101 ways to use a digital camera

This is my kind of article because it is straightforward: gets right to the point! Some of the ideas I had thought of or heard of before, but there were also a few I was excited about because I would have never thought of them myself. I am going to repeat some of the ideas and say why I like them.

The first one that I really liked was the ideas of taking pictures for passports. What a fun addition to a travel unit! I can recall in sixth grade having to do country reports. I want to be a sixth grade teacher, I think it would be so fun to pretend like you were traveling to the country that was being presented! Of course you would have to have a passport for this. It also provides for a good lead into a discussion about immigration and why we have passports.

I also really liked the idea of letting students take the camera home to take pictures of family events and traditions. That would really make for something interesting to use during a show and tell or a topic for morning meetings. It also demonstrated trust between the teacher and the students because letting the student take equipment home requires a lot of responsibility. I think it would give them a sense of importance and value as well.

I liked the idea of taking surprise photos of students being good and sending an email to the parents. Usually parents hear from the teacher when their child is acting up, what a pleasant surprise it would be to get an email from the teacher with your child demonstrating good behavior that you could actually see! It would certainly make their day and that child is sure to repeat the behavior!

The zoomed in photo makes for a good game. You could use the idea in your lessons as well. It would be a much more interesting way to introduce a new topic rather than just saying what it is. You could zoom in on the photo and zoom out further and further until the students guess accurately.

I laughed at the idea of sending the kids a postcard of the teacher over the summer. It would be kind of funny if the teacher was making a stern face with a quote like “remember to read this summer” or something like that.

I really liked all the ideas, in fact, I printed the article to put in my “teaching ideas” book so I don’t forget them!

My Beliefs

To sum it all up, I believe technology plays into the theory of "hands on" learning. It is just another tool to reach more of the learners. Especially in this age of technology. It is clear that I have to keep up with the technology trends by making myself more acquainted with the technology I currently have access to, and the technology that is in the coming horizon. I know I already mentioned the video I found on teachertube called Digital Learners, but it just sums it up so nicely. Children today use more technology then us old people, if you cant beat em...join em!

The upcoming generation is getting whatever they want, whenever they want, because it is at their fingertips! Lets make sure we supply a real, rich, and relevant education to live up to their high expectations!

Lessons Learned

Though it seems that lately I spend more time with my computer than I do with real people, I hardly know my computer at all and what it is capable of! It is clear that the generation that I will be teaching will be the age of the digital learners!


If you refer back to my post on Sept 28th that really demonstrates the future of technology regarding children. And they have their own ideas of what the future holds for them! A common expectation in the Millennial article was a pocket size computer that had multifunctional abilities beyond that of a computer. Apparently, there is also a high demand for "robot teachers" so you could learn more and "not get yelled at as often". Gee...I hope I'm not out of the job in ten years!
Something that got me thinking was the possibility of holograms. I am suddenly picturing myself in a holographic classroom similar to the hologram room of the Star Ship Enterprise! It almost seems impossible (especially since it was also found on a technology wish list that also included a time machine). If it were impossible one of these days to be able to draw on holographic images as a learning resource, what a great tool that would be!

I do want to mention the video of the high school that had an impressive array of technology integration. These kids were doing really great hands on activities like collecting water samples in the river and using technology to test their quality. I was also impressed with the idea of physics and math connections with their daily activities such as cheer-leading and music. I loved the idea that the math class was calculating the physical fitness of the cheer-leading team. It was a great example to schools everywhere how beneficial and enriching technology can be.

Strenghts and Weaknesses

It would appear that I have many "weaknesses" in the realm of computers and technology. I can install and navigate software with the best of them by following the "dummy" prompts that are enclosed in a nice little box labeled "next", but if the process is clicker-user unfriendly, I am at a loss! And I admit that I do not understand some of the basic computer technology terms. Why in the world would they relate computer terms to food anyway? You got your "cookies" and "bites" (bytes), I mean, that's just asking for trouble anyway! In addition to the computer and technology terms that I do not understand, the copyright laws scare me. Nowadays, you have to walk on egg shells to use any media material without infringing on some law. I can understand why some teachers opt not to use it at all.

