Educational Philosophy

Click here to view a video detailing my educational philosophy.

The creation of this video was a requirement for the class, Integratoin of Tool Software.

Video Presentation

This is a summary of my teaching habits which were observed in a video taken of me presenting a PowerPoint of an energy conservation project I did on ways to change your driving habits in order to improve your gas mileage. It was presented to the 8th grade class which I'm doing my student teaching in.

After reviewing the film that was taken of me delivering my energy conservation project, I was not surprised at some of the funky habits I have when I teach. I'm fully aware of all of them, I just haven't yet figured out a way to get rid of some of the nervousness I get when doing certain things. I know it will get better with practice.

One of the things that I observed myself doing on my video was not taking enough time to say what I really wanted to say. Instead, I was talking too fast and saying the wrong things, which is an awful habit. I need to slow down when I'm trying to explain important concepts so that I don't teach my students the wrong thing. I also fidget a lot. I was moving back and forth and trying to explain things with my hands instead of just saying them. Sometimes it's okay to demonstrate concepts with your hands, but not all the time. I would also rest my hands on my hips a lot when I wasn't moving them around, which makes me laugh. I don't think it's a bad thing, but some people might think that posture may seem a little intimidating. Overall, I'm more pleased than I originally thought the video would turn out.

Energy Conservation Project

This blog details a report I did on ways to change your driving techniques in order to save gas or increase your gas mileage. It inculdes a written report, a PowerPoint presentation, and an Excel spreadsheet representing the ways I kept track and calculated my data.

I thoroughly enjoyed doing my energy conservation project. I learned a lot about how I can change my lifestyle habits in small ways to help conserve our natural resources in the long run. The project gave me good prospective of what to expect from a project like this if I ever decide to assign something similar to my own students.

After presenting my results about improving my gas mileage to my 8th grade students, they seemed like they were very interesting in trying it out for themselves (they are just old enough now to have a permit). Although I have yet to review my video presentation, the students seemed very interested throughout the whole presentation, which led me to believe that my PowerPoint presentation I put together wasn't all that bad. Hopefully that was the case.

Overall, I learned that changing my driving can indeed improve my gas mileage, which conserves a lot of other things like money, resources, and possibly my life. I'm much more relaxed behind the wheel now and I laugh at people who speed by me but end up stopping at the same stop light I do.

Click here to view a Powerpoint presentation that details the project more thoroughly.

Project Report

Preview data collected from report and presented on Excel

Tools for the Mind

This blog summarizes an article, "Tools for the Mind," written by Mary Burns, about the importance of implementing technology in the classroom.

In her article, “Tools for the Mind,” Mary Burns opens up the door for new argument about technology in schools. She claims that teachers are not using technology in appropriate ways—ways that can promote learning and exercise high-order thinking skills with students.

To read more about "Tools for the Mind," click here:

The Educator's Guide to the Read/Write Web

This blog is a summary of an article, "The Educator's guide to the Read/Wrtie Web," written by Will Richardson.

Overview:

In his article, “The Educator’s guide to the Read/Write Web,” Will Richardson gives an overview of the latest communication and publishing tools that are available for acquiring and sharing information on our new Read/Write Web. In his overview of these tools, Richardson suggests many new opportunities for student to publish school assignments, get expert information, and collaborate with classmates or even students around the world about academic issues using our new web. In his article, Richardson stresses the importance teachers have with introducing students to the Read/Write Web. He claims that educators have a prevailing role: teaching the students how to appropriately and effectively use the tools of the Read/Write Web while incorporating the Read/Write Web into their curriculums as a regular, everyday tool to enhance learning.

To read more about Richardson's article, "The Educator's Guide to to the Read/Write Web," click here.

Energy Conservation Project: Part I

This blog details my brainstorm of an energy conservation project which I did as a requirement of my Integration of Tool Software class.

Question:

How many more miles can I get per gallon if I exercise certain fuel-conserving driving techniques while I'm driving my car? For instance, not breaking around corners, shifting down a gear when I'm driving down hills instead of breaking, not following too closely behind the car in front of me so I can let off the gas to slow down instead of using the breaks, not going over 55mph, etc.

Assumption:

I think I will get an extra 10 miles to the gallon if I drive very conservatively.

Requirements for my Research:

For my project, I will need to know how many miles per gallon my car gets. I will then need to know how many miles per gallon I get after I perform the experiment. I will be collecting the data at the gas tank. I will keep track of how many miles I have driven and how many gallons of gas I have pumped. I will do this experiment twice: once when I'm driving normally, and once when I'm driving very conscientious of burning fuel. I will keep all of my data in a log book. I will keep track of the dollar signed as well, because it is also interesting to know how much money I actually save.

