Ch. 8 Reflection - Bryan Pechtl

I found this chapter to be most helpful, especially pages 168-172, where the authors discuss the various stages of multimedia design process. I had my 11^th grade class last year record oral histories of people that lived through the Great Depression, a first-time project, and I found that the ideas of ‘preproduction’ given in the book could have helped me instruct my students last year. This year, my project(s) include finishing editing those interviews and conducting fresh interviews with veterans. It will be important for students to understand how important the planning phase really is, from planning questions to planning how to shoot the video with the subject and the questions involved.

To integrate the tech in my classroom, I have been working with my local county museum trying to figure out different projects that we can work on that will benefit my students and the museum, which has limited funds but does an outstanding job at preserving local history. I wrote a grant for the museum to purchase a computer and digital camcorder to record oral histories, and I just received word that it came through. Not it’s time to use the equipment. As mentioned above, my juniors this year will interview local veterans from World War II to the present wars in Iraq & Afghanistan.

My only concern is the technology. It is important to have quality products for the students to use or they can quickly become frustrated. It’s one of the reasons that I wrote the grant. I wanted to get a computer that will allow the students a thoroughly fast computer to edit their documentaries instead of working with a lethargic computer that was up to date five years ago. The cost of good equipment and the amount of equipment needed to complete the work in a timely manner will also be a challenge. Due to limited computers and cameras, I’m going to have to stretch my assignment for a few months to give students time to complete it properly.

Ch. 7 Reflection - Bryan Pechtl

The database portion of this chapter intrigued me most because I’m so unfamiliar with it. In my previous professional life, I could depend on other people to create database applications for me, but now, if I want one, I have to do it myself. I found it interesting that the text discussed that even though a database has what appears like ‘cells’ in a spreadsheet, they don’t function in the same manner. This is an important distinction to make to students when teaching the lesson.

Integrating Technology: My Junior history class is going to be helping the local veterans create a list of veterans for our county. We do have Microsoft Office 2007 on our computers, which allows us to create a spreadsheet and import the information into Microsoft Access, the database program. This will allow us to create a searchable database for such fields as ‘branch served’ or ‘medals awarded’ or something along those lines. We will coordinate this with a local veterans group to see what information they want.

Concern: The amount of time to delve into database instruction could get overwhelming quite quickly if the lesson is planned quite well. To be sure that students have a useful database, the information must be input in a manner that is consistent, otherwise the information is useless. Some schools have classes dedicated to database programs, so the idea of having the students gaining a useful, working knowledge in one or two lessons is somewhat limited.

Cathy Ziebarth Week 6 Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Week 6 Learning with and about the Internet and Databases

Due to the potential danger, the social, ethical and human issues section of this chapter is of great importance. We teach kids safety throughout their life, but we may fall short when it comes to addressing the potential dangers the Internet could hold. Kids feel invincible and believe they are protected while on line and may unwittingly give out personal information. Parents may be intimidated by chat room lingo, the technology or social networking. Perhaps television shows such as Catch a Predator have created more awareness of the seriousness of this issue, but we cannot become complacent. I believe if we have students in front of computers and allow them access to the internet we are obligated to teach them internet safety, and be constantly aware of where they are going on the Internet. Observation software such as Synchroneyes helps a great deal to monitor student work. We must talk to students about Internet etiquette and classroom expectations. Schools must have an Internet policy that will ensure student safety.

I have explored various Internet safety programs and settled upon an iSafe program because of its high standards, law enforcement and educational endorsements, no nonsense approach, and appropriate grade level presentations. Previously the program was free, but there is now a fee to use the materials. I have requested that our school purchase the program-we are going to use funds from a Drug Free Grant. I did go through the process of becoming a certified iSafe instructor, but I don’t have access to all the students in our school, so we are going to use the program in the health classes so all students are exposed. iSafe also addresses cyberbullying and frequently updates their lesson plans and videos.

My concern is that kids are growing up so fast. I know that has probably been said with every generation, but there is so much potential for harm-through unsupervised chat rooms, peer cyberbullying, pictures and information posted on social networking sites-that never goes away. I believe technology has huge benefits and is absolutely necessary in the classroom, but I worry about the potential dangers for our students.

