Week 5

I selected the allaboutexplorers.com to complete the activity. I really liked this organization of this website. I also think that this would be a great website to utilize within any grade level history classroom. The website seems to be registered to a gentleman who works for an independent school district. The links within the site all appear to lead to museums and other school/education based sites. The whole site seems to be only for information purposes.

When I conducted a search for information on explorers through google.com, excite.com, and yahoo.com the first sites that appeared in the list were wikipedia.com and ask.com. There were a lot of advertisements also.

I mostly go to sites that pertain to the subjects that I teach. I use OWL Purdue, lessonplanet.com, and edmodo.com. Lessonplanet.com is a paid site that allows people to upload their lesson plans for members to access. I really like this site because the search engine within makes it really easy to get the lesson plans I want.

The thing I was most interested in was the easywhois.com. I think this is really neat. I plan to use this with my students. They seem to depend too much on wikipedia.com, answers.com, and ask.com for their information. I believe that is activity was very informative for me.

Week 4

Are you more comfortable composing documents online than longhand?

·        Yes, I am most definitely more comfortable composing online. I must prefer the ease of typing most writing that is required of me.

Have your turned your “remembering” over to a technology device?

·        I sure have!

Do you go to meetings with your laptop, iPad, or tablet?

·        I attended training at Region 10 Service Center during the summer. I hauled my laptop into the meeting room only to find that everyone, and I mean everyone, had iPads. I felt so outdated. I called my husband and went and purchased an iPad. The point to my story is that….yes; I attend meetings with my iPad.

Are you constantly connected? Is the internet always on whether you are at home or work? Is your cell phone always with you?

·        Absolutely, I am always connected. I get really irritated if the internet is down for any length of time. I am never without my cell phone.

How many different activities can you effectively engage in at one time?

·        I am really busy as I mentioned earlier in the semester. I can grade papers for my high school students, answer emails from my college students, play slots on facebook, and chase two small children. I have become a Professional Multi-tasker!!

Do you play video or computer games?

·        I play a slot machine game on facebook and Chuzzle. That is it!

I am definitely a non-traditional student. There are some classes that I believe should only be taught in person, but for the most part I much prefer online classes.

The generation of students who are in high school right now, frankly, concern me. They can play computer games, operate the most complicated of cell phones; however, they cannot seem to save a Word document and upload it to the assignment drop box without being shown 5,000 times. I think that educators need to make sure that we are not confusing cell phone proficiency with computer proficiency. I am seeing these same problems with college freshmen. I am finding that if I show them twice and then refuse to show them again that they are finally taking the initiative to utilize the tools required of them. I find that this group has been babied and that that expectation is instilled in them. My advice is to stop babying them and hold them accountable for the technology that they desperately need to learn to use properly. 

Week 3

I really liked the blog, digital story telling, and the wiki. I can see me utilizing these in my classroom considering we have such a push to use technology with our students. I think the blog could be used in two different aspects. First, I think it would be a great, quick way to keep parents informed of the activities within our classroom. I did not realize how easy blogs were to create and edit. It would be so simple to give a weekly update via the blog. Second, I think the blog could be used as a reflection space for students. I switched this year from Schoology to Edmodo. I have yet to find a way, within Edmodo, for students to post reflections or discussions where their peers can read them and respond. I believe creating a class blog might be a great place for this. Each student can post their blog and other students would be able to comment. The wiki seems like a great place for vocabulary, helpful links, and basic review data. It would be created by the students and available for them to review. I think the digital story telling would be a creative, useful way to to assess student comprehension of a novel.

I believe that compiling a portfolio will help give me extra resources for my class as well as assess what I have learned. I think it is important to see what I have knowledge of.

Week 2

This was surely an enlightening activity. I thought that my lessons, in terms of the use of technology, were higher order and really addressing what the students knew and needed to know. I was wrong in some aspects. I feel that I was concentrating too much in the “safe zone” when using technology. Using PowerPoint to create presentations does not stretch their minds, nor introduce them to cool technology such as Prezi. I must commit to utilizing technology to the best of my abilities to increase the learning of my students. If I don't address these issues with my students they may go into their college or work career lacking the fundamental technological skills needed to thrive. 

