This week in EDU580, we were lucky enough to receive a tour of Mountain Lake PBS. Not only did we get to see some of the facilities, but we were also exposed to all of the different resources that Mountain Lake PBS offers teachers. I found the resources to be extremely helpful. I think one of the neatest resources offered to teachers was VITAL. This website offers teachers access to a variety of video clips that can be incorporated into numerous lesson plans. There are videos for all grade levels and almost all subject areas. What I love about these videos is that they are short, appealing to students, and FREE! I could not believe that this website was free! Everyone should take the time to explore the website because some of the videos are really great, and could be easily used in a variety of lesson plans.
Another resource that was really great was PBSteachers.org. This website offers a number of lesson plans for all grade levels and all subject areas. Again, it is all free! The lesson plans are so well organized and are really, really great. They can be modified however you feel they should be, and they also come with assessment ideas and all of the worksheets that you would need for each lesson. I find that many of the lesson plans for lower grades can easily be modified to fit higher grades. I strongly encourage everyone to visit the website and see what lesson plans are available for teachers. It really is incredible.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Smart Boards . . . Good? or Evil?
No, I really don't think that Smart Boards are evil. A hot debate in EDU580 is whether Smart Boards are productive or not, and I think I'm really kind of in the middle about the debate. I have seen Smart Boards be really engaging and productive with students, and then I have seen it used as just a projection screen, with no real educational value attached to it. I was not able to attend class last week when everyone played around with the Smart Board. I was trying to pull a musical together for dress rehearsal, so I missed out on the activity. However, I went down to the library one day (where there are two Smart Boards), and asked my librarian to give me quick run through of what I can do with the Smart Board. She was very kind to me and showed me the basics. She showed me how to create and use different shapes. She showed me how to write on the Smart Board (be sure to put the pen back!), how to move things around, how to move on to the next screen or slide, etc. It was just the basics, but a good tutorial nonetheless. I'm planning on going back down sometime just to play around with it and see what I can do.
Now, I did enjoy my time with the Smart Board. It got me excited about the things I could do in the math classroom, especially with geometry. I kept thinking that I could make the class interactive, with students coming up to the board to label angles and sides and use theorems and equations. My mind was racing with excitement! Then I started thinking, "Could I do all of those things without the Smart Board?" The answer is definitely yes. Students can come up to the white board just as easily as the Smart Board to write information down. I can draw pictures on a white board, and I can use those pictures to teach geometry topics. But I will say that the Smart Board sure does make things easier. Ultimately, I am pro-Smart Board. It got me excited about teaching, and I think it will get students excited about learning . . . if used correctly. I have seen teachers use a Smart Board as a simple projection screen, and that makes it very boring and much less effective. But if the Smart Board is used as an interactive, engaging classroom tool, I think that possibilities are endless. I can't wait to start learning more and more about the Smart Board.
Now, I did enjoy my time with the Smart Board. It got me excited about the things I could do in the math classroom, especially with geometry. I kept thinking that I could make the class interactive, with students coming up to the board to label angles and sides and use theorems and equations. My mind was racing with excitement! Then I started thinking, "Could I do all of those things without the Smart Board?" The answer is definitely yes. Students can come up to the white board just as easily as the Smart Board to write information down. I can draw pictures on a white board, and I can use those pictures to teach geometry topics. But I will say that the Smart Board sure does make things easier. Ultimately, I am pro-Smart Board. It got me excited about teaching, and I think it will get students excited about learning . . . if used correctly. I have seen teachers use a Smart Board as a simple projection screen, and that makes it very boring and much less effective. But if the Smart Board is used as an interactive, engaging classroom tool, I think that possibilities are endless. I can't wait to start learning more and more about the Smart Board.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Technology, Technology Everywhere!
Even though I am officially on spring break from grad school, I do still have to teach all day, and then right after school I have musical rehearsal. I am directing and producing Chateaugay Central School's spring musical, The Wizard of Oz, and I am starting to get super excited. The reason that I thought I would blog about this is because the technology that is needed to run this show is really insane. A few weeks ago, I was saying to myself, "Why did you pick this show? It is a nightmare!" But now I feel confident and satisfied with the show that we will presenting to the public (By the way, the show is next weekend, March 27th, 28th, and 29th). So I thought I would share the technology that is being used for this show.
First things first, this show is a true classic. One thing that we really wanted to do well was Dorothy's dream sequence. When the twister hits her home, Dorothy hits her head and falls, and she "sees" people and animals flying by her window because they have been swept up in the twister. We originally planned to use green screen technology to make this happen: film the kids in front of a green screen, and then fill in the background with rolling clouds. That didn't work out so well. What we actually did was project a rolling clouds video on the big screen in the auditorium, and then filmed the kids in front of the video. It looks really, really great! The hard part was that I had to edit about 18 minutes of video footage into 2 minutes. I used a great editing program, Final Cut Express, in order to create the final video. If you would like to see our finished product, click here.