Cathy Ziebarth Week 6 Chapter 8

Multimedia and Media Literacy
The multimedia design process is much like the process we teach students when tackling a problem or writing a story. The preproduction phase involves the planning-what are the key ideas. Students should have the opportunity to identify individual thoughts first before proceeding to small group discussion. If students write their ideas, all students are then able to share. Small groups can then be formed to clarify and cumulate ideas. The whole group can then solidify and articulate the key ideas. Storyboards are a great tool to put the ideas on paper. An introduction, script to expand the ideas, and a conclusion shows that the ideas have been communicated-much the same as writing a story, but now students get to use multimedia. The production phase typically engages students even more. Students should plan for extra footage before and after the desired action. Filming can be corrected using movie software. The postproduction phase involves previewing, critiquing and distributing. Previewing involves analyzing and planning for the presentation introduction, lighting and sound. The decision must also be made about format and how the movie will be used.

I see tremendous potential for multimedia in the classroom. Students in my class could do a movie presentation to introduce incoming 6th graders to the middle school. It could include student and teacher interviews about things to look forward to, address concerns or questions. They could talk about after school activities and some of the differences between elementary and middle school. We could post it on our web site and make it available to parents or people thinking about moving to the area.

My concern and reason I have not tackled a movie project is my own lack of knowledge and experience. I have tried to learn a couple different programs and found it to be time consuming and at times difficult. We don’t have a lot of equipment, and I wonder how to involve an entire class in a project, keep it meaningful and keep them all on task.

Chapter 8 Reflection By Jamie Pool

After reading Chapter 8 Multimedia and Media Literacy, I was very excited because I have become very interested in teaching literacy. One of the multimedia authoring tools, concept mapping, is a tool that I would like to use more in my classroom. I use it on my SMART board, but I would like to have my students create concepts maps so they can better understand their own thinking and organization. This month in third grade, we have been working on summarization and this is just a very hard concept for my students to understand. I tried having them write down the main idea and three supporting details when they are summarizing a story, but it is still challenging. I think if I were to have them draw a picture of the main idea and have them connect each supporting detail to the main idea, they may understand the idea better. Part of their problem is they have a hard time organizing their thoughts. I know that I am a visual learner, so I think that I may try this idea and see if it helps them organize their thoughts before writing.

Another idea that i likes in this chapter is creating a story board. I did a little research on this last week, but it was good to get some more ideas. Creating a story board for the end of the year, would be fun. Another idea that goes with Chapter 7 is creating a story board for pen pals. They would love this. We could create a story of our school so students in other countries could learn about our school. Again, this would be a great activity for the end of the year when CRT's are over.

An idea that I would like to use in my classroom more is concept mapping. I think many students understand better when they can sketch their ideas out. In my reading class we just finished reading Snot Stew. It would fun to have students draw a concept map of the story. I would be able to gain knowledge about their understanding.

A concern that I have for this chapter, is learning more about storyboards, so I can feel confident enough to teach my students how to create their own. Our school has a couple of classes that they instruct for educators to learn more about technology. This is a topic that I think would be worth while in teaching our students. I am going to ask if there is anyone that can teach a class or help me understand more about them.

Chapter 7 Reflection by Jamie Pool

After reading Chapter 7 The Internet and Databases, it was fun to read about the Technology link 7.2. When I was student teaching, I had the opportunity to travel across the world to Thailand to do part of my student teaching. The other part I did in Corvallis, where I currently teach 3rd grade. I taught 2nd grade in Thailand and when I came back to the states I taught 2nd grade here. While I was student teaching, both my Corvallis and Thailand students were pen pals. We kept in touch via e-mail and letters. I was able to teach a large unit about the United States to my Thai students. Each grade level chose a country to research and later presented it to the whole school. My second graders were able to choose the U.S. and were able to teach the rest of their school more about it. We focused mostly on Montana. Our pen pals from Corvallis, sent us foods that were from Montana, like the huckleberry products. They also send us pictures of each of them with their favorite foods and things to do. It was such a great experience. Then, when I returned to the states, I was able to teach my students at Corvallis about Thailand. We continued using the internet and mail to send messages. This was a great experience for both types of students. To this day I am in touch with my family in Thailand.

