Last day!

Class was very interesting to me because we used a camera to record ourselves acting out a scenario! I have never really done anything like that before and I actually was quite excited. I was especially glad that we didn't have to use the Sims in order to do our scenario. Not only have I not been able to log in to the site but I'm afraid that even if I was able to log in that I would have no idea how to run the site. It was an experience being able to leave the room as a group and express our point of view on a certain topic. In the scenario I was Mrs. Alvarez who is the PTA president who is considering the potential benefits and harms that could happen to the children if ITouch is purchased for the classroom. My thought on the benefits would be that the children would have instant information and access to the weather and other needful information. My worries though were that the potential harm could be that they children lose contact with the people and world around them and become too focused on the screen in front of them. My fear was that the children would lost that social interaction and that they wouldn't just go look outside to find out the weather instead of looking it up on a tiny screen. The issue of social interaction was solved when Janet (Tambri) propose a solution to the social interaction by having the children use the ITouch as a group and team so that they could get their social interaction that way. Not only did that solve the social interaction worry but that also helped with the financial worry. If there is 4 to 5 students to each ITouch then that is less money that needs to be spent in buying them.
I feel that I learned much from today's lesson in that I am going to be put into situations like this when I become a teacher and a mom. I am going to have to help come up with a solution and have an opinion and know how to voice that opinion. It was a stretch for me and I am glad that I was stretched. Overall, I think that I am going to be able to take much that I have learned from this class and apply it to my future classroom. THE END! :)

1. What form(s) did you like/dislike? Why?

I liked the cyberguide ratings form best because it gave you the option of not only 'yes' or 'no' but also 'N/A' which I really appreciated because I felt a lot of the time the questions that were asked did not apply and it helped having n/a as an option of choice.
I disliked the MidLink Magazine form because you have to rate the website and I had a difficult time rating the website. It is easier to just say 'yes' or 'no' if a website has the certain criteria because the website either has the information or it doesn't.

2.Were there any hidden secrets about a website you discovered by using an evaluation form?

No, I did not discover any hidden secrets about a website by using an evaluation form. But I did find out that knowing who wrote the web page can be useful and informative. It is important to know that a web page may be biased if it is written by someone with a high stake interest in it and/or an 'enemy.'

3. What is the value of using a web site evaluation process?

The value of using a web site evaluation process is that the evaluation helps the user to see if the website they are using is appropriate and accurate. It shows whether the website is credible and one worth using.

4.Are there times you would/would not use a formal evaluation?

Yes, there are times that I would or would not use a formal evaluation. For example, if I was doing a lesson for my classroom I would want to use a formal evaluation to make sure that the website I was using was credible and appropriate for my classroom. But, if I was just doing an activity with my family or something of that sort I don't feel that it requires a formal evaluation to find out if it is appropriate.

Overall, I never really like filling out worksheets or filling out forms because I feel it is busywork and I would rather do activities that are hands-on. Yet, I understand the importance of filling these out because we need to have a criteria that informs us whether a website is credible or not. I think that filling 4 forms out was a bit much and that the idea of the lesson could have been accomplished with just one form. :)

Today, we had a guest lecturer (Brooke Robertshaw) on the website Instructional Architect to find lesson plans that require a computer. We first had to register for an account on the website and then logged in as users. We went through the website together and searched through topics and grade levels. Once Brooke led us through the entire website we then decided our own topic, grade level and resources to make our own project. I decided to do my project on the Kindergarten Language Arts Standard 7 (Comprehension): Students understand, interpret, and analyze narrative and informational grade level text. I wanted my students to be able to understand the difference between was is real and make believe about bears. I found non-fiction books and websites about bears and fiction books and activities about bears. I want the children to read the real and make believe information and be able to verbally express or in written form what is real or make believe about bears. I feel that this website is going to be so so so helpful for me as a future educator. I know that I will be using it even as a college student as I am preparing for my lesson plans for my classes.
This is the website to my Lesson Project if you're interested in viewing it...

