Reading REdlections 6
Assistive Technology Ch 11&13
Web 2.0 Ch7
Web 2.0 Ch7
Reading Reflections 5
Assistive Technology Ch 9&12
Web 2.0 Ch9
Web 2.0 Ch9
REading Reflections 4
Assistive Technology Ch 4
Web 2.0 Ch8
Web 2.0 Ch8
Reading Reflections 3
Assistive Technology Ch 5& 6
Reading the chapter on how to use technology in helping students with math made me realize how far technology has come. At my school, there has been wide spread use of a website called Khan Academy, (https://www.khanacademy.org/). Its a free tool that students can just use to practice certain concepts. If the students create an account using their facebook or gmail they can earn leaf points and track the concepts they have practiced. The site also has videos to reteach certain concepts and its just a great way for student to practice. It especially good for students who have varying skills in a classroom because they work at their own pace. I think that technology in terms of teaching math is essnetial as students need a great deal of practice. I also agree with the chapter that students needs to develop fluency or have something that helps them with the computation aspect so they can focus on problem solving.
The chapter on communication made me reflect on my own teaching style. I frequently move around my classroom, speak in a low voice and do things that don't help students who have any kind of hearing/communication problem. Having worked with children with nonverbal learning disabilities does make me more cognizant of how many times I should give instructions, always writing down my instructions, and also going slowly. I think that simple visuals really do help students and I'm a big fan of board maker picture icons.
Web 2.0 Ch4
I think creating a blog for my student could be very interesting. i know my students enjoy expressing their feelings, but hate the phsycial act of writing. All my students enjoy typing and being on the computerr and I could see it as being very rewarding and productive for them to have their own journals taht enables them to write about how they feel about school. This was a great chapter because it gave me a lot of ideas on how to incorporate technology into my classroom. One of the teachers at my school uses a lot of technology in his instruction and I can see how it engages his students, especially his English Language Learner newcomer class. the students all have access to language translates and create presentations to increase their English skills but also learn about Social Studies. I was able to get 5 computers into my classroom this year and realize the possibilities are endless in terms of what can be done. One of my concerns is student's over reliance on technology in my class that is not as accessible in other classes. I how come to realize that there is no such thing as overreliance as students are living in a technological world and its a disservice if I don't allow them to use the technology that is available in my class due to concern about what is happening in other classes.
Reading the chapter on how to use technology in helping students with math made me realize how far technology has come. At my school, there has been wide spread use of a website called Khan Academy, (https://www.khanacademy.org/). Its a free tool that students can just use to practice certain concepts. If the students create an account using their facebook or gmail they can earn leaf points and track the concepts they have practiced. The site also has videos to reteach certain concepts and its just a great way for student to practice. It especially good for students who have varying skills in a classroom because they work at their own pace. I think that technology in terms of teaching math is essnetial as students need a great deal of practice. I also agree with the chapter that students needs to develop fluency or have something that helps them with the computation aspect so they can focus on problem solving.
The chapter on communication made me reflect on my own teaching style. I frequently move around my classroom, speak in a low voice and do things that don't help students who have any kind of hearing/communication problem. Having worked with children with nonverbal learning disabilities does make me more cognizant of how many times I should give instructions, always writing down my instructions, and also going slowly. I think that simple visuals really do help students and I'm a big fan of board maker picture icons.
Web 2.0 Ch4
I think creating a blog for my student could be very interesting. i know my students enjoy expressing their feelings, but hate the phsycial act of writing. All my students enjoy typing and being on the computerr and I could see it as being very rewarding and productive for them to have their own journals taht enables them to write about how they feel about school. This was a great chapter because it gave me a lot of ideas on how to incorporate technology into my classroom. One of the teachers at my school uses a lot of technology in his instruction and I can see how it engages his students, especially his English Language Learner newcomer class. the students all have access to language translates and create presentations to increase their English skills but also learn about Social Studies. I was able to get 5 computers into my classroom this year and realize the possibilities are endless in terms of what can be done. One of my concerns is student's over reliance on technology in my class that is not as accessible in other classes. I how come to realize that there is no such thing as overreliance as students are living in a technological world and its a disservice if I don't allow them to use the technology that is available in my class due to concern about what is happening in other classes.