Last year, while I taught kindergarten it was more challenging to have pen pals, but now that I am teaching third grade, this would be an excellent way to teach my students about different cultures. I really liked the idea in the book about having each set of students read a book and compare and contrast their different opinions. It is great to have students get different ideas from places all over the world. I know when I went to Thailand, my life was changed. I came back a different person and a more inspired teacher. I hope to integrate pen pals in my curriculum again because I know what a difference it made for my students.

One concern that I have about this chapter, is the fact that some of the kids in my class can not get on the internet. I would have my students set an account so they could chat with their pen pal, but some students are not allowed to be on the internet at my school. How am I going to give this student the same opportunity that my other students are going to have?

Lore Sampson's Chapter 6 Reflection

New Learning Idea
After reading this chapter I have learned that spreadsheets can be used as an analytical tool to analyze data and display the data in a visual format such as bar graphs, line graphs and pie graphs. This chapter suggests that spreadsheets are very versatile and can be used to teach students how to think critically using data in subject areas such as social studies, science, history, language arts and mathematics. I teach second grade and I think that using a program such as Excel would be very difficult for students at this age. The chapter describes how teachers must scaffold the instruction to meet the needs of the students. It also suggests that teachers must teach students how to use this program. I agree that teachers must demonstrate to students the basic functions of a spreadsheet program in order for students to be able to use this program for the desired results. I don’t believe that spreadsheet programs such as Excel is age appropriate for early elementary students.

Idea for integration
The idea I have for integrating spreadsheets in a second grade class would be to decide on the topic we would want to collect data on and then I would enter the data in the spreadsheet program. Next we would work together as a class to analyze the data in a pie graph or bar graph.

Concern from this chapter
My concern from reading this chapter is using spreadsheet programs with elementary students. I think that spreadsheets can be temperamental especially when it comes to creating formulas. I think that when using this program with younger students it must be taught as a whole group teacher-centered lesson.

Lore Sampson's Chapter 5 Reflection

New Learning Idea
After reading Chapter 5 –Writing and Word Processing, I learned the importance of teaching students to how use word processors to enhance writing and increase communication skills. I think as an elementary teacher it is necessary to introduce students to word processors in order for them to become comfortable using a mouse, keyboard and learn all the features a word processor entails. Elementary students have the ability to click and drag the mouse but still have difficulty locating all of the keys on a keyboard due to lack of exposure. Teachers can increase elementary students keyboarding skills by giving opportunities to practice typing.


Idea for integration
The idea I have for increasing elementary students typing skills would be to have them practice using Type to Learn which is fun and interactive program that demonstrates to the student’s proper keyboard skills and location of letters on the keyboard.

Chapter concern
The concern I have after reading this chapter is being able to have access and time in the computer lab to teach my students the many ways they can use a word processor to communicate their ideas. Ideally, this process would be a lot easier if I had a LCD projector in my room as well as 3 to 4 computers that the students could have more frequent access to technology.

Alicia McEwen's Chapter 6 Reflection

New Learning Idea
I have to admit that Ii don't use spreadsheets that often with my class. I teach first grade and haven't really seen the need to integrate these into my curriculum. However, after reading chapter 6 many ideas popped into my head about how spreadsheets could be used to help my students' learning. Chapter 6 gave me the new understanding that spreadsheets can be integrated into just about every area I am currently teaching. I love the ideas of using them to track data of science experiements and using them to compare data collected from social studies issues. I learned that there is so much you can to do with spreadsheets beyond using them soley for math related purposes.
Integration Idea
In first grade our plant unit is a lot fun! We do all sorts of activities and lessons that teach the kids about plants. One common activity I do with my kids is planting sunflower seeds and watching them grow. I usually have my kids keep a daily two week journal of the changes they see happening with their plant. We record growths such as stem length and leaves. I think a great twist to this activity could be having the students choose to plant either a sunflower seed or some sort of other seed. As a class we could observe the changes as well as compare and contrast the two different seedlings and plants. I think the inclusion of a spreadsheet to track these comparisons would allow for a great learning experience. This would especially work out nicely if I had a SMARTboard or projector. However, since I don't copying the spreadsheet on a transparency and showing my kids on the overhead might be the next best thing.
My Concern
As a first grade teacher I am not sure how much I should actually be teaching my students in terms of technology. At this primary grade level I don't want to overwhelm my students. I would love to be able to learn what is necessary for me to teach at this level in terms of technology.

