Nearing the End...

I can't believe I'm saying this, but we've come to the point where our classes are beginning to wrap up and depending on your classes, assignments/tests are piled high. Only three more weeks and finals will be here! Crazy, isn't it? I've learned a lot in the class, much more than I ever thought I would. My goal is to be able to remember most everything I've learned (...hopefully) and be able to apply it in my own classroom within the next few years. I've been doing some thinking recently, and although my goal at the beginning of this year was to eventually become a middle/high school science teacher, I think I might change my major. I'm thinking more along the lines of Family & Consumer Sciences Education. Basically, home ec teacher. I did a little more research on it though, and it turns out that the major actually prepares you for a lot more than just becoming a home ec teacher. From the major description online, it says that students are prepared for a job in the field of education, business, and marketing. Sounds good to me! I was looking for something that gave me a little bit more flexibility, in case I got into my own classroom and simply couldn't take it (hopefully not!). So that's my goal... for now. We'll see where it goes! Kudos to Valerie for helping me out so much with my new-found major, haha.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this class. Like I said before, I learned so much more than I thought I would. Initially, I thought this class was simply going to be a review of what I already knew and that I'd probably get bored. This is probably the only class I can get up at 6:30am for, and stay interested until 10:45am. I love how everything we learned had direct application in the classroom. I don't feel like anything we went over was a waste. One of my favorite things that Mr. Gentile did was share little bits of advice for other aspects of being a teacher than just technology alone. Such as how to ask the class questions, and get a general feel for how the class wants to do an activity/learns best. I never dreaded coming to class and thoroughly enjoyed everything he had to say. When I found out that it was only his second semester teaching this class, I was pretty surprised. From the way he handled things, it seemed like he'd been doing it forever. I'm not sure that I would change anything about the class (other than it being at 8am! haha). I think things went very well within the class as long as proper effort was put in by the student.

Chapter 8: Security Issues, Ethics, and Emerging Technologies in Education

Chapter 8 talks about many things such as viruses, computer security, safe computing tips, hardware and software theft, backing things up, and computer ethics of today. With so much being done on computers today, it is a bit scary to think of all that could possibly go wrong with your computer and all the information you put into it. Chapter 8 tells us that a virus is "a potentially damaging computer program designed to affect your computer negatively without your knowledge or permission by altering the way it works." Most people are familiar with viruses, but may not know that they can sometimes be harmless, as the book tells us. We are given some helpful "safe computing tips" on page 473 that can help keep users like us safe on our computers. Examples of these include purchasing and installing reliable anti-virus software, scanning all removable media, and turning off email preview. Something else the Chapter 8 discusses in detail is computer ethics. It gives a great breakdown of computer ethics for educators that help clear up any misconceptions people may have. It tells us that computer ethics are the guidelines that govern the use of computers and information systems. The book also discusses helpful tools such as class websites. It reminds teachers and students to seek and attain proper permission before using material from someone else's works and putting it on his or her own page.

Since my last posting, we worked on our web pages. Although it took a bit of trial and error, I feel that I got a pretty good grasp on completing a generic website with a template. Registering with a free site (though it has ads...) allowed us to put together a quick and organized site that is easily edited whenever needed. As a teacher, I see myself using a website daily; especially for students who may be absent or need some further explain once they arrive home and can no longer ask me questions. I see it as a great way to post review material and any information that parents may like to know as well.

This past week (as we all know) was Spring Break. Although I loved the break, it almost felt like a tease of summer followed by a quick slap back to reality. Sigh... It's pretty hard to get back in the "school mode." Oh well, only four more weeks of classes, then finals! Summer couldn't come quick enough! Something interesting, and a bit scary that I found out about is how people are putting viruses on things such as iPods, digital picture frames, and GPS's before they even hit store shelves. Talk about scary! Turns out they're getting the viruses into the factories and mass producing their virus just as quickly as their victim product. Anyway, here's the website if anyone wants to read more about it: cnn.com

Chapter 6: Technology, Digital Media, and Curriculum Integration

This chapter, titled "Technology, Digital Media, and Curriculum Integration," explains to us ways in which we can integrate technology and other digital media into our classrooms. As a student growing up in the "age of computers" (as I like to think of it, ha.) I have seen first hand the positive effects that the everyday presence of technology can have on students. Although some people are uncomfortable integrating such things in their classrooms, I feel that the benefits highly outweigh the negative effects this could have. Chapter 6 tells us that the best way for curriculum integration is to put the technology into the hands of trained teachers, make it easily accessible, and let them decide how best to use it at the point of instruction in their classrooms. I couldn't agree with this more. I think that if you have a teacher that is comfortable with integrating a lot of technology into his or her classroom the way that he or she wants to, then they are going to get a lot of positive feedback from their students. The book also tells us that the main goal of teaching strategies is to provide a consistent application of technology tools to support instructional curriculum areas. It is also important to give every student the opportunity to work with computers and related technologies. I believe that the more each student is exposed to these technologies, the greater learning capacity they will have for the greater technology of the future. Something else that I like that the chapter discussed was the ASSURE model. This is an instructional model used by educators to develop technology-enriched lessons. It tells us to 1) analyze teh learner, 2) state objectives, 3) select methods, media, and materials, 4) utilize methods, media, and materials, 5) require learner participation, and 6) evaluate and revise. I think that this would be a very helpful, effective tool when developing instructional lessons in the classroom.

Some new skills that I have acquired since my last posting are in Power Point, for the most part. I think I learned most of my new skills by simply playing around with different buttons and seeing what happened. Although it may not be the most professional and efficient manner, I did in fact learn a lot of new things that I don't think I would have learned had I not had an assignment like the Linear Power Point. I could see myself using this a lot in my classroom, especially since I hope to teach science. I'm hoping to even save presentation that I created for this assignment and use it for a possible chapter on astronomy!

Last Friday I did some of my service learning at the Florida State University Schools (both middle school and high school). During one of the algebra/geometry classes that I observed, the teacher utilized a piece of equipment that I had read about in our of our previous chapters, the Tablet PC. He hooked it up to his laptop and used it like an over head projector. Instead of having to erase the transparencies and get new ones, he simply opened up a new document on the computer while he saved the one he just worked out. I thought this was a very efficient and effective way to integrate technology. At times, he would allow the students to show their work on the Tablet PC, which helped maintain their interest throughout the class. It was really great to see something that I've been reading about used in action!