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Possible Technology Integration Plan

In order to prepare for my upcoming internship year my Technology and Teaching course assigned a project where we were to design and write up a proposal detailing one particular way to integrate technology in the classroom. I have not been placed yet for my internship so I wrote my proposal for an upper elementary classroom and I will be adapting it to whatever grade level I am placed in. I have created a Social Studies/Geography unit where students study their community through digital photography and Map Mashups. Students in 3/4th grades study communities and I thought it would be a good idea to actually go and take pictures of places in the community, tag and locate the places on a map. Then each student would write and upload a short report on their assigned place to our Map Mashup. The final product would be an online map with pictures and information about the community.
To find out more about this proposal go to by Website and click on the link that says Technology Integration Plan!

The Sky's the Limit?

The final assignment for CEP 416 is to create a Technology Integration Plan that you plan on actually using in your upcoming internship year. The assignment's boundaries and specifications are easy...they don't exist. At first this sounds like a great opportunity to use your knowledge and your imagination for create your ideal plan. A plan that will allow your students to be engaged and excited. A plan that has no limits of funding, state benchmarks, parental involvement or district allowance. My mind was in constant brainstorming mode for several days. I wanted to make sure that I had spent enough time creating every possible technology integration idea before I settled on my project of choice.

When I felt that I had given enough time to the brainstorming stage I decided to actually sit down and start writing the details, steps and concepts that would be a part of my brilliant plan. And this my friends, is when I realized that this was no easy task. I realized that I have hardly ever been given the opportunity to create and development my own ideas for my classroom. My classes have always included projects and papers with these requirements and those specifications. I couldn't get over the fact that here I was with no boundaries and I sat craving the restrictions that I have grown so used to. I spoke with one of my fellow CEP416 classmates about my dilemma and her eyes light up as I explained my frustration with the need for restrictions. Her response made the project seem easy, "Anything is possible, if it doesn't exist - create it." I explained my worries of funding and permissions that would hold up my plan and all she could do was talk about how there are no limits to what I could do and that I should create and work towards establishing my dream project. I left the conversation still feeling frustrated, partially because of my need to know the real life restrictions that I would have to work around next year and also because of my envy for her excitement and imagination.

I wondered why I couldn't take this opportunity to be the typical excited-motivated-free-spirit-college graduate that I would soon be. I began to realize that I lack that stereotypical "I'm going to change the world" attitude. The thought saddens me and I wonder where my excitement for my future profession went. I try my best not to point fingers but I can't help but feel that my lack of excitement comes from my classes and my lack of real-elementary classroom experience. Yes, I've had several placements and TE courses but none that provided me with a positive and excited attitude. These experiences have left me jaded and unmotivated. I have not been filled with the notion that I can make a difference and change the world one student at a time. I have come accustomed to thinking about the rules, regulations, limitations and challenges that come with teaching. When I think about the road ahead of me I imagine a difficult, bumpy and long road where the moments that make teaching worth it are far and between. And here less than a month away from completing my undergraduate degree and less than six months away from being in a classroom five days a week - I sit and wonder where did this cynic come from and when will she go away?

CEP 419 Synthesis Paper

Here is a link to my Synthesis Paper for CEP 416. I compare and contrast Google Page Creator and Blogger, as well as email and text messaging.

A Practice Slide Show

Conference Information for Free

Information Strategies - Material from MACUL

I had briefly heard about the MACUL conference through various faculty among the TE department and I had figured that it did not relate to me. This is a mistake that I've made for the past four years, always tuning out when I hear anything about "professional development" or "conference". I had always assumed that those types of things were for people with real jobs, never thinking that an undergrad could benefit just as much. Once I began to realize that these events do related to me specifically as a pre-professional, I automatically looked into the provided information. After looking at the details of the events I came to realize that the high registration cost would probably not allow me to attend very many of these events. Fortunately this week I learned the great amount of information, material and resources that are still available for the vast amounts of people who did not attend the conference. I was amazed at the range of hand-outs, presentations and resources guides that are available for free. I feel that I have greatly gained from investigating all of the free material. I believe that this assignment has taught me about greatly resources that I will continue to use throughout my professional career.

• The first site that I came across that I thought would be valuable was a particular page from Anette Lamb's website http://eduscapes.com/. I was amazed at the vast amount of free resources that are provided on this page.

• The second site that I enjoyed was link to MACUL's winter 2006-2007 journal. I found this journal to be very interesting. I was particularly interested in an article by Kelly Kermode about Blogging in the Classroom. I would love to create a classroom that uses blogs in their general education, but I sometimes get overwhelmed with the actual details of creating such as assignment. I enjoyed reading an actual teacher's ideas about blogging. I also found this article interesting because it provided resources for blogs that could be restricted and filtered. One of my worries with having students blog would be any inappropriate behavior. Kermode provides resources to help with this problem

• This third interesting site that I found was http://www.geocities.com/phyl_barto/Excel/Excel_lent_Integration.htm. I thought this website was interesting because it incorporates ways to use simple programs like Excel in the classroom. It also provides a wide range of ideas and examples for the classroom.

All Things Google

*I tried to post my Google Document of this entry, but for some reason it said that my Blog preferences wouldn't allow it. So I just copied and pasted the entry.

Google Documents, Notebook and Calendar are several of the new and very useful tools that I have been shown through CEP 416. These tools are not only useful for my own personal daily life, but they will also become extremely useful in my future classroom.

• Google Calendar will have a very clear position in my future classroom. I will create a class calendar that contains assignment due dates and reminders for students. I will teach students (and parents) how to view this calendar as a way of remembering the various activities and projects that are a part of our class. Students will be able to check this calendar whenever they are confused about an assignment. Another important aspect of the calendar is that parents can look at it and not have to ask myself or their child about assignments. Besides the academic use of the calendar I would also like to post (perhaps on a separate calendar) extra-curricular activities that are happening at the school or in the community for students to participate in. I believe that maintaining an up-to date calendar is the best way to stay organized and on time. I plan on encouraging students to develop their ability of keeping a calendar up-to-date.

• Google Notebook will also be an encouraged tool for students to use in order to stay organized. Researching on the web can often be a bit overwhelming and I hope by the time I am teaching I have collecting enough useful tools for my students so that they will feel confident surfing the web for information. I often find myself losing particular websites or quotes online that I would like to use in papers or projects and I typically get a bit frustrated. I think Google Notebook will provide students with a way of storing useful information while they are researching. I think the important aspect of Notebook is that the user doesn't have to stop their searching in order to file or take-note-of important information, they can simply copy and past the information into Notebook. Their entry will then have the desired information and the source waiting for them to use after they have finished researching. If students are working on research papers I could also see Notebook be useful in the regards that I would ask for students to print off their Notebook entries and turn them in with the paper. These entries will help with connecting the written information with the source of the information. As the grader of these potential research papers I think it is important for students to develop their skills in citing their sources correctly and Notebook would help me to understand where they got their information.
• Google Documents will be another useful tool, especially when writing essays or research papers. Students will not have to worry about where to save their works-in-progress. They can simply store their papers in Google Documents. This tool could also be very helpful for teachers because students could include teachers as viewers or collaborators on their individual documents, allowing for the teachers to monitor their progress or edit while the student is between steps. Google Documents would provide students will clear ways and places of saving work that is in progress. Students would also be able to have their peers edit their papers online using the revisions tool. I can see this tool be very useful in every aspect of paper-writing.