Alicia McEwen's Chapter 5 Reflection

Learning Point:

Chapter 5 made me realize that word processing really is a valuable tool for students to become acquanted with. It allows students to experience communication through written form in a very powerful and productive way. Students will need adequate word processing skills to perform in their future education and employment, as well as to efficiently communicate with the world around them. I think it's a great idea to teach young kids keyboarding skills and to allow them to use word processing to learn writing and communication skills.

New Idea for Integration

I love having my students engage in creative writing! My first grade class writes to their pen pals every other week and they are currently working on writing Christmas stories. They also seem to enjoy learning how to express their thoughts and ideas through writing. At this point I am having them write with pencil and paper. At this level it's important for them to develop adequate handwriting skills. They are also still learning proper sentence and grammar structure. However, later in the year I would like my students to try writing their pen pal letters and final drafts of their short stories with word processing. I have gradually been trying to allow my students to learn to manuever the keyboard by having them type their weekly spelling words. It's definately a work in progress, but I think by the end of the year they will be up for the challenge. They enjoy both expressing their thoughts and computer time so much that I think it will be a great all around learning experience.

My Concern

My concern for teaching my kids word processing skills is again, not having enough time and available computers. The school I teach at has one computer lab. We have one designated

time slot of 30 minutes per week. Another concern I have is not knowing how to accurately teach word processing skills to 1st graders. Professional development and more available time and computers would be helpful!

Jennifer Burke's Chapter 6 Reflection

1 Idea or Learning
Spreadsheets seem to be in a sense graphing, at least for the younger grades. With whole group teaching in younger grades, a teacher can utilize beginning spreadsheet concepts with concepts, such as weather observations.The M & M activity is classic and incorporates many concepts, such as color, sorting, counting, more, less, same, and graphing. I was pleasantly informed of further possibilities scaffolding upon the initial M & M exercise, like actual spreadsheets with formulas.

1 Idea for Integration
Teaching the idea for spreadsheet in early grades in more than possible. You can start the aforementioned knowledge with basic spreadsheets about such things as how many boys and girls, favorite color, and favorite animal. One of my favorite examples uses a package of candy called "Dem' Bones". Students sort, put each bone in correct square and row, then write the total at the end. Of course, we discuss how many, which had more, less, or any the same. The candy package allows the experience to be hands-on, connects to bone unit, and includes many bones such as skull, ribs, leg bone, and foot bone.

1 Concern
I have had little experience with spreadsheets. Teaching kindergarten has allowed me to escape the need to use spreadsheets as much, except for grading and assessments. I am concerned that my lack of knowledge will effect me negatively if I switch to older grades later in my career. Yes, I have learned more after reading chapter 6, but I need to actually apply to internalize. Although, the Capstone Project necessary for graduation will require use of some spreadsheet and graphing skills.

Jennifer Burke's Chapter 5 Reflection

1 Idea or Learning
Before reading this chapter, I did not think of having journal writing take place by using Word Processing. There can be a separate file for each student to go back to make new entries or add to old ones. Kindergarten entries can be whole group driven; in addition, entries can cover what is being learned, celebrations, and overall reflections. Entries can revolve around themes, standard's concepts, improvements, and celebrations. Also, I could meet with each student and create a file to discuss goals, need for improvement, and accomplishments.

1 Idea for Integration
Using Kid Pix students can create a picture and label. This will introduce the keyboard with more meaning. Also, to further address this lesson, students can draw to pictures, side by side, and discuss similarities and differences. In addition, a student can look at simple pictures with C-V-C words and type in the words, such as cat and rat.

1 Concern
Perhaps I am more old school regarding my concern. It seems to me that there is a personal connection that can be lost when people communicate ideas directly via Word Processor. Do you think most people still use paper/pencil and then utilize computer technology for storage of words? Or maybe it enhances creativity and the ability to communicate due to familiarization of technology.

