Clickers in the Classroom

http://www.flickr.com/photos/waiferx/ / CC BY 2.0

Earlier this week we had a class that introduced us to the wonderful world of clickers. Throughout my college career I have somewhat despised this form of technology because it added an element of stress to the classroom. I would think to myself: what questions are they going to ask us on our clickers today, what if i get them wrong, what if I forget my iclicker, is my clicker even working!? It was a huge stress on me and when I would get to class and realize I had forgot my infamous clicker, the day was ruined. So needless to say I wasn't extremely excited to learn more about the clicker I had a terrible relationship with.

During class I had learned about how to take polls with clicker and what types of questions you can ask etc. but I still wasn't sold on the clicker idea. Then I started to think about how I would use this in my classroom and I started to see the benefit. A lot of students have trouble focusing for long periods of time without doing something and these clickers could be a form of "doing." If students have an actual button to push when asking questions you could get feedback immediately and receive a form of informal assessment.

If clickers are used in a way that takes pressure off the students, that they would have to participate and think about the right answer but wouldn't be penalized, then maybe clickers are a good idea. I think the stress of the clicker lies in the answer. If there isn't as much pressure then maybe students would feel validated to know that their answer is useful. Clickers can be used in so many ways like taking a class vote, voicing your opinion, and lastly finding the correct answers out of A, B, C and D. If they are used in the classroom it is important not to just use them in one way but multiple so students are engaged and believe this is a useful tool.

Blogging and wikis and webpages oh my!

So this week we were asked to talk about the differences between blogs, wikis, and webpage sites. Although I think that you can do a lot of the same things like post (blog) on wikis and comment on webpages I think that when it comes down to it I personally would use some for specific things over the other.

As for blogs, I really look at this as my online diary. I can bring up topics and write however much I want on that topic. Then I can post it and weather anyone sees it or not I know that it is there. I feel as if I am venting and discussing my ideas and this is my own personal space, which others are free to comment on or read.

When it comes to wikis I look at this as more of an online class website. I haven't really done much with a wiki or even seen wikis outside of the educational world so this is where I form this reasoning. Wikis are great to post assignments, view students work, and give detailed explanations of what is expected out of students. It is great to see that others can edit the wiki as well, so it could be a collaborative process where students feel involved.

Lastly is websites. I think websites are great informational resources. I love having my own to exhibit the work I have done as a learning teacher. I could also see how this would be beneficial for parents and students to have an informational page of the classroom on the web. It differs from a wiki because the information is concrete and things cannot be added by others unless they have your password.

Overall these are great tools! I have enjoyed working with all three for different reasons and see how they would be great to incorporate into classroom life.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pixeldeep/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

get creative- field trips

As we prepare to say goodbye to the students we have been with four hours a week for the past year, our classroom is keeping quite busy. It seems like we are trying to fit in a million things before we say our farewells. Last week I taught a math lesson and this week I am going with them to third grade camp! Then the final week of field placement we are going to plant a tree at the Governor's mansion. As I think back to my elementary days, I do not remember nearly as many field trips. My students have also been to the zoo for an entire week as well as went to a rock and mineral show so they are quite the busy class. Plus they still have a field trip in June! They're going to Greenfield Village.

You may be thinking how does this school possibly have funds to support all of this? Well they don't. Many of the field trips have taken a great deal of work trying to come up with ways to pay for these places and find transportation. For the week long field trip to the zoo the class sold cookie dough and the class also received grant money. The Governor also recently invited the class to plant a tree but they ran into problems because they did not have transportation. One of the students mom works for a buss company and offered her services to drive us there and back but we still needed a buss so my CT had five students write letters to the buss company and it worked! The student letters turned out great and after some hard work and multiple drafts they received a buss!

Now that schools are cutting a great deal on costs it's important for us as teachers to get creative with ways to fund and support outside of school learning. My CT says that she "moves her classroom" and students do truly learn so much from these experiences!

Detroit Field Trip

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maiac/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

After going on a field trip visiting some of the schools in Detroit I had some time to reflect. I am in the Urban infused section of TE and we were asked to write about our misconceptions and our experience... I had so many misconceptions and the experience was truly wonderful!

The Detroit field trip was an eye opening experience for me. Because we’re in the urban infused section and we have been doing readings as well as discussing urban schools I had an idea of a typical “Detroit school” in my head. We also hear things on the news and it seems like everyone has an idea of what a school in Detroit would look like. I went into the field trip thinking that the schools would be much different than Lansing but in reality they weren’t. I actually found that the students that I worked with seemed to be more advanced than the students I have worked with in the past in Lansing.

The school was much nicer than I expected. The walls were filled with color and the classrooms were quite. As we entered the first grade classroom the students were eager to see us and excited to get started on their work. Alicia and I were both in the classroom and worked with small groups of students to construct a play they would be performing later on in the week. The classroom itself had books, and games, and a board that seemed very organized. The students all knew their responsibilities and were ready to begin the task. It was so great to see them work together in groups and really listen to what each other had to say; I could honestly say that they worked better together than my third graders in Lansing.

