Tuesday, June 29, 2010
New Discoveries-
So today I spent some time looking at two social networking websites for classrooms. I looked at www.edmundo.com and www.twiducate.com. As a 4th grade teacher I'm not too sure how I could use this in my classroom? We only get a computer lab time slot of 45 minutes and only once a week. What can I do in that time or what SHOULD I do with these sights? About 1/2 of that computer lab time is used to enter weekly tests and such. What can I use these sights for? I'm stumped, but I would love to have some ideas.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Wow!
Ok...so who's bright idea was it to take 3 science classes at the same time??? Oh yah...that was me! Oops! I was thinking that this would be a piece of cake because I have the summer off and can work on my classes online during the day! All I have to say is YIKES!!! They all seem to be overloading on me right now and I need to catch my breath!
So after reading the Science and Literacy: Tools for Life article for one of my science classes I am feeling pretty darn good about myself as a teacher and very proud of my school district. I feel that we do a very good job aligning our science and literacy curriculums! It is so important that we think of reading and science on the same level. If you do not have the concrete literacy skills then how can you expect to understand anything in science. Science is ever-changing and there is a lot of reading and research involved in this area. Another thing that is important is that you need to be able to connect what you are reading with your everyday life. If you or your student aren't able to connect the information to your life and have some meaning out of it it will not remain in your long term memory. Students need to have a compelling reason to read, write, listen, and speak, and meaningful science content offers just that. We are always pushing our students to be self-motivating problem posers and problem solvers and when you have a strong combination of literacy expectations in the science classroom you will see huge success!
So after reading the Science and Literacy: Tools for Life article for one of my science classes I am feeling pretty darn good about myself as a teacher and very proud of my school district. I feel that we do a very good job aligning our science and literacy curriculums! It is so important that we think of reading and science on the same level. If you do not have the concrete literacy skills then how can you expect to understand anything in science. Science is ever-changing and there is a lot of reading and research involved in this area. Another thing that is important is that you need to be able to connect what you are reading with your everyday life. If you or your student aren't able to connect the information to your life and have some meaning out of it it will not remain in your long term memory. Students need to have a compelling reason to read, write, listen, and speak, and meaningful science content offers just that. We are always pushing our students to be self-motivating problem posers and problem solvers and when you have a strong combination of literacy expectations in the science classroom you will see huge success!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Guiding Principles for Technology
As part of our class we are to write about a few guiding principles for the use of technology we would have in our classrooms. We read the article Evaluating Technology Use in the Classroom by Jeff Utecht and he talked about the questions and evaluator should have when using technology in the classroom:
1. Is the technology being used just because it's there?
2. Is the technology allowing students/teachers to do Old Things in Old Ways?
3. Is the technology allowing students/teachers to do Old Things in New Ways?
4. Is the technology creating new and different learning experiences for the students?
My guiding principles for my classroom:
I don't want students to use technology JUST because it's there, but YES, use it because it's there! I know that doesn't really make sense, but let me explain. I don't want students to just automatically use the computer and not have to use their own imaginations or problem solving skills. If they just jump onto a computer and not use their brains then they will be totally dependent on technology just cause it's there. I believe they should use it as a tool and if it is there...yes...use it as a tool to help go above and beyond with their projects/assignments. Why would you do old things old ways if you were using technology...it's the present time my friends. If the old ways worked, then fine, but why not use technology to expand and take it further. You are in the drivers seat and I like to do old things new ways! There are many things that need to be taught for students to be able to use the web safely and I believe that those need to be explicitly taught. I don't ever want the technology to be overbearing and take over the classroom. The content is the most important thing being taught in the classroom and the technology is just a piece to the whole puzzle...a tool. But, why not use it to provide new levels and new experiences in the classroom? If it's used right...integrated as a tool...then there is a whole other world of challenges out there...and it's our job as educators to bring them to these challenges and help them succeed.
1. Is the technology being used just because it's there?
2. Is the technology allowing students/teachers to do Old Things in Old Ways?
3. Is the technology allowing students/teachers to do Old Things in New Ways?
4. Is the technology creating new and different learning experiences for the students?
My guiding principles for my classroom:
I don't want students to use technology JUST because it's there, but YES, use it because it's there! I know that doesn't really make sense, but let me explain. I don't want students to just automatically use the computer and not have to use their own imaginations or problem solving skills. If they just jump onto a computer and not use their brains then they will be totally dependent on technology just cause it's there. I believe they should use it as a tool and if it is there...yes...use it as a tool to help go above and beyond with their projects/assignments. Why would you do old things old ways if you were using technology...it's the present time my friends. If the old ways worked, then fine, but why not use technology to expand and take it further. You are in the drivers seat and I like to do old things new ways! There are many things that need to be taught for students to be able to use the web safely and I believe that those need to be explicitly taught. I don't ever want the technology to be overbearing and take over the classroom. The content is the most important thing being taught in the classroom and the technology is just a piece to the whole puzzle...a tool. But, why not use it to provide new levels and new experiences in the classroom? If it's used right...integrated as a tool...then there is a whole other world of challenges out there...and it's our job as educators to bring them to these challenges and help them succeed.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Introduction
Hi Everyone! I am Carrie Clement and I am a 4th grade teacher. My purpose for this blog is to communicate with other teachers and gain important and crucial knowledge to bring back and incorportate into my classroom. This is my first blog and I am very interested on seeing how it works. I am just at the starting stage so bear with me as this is a work in progress. I am anxious to learn new ways to incorporate science and technology into my classroom...so here I am. Did I mention that I am doing this for a college class? I am on my way to achieving my Master's degree in Science Education. That's the reason behind the title of my blog. GO SCIENCE! This should be a fun learning experience so here it goes!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
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