Ch. 6 - Bryan Pechtl

As I read the section, I thought that they really went into great depth with some of the lessons. There was planning to the nth degree, which is amazing, but I have a hard time seeing when I would have similar time to create a similar lesson. I absolutely love Excel and use it far more than word processing software. I think it is critical for students to understand how to use this software because employers are amazed at an employee who knows how to use this program, as I’ve seen from experience. I feel that after reading the section that I’m either going to have to create some lessons or find some on the web that will help me use this program in some of my classes.

I thought that what I could do to integrate Excel into my classroom would be to graph some responses from a survey that my Sociology students took earlier in the year. We have all of the responses by class, so all we’d have to do is enter the data into spreadsheets to allow the students to learn some of the functionality of the program and allow the students to see what it does, especially when it comes to creating a graph.

Being a social studies teacher, I find that it’s a bit challenging to fit Excel into a class exercise. I think it can break up the instruction to use the program to graph certain information, but it seems a bit of a novelty in some sense. That being said, I could see where introducing the program at younger grade levels like my seventh and eighth graders will encourage them to use it later on for other projects.

Dave Neal. Week Five. Chapter Six, Spreadsheets Review.

Dave Neal. Week Five. Chapter Six, Spreadsheets Review.
One idea or learning from your reading that you are of interest to you:
The M&M activity is going to be a main topic for this chapters post. This activity both taught me quite a bit about excel spreadsheets and gave me a new idea for integrating technology into my classroom. Excel has always intimidated me. I am not sure if it was the formulas, or how it magically creates charts, line graphs, and pie graphs with a click. Due to the unknown, I have always used excel at a minimum level. This simple activity (used with sixth graders) taught me quite a bit about the functions of Excel.

One new idea for integrating technology for student learning in your own classroom/content area:
Once again, the M&M activity really struck me as a fantastic idea. I really enjoyed the hands-on demonstration using 3x5 note cards and not even using the computer until a firm understanding of the layout and vocabulary had been laid out. The lesson provides a great way for all of the kids to truly understand the organization of columns and rows along with the vocabulary and uses of things such as values, labels, cells, formula, SUM, and AVERAGE. I feel that this lesson is a must for my kids to do before we sit down and tackle Excel.

What is your one main concern about integrating technology for student learning after reading this chapter?
I suppose that my main concern after reading this chapter is that my students may be intimidated by the complexity of Excel at face value. I know that Excel was not introduced to me in a proper manner, instead it was thrown at me and I was overwhelmed. The formulas, numbers, and “magic” operations was simply too much for me to comprehend as simple operations. I feel that it is important to present Excel slowly, and methodically. Again, the M&M activity seems like a great way to present Excel to my students. I think I just figured out what tech-lesson to present to my students for my tech-lesson project.

Dave Neal. Week Five. Chapter Five, Writing and Word Processing Review.

Dave Neal. Week Five. Chapter Five, Writing and Word Processing Review.
One idea or learning from your reading that you are of interest to you:
I really like the idea of “five minutes of monitors-off writing”. I tend to have my students do the majority (aka...all) of their brainstorming using a paper/pencil method with storyboards and other worksheets. I would be interested in using technology for brainstorming and this idea of “five minutes of monitors-off writing”. I know that this would be an exciting activity for the students. I can just imagine the kids giggling during the first session. It would also provide a great opportunity to work on keyboarding skills. The key here (for me) would be to create a wide variety of brainstorming techniques, because I am sure that the kids would get burned out if this becomes a regular activity.

One new idea for integrating technology for student learning in your own classroom/content area:
Reading about the revising and editing made me think about the ‘track changes’ feature of Microsoft Word. I am not sure if this is a new program that Microsoft introduced in the past few years or if I am just behind the times. In order to use this, I would require that all of my students use Word to create their papers. Again, my students like to mix things up and this program would be an exciting new way for them to edit their peer’s papers. I believe that this program would encourage my student’s to look deeper into the papers that they are editing...just so they could see their comments on the side bar.

What is your one main concern about integrating technology for student learning after reading this chapter?
My main concern with implementing the use of word processing in my classroom is the varying keyboarding skills of fifth graders. Each week I assign a 1-2 page paper, which the students have one week to complete. Throughout the week, we work on brainstorming activities, create rough drafts, edit, and complete final drafts. I let students decide whether or not to type them. I am afraid that if I required all students to type them on a word processing program, that some students would be pecking away at their first paragraph, while others would be finishing their second page with ease.

