So far so good.....at least I hope so! Recently I started coming earlier to my mentor teacher's classroom so that I could get a better experience as a teacher. Formerly, I was in Mrs. Judy's first and second period classes and the beginning of the third period but changed it because it was so structured and there was nothing for me to do. Since I changed over to my mentor teacher's third and fourth period classes, there has been much more work to do. I have helped students with their reading comprehension questions as well as helping the students read better and understand the vocabulary. The third period class is reading a book about a high school car wreck that kills one of the members on the basketball team while the fourth grade class is reading "Go ask Alice', which I have not gotten to read with them so I do not know what it is about. Mrs. Judy is a great mentor teacher! She is very organized despite what she might say. The classroom itself is typical of most classrooms, white washed walls with the student's desks situated in the center of the room and the teacher's desk up front and another one to the side. There are five computers located in the back of the room as well as a projector and a screen up front should I need to give a presentation to the class. Book shelves line the walls which is useful in a Read 180 class. My classes have been going well. I am still boggled at the amount of material that teachers use every day and the amount of paper work that is involved with this profession. Even though I knew this prior to college, it still is amazing! For my research paper, I decided with the question " How do I integrate technology into a special education classroom without distracting the students from the content". I already have ten good sources and I think that it will be interesting to see what I can draw from them. I still have tons of questions about teaching but I know that they will get answered over time.
The Ipad is a very useful tool when used properly in a classroom setting and can be a fun and exciting way of learning, especially in the content areas of reading or math. There are many applications that can be found online to aid teachers such for the I pad such as a constitution application as well as numerous reading and word games. This is great for students because they love interacting with the I pad. Despite its allure, I would probably not use the I pad in my classroom because I would want to spend money on something that is slightly more practical such as updating projectors and laptops. Teaching social studies has so many ways to make it fun and entertaining and I think that introducing the I pad to this would be detrimental to my student's learning. My main issue with the I pad is money issues as I would try to incorperate it into my class if I thought I could get a good outcome from it. This technology can be related to pedagogy in that it provides students with visuals and other ways of learning which satisfies Garder's theory of multiple intelligences. By molding to the students learning style, the I pad can be an effective tool for educators. This is why the versatility of the I pad is useful. In my content field (social studies) the I pad can be useful in learning specific passages of the US constitution or using flash cards to help remember historical characters in world history. The I pad can be useful if I would need to simulate a civil war battle or have interactive maps for the students so that it is easier to understand where and how history develops. All of these uses are very practical, however, many of them could be achieved without the ipad such as using online interactive battle sites or providing plenty of chances for repetition among the students. Because this technology is relatively new, the capabilities and benefits to education could be infinate as more people develop applications specifically for different subjects using differant learning strategies.
I like that you included examples of the apps that can be used on the Ipad. I also liked how you said that you probably wouldn't use the Ipad in your classroom. I probably wouldn't either. It seems like there are numerous other ways to make lessons exciting without the Ipad. I don't know if it is really that effective. The costs are just too high to provide them for everyone and if not all the students can be using them, it seems silly to even have them. My content area is math. I'm not really sure if the Ipad can administer effective apps for math likewise with social studies. So, I see your point. I think it was good that you provided positive uses that the Ipad can administer even though you didn't think it was something you would incorporate in your classroom. For your next reflection, my only suggestions would be that you include a specific activity that the Ipad could be used for. I know when i had to actually think of a lesson plan that would be effective and incorporate the Ipad, it gave me a better idea of its usefulness and think of exact possibilities. It may change your opinion about it, or maybe not, but it's helpful to experiment (or pretend experiment). Overall, your reflection was good and changed my outlook on the Ipad a little bit.
This is just a test of the blog
ReplyDeleteSo far so good.....at least I hope so! Recently I started coming earlier to my mentor teacher's classroom so that I could get a better experience as a teacher. Formerly, I was in Mrs. Judy's first and second period classes and the beginning of the third period but changed it because it was so structured and there was nothing for me to do. Since I changed over to my mentor teacher's third and fourth period classes, there has been much more work to do. I have helped students with their reading comprehension questions as well as helping the students read better and understand the vocabulary. The third period class is reading a book about a high school car wreck that kills one of the members on the basketball team while the fourth grade class is reading "Go ask Alice', which I have not gotten to read with them so I do not know what it is about.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Judy is a great mentor teacher! She is very organized despite what she might say. The classroom itself is typical of most classrooms, white washed walls with the student's desks situated in the center of the room and the teacher's desk up front and another one to the side. There are five computers located in the back of the room as well as a projector and a screen up front should I need to give a presentation to the class. Book shelves line the walls which is useful in a Read 180 class.
My classes have been going well. I am still boggled at the amount of material that teachers use every day and the amount of paper work that is involved with this profession. Even though I knew this prior to college, it still is amazing! For my research paper, I decided with the question " How do I integrate technology into a special education classroom without distracting the students from the content". I already have ten good sources and I think that it will be interesting to see what I can draw from them. I still have tons of questions about teaching but I know that they will get answered over time.
Technology Reflection : Ipad
ReplyDeleteThe Ipad is a very useful tool when used properly in a classroom setting and can be a fun and exciting way of learning, especially in the content areas of reading or math. There are many applications that can be found online to aid teachers such for the I pad such as a constitution application as well as numerous reading and word games. This is great for students because they love interacting with the I pad.
Despite its allure, I would probably not use the I pad in my classroom because I would want to spend money on something that is slightly more practical such as updating projectors and laptops. Teaching social studies has so many ways to make it fun and entertaining and I think that introducing the I pad to this would be detrimental to my student's learning. My main issue with the I pad is money issues as I would try to incorperate it into my class if I thought I could get a good outcome from it.
This technology can be related to pedagogy in that it provides students with visuals and other ways of learning which satisfies Garder's theory of multiple intelligences. By molding to the students learning style, the I pad can be an effective tool for educators. This is why the versatility of the I pad is useful.
In my content field (social studies) the I pad can be useful in learning specific passages of the US constitution or using flash cards to help remember historical characters in world history. The I pad can be useful if I would need to simulate a civil war battle or have interactive maps for the students so that it is easier to understand where and how history develops. All of these uses are very practical, however, many of them could be achieved without the ipad such as using online interactive battle sites or providing plenty of chances for repetition among the students. Because this technology is relatively new, the capabilities and benefits to education could be infinate as more people develop applications specifically for different subjects using differant learning strategies.
I like that you included examples of the apps that can be used on the Ipad. I also liked how you said that you probably wouldn't use the Ipad in your classroom. I probably wouldn't either. It seems like there are numerous other ways to make lessons exciting without the Ipad. I don't know if it is really that effective. The costs are just too high to provide them for everyone and if not all the students can be using them, it seems silly to even have them. My content area is math. I'm not really sure if the Ipad can administer effective apps for math likewise with social studies. So, I see your point. I think it was good that you provided positive uses that the Ipad can administer even though you didn't think it was something you would incorporate in your classroom. For your next reflection, my only suggestions would be that you include a specific activity that the Ipad could be used for. I know when i had to actually think of a lesson plan that would be effective and incorporate the Ipad, it gave me a better idea of its usefulness and think of exact possibilities. It may change your opinion about it, or maybe not, but it's helpful to experiment (or pretend experiment). Overall, your reflection was good and changed my outlook on the Ipad a little bit.
ReplyDelete