Reading Reflections 2
Assistive Technology Ch 7&8
Ch 7 providing me with a lot of new information. I actually did not know about the flexibility of use in the two operating systems. I think this information will really help my students. I find a few of mys tudents have difficulty with pressing three button simultaneously and allowing them the stickynotes feature would really help with log-in. I also did not know that windows had a built in feature for voice feedback. I also did not know you could program the window's mouse to right/left click differently. I would also love a complete chart of all short cuts and may look one up and provide it to my students. My students also often get frustrated by the slowness of the computers at school and I wonder if there is a way to speed them up.
I have actually noticed keyboard labels at the computer lab at my school. Even as someone who does not have learning disabilities I enjoy using the keyboard with the enlarged letter labels. Ch 8 presented such a wide array of assistive devideds. i was somewhat overwhelmed by the number of different options. I was happy to see that I could use low cost/home made devices like the dowel with a marker in the classroom for certain students. It seems that there is a lot of specialized equipment and that it really is based on the specific student and his/her individual needs. I do wish there was some sort of library of this kind of equipment for educators and parents to look at and test out. I also loved the touch pad and think its greats for students without a lot of dexterity and would love if it could be inexpensively transferred to the classroom.
Web 2.0 Ch 3
I love open source. As a student I found that it enabled me to create presentations, write paper, comment/ ask questions of my instructors and just get more resources for free. It also allows me to access things anywhere I go so that I am not limited to one device. Its also great when you can take a class online and be able to access the material anywhere because it is a podcast or a wiki link. Although the chapter was somewhat dated with the information and certain sites the concept was very valuable. Google has grown to provide many components for free. My school links google calendar to the school website and its downloadable to all so parents and teacher can have it on their smartphones. Another open source item we have taken advantage of it the survey/polling software to schedule parent teacher conferences. its move our school from the old fashion paper slips to parent scheduled online and teachers seeing who is meeting with them in real time. I see a lot of advantages with having free online tools for students. I am beginning to use some of the free websites to give my students spelling tests and other individualized curriculum. I think my students are more fammilar with the options provided them online than I am.
Ch 7 providing me with a lot of new information. I actually did not know about the flexibility of use in the two operating systems. I think this information will really help my students. I find a few of mys tudents have difficulty with pressing three button simultaneously and allowing them the stickynotes feature would really help with log-in. I also did not know that windows had a built in feature for voice feedback. I also did not know you could program the window's mouse to right/left click differently. I would also love a complete chart of all short cuts and may look one up and provide it to my students. My students also often get frustrated by the slowness of the computers at school and I wonder if there is a way to speed them up.
I have actually noticed keyboard labels at the computer lab at my school. Even as someone who does not have learning disabilities I enjoy using the keyboard with the enlarged letter labels. Ch 8 presented such a wide array of assistive devideds. i was somewhat overwhelmed by the number of different options. I was happy to see that I could use low cost/home made devices like the dowel with a marker in the classroom for certain students. It seems that there is a lot of specialized equipment and that it really is based on the specific student and his/her individual needs. I do wish there was some sort of library of this kind of equipment for educators and parents to look at and test out. I also loved the touch pad and think its greats for students without a lot of dexterity and would love if it could be inexpensively transferred to the classroom.
Web 2.0 Ch 3
I love open source. As a student I found that it enabled me to create presentations, write paper, comment/ ask questions of my instructors and just get more resources for free. It also allows me to access things anywhere I go so that I am not limited to one device. Its also great when you can take a class online and be able to access the material anywhere because it is a podcast or a wiki link. Although the chapter was somewhat dated with the information and certain sites the concept was very valuable. Google has grown to provide many components for free. My school links google calendar to the school website and its downloadable to all so parents and teacher can have it on their smartphones. Another open source item we have taken advantage of it the survey/polling software to schedule parent teacher conferences. its move our school from the old fashion paper slips to parent scheduled online and teachers seeing who is meeting with them in real time. I see a lot of advantages with having free online tools for students. I am beginning to use some of the free websites to give my students spelling tests and other individualized curriculum. I think my students are more fammilar with the options provided them online than I am.