Chapter 6 Reflection by Jamie Pool

After reading chapter six: Spreadsheets, I am very eager to have my students create some sort of graph using the computer when we approach our graphing unit. There was so much useful information it was hard to pick one idea. However, some of the lessons and ideas in this chapter seemed a bit overwhelming because it has been such a long time since I have used a spreadsheet for graphing. When I was in college I used spreadsheets to create a budget for the Forest Service, but that was such a long time ago. After I finished reading I went into excel and played around with it to see what I knew and if it is possible to have third graders complete a graphing assignment through a spreadsheet. I thought the idea about using spreadsheets for problem solving was very interesting. I have a hard time using critical thinking skills to find more than one way to extend the problem. While teaching third grade, this is a very important task that I want my student to understand.

There are a couple of ideas that I would like to implement in my classroom. One of them is using a spreadsheet for checking –in before school. I created a check-in with my SMART board, but I find myself rarely using it. It had a picture of each student and they pulled a talking bubble up to their picture that said yes, hot lunch, or no thank you. I think it was just too crowded and I didn’t find it beneficial. I think I am going to create a graph using a spreadsheet so when students come in they graph whether they are having hot or cold lunch. We could use this information to talk about greater than, less than, and equal. Then students could visualize how many kids are having hot or cold lunch. Another idea I would like to incorporate in my classroom when we get to the graphing unit is graphing colored objects on the computer. I know my students would just love this activity. There are so many different ways to integrate graphing with technology and I hope to use this tool more often.

My only concern for using spreadsheets is my own knowledge. I don’t feel that I am good enough to teach a graphing lesson using the computer. I feel that I need to take more professional development classes to help with confidence in teaching this area.

Chapter 5 Reflection by Jamie Pool

As I was reading chapter five: Writing and Word Processing, I was interested in the information about using word processing as a productivity tool. I believe it is also very important to use a variety of formats sp students can have a wide range of choice when it comes to technology. Completing an assignment in many different formats helps students build upon problem solving and critical thinking skills.
The activity about the metric units is a great way to get students engaged in learning about inches, feet, and yards. Having each student create their own table and inputting the information is a great way get students to begin to understand a variety of ways to complete an assignment. I really liked how each student imputed their information and then passed it on to a friend so the friend could see how their table was different then the one they created. This would be a great lesson for third grade.
My main concern is having enough time in the computer lab to complete the assignment. Since I only have access to the computer lab once a week what would the best solution be? I think this activity might take more than an hour especially for third grade students.

Ch. 5 Reflection - Bryan Pechtl

Ch. 5 Reflection
What interested me most about this section dealt with the social and ethical issues of using technology, particularly on page 87 with it discussed the ability to copy and paste. Students are only too willing to copy and paste, it seems, to get the assignment completed. They don’t necessarily see the assignment so much as a learning experience as much as something to get done and out of the way. The book discusses how it is our job as teachers to “guide your students in understanding the difference between paraphrasing and plagiarizing.” It continues that the focus needs to be on the writing process in an effort to minimize plagiarizing.
An idea to integrate this material into the classroom is to do as the book says: focus on the writing process. I recently did this with my eighth graders as we completed a webquest on the Boston Tea Party. We did the rough draft, then we did two peer reviews to enhance readability. Only then did the students get to hand in their paper for grading. Students were also graded on their efforts to assist their peers with constructive criticism.
One challenge about technology integration would have to be working with those who struggle with any writing assignment. I have a number of lower-level students and they struggle to understand reading a two sentence paragraph, much less the concept of paraphrasing. One student does simply cut and paste and we go round and round. Even when I tell that student I really want his words, he still borrows heavily from other’s work. The shift from seeing writing assignments as a learning exercise rather than an assignment to simply get done is at times daunting.