The next big technology obstacle was creating a talking floating head for the Wizard of Oz character. If you haven't seen the movie (c'mon, everyone has!), you may a little lost. But anyway, what we decided to do was actually cast a student to play the "projected head" of the Wizard of Oz. We have a projecter hooked up in a lighting room above the auditorium. Our projected Oz stands in the room and says his line into a camera that we have hooked up to the projector. We put a cool video effect on the camera so his projected looks kind of spooky. We have a wireless microphone with a voice effect on it, and tada! we have our Wizard of Oz. Unfortunately, I don't have a video of that, but trust me, it's pretty neat.
The last use of technology could be considered less sophisticated than the previous two, but it's the one that I am the most excited about. Of course, everyone knows that the wicked witch has to melt in the end of the show. I am very lucky that my dad and his friend actually like building things for my musicals because they spend days building a rediculously cool trap door for our witch. Since we can't saw through our stage floor, they build a platform, and then cut a trap door out of the platform. Now, here's the cool part. By using a simple system of pullies, all our stage crew has to do is hold a rope, and let our witch melt slowly into the platform. I know it's not as exciting as computers and projectors and video editing, but it is technology in its own right. I think it's going to look incredible up on the stage.
I wanted to share all of this information because I really think that technology is such an important thing in our lives. I do use technology in my classroom quite often, but I also like to use technology in my extra-curricular activities as well. I have a lot of experience with sound boards and light boards and wireless microphones and monitors and amps and all kinds of interesting things. The only reason I know all of this because I got involved in the musical. It just amazes me what technology can do. The fact that I all I did was film my students in front of the big screen, and now I have this really interesting and cool video to present to the public. I think it's really going to blow people away. I think technology can help us do things that would be otherwise be a real challenge, and technology can really empower us and make us feel like we can do the impossible. Ultimately, I think it's essential that we become familiar with as much technology as possible so that we can become comfortable and confident with technology. Then we can pass along those positive feelings about technology to our students.
First things first, this show is a true classic. One thing that we really wanted to do well was Dorothy's dream sequence. When the twister hits her home, Dorothy hits her head and falls, and she "sees" people and animals flying by her window because they have been swept up in the twister. We originally planned to use green screen technology to make this happen: film the kids in front of a green screen, and then fill in the background with rolling clouds. That didn't work out so well. What we actually did was project a rolling clouds video on the big screen in the auditorium, and then filmed the kids in front of the video. It looks really, really great! The hard part was that I had to edit about 18 minutes of video footage into 2 minutes. I used a great editing program, Final Cut Express, in order to create the final video. If you would like to see our finished product, click here.
The next big technology obstacle was creating a talking floating head for the Wizard of Oz character. If you haven't seen the movie (c'mon, everyone has!), you may a little lost. But anyway, what we decided to do was actually cast a student to play the "projected head" of the Wizard of Oz. We have a projecter hooked up in a lighting room above the auditorium. Our projected Oz stands in the room and says his line into a camera that we have hooked up to the projector. We put a cool video effect on the camera so his projected looks kind of spooky. We have a wireless microphone with a voice effect on it, and tada! we have our Wizard of Oz. Unfortunately, I don't have a video of that, but trust me, it's pretty neat.
The last use of technology could be considered less sophisticated than the previous two, but it's the one that I am the most excited about. Of course, everyone knows that the wicked witch has to melt in the end of the show. I am very lucky that my dad and his friend actually like building things for my musicals because they spend days building a rediculously cool trap door for our witch. Since we can't saw through our stage floor, they build a platform, and then cut a trap door out of the platform. Now, here's the cool part. By using a simple system of pullies, all our stage crew has to do is hold a rope, and let our witch melt slowly into the platform. I know it's not as exciting as computers and projectors and video editing, but it is technology in its own right. I think it's going to look incredible up on the stage.
I wanted to share all of this information because I really think that technology is such an important thing in our lives. I do use technology in my classroom quite often, but I also like to use technology in my extra-curricular activities as well. I have a lot of experience with sound boards and light boards and wireless microphones and monitors and amps and all kinds of interesting things. The only reason I know all of this because I got involved in the musical. It just amazes me what technology can do. The fact that I all I did was film my students in front of the big screen, and now I have this really interesting and cool video to present to the public. I think it's really going to blow people away. I think technology can help us do things that would be otherwise be a real challenge, and technology can really empower us and make us feel like we can do the impossible. Ultimately, I think it's essential that we become familiar with as much technology as possible so that we can become comfortable and confident with technology. Then we can pass along those positive feelings about technology to our students.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Adaptive Technologies
Last week, in EDU580, we talked about adaptive technologies in education. I have actually had some experience with a few adaptive technologies. I used to work at a video store, and my boss was completely blind. He had had an accident about a year before opening the store, and in the accident he had lost his sight. I had the opportunity to speak to him about what it was like to lose your sight after having it your whole life. He was and still is an inspiration to anyone going through tough times. I've never met anyone like him. He still has such a positive outlook on life even though his life became very difficult after his accident.