Reading Reflections 1
Assisted Technology Ch 2, 3, &10
The three chapters were very informative. I was overwhelmed by the amount of information. Although I did grow up in the technology phase I am having a hard time effectively providing support to my students using the current technology in my classroom. I also wish there were more training how to assist and support students with this kind of technology. I see that there are so many uses for technology as a support, but I would there to have some sort of library resource so I could test it all out. Its very difficult to know what resources to invest in with limited resources. I think maybe if I knew teachers who were using any of the programs or devices in their classroom and could share their advice/opinions that would be awesome.
In the chapter on writing, student profile about giving the student the word prediction software seemed like a great idea for one of my students, whom I'm having a very difficult time reading and understanding. I love to be able to use the phonics word recognition software. I am also wondering if any of these are free products. A lot of my students' parents ask me about resources, and I hate having to tell them about things I have had no experience with. Right now I am working on writing in my class and and I see my students also struggling to type. It takes them a very long time to even type a couple of sentences. I had a student ask me to a NEO at the beginning of the year and I had no clue what that was. Now i know that its a note taking device, which I could see would be very beneficial to the students.
In the chapter about reading many programs were mentions. At the middle school I work at we currently use Teenbiz. I have mixed feelings about Teenbiz. I have some students who can't really read and thus even the most basic level of reading is difficult. Although the stories are read to basic readers, the questions and prompts for activities are not. Although for my advanced readers the articles are very long and of low interest to them. I have also used Starfall and RAZ with younger students and find them to be great programs, but I would love a middle school level program that teaches the lower level skills. The Start to Finish Readers seemed like they could be very useful for my middle school students.
Web 2.0 Ch 2
Although I agree with the chapter on how education is changing, I am at a lot on how to keep pace. I do believe that each student's education should be customized, but to what extent. It feels that in the classroom the old system of education is colliding with the new ways in which students' learning progressed. I am also conflicted because although technology allows for greater communication and collaboration, the amount of time student spend on technology/in front of a screen seems excessive. I feel that students need a balance.
Questions:
Can we create a teacher generated advice/ product/program blog about the different technologies use in their classes?
How do we find free resources that are similar to those described by the the reading?
How can we bring technology into the classroom, aka let students use their phone/ipads, when the school rules prohibit the use?
The three chapters were very informative. I was overwhelmed by the amount of information. Although I did grow up in the technology phase I am having a hard time effectively providing support to my students using the current technology in my classroom. I also wish there were more training how to assist and support students with this kind of technology. I see that there are so many uses for technology as a support, but I would there to have some sort of library resource so I could test it all out. Its very difficult to know what resources to invest in with limited resources. I think maybe if I knew teachers who were using any of the programs or devices in their classroom and could share their advice/opinions that would be awesome.
In the chapter on writing, student profile about giving the student the word prediction software seemed like a great idea for one of my students, whom I'm having a very difficult time reading and understanding. I love to be able to use the phonics word recognition software. I am also wondering if any of these are free products. A lot of my students' parents ask me about resources, and I hate having to tell them about things I have had no experience with. Right now I am working on writing in my class and and I see my students also struggling to type. It takes them a very long time to even type a couple of sentences. I had a student ask me to a NEO at the beginning of the year and I had no clue what that was. Now i know that its a note taking device, which I could see would be very beneficial to the students.
In the chapter about reading many programs were mentions. At the middle school I work at we currently use Teenbiz. I have mixed feelings about Teenbiz. I have some students who can't really read and thus even the most basic level of reading is difficult. Although the stories are read to basic readers, the questions and prompts for activities are not. Although for my advanced readers the articles are very long and of low interest to them. I have also used Starfall and RAZ with younger students and find them to be great programs, but I would love a middle school level program that teaches the lower level skills. The Start to Finish Readers seemed like they could be very useful for my middle school students.
Web 2.0 Ch 2
Although I agree with the chapter on how education is changing, I am at a lot on how to keep pace. I do believe that each student's education should be customized, but to what extent. It feels that in the classroom the old system of education is colliding with the new ways in which students' learning progressed. I am also conflicted because although technology allows for greater communication and collaboration, the amount of time student spend on technology/in front of a screen seems excessive. I feel that students need a balance.
Questions:
Can we create a teacher generated advice/ product/program blog about the different technologies use in their classes?
How do we find free resources that are similar to those described by the the reading?
How can we bring technology into the classroom, aka let students use their phone/ipads, when the school rules prohibit the use?