Tech Integration HUGE plan

Technologically speaking, I hope to accomplish many things with my students. I wish to open their minds to the vast amount of technology that is available today and make it educational, meaningful, and exciting to use for each student. Technology is a vital part in every person's life and as a teacher I feel it is my responsibility to integrate technology into the everyday school life of my digitally native students. I will also maintain a very open mind and understand that as I am a digital immigrant my students might be able to teach me as much as I can teach them. I will also strive to stay up-to-date and informed about as many aspects of new technologies as possible. Thanks to my CEP 416 class I am ready and willing to try my hand at various technologies whereas before I may have been quite nervous.

To fully integrate technology into my classrooms, I will first need a working knowledge of all the technologies I am planning to use. I will also need equipment. I know that my students might not have access to some of the equipment necessary to complete our work with technology, so I will need to make equipment available to these students. I hope that my future school will have access to computers, microphones, digital cameras, and so forth. However, if it should happen that it does not, I will seek out grant funding or ask a large corporation to sponsor some of the equipment for our classroom. I am a great shopper and know that I will be able to find the very best deal on all of my future equipment.

Additionally, to accomplish my goals with my students I will need to develop and maintain an open environment in which the students feel comfortable with the technologies and are willing to try them. I will be sure to address the newness of technology and specifically the ones we may be using and how we will grow with these technologies. In other words, I will stress that we do not need to be perfect with technology right away, but that as we work with them we will learn and progress in our skills. I will be honest with my students about the fact that even I, their teacher, makes mistakes sometimes but that this can also be a great learning tool.

To assess whether or not I am succeeding in my goals of educating my students about and through technology, I will create assessment forms for the various parts of their assignments. I will also keep a running tabulation of their progress with the various technologies. For example, I will compare a student's first blog posting with one of their last in the year. I will also ask for student feedback about their own work as well as that of their peers. I believe that this form of assessment is crucial for the learning to be meaningful to the students. I also plan to observe and evaluate timeliness of the students using the technologies. Someone who is new and unfamiliar with a certain tool will not be able to create within it at the same speed as someone who has learned the ins and outs of the tool. Also, I will observe the students and their eagerness to use the technological tools I share with them for other assignments or projects, some of which may not even be school related. For instance, maybe the student would like to create a digital slideshow of flowers for their mother on her birthday.

To document the process of my work with the students I will share all of my planning and sample work pieces via my online portfolio. I will also elicit student, parent, and colleague responses to my work and post this as well. I will be sure to have the students use first names or initials so that I will not have a problem sharing their work. I will also keep a journal or a blog of my reflections to the work that is happening and document how I change and adjust to the needs of my students, the changing technologies, and various other influences.

The lesson I would like to do for this project is based on a second or third grade classroom and incorporates many technologies. The lesson will be a 3/4 to full year undertaking. The basis for the lesson is learning about world culture and history but also basing it on the students' personal backgrounds and heritages. Upon reflection of the idea, I realized that I am slightly taking a Montessori approach to the way the lesson is structured. I want to start talking with the students about where they come from and then expand from a small area like a city, to a state, country, and world and then throughout the ages in all of these contexts, or as many as possible. Within this I want the students to explore their own heritage and culture and use this information to help inform and teach their fellow students. Depending on what the students find and wish to share at various times will depend on which technology they will be using.

Each student will have a blog where they can keep track of their thoughts, ideas, questions, and found information. The students will be asked to blog at least once a week in the first few weeks. The amount required will change depending on how students are moving along with their projects. We will also have a classroom blog where students will be asked to share at specific integrals. Each student in the classroom will have viewing access to all of the blogs and I will ask them to read at least 2 of their classmates' blogs weekly and respond. I think this will be helpful for students to share information and work on their language skills as well. It stands a strong possibility that some of my students will share the same cultural heritage and will be able to use each other as resources.

