GeniusBoards!

Although I wrote a brief blog post on SmartBoards earlier this semester, I decided to write a more in-depth post because I had first hand experience with SmartBoards today! Since I cannot attend the SmartBoard session for my CEP 416 course, I chose to explore SmartBoards on my own. At my Special Education field placement, the students were using the classroom SmartBoard to sing along with YouTube videos about counting and the alphabet. All of the kids were very engaged and excited about watching videos through the SmartBoard. I have also seen these students use the SmartBoard to create their November calender and do math problems. I also found out today that SmartBoards are touch screen, which is fun to use and promotes student interaction and engagement.

SmartBoards tend to range from $1,200 to $5,000 (while some are less and some are more expensive). In my opinion, these prices are not bad considering all of the benefits that come with SmartBoards! SmartBoards can be used as a tv! I saw the students at one of my field placements watching "How to Train Your Dragon" on a SmartBoard. SmartBoards can also hook up to computers and portray the computer images on a really big screen! Teachers can pull up a Microsoft Word document and students can write on it using the SmartBoard markers. Since SmartBoards can connect to computers, they are able to connct to the internet. Therefore, educational technology such as Google Earth, Google Docs, Wikis, Blogs, etc, can all be accessed and seen on the big, touch screen of the SmartBoard.

SmartBoards are beneficial to both teachers and students. They provide teachers with informal ways to assess their students and get their students actively involved with certain lessons, and provide students with a fun, visual way to learn! SmartBoards allow teachers to record their lessons and post the material again at a later time. I would love to use a SmartBoard in my classroom someday if I have the means of getting one. There are alternatives to using the SmartBoard, such as white boards and projectors, but SmartBoards have more unique and engaging qualities to them... they are SMARTer!

Students using a SmartBoard to perform activities through Microsoft Word

Cell Phones... Educational?

Coming from a high school where "cell phones = suspension", I have always thought that teachers and staff frowned upon using cell phones in school, even during passing time. Cell phones let students text, take pictures, and play games, which are all opportunities to cheat or be distracted in class. But after a little bit of research, I found out the cell phones can actually be a great tool for both teachers and students in an educationall setting. In a New York Times article titled Industry Makes Pitch That Smartphones Belong in Classroom, Shawn Gross explains the importance of cell phones because "this is a device kids have, it's a device they are familiar with and want to take advantage of" (Richtel & Stone, 2009). As our world is become more tech-savvy, students are becoming extremely knowledgable and used to cell phones and are generally able to use them quickly and efficiently.

Cell phones are cheaper and smaller than laptops, making them more simple to access and use. Students who have used cell phones (specifically smart phones) as a learning tool have used their phones to perform a variety of tasks, from recording themselves solving problems to filming educational videos and sharing them with classmates. Below is an image of students at Southwest High School in Jacksonville, N.C. that are using cell phones to help with their algebra studies.

As a future teacher, I want to someday look into using cell phones as an educational tool. However, there are some things I have to keep in mind if I do so... using cell phones will probably not improve writing skills, distractions may overpower learning, and that it takes a lot of patience to use and maintain this form of technology.

Trillium!

For my TE 458 course (Reading, Writing, and Teaching Poetry), we were required to plan and put on a poetry reading at the College of Education. This poetry reading, called Trillium, has been going on for a few years. This year, the featured poets were my professor, Janine Certo, and a nationally-known slam poet named Logic. My classmates and I in TE 458 were all required to share and perform an original poem that we wrote to an audience! This was an amazing experience! Everyone, including myself, was so nervous and so excited to share their creative poems and see how others would react! It was so cool to hear my classmates read their poems aloud in front of many people. This class is not only making me a better poet, but is giving me insight about teaching poetry! When I am a teacher, I want to do a big poetry unit, informing my students that poetry has so many possibilities! I also want to organize a poetry reading night, where my students can perform their own poems in front of an audience. Students love sharing their work... therefore, a poetry reading is an excellent opportunity for the students to build self-esteem and be extremely proud of themselves.

My New and Improved Teaching Resume!

Here is my new resume that I created using Google Docs!My Teaching Resume

View more documents from yankeann.

Every teacher will have students with special needs...

Inevitably. And because of this fact, I think that all education majors, including general education majors, should take (at least) one special education course at the college level. It is extremely important that all educators have knowledge about IEPs, IDEA, NCLB, and certain disabilities that will affect a student's educational performance. Because mainstreaming and inclusion is being pushed even more in today's society, the number of students with disabilities in general education classrooms is growing! Therefore, general education teachers should have the knowledge of, at minimum, the basics of special education, because successful teachers are ones who can understand and relate to their students.

