Free Software for K-12 Classrooms

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This website has some great tools and advantages. This site gives access to teachers and parents on free software available for educational use. This access allows free supplements for lessons and gives more activity ideas.

            I will discuss some of my findings on this post.

            The first category I clicked on was communication. I know that this is an important skill and wanted to know what was available to help. Under this tab was Skype, a webcam interaction with another person via webcam, and Google chat. These are interesting to the classroom. Maybe if we teamed up with a school from another country we could Skype and do lessons with them or have chatting be used as a form of pen pals. These are hesitant grounds though because of the dangers of skyping and chatting with people you do not know. If a student think it is fine to do at school and then tires to find a person to talk to at home this could be a situation for the school district. I think that there would have to be some parental consent but overall I think that these would be helpful tools in a classroom.

            Under persuade was graphic organizers and persuasion maps. These are great tools for a classroom but I don’t know if I would classify them as software. These are more templates and ideas to use in classroom. Though these are useful materials I do not think that software is a good category for these items.

            Brian storm and mind map had sites with templates for brain storming and mind maps. This again is not something I would classify as software but as templates for the classroom.

            After looking over these tabs I did not find a lot of actual software and computer works but more documents and ideas to be used in the classroom. I guess this is something I did not consider to be software. But this does have a lot of great websites to use in the classroom and for parents to access for more information on classroom education.

“Basic” School

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     This article discussed schools in the Mesa school district of Arizona that focus on teaching the way our great grandparents would have learned. No small groups or technology, only straight lines and discipline. These schools produce high results and are having students who learn at least one grade level above average. I think it is great that they are achieving such high scores but I do not think it is just the methods of the school but the educators and parent’s support and dedication.

            At this school they have a focused discipline, parent involvement and student engagement. I believe that if a public school put that much energy into promoting their school then they would gain the support like the Mesa school district has.

            Many people believe that there needs to be a strict focus and non-social environment for student’s to learn. A lot of people I have talked to think that if the kids are talking or sitting in groups then they must be off task. I will be the first to admit that without proper supervision and direction, group work can get out of hand. But if the teacher is mindful of what is happening then there is no reason that the groups should be off task.

            Learning and scores of students is based on the dedication of the teacher, parents, district, and students. When a program is believed in, it succeeds. Faith in a program can change a school and change the mentality of everyone in the district.

XBOX 360 in the classroom

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There is a great deal that can be learned from this article. I think that using the XBOX Kinect in the classroom is a great tool. There are proven results and it is easy to set up, use and adapt to lessons. The only issue that I see is the cost factor.

            The trial runs seem to be working well and students are achieving higher scores. After I read this article I discussed it with a parent and their response was, “great more video games and no learning.” This statement took me aback. No learning? I beg to differ. I tired to explain that this would enhance the educational value and it was a great tool to engage students. The parent just said that, “Learning is not done that way, that is not how I was taught and I am just fine.”

            With these responses I know that there will be challenges at times in the classroom to bring in this kind of learning because not everyone can always agree that it is an effective strategy. People are so use to how things were when they were in school that they do not take into account the technology that is available these days.

            There is so much technology readily available that kids are adapting to it at a younger and younger age. I remember being in elementary school, around 4^th grade, and my sister made me an email, it was awesome. My mom complained that I didn’t need one yet and so on but now my eight year old niece has a Facebook account and operates it just fine and has classmates on it with her. This is crazy to me, she got a Facebook account in kindergarten so that she could play games and now she talks to friends on it. Times are really changing and fast, students are use to have the technology literally at their fingertips. As a teacher you must engage to the students interest and make the learning fun and current.

            I believe that if this available for me to use in my classroom I will embrace it. I will use it to my greatest advantage and if it doesn’t work its gone, but I have a feeling that it will have a positive impact.

21st Century Technology

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There are many debates as to which is better, to instill more technology in the classroom or have minimal amounts. In my own personal opinion I believe that more technology that is available the more effective your class can be. I believe that there should be more education on the importance of technology and the appropriate uses.

                  There is a difference between showing a 3-D model to better understand the body and showing a time filling video. There are many benefits to videos but there are a lot of classrooms that use videos to demonstrate knowledge but the student’s can space off and lose attention. With all of the new technology available to students they are typically up to date with new things coming out. My 4-year-old niece is already running a laptop and going to websites to play games that she likes. The further we go into the future the more of a head start students will have.

                  The way that I see is that if you are not embracing the change then you are not going to be using all of your resources available. A teacher effectiveness is not based on the amount of technology that is present in the classroom but instead the quality of teaching. But I do believe the more current you are and willing to change the more productive your classroom will be. I believe it is well worth the money for schools to upgrade their classrooms and step into a new era of technology.

                  There are so many benefits to technology that even if you do not understand you can learn and see if it fits your needs and wants of your classroom. I am ready to embrace technology and ready to help be the change in the education world. 