The following picture was found on google images


With all the tricks that I do not know, there are a few things that I do know. And I do come from a generation that is supposed to be pretty tech savvy. I am familiar enough with most programs to be able to figure out how to use them with a little instruction or some good ole' experimentation. For example, I had no idea how to make a digital story, but after I played around on Windows Movie Maker, I was able to figure out how to incorporate voice, music, cool transitions, and ultimately put together a pretty decent story.

It is clear that I need to further my education to become more aligned with the Technology standards. To start, I found a podcast called "Technology for teachers" that I subscribed to. I also found a great website that offers web tutorials at www.arps.org/resources. I think another thing that I can ultimately do to better the technology use in my classroom....is marry a "computer geek" and force him to help me! J/K (kinda) :)

WebQuest

I feel a little frazzled about the web quest. It seems like a huge task that I hope my group can tackle. We designated tasks but it just seems like something is missing. I suppose we we learn how to out it all together tomorrow in class. It just seems strange to me that anyone, anywhere can out anything they want online. I remember when teachers used to warn us about making sure our online sources were credible. Being as naive as I once was I just couldn't understand that. Wasn't there some sort of filtering process that allows people to publish only the good stuff online? And don't you have to pay for web space? At least, thats what I used to think.

Well, as myspace, facebook, and blogger popped up I realized that cyberspace does not have a limited capacity it seems, and any Tom, Dick or Harry can post and publish anything they want and call it credible.


All I can say is, cyber-spacers beware, because cohort 10-2b is about to make its way to the web!

On an unrelated side note, the number rating system (1-5) has become some what of a favorite line of the class, a funny accusation if you will. We are constantly warning each other to stop being such a "5". Not a lot of "1"s get tossed about, I guess this seems appropriate as Axel Ramirez refers to us as "over-achieving freaks".

Tecnology Reflection

Reflection:

1. It seemed odd to me that the computer specialist was also the reading specialist. Due to this factor, the computer lab was not available for half of the day. It would be ideal for there to be a full time computer specialist on staff in addition to a full time reading specialist.

2. I also learned a lot about the resources that are available to specific classrooms such as smart boards and sound systems with microphones. I anticipate then when I am looking for a job I will see what specific technology is available in the classroom I will teach in because apparently, it can differ from classroom to classroom, even in the same school.
3. It also became apparent that just because there is a computer lab, does not mean it will be staffed full time and my class may only have limited time with the technology expert so I should be educated enough to be able to teach skills myself. The smart board thing looks kind of tricky and complicated, I will need to learn how to use it. I had never even heard of it prior to this experience!

Journal: Field Work final lesson

On Thursday Lori and I wrapped up our unit on Native American Legends. After two weeks of having the students write their own "Legends" we were so excited to have them share their storied with each other! We came up with the idea of having a "campfire" since that is traditionally how legends are shared. We pretended to camp out in the classroom with fall leaves spread strewn across the carpet with an ingenious simulated campfire that Lori had concocted out of red paper, firewood, and flashlights. The students enjoyed some trail mix while listening to each other read their tales. After all was shared we had a grand finale of performing a rain dance. It went great! My one regret was having to keep reminding the students to speak up, and even then some of their mumblings were hard to decipher. I was soon wishing I had brought some sort of portable karaoke system so all the students could be heard.

Later when I was reflecting on how the lesson went with Lori and Mrs. Sloan, I told them that I wished I had brought a microphone system. Mrs. Sloan told us that some of the newer classrooms in the school and other schools had a built in sound system with a microphone!

What!? What brilliant person thought of this!? And why is it fair that only newer classrooms could enjoy the benefits of this new luxury? It didn't seem fair to me that in order for Mrs. Sloan to have a microphone system she would have to use her small amount of money she receives at the beginning of the year for various supplies to pay for it. I think that if a district decides to implement a new technology in a school than all the classrooms should get equal fair share, not just newer classrooms....or schools for that matter. It seems there are so many new schools popping up around the valley with bigger and better toys, but what is being done to improve the current state of the older schools? Not much it seems, and any attention these older schools are getting is not equal. Having only a few classrooms with a new sound system demonstrated that.