I also need to have a more clear and strict focus on the types of information the students can access on the web. If students don’t understand the difference in quality primary and secondary sources they will expose themselves and others to improper data. I do address this in my classroom, but I think I could do a much better job in this area. I think this is really important since my students are leaving me and going straight into college-level classes.

I use many different types of internet based programs with my students such as Edmodo, BlackBoard, Dropbox, Prezi, and Corkboard.me. I think that I can find other ways to utilize these pieces of technology in order to attain higher order thinking skills. I am going to set a goal for myself to reach this goal.

Week 1

Educational Technology Philosophy

In reflecting on my school years I acknowledge that I have had quite a few excellent teachers; however, there is only one that I hold on a pedestal. Mrs. Shirley Strange, who taught 5^th grade Social Studies, was the most amazing teacher. She challenged us with high expectations and encouraged us to think outside the box. Her energy and passion for the curriculum never allowed us to be bored, uninterested, or ambiguous. She loved and respected her students at such enormous levels. She even addressed each student as Mr. or Mrs. As 5^th graders we found this very impressive. Mrs. Strange simply had a way of getting her students excited about learning and always thirsting for me knowledge.

            In thinking of my worst teacher, I scrolled through memories of personality conflicts, boring classes, and subjects I disliked, and I kept coming back to one teacher…Mrs. Jenkins. Mrs. Jenkins was my 6^th grade math teacher. Did we have a major personality conflict, yes, but that is not the reason for giving her the title of Worst Teacher. She did nothing to make her lessons interesting, relevant, or lively. We were given loads of worksheets and were told constantly to work quietly. There was a monotonous routine in her room and we all dreaded her class. It was as if we were in a gray cloud for 55 minutes five days a week. Mrs. Jenkins just did not have the passion and energy that a great teacher should possess.

            Through college, and now in my own classroom, I have strived to be as great an educator as Mrs. Strange. The use of technology in the classroom provides the opportunity for many layers of learning that she presented to us. The world we live in requires a high level of technological knowledge; therefore, the use of software and websites within lessons allows the students to increase their skill sets for the real world. Upon graduation my students have been exposed to a wide range of resources that will aid them in the workforce and/or college. I want my students to look back and say, “Mrs. Lowrey’s class was awesome. She really cared about us and we learned a lot.” That would be the greatest compliment anyone could pay me. I work hard to make the students’ learning environment fun, relevant, and engaging. I set high expectations for my students because I want them to work hard and achieve what they deem as the impossible. By doing this they will leave my classroom with a high level of respect and confidence in themselves. This will give them a great leg-up in the real world.

             I did not start my college career as an education major; however, I have allowed God to guide me and I am home. I love my students and my job. I would not change the path I have chosen and I look forward to growing as a professional in order to be the best teacher I can be. I have had great role models and I hope to make the teaching profession proud.

I must admit that I had never thought of using blogs as an educational tool. I liked that the article mentioned using blogs as a way of communicating with students and parents. With society in demand to be connected 24/7 blogs would lend the capacity to meet those demands. I believe that a blog would be a great asset to my classroom.

At this point in my district I do not believe that we are as technologically advanced or savvy as we have the potential for. I think we still have a fear of technology and we love to live in our comfort zone. I work very hard to utilize the amazing technology that we have. I have found; however, that as we move forward with technology that students are finding it as a crutch or an excuse to not complete assignments. I look at is as a growing pain. We must find a way to work in harmony and unison.

The philosophical schools of thought were very interesting to read through. I am a combination of constructivism and pragmatism. I encourage higher-level thinking, student-centered learning, and thoughtful reflection of learning. I also believe that life is education. Individuals should be educated so that they can be productive contributing members of society. I believe that every individual is responsible for their own learning. People should thirst for knowledge and should desire to be educated.