It doesn't matter if they might miss something in the class so long as there is a backup plan for them online for them.

It's also a great tool to teach students how to do themselves! How awesome would it be for students to team up and make their own radio shows or PSA's or (insert a million ideas here)? It can encourage them to A) learn how to make podcasts but also B) take things that they have learned and turn it into a practical application for them.

You could also do a lot of spelling exercises repeating letters over and over. Repeating sounds (A says AHH sort of thing). There could be a whole world of things you could do to let students listen to their teachers outside of the classroom at their own pace. Really cool concept!

Google Part 2

This assignment really blew me away because of the fact that I had no idea that I could make a website. I've created blogs before and thought I was pretty good but I always thought that websites with links and interactive quizzes were for something that you had to hire out! Little did I know I could do all of this by myself! It really proves that all you need is a little instruction by someone who knows what they are doing. I definitely had my questions and a few hiccups but in the end I got there and it turned out great!

Now what does that mean for me and my class?? Everything! I always assumed that I would communicate to my students/teachers/parents just by email (thinking it was cutting edge and SO different from my upbringing). But now that I know how to do this I think everything has changed! There are so many things that can be useful for the class

About me: This is so wonderful to let students and parents get to know what I am like. It makes the "teacher" much more human and personable.

Announcements: Perfect to let students about what is coming up in the classroom and if there are assignments or projects coming up. It lets parents know what to encourage their kids to be doing as well.

Calendar: Just like announcements this lets students and parents see what is coming up and makes planning so much easier.

Resources: This allows the students to be able to visit websites either visited or talked about in class. It gives a great place for students to come to for research.

Homework: Speaking of keeping track of assignments for parents and students...this is so perfect to let students know what to do every night and what they can do to get ahead or caught up.

Quizzes: This is great for assignments that you want the students to work on at home and learning how to function with the internet and computers. Plus it gives instant feedback and you can see what students are participating in.

File Cabinet: I picture using this to keep all of the assignments I give in word documents or pdf's. This way "i lost my homework" can't be used so often. :)


This was awesome and I just hope I save all of my notes so I can repeat it once I get into the classroom! :)

Google Part 1

I live in constant amazement over how much is available to students nowadays. I'm not that old (or at least I don't like to think that I am) but even in the last 10 years things have changed so dramatically since I was even in high school. My dad is a principal at an elementary school and he tells me about all of the new things that the teachers are doing and all of the tools that they have available in the classrooms! I remember going to computer lab in the 4th grade and all of the computer screens were that same green color and all we got to play was Oregon Trail and number munchers (which were the BOMB at the time!). Even as the internet and nicer computers came out they were so expensive that classes only had one to share among everyone and there was next to no internet use at home.

So to have resources like Google with email, documents, maps, photos, books, etc...just astounds me! There are so many different ways to connect to your students, other teachers, principals, parents, etc that learning is now not just something that can only happen in the 6 hour period INSIDE the school. This assignment allowed me to use something that I had never used before. I am fairly computer savvy but google docs was never anything I used before. IT"S COOL!! Being able to share a document with other people was awesome. I literally watched as other people were typing adding their comments as I did my own. This would be such a great resource for students doing group projects. Especially since not every student will have the same software and without spending any money every student can be afforded the same opportunities. Exploring the different websites was fun because it opened my eyes to how interactive learning can be! It doesn't have to be lecturing and the teacher being in charge all the time. In fact, the more time you give students in (guided) practice the more they are going to have fun and are going to learn. This was just awesome! I loved learning more about the resources that are out there! Let's do more!

Why become a teacher?

Such a simple question and yet so loaded in a way. :) I'd have to say it's because it's where I am happiest. I started in this major when I was 21 because it was something that I thought I would love and thoroughly enjoy. However I got stumped when I was about 2 years behind in the math classes so I couldn't get into the program. That's when I started listening to friends and family and taking ALL of their advice. Bad news. So here it is folks...the list of my majors. Elementary Ed, English, English Education, Hotel Management, Film, and finally back to Elementary Ed. It's the ONLY place I have actually enjoyed going to class! I am someone who has to be motivated to REALLY get into what they do. If I am passionate about a project then I will go to ridiculous lengths to make sure it is awesome. That's how I feel about teaching! It's where my passion is. Elementary school is such an awesome place to form ideas and really have fun with learning! I have never quite grown up (ie there are Disney art prints on my walls at home) so getting to be around kids all day gives me an excuse to not (fully) grow up. I'd have to say teaching (as far as professions go) is my home.