Chapter 5

Today we discussed how using google and all the other web browsers can help us in the classroom.  The internet is so detailed today that you can find anything you need with just a few simple keywords.  We also talked about our next project, which involves finding websites that we think will be useful to us in the classrooms.  We have to write down basically how good the website is and if it will really benefit the students and us at teachers.  Last we all got a "review" sheet for chapter 5, helping us understand more about the search engines and what they really do for us.

Tech in the classrooms

In class on the 11th we shared our second Wordles of the semester.  I thought these were a lot more creative than the first set, because everyone knew what to do.  The Wordles were to be used in a lesson plan that we each made, specific to the grade level and subject we want to teach.  This made all the Wordles different, and it was pretty cool.  Next we were assigned our next project, which should be a lot of fun.  We have to go observe a class for about an hour and answer questions and write down what and how technology was used in the lesson for today.  Last, we read a four page writing about how a third grade teacher has been influenced by technology and how she has really started using it to enhance the learning of her students.  We then reflected on the first time we can remember technology in the classroom.  Mine started around 4th or 5th grade, but even then we didn't have much.

P.S. (sorry to Nick and Mrs. Day about the tardiness....)

The Lesson Plan

The first thing we did today was discuss our homework in small groups.  We were divided by birth month to make it easy and answered the questions.  Then we got to talking about lesson plans and what the most important aspects are in a lesson plan.  Following that we paired up with someone teaching the same grade level and discussed how to use a wordle in the lesson for the particular grade.  For instance, mine is secondary, so I talked about how I could use a wordle in a lesson for teaching volleyball.  Then we talked about next Monday's assignment and before we could leave we were given a question and an answer from our reading and had to match them with corresponding answers and questions that someone else had.