I would like the final project of each student to be an audio and visual trip through time and space using google earth and google maps. However, this will vary slightly depending on what the student learns and is able to share with others. Each student will be asked, rather encouraged based on personal interest in topics, to explore their own heritage through time. Some of the topics that will be encouraged will be with music, food, family size, careers, educations, living arrangements, house styles, clothing styles, social activities, languages known or learned, immigration, prejudice faced, important accomplishments, arranged marriages, books read or written, name changes and why, as well as other topics the students might think of. The students will be asked to explore these various aspects and make comparisons through the ages based on their specific heritage.

To prepare for this project, I will meet with the parents prior to the school year starting and ask them some brief questions about their family heritage. I would like to do this electronically, but will do this on paper and incorporate technologies into the lives of the parents throughout the year also. I will be prepared if a student or parents are not aware of their heritage and ask that student to pick another culture they are interested in to study. If this should happen, I will encourage this student to select a culture that is not represented in our class so that the students can receive a rounded study of world cultures and history. I believe that through this project the students will desire to study other cultures beyond their own and this will make for lifelong meaningful learning.

For the final visual trip, the students will be asked to incorporate the various aspects of the cultures using tags, embedded images, videos, soundbites, and text. I don't want to give the students a list of items they must include right away because I want them to explore on their own and find interest in the various topics. I also want the students to use each other as a resource and borrow the ideas of their classmates in their research. The students will be asked to present findings at least 4 times throughout the year to their classmates. The first presentation I would like to allow the students to use a podcast for. I feel that the students might be hesitant of public speaking and I would like to slowly transition them into this important feature of education and life. Depending on which material the students are studying I will suggest many technological tools. For example, I will encourage the students to create a role-playing scenario of discrimination that they or their ancestors faced. I will have the students create either a digital story using images of themselves in situations with sound bites or a complete mini-movie of the reenactment. From this I will also have these students research ways to combat discrimination and blog about as well as share through another tool like a podcast with their classmates and parents. I will record all presentations so that we can share our work with our parents and fellow school mates and teachers.

I would also like to assist the students in using a social bookmarking tool like delicious to share resources with each other. Another resource I would like to introduce the students to is the idea of pen-pals. This would allow the student to gather true to life images and information of life in the area where her family originated. The pen-pals could be online or through snail-mail. I believe that online would be the most appropriate considering our integration of technology. This would allow me to introduce proper email and online chat programs and etiquette to the students. All in all, this project will be a huge undertaking and involve many technologies.

Lizzy World Heritage

I just moved here from Boston, so when I get to do my map that will be my first stop. Boston was a cool place to live but we moved so my mom could have a better job. Has anyone else had to move because there parents needed work? I feel like I am the only one. It's kind of weird being the new kid, but everyone here is really nice and helped me make this place feel like home. When I first got here, some kids asked me why I talked funny. I didn't know I was talking funny, but Miss Fredell told me that sometimes where you live changes the way your voice or accent sounds. I have been trying not to have this accent, but she also told me that it's okay to be different and this accent might be a part of who I am. I think I want to find out what other accents or languages my family used to know or have.

~Lizzy

Bryan World Heritage Project

Hi everyone. My name is Bryan. I don't know a lot about my family. My mom grew up in fosters homes (those are where you live when you don't have parents) and my dad died when my mom was pregnant with me, so I didn't get to know him really. I do have two pictures of him though and I am named after him. I talked to Miss Fredell about this and I think I want to pretend that my family heritage is from Ghana in Africa. I think I might pretend that my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was captured and brought to America as a slave. Africa seems like a cool place to come from. The music there is so happy and they use colors in many cool ways. I also think some of the piercings they have are pretty cool too even though my mom says no piercings for my until I am 15. I also like that in Africa there are animals that don't live normally where we do. I can see some in a zoo but it will be cool to see where they are supposed to live.

~Bryan

Susan's Heritage and the World Project 2nd Post

November 23, 2008

I found out that my family helped to establish the town of West Branch, Michigan. This is in up-north where lots of my family lives. Our name is on lots of roads, stores, schools, and other things there. My family there also has lots of farms. I think most of these farms have cows and land to plant. I know one of my uncles has a dairy farm, so he uses his cows to make milk. I have been there and seen this once before. I want to go back and ask questions to help with my project but my mom doesn't know when we can go there. I think it is SO COOL that my family started a town. My mom doesn't think that we are related to the Frankenmuth Raus directly. I think this means that they might be related but from forever and ever ago. Drats, no free candy. :-/ I also found out that he was a part of a "sit-down strike." I don't really know what this means, but maybe someone can help me or I can ask him when he has time. I want to know more about how he built cars. I wonder if I still have family in Germany. That might be a fun trip, but it's really far away.