Because of my boss, Norm, I became very experienced with the computer program JAWS. This program is a screen reader which allows the user to navigate around the screen using the keyboard. What's really great about this program was that Norm was able to use the internet, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and our video rental program. He could use any program on the computer because JAWS would read the screen for him. It was wonderful because he could run payroll, rent out videos, pay the bills, etc. all on his computer. He did not let his disability stop him from owning his own business. Norm had JAWS installed on the two computers in the store, and the program was set up so that it would automatically start when the computer started. It was kind of funny when I would open the store, and I would the computer say, "Welcome!" It was startling sometimes! I was really lucky to work for such a great person, and I was also really lucky because he would allow me to explore JAWS and see what it could really do. He always said that the program was a life-saver because he could still use the computer even though he couldn't see it. This allowed him to run his business without having to depend on other people; a feeling that I can imagine would be very freeing.
If I had a blind student in my classroom, I would definitely have to change my teaching strategies. I think that if a blind student were in my room, I would really need to make sure that I made it very clear what was written on the board in front of the class. With other students, we take it for granted that they can see what we are doing on the board in front of the class, but with a blind student, I would have to be very vocal about what was being written. If I didn't tell the student what was being written, they would have no way of knowing. I think that it would be very important for the teacher to be aware of the fact that student cannot see the board. If I had a student who used JAWS, I would be very comfortable with helping the student with the technology. A blind student wouldn't need to use JAWS everyday in class, but if we were to ever use a computer program, JAWS would be very beneficial. I would ask the student to use headphones, however, in order to not distract the other students. I think that other students would find it frustrating to hear the computer speaking out loud. When talking about statistics, I would be very interested in having students use Microsoft Excel, and I think that JAWS (or any other screen reader) could really help blind students. It would allow them to participate just as much as the other students, and it would allow other students to be exposed to adaptive technology.
Overall, I think it's really important that we be as inclusive as we can be in our schools. Adaptive technologies, including screen readers, allow more and more students to be in general education classrooms. I think that inclusion is not only important for the students with disabilities, but it is also important for students without disabilities. It is important for students to be exposed to all kinds of different things, and adaptive technologies are no exception.
Because of my boss, Norm, I became very experienced with the computer program JAWS. This program is a screen reader which allows the user to navigate around the screen using the keyboard. What's really great about this program was that Norm was able to use the internet, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and our video rental program. He could use any program on the computer because JAWS would read the screen for him. It was wonderful because he could run payroll, rent out videos, pay the bills, etc. all on his computer. He did not let his disability stop him from owning his own business. Norm had JAWS installed on the two computers in the store, and the program was set up so that it would automatically start when the computer started. It was kind of funny when I would open the store, and I would the computer say, "Welcome!" It was startling sometimes! I was really lucky to work for such a great person, and I was also really lucky because he would allow me to explore JAWS and see what it could really do. He always said that the program was a life-saver because he could still use the computer even though he couldn't see it. This allowed him to run his business without having to depend on other people; a feeling that I can imagine would be very freeing.
If I had a blind student in my classroom, I would definitely have to change my teaching strategies. I think that if a blind student were in my room, I would really need to make sure that I made it very clear what was written on the board in front of the class. With other students, we take it for granted that they can see what we are doing on the board in front of the class, but with a blind student, I would have to be very vocal about what was being written. If I didn't tell the student what was being written, they would have no way of knowing. I think that it would be very important for the teacher to be aware of the fact that student cannot see the board. If I had a student who used JAWS, I would be very comfortable with helping the student with the technology. A blind student wouldn't need to use JAWS everyday in class, but if we were to ever use a computer program, JAWS would be very beneficial. I would ask the student to use headphones, however, in order to not distract the other students. I think that other students would find it frustrating to hear the computer speaking out loud. When talking about statistics, I would be very interested in having students use Microsoft Excel, and I think that JAWS (or any other screen reader) could really help blind students. It would allow them to participate just as much as the other students, and it would allow other students to be exposed to adaptive technology.
Overall, I think it's really important that we be as inclusive as we can be in our schools. Adaptive technologies, including screen readers, allow more and more students to be in general education classrooms. I think that inclusion is not only important for the students with disabilities, but it is also important for students without disabilities. It is important for students to be exposed to all kinds of different things, and adaptive technologies are no exception.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Sick days
Hey everyone. I wasn't in my technology class last week because I was very sick. I think I caught my disease from a student of mine (don't worry, I made her feel guilty about it), and I was really out of it for a few days. But now I'm back and ready to blog! Even though I missed class, I did complete the in-class activities (Thank you Ben for you looking out for me!), and I must say that I kind of had fun completing the activities.
The one activity that I really liked was making your own pictograph in Excel. Now, I knew how to create a bar graph in Excel, so the initial part of the activity was nothing new. But then, we took pictures and made them part of the bars in our bar graph. It looked so cool! It was amazing how just a little splash of color from pictures made the pictograph look so much more professional. I'm excited to show my students this feature in excel. It will help them in creating their own unique graphs.
The other activity was creating a concept map using a website (www.text2mindmap.com). This website was really great. I had a lot of fun creating my concept map, and I really enjoyed this activity as well. You can change the colors, and change the position of the boxes in your concept map. This website really allows you to create your very own concept map, and make it your own. I really LOVE this website. So thanks Dr. Kim!
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