Things you do not think about...

After reading the text, I realized how technology may have a negative effect on teaching as well as students. As teachers we dont think a video or some images may overload the students and pull them away from critical thinking on the lesson. In the book it asked to think of some questions prior to creating a lesson using technology; 

• Is there overload of information being presented?
• Are the visuals used to enhance the text presented?
• Do the graphics take over the web page?
• Are there a lot of media techniques used?
• Does the site meet the needs of visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learners?

Each of these question should be asked when creating a lesson using technology. Another problem i hadn't thought about when allowing students to use technology is, plagerism. It allows the students to be able to copy / paste and cheat. In my classroom, to teach ethics pertaining to plagiarism, we would discuss what plagiarism is, and how one may be classified as plagiarism. We would discuss that if they did get information off of the internet they would need to cite and quote every word used from that site. I would teach them how to cite everything. The next assignment the student would write a descriptive paragraph on a hobby they are interested in. Once the students were through with their paragraph, they would all switch papers so they wouldn't have their own. Each student will be asked to re write their classmates paragraph WITHOUT copying what they wrote, they will be asked to paraphrase. This will show the students it isn't easy to change someones words into your own, but it is possibly and it has to be done. 

Technology in the Classroom

Today's classroom is very different from my elementary school classroom. The most advanced technology we used was an overhead projector and a VHS. We had a computer lab on school property but was only able to use it if we had that class as an elective. Technology in the classroom is a normal for teachers and students. As a teacher we use technology for nearly everything. We use the internet to help find resources for lessons, and activities. We use videos for educational activities as well as fun activities. Technology may be used for nearly everything, the students have a computer center time, where they complete tests and for positive behavior they are able to play educational games. For lectures and lessons, we are able to use power points, word, and excel to help create more adequate lesson plans. When using technology resources we can make our lectures fun and interesting by inserting images the students will be able to relate the topic to. It allows the student to have a better understanding of what they will be learning. I think the technology expansion is a fabulous advancement for teaching and bettering the students knowledge.

The importance of communicating as a teacher.

Communicating with Parents:


As teachers we are with the students for 7+ hours daily. We spend a lot of time with the littles, it is extremely important we keep in contact with the students parents. Being that we are with the students the majority of the day, we know who, they are, what they are interested in, and what they need to work on. The students do not always communicate well with parents, and thats what we are there for. It is good to inform the parents of what kind of behavior there child may or may not be struggling with. The struggles and positive behaviors the students may be displaying, it is so important to share this with the parent. It is hard enough for some parents to be away from their children for that long, and they must know whats going on. Also, students rarely tell their parents whether or not they have homework, so solve this problem, let the students and parents know in the beginning of the year, that each day the students will be required to write down their homework assignments, and each night they need a parent signature. This way the parent and teacher are communicating every day, the teacher may even write a note int he students planner for behavior purposes. Teachers and parents can communicate in many ways, letters, email, conferences, text and calling. I think it is extremely important for teachers and parents to consistently communicate.


Communicating with Students:


In the previous section we discussed the importance of communicating with parents as a teacher. It is extremely important to communicate everything with your students. If there is no communication in your classroom, the entire year would be chaos. We need to communicate everything to the students;

• Rules for you room, playground, hallways, 
• Assignments, homework, requirements
• Behavior issues
• Positive behavior

These are all just some ways of communication from a teacher to a student. The student needs full communication in order to know what is expected of them. Being in the elementary grades, they are not fully responsible enough to just read a syllabus and learn on there own. We need to guide them in every step of the way, in no ways am I saying " babying" them, but reinforcement of rules, activities, assignments, negative and POSITIVE behavior. This can all be done with communication. How a teacher communicates with the students can vary in many different ways, it can be verbal communication, written, to even a smiley face on a graded paper. These are all appropriate for students to be hearing and seeing, with no communication, the students will not know what is allowed and not allowed, they will be unaware of their grades and assingments. With no communication from the teacher, the teacher is completely sabotaging their teaching career. 

Monitoring Professional Development Information: 

Being a teacher we are constantly learning something new, we have to keep up with the newest technologies which only enhance our classroom lessons, and allow the students to become more hands on. With technology it opens up so many doors for teachers to extend their lessons, and broaden their minds from plain old lesson plans. We still need to follow the standards of the state of Florida, but who says we cant make them fun?! With technology it gives us the opportunity to achieve this goal. We must use our resources the web has so many fascinating ideas for every subject you can imaging, from using http://www.funbrain.com/ to http://www.kidsknowit.com/. These sites have every fun educational games, worksheet, group activities you can think of. Without a teacher being up to date with technology they wouldn't be able to enhance their lessons for the students.