Anthropological Assessment of Technology

This blog details an my anthropological assessment of technology within the school I'm completing my student teaching at. It gives a summary of the project and includes a detailed report of the technology available at Goldenview Middle School.

During my anthropological assessment of Goldenview Middle School's technology, I found out that I knew less about technology than I originally thought. I guess it's good in the sense that I learned a great deal about the school. I knew this project was going to be a nightmare because I had previously tried to track down the technology coordinator for other purposed before I started this assignment. I realized that technology coordinators at any school or business are probably the most busy out of any employee. Not too mention, their offices are usually very scary (extremely cluttered with foreign objects).

This assignment taught me so much about what resources are available to me as a teacher and what I can now expect from my students. I learned all the policies of the school, which are extremely important. I also found out that I should probably stop looking up inappropriate things on the Internet while I'm using my host teacher's account!! I hope you know I'm only kidding. It hasn't been too long since I've been out of school, so it wasn't surprising to find that all the same policies are still in place. Overall, I have a much better understanding of the resources I can now take advantage of as a teacher.

Click here to view the full details of my assessment of Goldenview.

Listen to the Natives

This blog is a summary of an article, "Listen to the Natives," written by Marc Prensky. A requirement of the class Integration of Tool Software.

Overview

In his article “Listen to the Natives,” Marc Prensky advocates for the increase of technology in American schools, but more appropriately, the increase of knowledge about technology among educators. He claims that educators in America have one foot in the past and one foot in the future, making it hard for them to make the leap into the technological world of the 21st century. Prensky insists that educators must stop trying to use 20th century tools to teach 21st century material. And once they make the shift, Prensky maintains that they will truly be maximizing student learning. In the move to shift educator’s teaching strategies, he claims that one of the most powerful tools offered are the students themselves. Prensky emphasizes throughout the article, the important roles students play in educators transition into teaching with 21st century tools. He offers an ultimatum for educators: Either shifting over to 21st century tools or loose the students’ interest in their own education.


Reference Points

1. Digital native refers to “native speakers of technology, fluent in the digital language of computers, video games, and the Internet” (p. 9).
2. Digital Immigrants “refers to those of use who were no born into the digital world” (p. 9)
3. Countries around the world are “already using mobile phones as learning tools” (p. 9).
4. “Faculty or administration meetings can no longer be effective without student representation in equal numbers” (p. 11).
5. “Adaptivity, along with connectivity, is where digital technology will have its greatest impact on education” (p. 11).
6. We need to start teaching our students how to use their 21st century tools before our schools become a place for students to go while their parents are at work.

Reflection

Although Prensky is in fact right about most educators in America being stuck in the 20th century, there is no question that his suggestions are not realistic. It seems like an ideal world to transition into, but it’s a leap that will have to take place very gradually. Prensky makes it sound like this issue is something that can change as soon as educators acknowledge that they need to change and take their first step in changing. However, there are so many hurdles that need to be jumped that Prensky neglected to mention. After all, we are still battling with the use of computers in some public school in America for simple word processing tasks due to conflicts with students’ religious beliefs, not to mention all the budget issues that creep up when we even mention to word technology. Prensky is absolutely right when he talks about using 21st century tools to effectively grab the interest of students. However, in order to grad the attention of educators and administrators, a plan of action needs to be organized and laid out or else the goal will seem too far-fetched with the resources we have available to us now. Educators and administrators need realistic goals with realistic time frames in order to effectively take advantage of such a possibility.

Futuring

This blog presents my thoughts on how I would assess three videos: Fox, School Train, and EPIC 2015 which were all created by different people. It was part of the requirements of the class Integration of Tool Software.

Fox and School Train

In terms of my technology background and my capabilities of creating such videos at this point in my life, both videos were wonderful. School Train was far more impressive and attention-grabbing. Having no experience with making videos, I would assume that it took a lot of time to put such a video together. I would want to know how much the students were actually involved, considering that all credit was given to them. I certainly didn't have that type of technology talent when I was in 4th grade.

Fox Becomes a Better Person had a great story behind it. Hannah did an incredible job acting and probably dedicated many hours to creating all the illustrations for the video. It's amazing to see such young students with a strong grasp of technology. I tend to judge someones work on my own abilities to create such things, and both of these receive 5 stars from me.


EPIC 2015

I loved EPIC 2015. Although, I don't think the writers of this video are as far off as 2015. I'm definitely seeing huge technological advancements in the schools since I have been their, which isn't that long ago. However, my own mentor teacher is pretty savy with his tablet PC and is even experimenting with podcasting already. This stuff is already happening. My students are able to go home and upload any current lecture, and they will soon be able to view it through podcasting. It 's scary to think that I will soon be in charge of delivering math lessons through podcasting.