Google Docs

I just used Google Docs for the first time this week, and although I still have very little knowledge about it, I do know that it is very easy to use and that it is handy for creating all sorts of presentations. I just developed an organized resume using Google Docs and I am very pleased with the way it turned out. A big advantage to using Google Docs over other applications like Microsoft Word is that you can invite peers and colleagues to view your work produced through Google Docs by using your gmail account (instead of sending an attachment in an email and downloading files in order to view them). Google Docs also makes it very easy to upload files that you have already created elsewhere, and organize them in an easy-to-access order. I want to make an effort to introduce Google Docs to my students in the future, and have them create some assignments using Google Docs instead of other methods of presenting.

A picture showing a clear view of created and uploaded documents

Don't let the FLU happen to YOU!

As the weather is getting colder and we are all becoming busier, colds and flus are spreading! I know I've felt myself coming down with something! I just read an article from cnn.com all about ways to help prevent or spread these illnesses. One way of flu prevention that is reccommended by many doctors is getting the flu shot. It is also very important to get 8 or more hours of sleep a night. Eating right, exercising, hydrating, and washing your hands are also factors to to a healthy you!

Prevent the spread of germs when you get sick. Throw away your used tissues immediately and stay home if possible.

Is everything better with technology?

Of course the growing amount of technology makes our lives easier and more efficient, but does the use of technology help students learn and second language? Today in my second language learning class, we had a debate on the advantages and disadvantages that technology (such as online dictionaries, chat rooms, and skype) have on second language acquisition. Technology provides many helpful tools that students can use to help them learn a language. Students can skype with native speakers across the world to help them improve their dialect! If an online translator is accessible, then there's another great tool that students can quickly use to search for a word they may be struggling with. Language learners also use chat rooms to practice their target language with others. Chat rooms can be less intimidating than real-life conversations because they have the option of backspacing and correcting their errors. Some students may feel more comfortable writing out their second language instead of speaking it.

A woman using technology to help learn a second language.

There are many drawbacks to relying on technology to learn a language. Although chat rooms may be preferred by some students, chat rooms do not give students the opportunity to practice their dialect. Chat rooms limit students to focusing only on form and accuracy, and don't allow them to become familiar with cultural and social aspects of their target language. Interacting face to face lets students use gestures, facial expressions, and intonations to convery the message they are trying to send. Technology can also be very expensive, and not all schools or school districts have access to it. Therefore, learning with technology may not be universal. Some students with disabilities may have struggle using certain forms of technology. A chat room would be very hard to use for a student who is blind, or cannot type with his hands.

Two people learning a language through social interaction.

iLearn, iTeach, iClickers

This week, I chose to explore the use of i-clickers in the classroom setting. I-clickers are set up to each students' name and are generally used to answer multiple choice, yes/no, or possibly even opinionated questions. I-clickers can be a positive learning tool because it assures that ALL of the students are actively involved in the lesson, not just the students raising their hands. I used my first i-clicker two years ago, as a freshmen in college, and it was a great way to get me involved with the material being taught and allow me to earn extra points. Another advantage of i-clickers is that they can be reused, even with different teachers and subjects. So you do not have to buy a new i-clicker for every class that it is used in.

There are, however, some disadvantages to using i-clickers. I-clickers can be expensive, depending on where you buy them and how much each student (or student's family) is willing to pay. In my college courses, I noticed students using more than one i-clicker at once (as in the picture below), which could mean that they are clicking a friend's i-clicker who is absent, allowing them to get the points for the day. This is a way of cheating and getting the points, but not actually learning the material. When it comes to i-clicker responses, students are not generating their own responses, but just choosing one of the possible options. This eliminates the possibility of giving a detailed explanation of their personal opinion.

I have only seen i-clickers used in college level classes. But I do think that students in upper elementary and above can all benefit from using i-clickers. Young students (kindergarten through around the second grade level), may just see it as a toy and press buttons. They also might have a hard time understanding multiple choice questions and evaluating what the results are. I-clickers are also a teacher tool, by being a method of assessing the participation of the students. By reviewing their responses, teachers can also evaluate what the students are obtaining from the lessons and reflect on what they (as in the teacher) might be doing right or wrong.