Placement Reflection

Now that the semester has come to an end, so has my placement in my sixth grade class. Looking back to my first day in the class, I remember being timid. Although I had been in other classrooms previously, I had never been in a classroom with students older than seven. It was a challenge adjusting to teaching students subjects that were much more complex, however I found that I enjoyed it. Prior to working in this classroom I had sworn that I would never teach middle school students, but I may have just found the right place for me. I loved that my sixth graders were old enough to understand complex subjects, but still eager to learn. I have found that in the older grades students often lose their excitement to learn. I have enjoyed seeing the smiles on my students faces when they see what we're going to learn about. It makes me job more enjoyable.

End of Semester Reflection

I have enjoyed looking into new technologies this past semester. I would admit that without the requirement I probably would not have looked into most of them. Now having had the opportunity to try out such a variety, I feel better equipped to teach. With the advancement of technology happening so quickly, it can be difficult to keep up, however it is more important than ever. I can see how well children would respond to incorporating some of these technologies in the classroom. I can only hope that the district I end up working in is fortunate enough to be able to afford some of the more expensive things. Of course, there are many that are simply available to those that are looking for them. For example, the Wonderwall is free and an incredible way to get children involved in their learning. Something like a Smartboard of course would taking funding, but also an interactive tool. Overall, this class has been a great benefit to my teacher education.

USB Drive

Working in Lansing Schools made me realize just how many students do not have access to a computer at home. Growing up with several computers in my home, I had foolishly assumed most people had that same access. Thinking about ways in which to level the playing field for those that do nt have computers at home, I remembered that most libraries give the public free access to the internet for research purposes. These students may use them, however they cannot save their work on a public computer. If these students were simply given USB drives they may use any computer and still be able to save their work and turn it in. Such a simple piece of technology gives these children the same opportunities ass those with computers at home. Now even cameras are built with USB's within them for easy file sharing. It really is a fast and easy way of transfering files. With their cost lost, and their value high, it seems that more students could be investing in these things.

Pre-written Lessons

In my placement this week I taught a science lesson. I was given the basic lesson by my CT, and was told not to modify it if possible. At first, I wasn't sure if I liked the idea of having lessons handed to me. I felt it was almost lazy to simply present a lesson created for me. After looking over it however, I realized that many of the supplies that the school purchases to go along with these lessons are supplies that I might have difficulty getting a hold of myself. By only slightly modifying the lesson, the standards that needed to met, were reached. The students seemed to love the activity, and I was stress free. I do wonder however who chooses the lessons that will be purchased my the school district. It worries me that perhaps the wrong people will be responsible for this, and may choose something that does not meet the needs to the students.

Wiki

I have had the opportunity to use a wiki for school prior to making my own for this recent assignment. Until I was able to create my own however, I never understood their complete use. Watching the Wikis in Plain English made it easy to see why this tool is so useful. With our ever increasing reliability on technology, much of our communication is done through emails. Of course, when communicating to many people at a time, email is often a complicated way of spreading information. With a wiki, all the information is accessible to everyone at any given time. This information can then be edited by the members of that wiki. I absolutely love the idea of information being so readily available, and communication lines being so free. I can definitely see myself using this for my work as a teacher.

Digital Cameras

Having just celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, stores are now full of merchandise for Christmas. Many  of the items you may see out are the latest of their kind. I had the opportunity to take a look at some of the newly released digital cameras at a few stores. As I was looking through the various kinds, I remembered a story a classmate of mine had told me. She explained that there were several ESL students in her classroom all of which had very low language levels. Her CT began using digital cameras in her classroom, allowing those students to take pictures of the items in the classroom, around the school, and outside of school. The pictures they took were to document the things they wished to know the English words for. They then brought the cameras back to school, where the teacher printed off their pictures along with the name of each item in the picture. I thought this would be a great classroom tool for special education students as well. As a Deaf education major, I am always searching for ways in which to make my classroom and my students learning more visual. Cameras are a wonderful way to give students access to such visual learning.

TED.com

Over this past summer I was enrolled in a creative design course which explored the idea of sustainability and other environmental issues. My instructor used a variety of resources in which to present a great deal of information to us. One of the resources she chose to use was TED.com. This technology can be used to find information on a wide range of subjects. It's purpose is to explain various concepts, and ideas to an audience that may be located anywhere in the world. With countless lectures and interviews of experts on different subjects available to teachers and students, the limit to learning is endless. I have found this resource to a helpful in several subjects and recommend that others take advantage of it's uses as well.