Michael Wagner's Chapter 13 Post

Chapter 13
The big thing that hit me about this chapter was that traditional grading has to change. It is easier to assess by traditional testing but there is little learning that occurs from the testing. My subject area is not conducive to traditional testing, not that it hasn’t been done, but the assessment techniques talked about in the chapter seem to be more productive. Projects and presentations have always been a regular part of Technology and Engineering education and its predecessors. These techniques show if the student has internalized the concept. If I have a student that has put little effort into their design portfolio or the designs included in it, I can refer them back to the rubric and they can basically tell me what their grade will be. Much of the time they will want to go back and redesign. In addition, when parents ask about a student’s grade you can have them look at the scoring guide and let them make the same conclusion. The chapter brought up some great ideas on grading these assessments through the use of rubrics.
What I would like to take back to the classroom
I was impressed with the Electronic Portfolio Scoring Guide, (Figure 13.6) as it seemed very objective. In some of my rubrics I know I leave too much room for my judgment. This could be disputable whereas if it is completely objective there is no room for students to misconstrue the grading. The grading rubrics through www.rubistar.org are good for this. Since many of the premade rubrics are not useful with my subject area I change it drastically, which is another nice feature of rubistar.
Concerns
The technology I would like to know more about is to have some way for students to organize electronic portfolios. This is a time issue, again, but I want to find a way for students to gauge their progress and know how they will be graded.

Jennifer Atkinson, Chapter 13 Reflection

Idea or learning
Chapter 13, Assessing Learning with Technology, was a good review for me, since I just finished an assessment class. From the reading, I am taking the importance of differentiating assessment. Different concepts and units require a different type of assessment method. In addition, just like students have varying learning styles, they may feel more comfortable with a variety of assessment strategies as well. As a teacher, one needs to make sure the assessment is measuring what the students know, not what they can make good guesses on. An idea that struck me was that “teachers must prepare for assessment as seriously and consciously as they do for instruction” (Niess, Lee, Kajder, 2007, p. 284). By putting in time and effort on the assessment piece, it should be reliable and worthwhile, giving the teacher data they can use to determine the next step.

New idea for integrating technology
There are many types of formative and summative assessments. One type of assessment method I would like to utilize more is performance-based assessment, which could be done using technology. According to the text, “performance-based assessments allow direct observation of what students know and are able to do” (p. 288). This is an alternative assessment to paper and pencil, but teachers can still measure if students are understanding the concepts. I feel that paper and pencil tasks are over done sometimes. My students would benefit and enjoy having more performance-based assessments.

Concern
My concern is putting all these great assessment ideas into practice. I know it is important to pretest, but I do not currently pretest in all my subject areas. I pretest in spelling and math, but that is it. Pretesting has a lot of benefits and gives the teacher a view of what students already know. By pretesting, teachers can direct and differentiate their instruction based on the needs of their students. Another great assessment tool is rubrics. I frequently use rubrics in writing, but not a lot in other subjects. My students are responding to the rubrics, so I need to be using them in other areas as well.

Jennifer Burke Chapter 13

1 Idea or Learning
It is quite magnificent how technology has changed and evolved to determine how our world works. Long ago, communication took place verbally and through pictographs. Communication then evolved to written papers and letters. Today, many people use their computers, internet and phone to do all the communicating. Education has changed too; education is more student-centered with an emphasis on technology and real-life application. This month my students are learning about pilgrims and we are discussing how life has changed. In some ways it is unbelievable how different times are compared to back then. Not only is it difficult for my kindergartens to grasp these major changes, I feel disconnected from the reality that life was so challenging and without all of our current conveniences. Even assessments have moved toward being technology based. Many teachers have websites for the parents to check for curriculum, plans, etc. For older students and adults, tests are taken on computers.
1 New Idea for Integrating Technology
Next week, I plan to use www.starfall during our computer time and as a whole class experience the turkey activity offered. When we are done, we will write a whole class story and create hand print turkeys for the border. This lesson will incorporate many subjects and should be engaging for the kindergarteners.
1 Concern
The concern that surfaced after reading chapter 13 deals with time and education. I sincerely feel that I do not have enough time to teach all the curriculum in an optimally way as is. Even in kindergarten we have a plethora of material to cover. With the aforementioned in mind, I understand that I need to integrate technology into what I am already doing, but feel that I need more experience and education to do so. Hopefully, this class will continue to guide me successfully toward teaching technology in and meaningful manner.