NETS Project

Dr. Seuss and Resource Use

GRADE LEVEL: 2^nd grade

EALRs:

Communication:

·      2.1. Uses language to interact effectively and responsibly in a multicultural context.

·      2.2. Uses interpersonal skills and strategies in a multicultural context to work collaboratively, solve problems, and perform tasks.

·      2.3. Uses skills and strategies to communicate interculturally.

Integrated Environmental and Sustainability:

·      Standard 1 – Ecological, Social, Economic Systems: Students develop knowledge of the interconnections and interdependency of ecological, social, and economic systems. They demonstrate understanding of how the health of these systems determines the sustainability of natural and human communities at local, regional, national, and global levels.

·      Standard 3 – Sustainability and Civic Responsibility: Students develop and apply the knowledge, perspective, vision, skills, and habits of mindnecessary to make personal and collective decisions and take actions that promote sustainability.

Reading:

·      2.3. Expand comprehension by analyzing, interpreting, and synthesizing information and ideas in literary and informational text.

·      3.2. Read to perform a task.

Science:

·      EALR 4: Life Science. Big Idea: Ecosystems (LS2). Core Content: Changes in Ecosystems

Social Studies:

·      3.2. Understands human interaction with the environment.

·      3.3. Understands the geographic context of global issues.

Writing:

·      2.1. Adapts writing for a variety of audiences

·      2.2. Writes for different purposes.

·      2.3. Writes in a variety of forms/genres.

NETS:

·      1. Creativity and Innovation – Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students:

o   b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.

§  Students will demonstrate this ability by working together as a group to express one collective group of thoughts. Students will also create an original graphic organizer to display this standard.

·      2. Communication and Collaboration – Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:

o   a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.

§  Students will demonstrate this ability by working together in groups to create a graphic organizer and publish it to the class blog.

o   d. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.

§  Students will demonstrate this by working as a team to create an original graphic organizer.

·      5. Digital Citizenship – Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students:

o   a. advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.

§  Students will follow all school and district regulations for Internet safety while working on this assignment. 

MATERIALS NEEDED:

·      The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

·      Good Choices vs. Bad Choices graphic organizer

·      Thneeds and Thwants graphic organizer

TECHNOLOGY:

·      computer with internet access

·      document camera

LESSON RESOURCES: US Environmental Protection Agency website: www.epa.gov.

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES:

·      The student will compare and contrast the good decisions of the Lorax versus the bad decisions of Once-ler in the story The Lorax  by creating a digital graphic organizer in groups.

·      The student will create an individual digital graphic organizer of personal needs and wants.

·      The student will participate in a show-and-tell of one of his/her needs.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES:

·      The student will use language to interact effectively and responsibly.

·      The student will use interpersonal skills and strategies to work collaboratively, solve problems, and perform tasks.

·      The student will write for a specific audience.

·      The student will write for a specific purpose.

·      The student will write in a variety of ways.

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:

·      Ability to use listening and observation skills and strategies to focus attention and interpret information.

·      Understands, analyzes, synthesizes, or evaluates information from a variety of sources.

·      Uses communication skills and strategies to interact/work effectively with others.

·      Uses communication skills and strategies to effectively present ideas and one’s self in a variety of situations.

·      Understand that all plants and animals live in and depend on habitats.

·      Understand how to ask questions about the classroom, school, and community.

·      States own viewpoints and listens to viewpoints of others

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION:

·      Students will meet with instructor to receive pre-reading activities as needed.

·      Students will receive help from classmates if they are having difficulty completing the collage organizer.

·      Supplemental books and activities will be available for those that finish early.

KEY VOCABULARY:

·      natural resources

·      pollution

·      ecosystem

·      consumption

ENGAGE AND ENCOUNTER:

·      Students will know it is time to move to the read aloud area when they hear the instructor start to sing the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” song.

·      Students will hear instructor read aloud The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.

·      Instructor will revisit or introduce new vocabulary and make any additions to unit bulletin board.

·      Class discussion about book and vocabulary.

·      In groups of 2 to 4 students, a digital graphic organizer in the form of a T-chart labeled with “Good Decisions” and “Bad Decisions” will be created regarding the characters in the book. This graphic organizer will be posted to the classroom blog and presented to the class.

·      Students will work individually to complete a digital graphic organizer of their personal needs and wants as a Word document.

·      Students will have an opportunity to share one of their “thneeds” with the class during show-and-tell. The document camera will be available for use.

CLOSURE: Closure will be a small discussion after the students finish the show-and-tell activity.

Assessment:

·      Diagnostic: Instructor will observe students’ comments and responses during discussion after read aloud.

·      Formative: Students will complete two graphic organizers, one with a group and one individually.

·      Summative: Student will bring a “thneed” for show-and-tell and explain his/her solution for consuming fewer resources while using their “thneed”.

·      Student Reflection Procedure: The student will share his/her “thneed” during show-and-tell and explain his/her solution for consuming fewer resources while using their “thneed”.