teachers panel

Mrs. Sorenson emailed me a copy of the conference that the technology class had on Tue. The ladies were very helpful with setting up a class for a substitute and setting up a class for learning. Even though they did not find use for lesson plans after they recieved jobs, the lesson plans were helpful to them as they plan what they will be teaching and how they will go about teaching. They have been successful with setting up an outline in their minds about what they are going to teach and how. If it hadn't been for the lesson plans they had to do at Northwest they would be spending more time writting them out now.
One of the ladies mentioned what she preferes as a substitute. It was nice to hear from her because when you can't show up to class it's ladies like her who are running your room. She said she feels it is helpful for teachers to write down alittle about their students performance and helpfulness. this helps the sub know who she can call on for help and who to keep an eye on.
Talking the heather about the panel also helped give me a good idea of what was discusses. They gave some good feedback to us "soon to be teachers". I was surprised that there was not much talk about technology in the classroom.
the main theme i got out of the panel discussion was to be confident in interviews. the other theme was networking, to get out there and get to know teachers and principals. knowing people helps your name to go around in a good way

blogs for educators

The savvy tech educator blog was informative on areas of technology that could be used in the classroom. The blog mentions a new website to get informative videos, it's called schooltube.com it has some of the same things as teacher tube and downloads alot faster. schooltube could be useful to me as a teacher because it's another site that has similiar info as teachertube with out the lag time, marketing, and poorely made videos.
Free technology for teachers was the other blog i took a look at. the blog offered a variety of different free technologies.
typepad micro was one that gets your students bloging

k-12 online conferences

Prove It “Student Creation of Digital Documentaries in History Classrooms: Research Findings”
http://dotsub.com/view/c8de26a3-effe-4577-a8b6-930e8bf09a11
I found this conference to be very helpful because it specifically focused on History. It introduced me to a new technology called primary access. The conferece dealt specifically with this new software. It was really interesting because the conference showed samples from students using the Primary access software and powerpoint. the students who used Primary access were able to recieve constant feedback from their teachers because every time they worked on their project the teacher was able to see it on her end of the line. the students who used powerpoint were not able to recieve that same type of feedback they also did not learn as much as the students who used primary access. Primary Access helps the students remember content knowledge.
Kicking it up a Notch Games in Education
http://dotsub.com/view/937f0dcc-da25-477a-b00b-d6ac691baf90
I choose to watch the games in education becasue as a history teacher i want to learn how to make history come alive to my students. this conferece talked specifically about how games can have educational value. it briefly covered the topic of having your students design there own games. it also covered what games have educational value and which ones don't. the lady who did the conference was very knowledgable in these areas because her career is making video games both for schools and for the public. some video games that the schools have access to are not educational. they don't help the students to think critically, they are however assessment based games that the student can answer after studying the material. the games that the host was addressing are games that can be played to learn new ideas, not simply for assessment after the material is learned. the host gave out some great websites for teachers to be apart of when trying to find something applicable and thought provoking to bring into a classroom.

reflection #10

yesterday I went and observe a social studies classroom at Lake Washington High School. I''m not sure wether I felt comfortable or the students were nice but I seemed to like my visit there. At the end of the class period the teacher introduced me (which doesn't happen very often) and asked me if I had any questions for the students. So, I asked them if they had any advise for me. To my surprise about five kids raised their hands and they all had some really good feed back. Then I asked them about their active board that they have in their classroom. I asked them if they ever get a chance to go up to the board and do activities on it and play interactive games. I was surprised that they said no. I also asked them if that is something that they would like to be able to do, they all said yes.
After class the teacher and I spoke about the Active Board comments and she told me that she didn't realize the kids were interested in being apart of the board. She mentioned how she now needs to find some ways to get the students up to the board and work with it more.
I had a great time because I was able to put input into how a classroom was being taught. I hope it was benificial to all parties.

Technology project plan

My plan is to enhance my website skills. I also signed up for a Wiki which is already attached to my website. My podcast basically explains most of the information but I plan to incorperate my website into my classroom instruction time. It will be my hub for when I go online. So far I have tried to attach everything to my website to keep it all in one place. check out my podcast by going to my web site and clicking on my "school" tab, it should be the first thing on the page
www.mrswelchsclassroom.weebly.com

reflection #9

My church has always wanted to intergrate video tapping into our announcements. It hasn't happened yet and I think it's because the video camera can be an inconvienence and difficult to used due to it's battery life, film, and trying to put it on the computer to edit it. Well, since I was in class last I realized how simple the Flip Video can be and am now excited to see if we have access to one (which I think my Pastor has one...if it's at Costco he probably bought it:)) When we used the Flip it was so easy to use and it was fun editing it and putting music to it and I know that it would be something I would be able to throw together quickly to make an announcement.

"Caught of Video"

I have never heard about the Flip Video before. It sounds like a pretty interesting devise. I like how each video footage gets it's own file. I can only imagine how confusing it would get if you have more that one class and you are trying to find something specific on the video camera. one thing that the Flip video pros didn't mention was that it could be used to capture lessons and be able to bring it up again to critic your own teaching and teach it again.
it was very interesting for me that this article mentioned grading. in another class of mine we are talking about the importance of grading, they mean everything and they mean nothing. Alfie Kohn is a very smart man and thinks that grades do not mean what they should. I think video tapping would be a great idea. but i don't think it will ever take the place of grading. The United States is too much of a competitive nation that we need the grades in order to feel like we are worth something