After reflecting on what happened and the environment it seemed like all my previous ideas about the school had been broken. I had always imagined Detroit schools to lack any kid of resources but the students had books and interactive things to engage in, in the classroom. I also imagined that urban classrooms would be much harder to manage but the students were all well behaved and eager to learn. Clearly this is a teacher’s responsibility and not the children. I know that kids will be kids and no matter what classroom you’re in management will be a difficult but I had always thought that the students would be much more difficult due to their home lives and environment.

This was a great experience as a future teacher. I really came to understand that kids are kids no matter where they are. To make stereotypes is judging based off of what you don’t know so it is completely counterproductive. I had an amazing time with the children and thought about urban teaching as something I could see myself doing in the future. I want to be the best teacher I can possibly be and I am hoping to bring my skills to a classroom that truly needs it.

Call me Old Fashioned

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scelera/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

I was really interested when cellphones were brought up as a technology in the classroom and I was also very skeptical. So I did some research and this is what I found on a blog

10 Ideas for Using Cell Phones in Education

1. Student response polling or pop quizzes (no need to invest in additional devices)
2. Use sms to find definitions, currency conversion, math equations, translation and more
3. Use as an internet browser to access endless information
4. Research
5. Read news articles and current events
6. Read books
7. Download and use education programs such as Google Maps and use as GPS
8. Use as a digital or video camera to accompany school projects, publishing, etc.
9. Educate students on appropriate and acceptable social use
10. Use the voice technology to share engaging lectures or lessons

The Innovative Educator: The Value of Using Cell Phones to Enhance Education and Some Concrete Ways to Do So

After reading though these ideas, it seems like cellphones are taking over the roles of computers to surf the internet, read books, news articles, and other computer related concepts. But I do think there are positives. I think that students polling would be quick and easy and utilizing cell phones would be great! We use clickers in our classrooms now and cellphones could easily turn into this type of devise. I also think that using cell phones as homework reminders would be beneficial as well because older students do have use to cell phones.

I do however hold onto many negatives. If we as teachers and educators condone the use of cell phones in the classroom how do we know our students aren't texting and surfing the internet in inappropriate ways? Yes many students have cell phones, but what about the students who do not? Plus, I don't even have internet on my cell phone and with a whopping 30 extra dollars a month I don't think I'll ever have internet access. So then who are we asking to pay for these school related cell phones? Parents? School districts? The uses above can all be done on a computer and although there are some benefits like homework reminders and quick polls what happened to the old fashioned way of taking a class vote with your head down?

I have been supportive of almost all of the technology I have researched but this one seems a little far fetched for me. As an elementary education teacher I don't think I would use cell phones but I would rather email students about homework and have students read books the old fashioned way.

Math and Management

After writing the past post I began thinking about all that needs to be done before graduation. This week I will be teaching a math lesson to the third grade classroom I'm in and was looking over the lesson plan. I started to think back to the beginning of first semester when we had see a lesson plan template for the first time. It seemed so tedious and we didn't know what GLCEs were or how to navigate through the crazy lists of objectives. It's finally all coming together now...

I was wondering if anyone has taught their math lesson yet. The students will be in groups and as a group they will create graphs or charts to illustrate data they collect from how many raisins are in a little raisin box. (our ct is not a candy fan so we figured we would bring in a healthy snack) Our students aren't incredibly great at working in groups but they have gotten better as the year has progressed. If you have done your math lesson and there was groups work how did it go? I always get nervous because there seems to be more management issues when students work in groups. After thinking about management I was also wondering if any of your classes focus on management techniques. Our section has not and I think that is the one problem with how the course is set up. I can plan a lesson and execute it but if management isn't there the lesson is lost. Thoughts?

the answer is simple

Our internship year is vastly approaching and I can't believe how far we've come! To think that in three short weeks we will be alumni to Michigan State is hard to imagine. There seem to be a lot of anxiety about next year and how stressful our lives will be but I think it's important to remember that we are going to be incredibly prepared. If we had to go out into the job market right now and take over the classroom I would just die! We also have what seems like millions of questions to go along with this stress! But I leave you with this...

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.- Dr. Seuss

Our answer is simple. We love teaching and that is why we are doing this. Positive attitude : )

Wikispaces

I really enjoyed working with wiki spaces this week. I had created a wiki previously as a simulation for a lesson so this week I went back through it and edited making a few minor adjustments. I have also used wikis for many of my classes and feel like I am starting to get the hang of the editing and uploading process.

I think a wiki is special and differs from a website and a blog in a lot of ways. Wikis allow the user to invite others to join and edit. Assignments could be posted on separate pages and are easily accessible. Although you can do this on a website the wiki is more organized and focuses on simplicity as opposed to a website, which can get lost in the design. I really like being able to post links on the wikis for my classes and the whole class can access each others work. Wikis could also create community within the classroom because students can view, comment and appreciate their classmates work. When it comes to blogs, I think they are beneficial but in different ways. Blogs are a space where students can post but it is not as organized.

As a future elementary teacher I think I would be able to use wikis a great deal. Depending on my students grade level I could either make it a web space for the students or even the parents. Assignments could be posted and links would be useful as well. It would be a great place to have parents contribute to the class as well. They could add classroom related ideas and that would branch the classroom community out to the parents as well.