~Susan

Susan's Heritage and the World Project Start

November 21, 2008

I know some about where my family comes from. I want to ask my parents questions to help me start. I know that we have lots of family in up-north Michigan but I don't know what city. I think that our family came from Germany to start. I think this because my mom is always calling my grandpa a "grumpy old German." I know that in the town of Frankenmuth, Michigan, my family name of "Rau" is the name of stores. I wonder if I am related to those people. Maybe I could get some free candy if so. :-) My grandma takes lots and lots of pictures so I will be able to use some of those to remember my family that is not here no more.

~Susan

Little Betsy Bookworm & the Wormgerm

Betsy Bookworm Story Lesson

These standards apply for grades K-1 in which students learn about basic hygiene.
EALR 2.0 – The student acquires the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain a healthy life: Recognize patterns of growth and development, reduce health risks and live safely.
Component 2.2 – Understanding the concept of control and prevention of disease.
Benchmark Indicator 2.2.1 – Identify and demonstrate skills that prevent and reduce the risk of contracting and transmitting communicable diseases.
Grade Level Expectations: Understand how to prevent or reduce the risk of contracting a Communicable Disease

Kindergarten: Demonstrate basic hygiene techniques to reduce illness (i.e., washing your hands, covering your mouth when you cough, not sharing combs. Prevention of tooth decay)
First Grade: Identify ways to prevent germ transmission and diseases (i.e., sharing food, hand washing, immunizations)


Teachers could use podcasting in the classroom in a variety of ways. The first use that comes to mind would be recording long lessons or lectures depending on the grade level. This would allow the students to go back and listen to the actual lesson again if they needed to. It would also allow the students to truly pay attention to the teacher and not worry as much as taking notes. This would also be beneficial to students who may miss a class. The teacher would not have to devote additional time during the day to "catch-up" these students.

Podcasting would also allow the teacher to record parts of lessons before the school day starts. These could be stationed around the room and the students could listen in using headphones. This would allow the teacher to be in more places at once and allow the students some options and freedom to choose which lesson they wanted to work on at which time. It would allow the teacher more time to work with individual students or groups on specific tasks or projects instead of always having to be in front of the classroom. Additionally, the students would be able to control the sound level. This would be very helpful for students that might have trouble hearing or focusing sounds when there is a great deal of surrounding noises.

Students would also be able to use podcasts like a weekly or even daily newsletter that parents, other classrooms, and teachers would be able to tune in to and hear what is going on. The students would be able to work in a variety of subject areas to accomplish this lesson. Students could also use podcasts to present works like bookreports or "Who am I?" projects. I can see this being helpful for students who are not quite ready to give live presentations. It would also provide the teacher a reference point in case something happened and she missed a section of the report. The teacher could also use this podcast as a frame of constructive feedback for presentation skills with the student. The teacher could listen with the student and give feedback about voice, emphasis, clarity, and so on. When the students do give live presentations to their classmates, these could be recorded as podcasts and could also be posted publicly for parents to actually hear what their students are doing in the classroom. Most teachers would love to have parental involvement daily in the classroom and even have parents present for their student's big report, but this is impossible for all parents to do. Students could also use podcasting for interview assignments outside of the classroom. They would be able to share the complete interview and not have to give just a synopsis of the information found.

Teachers would also be able to connect interior classroom learning with popular devices like the Ipod. The students could take their lessons with them everywhere and stay up-to-date with the classroom even over weekends and holiday breaks.


Lesson Source

PDF of Story

Podcast Stuff

UGH! I have no idea what I am doing with this. :-/

Here is a link to the web based podcast though.
https://www.msu.edu/~fredellr/podcast/dreaming.mp3


[[http://educationaltechonologyexploratio.wikispaces.com/file/view/Dreaming.mp3|Dreaming.mp3]]