Power Point as an Instructional Tool

           This assignment was very enjoyable and beneficial because I can take what I learned in Power Point and about the Corel Painter with me to my classroom.  I have created many power points before, but I have never really had to focus on using it to instruct on its own, so I had to use a slightly different mindset.  It was interesting, and I see how that could really help students get the idea down.  

I had never used Corel Painter before nor had I ever heard of it, but I enjoyed that program very much. I am not artistic really at all, but I always have enjoyed trying and playing with pictures.  This program was so much fun, and I love that you have so many choices with just a click.  The only problem I encountered was an error in the software on my computer I believe because it did not like it when I tried to use the pen to try to draw or paint.  I had to just use the mouse, but it still worked great with selecting and drawing.  I think that Corel can be such a great tool to have in the classroom.  It is a fun way to incorporate art into subject areas as well as incorporating technology also.  I think it could be very useful for the students to create pictures to go along with a story they are reading or even a story they are writing as well. The pattern pen in particular could add different elements to their picture, and it could help the children see the different effects in the Corel Painter while they play with the various colors and designs.  I want to work in the younger elementary grades, and when this is introduced it can be an effective way to get the students to appreciate and use art.  They can use Corel to create a picture to predict an ending of a book, or the teacher can have them tell a part of the story through pictures to assess their understanding.  It would be a great to get the students using technology and interested in technology, and it will get them interested in different elements of art at a young age.  I felt very comfortable using Corel, and it was fun even to explore the areas I was unfamiliar with to see what I could find.  

Students and Portfolios

       I have been thinking more lately about the incorporation of portfolios into the classroom because I am taking an assessment class, and we have been discussing the various types of assessments.  I reflected back to a previous fieldwork placement in which I interacted with the students during their Writer's Workshop time.  I was able to view so much more about the students through their work and by helping them work through and edit assignments while they were creating their portfolios. I remember one student in particular who had seemed very quiet and somewhat withdrawn, but when she asked for my feedback on her writing I learned so much more about her.  She was incredibly creative, and her work showed intelligence and humor.  I would ask her questions which she would honestly answer, and she accepted my criticism with a very good nature.  This was a very interesting classroom to be in because I came into contact with some great writing pieces and the writers behind them.  The portfolios were helpful because it gave others a view of the student's variety in their writing pieces.  

Software Resources

Starfall

This website is designed for kindergarten through second grade learners.  It can be accessed by any computer, and it is easy (and fun!) to navigate through.  This site targets literacy skills and focuses and reading and letters with fun-filled explanations and games.  It is best used by individuals, and certain sections would best be used with headphones because of the word/ letter pronunciation.  There are sections where a child can read a story with interesting pictures, or when activated, someone can read it for you through the computer.  This site is great for those beginning readers and can help build up sight vocabulary.  

I Know That!

This was another great website I found that has good activities for preK through 6th grade students.  The teacher or parent can select the level that their child is in and find activities for that student on a variety of subject areas.  I thought this site could be used by an individual student, or it could also be used by the teacher incorporating it into a lesson.  This site is a little more difficult to navigate through, but once the student is briefly shown, they should be able to find the activities fairly easy.  There were some map activities in the "social studies section that required an Adobe software download, but it was available at no cost.  There were more ads that seemed to crowd the area, but once you register, the distracting ads would go away.  Once you access the activities for the grade level you desire, it will bring up the subscription form; but you can choose to continue on to the activity without giving any information.  This site was a little expensive to subscribe to with a family rate of $5.95 a month or a classroom rate with more members for $199.00 a year.  The benefits to registering include no advertisements and the work done by the students can be saved to access or check again later.  Most of the activities, however, were easily accessible and could be incorporated for fun learning lessons or for some individual game time.  

4 Teachers

This is another resourceful website I found that has learning and ideas for the teacher as well as the student.  It gives teachers advice and help on incorporating technology into the classroom with great lesson ideas, rubrics, etc.  It also gives a link for the students to have fun while testing their learning at "Arcademic Skill Builders" (arcademicskillbuilders.com).  These "educational video games" are a way for the students to continue working on a variety of math skills.  These games can be accessed by Windows or Mac and mostly test the basic math areas: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and even work with fractions.  Most of the games can have up to four players, so it can be used to help the students working together to become more comfortable with what they are learning and more comfortable with the technology. 

One to One Reflection

     I was surprised by what I saw in the video we watched of the one-to-one classroom.  The teachers, as well as the students, in the Denali Borough School District seemed very benefited by the way their school now ran.  When I was first asked to think about running a one-to-one classroom, I was overcome by the potential hazards that could go along with that.  I feared that the students would not progress in their learning as well, and I feared that they would be distracted easily.  I was also worried that the students would know more than I would about the technology, and they could possibly use this knowledge to take over the classroom.  When I really started thinking about it, I thought of the ways in which classrooms, students, and teachers could be benefited by the laptops.  I was hopeful that as a teacher, I could be successfully trained and prepared to handle such a classroom. This would be very helpful to me because I would learn a large amount.  Also, the students would not be limited by what was in their textbooks.  Instead, they would have this whole world of information to find and sources to be able to utilize.  While watching the video, I observed the constructive environment that the students were in.  The students and teachers seemed comfortable with what they were using, and the students were still absorbed in their work.  The teachers were much more happy with the change than I expected them to be, and they claimed that their thinking was stretched as well.  They enjoyed all of the up-to-date information that the students were able to access, and their textbooks could still be used as resources. The internet enabled the students to be part of the "real world" The classroom still ran smoothly, and one teacher said that it really worked because if she needed to address the classroom, she would just have the students close their laptops.  It was really nice to see the students really working together with assignments or projects, and it was obvious that the laptops encouraged this more than hindering it.  I feel more comfortable with the idea of teaching in a one-to-one classroom, and I know that if I am a little unprepared I can learn along with my students and profit from the experience.  This was an excellent video because it showed me the type of classroom that was being discussed, and I was able to view the advantages and support that came with it.