Final Blog: Technology in the Classroom

ü  How important is it to incorporate technology into your classroom? What are the benefits to you and your students? What are some of the challenges? What are the important lessons you will take with you from this class and use?

Using technology in the classroom is becoming increasingly important. It is a great way to connect with students and allow them to use something that comes naturally to them - especially if the content does not come as easily to them. Because of the changing technological mind of society, this may just become the way to teach in the future.As a teacher, using technology is great because there are simply things one can do using technology that a paper, pencil, chalkboard, white board, etc. cannot do. For students, it allows them to think creatively and use things they feel comfortable with. It is going to be challenging to keep abreast of all the new technology, but in order to be an effective teacher, it is something I feel I must do.  It will also be difficult with the changing technology to use things from year to year, but perhaps if things are upgraded they will be better to work with. Some of the things I'm sure I will use include: Smartboards, innovative lesson plans, Movie Maker, and the lesson plans on Word. Probably the thing I will use most often is Google Docs. I definitely have heard of Google Docs, but I never really used it. I know that (as of now..) I plan to use a lot of writing in my classroom, and this will be an easier way to do so that is also environmentally conscious. Overall, this class taught me a lot about things I can do with technology in English - something I truly did not think I would get out of the class. I can't wait to use it in a classroom in the future!

Copyright for Teachers

Copyright for teachers is definitely a sticky subject. It surprised me at how much is actually against the law. It also surprised me how many of my past teachers got away with things. I know we've watched movies in class that had nothing to do with what we were studying on days that were either half days or towards the end of the year. We also often used songs in projects and presentations. I also have had several teachers just copy short stories, books, and random other things either from originals or the internet. As far as outside of school, I've seen people have movie groups in church and township activities all the time, and I'm pretty sure they never paid anyone. I believe it is my job to teach copyright to students because that way I know I will have to be in the clear all of the time. Also, it can help them in the long run to realize what is right. I can do this by setting an example. I have to practice what I preach. Copyright is tricky, however, and I feel like I would have to look into the topic more.

Good and Bad Digital Portfolios

http://sherlinjohn.info/

This is definitely an example of a good digital portfolio. It is well organized, but it also has eye catching graphics. It was one of the first examples that popped up on Google, so it obviously attracts attention. Because she is a web designer, it is great that she has so many examples. Her portfolio is even an example of her work!

http://www.geocities.com/Baja/8205/pcstudents.htm

This is a bad example to a T...it is actually one of the first results when one Googles "Bad Digital Portfolio" in both the images AND the web search. The colors lack any appeal, the website has no been updated, and the information is haphazard and not consistent at all. Apparently this school has not done anything since 2001.

Video Lesson Plan

I definitely think using video projects in a high school English class is going to come in hand in the future. I know I loved acting out scenes from books, especially Shakespearean plays because reading them out loud definitely helps with understanding. Filming them would be a great way to incorporate other areas of the play, including settings, costuming, and speech. These are all things that would have to be taught before the actual project was assigned. The way Shakespearean plays were produced was MUCH different from today's musicals and plays. 

OBJECTIVE -Have students understand the costuming, setting, and speech patterns found in Shakespearean times -Produce a short (5-7 minutes) video of a particular scene from Act I

PROCEDURE

Day One: Discuss Costuming and Setting of Shakespearean plays. (Show several examples, including Shakespeare Reduced) Day Two: Discuss Shakespearean Speech Patterns Day Three: Discuss individual scenes with student groups Weekend Homework: Students film videos and edit them to be due during the next week.

HOMEWORK

The videos will be due by the next Friday, edited and put together.

PSA Project (a)

Our group video project worked very, very well in my opinion. Alyssa and I worked well together, and we listened to each other continuously throughout the project. I think using the music to convey feelings instead of using words made our PSA unique and standout amongst the rest. I think we could have improved some of the quality of the shooting, but that proved to be difficult because of the angling of some things in my room (where we shot most of the scenes). Next time, I think I would have made sure the film at a different time of day,  because the light coming through the window also caused some problems throughout the scene. I also would have realized the camera had a microphone too, because we didn't realize this until later into shooting. I definitely will take away a newfound respect for directors from this project. I also now know how much work goes into something that indeed looks amateurish. I also realize now how much working together with someone who is willing to put 100% into the project is definitely a benefit. :]

PSA!

Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive white boards definitely are fun to play with. They are a great teaching tool when used properly. They enhance teaching because of the capabilities and creative ideas that are limited only to the mind of the teacher. The technology was difficult for me to use. I am left handed, so it takes awhile for me to realize I need to watch my dragging hand when I write on the board. Also there are times when I am too short to reach certain things on the board. It was also difficult because I tend to touch the board when I teach, and that sometimes knocks things off of alignment. The pros to having the technology in the classroom is that almost everything is in one screen. It is the overhead, the white board, the television, the computer. It is everything anyone could need in the classroom. However, it is limited in ways. The screen is only so big, so for writing long sentences or doing math equations it poses some problems. One of the lesson plans I wrote in the past involved the "Plot Roller coaster" and I felt that if I could use the white board to draw different things and highlight certain areas, the lesson would have been improved.

For English, I feel like it is difficult to get creative on the Smartboard. It was nice to be able to highlight and circle things with different colors not limited to the number of markers I have. It was also nice because it allows for more creativity. I love the split screen feature. That would come in handy when comparing and contrasting writing styles. Overall, I feel like the Smartboard is better suited in elementary classrooms, but I can see the benefit for secondary as well.