http://ia.usu.edu/viewproject.php?project=ia:13205

Web Based Instruction

Today we learned how to work with the website webquest.org to develop online lesson programs that help children to get involved online. I found this lesson extremely helpful because my group and I discovered the subject of 5 senses which I am actually doing an integrated unit on in my FCHD 4550 class (Curriculum in the Pre-school years). I not only was impressed with the explicit layout of the web page on how the process of the lesson goes but that it had a teacher page that showed all the materials that were needed to prepare the lesson beforehand. I also was impressed by all the extended resources that were available. I thought that this website was not only useful but very appealing to look at. It was user friendly and had all the information needed to put together a full lesson plan. I know that I will definitely be using this website for future use!

Science Sim

Today in class we learned about avatar animation. He first showed us the website of Science Sim and had us set up an account. It took quite a while for it to download but once downloaded you were given an avatar that you could manipulate and move wherever you wanted it to move. One of the things that fascinated me was that the avatars actually had breathing patterns and moved with their breathing. The avatars could do many things. They could fly, walk, run, and even communicate with other avatars. At first, I couldn't see the point of this exercise or see how this would possibly even help within the classroom but after some thinking I thought that maybe it could just be source of entertainment for the children and be used as a reward. Maybe... when students are finished with a task early they could have the chance to go to the computer is set up in the classroom and they could create their own avatar and experiment with it. Either way some children will really love this activity and others not so much but no one can deny that the technological advances we have made to create something like this is amazing. Well...have a great day! :)

This is the link to my awesome survey! Go and take it! :)
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFBSY1ktNmtRbDBXZDVNRS1QaEdqZFE6MA

I really enjoyed class today. I not only enjoyed making a survey and coming up with questions but I also enjoyed taking my peers surveys. I laughed at some of the questions and I was actually able to stay with the class as well. :) Hooray! I know that this skill (of making a survey) could be very helpful as a teacher in the future. I think by knowing how to post a survey online I could gain a great perspective on people and gather much information on the people I send my survey to. I think that I might even be able to make a test or quiz out of it for my future students someday. I think something that would be fun for my future classroom would be to have my students take a survey about themselves to get to know them better and learn how I can better teach them. I think that this school will be so very useful. Thank you! Loved class today. :)

Creating a Gradebook on Excel Sheets

Today we learned how to create a grade book on Excel. For some reason today I got very frustrated and behind. I gave up on trying to stay with the class and began to just plug and chug the information into the chart instead of trying to catch back up. I wasn't able to follow along because I just got so far behind. I can definitely see how knowing how to do this will be very helpful in the future as a teacher for my grade book. Unfortunately, I will have to relearn it all over again because my brain was not able to function at all today. I wish that I could have stayed along with the class and been able to understand the formula to find out the percentage and everything. I think that skill will save a teacher so much time.
Something that I really enjoyed learning in class was the poll website. I really enjoyed being able to text in class and then see its effect on the screen as my vote was counted. I think that this may be quite useful or helpful for secondary teachers but not so much with my major of ELED because I doubt that any of my elementary schoolers will have cell phones. You never know with time though! Maybe by the time I am teaching even children will have cell phones! Either way, I found the cite interesting and something I know I would enjoy using as a teacher if I were to teach high school. Well...lets hope I get more sleep next Monday and am able to keep up with the class next week! Adios! Go to go study for a reading quiz now. :)

Today was Google Docs!

So, today we learned about Google docs. I was pretty confused at first but as we went along I kind of got the hang of it. My partner with Google docs was Amber Kohler. She's awesome. :) She was assigned to go onto the website National Geographic for kids and find and an animal that we could do a report on. She decided on frogs which I found interesting because I was obsessed with frogs when I was younger. It was interesting to collaborate back and forth with Amber through Google docs even though she was within the same room as me. It was hard not to just talk to her about what to do instead of talking through the computer. Something that surprised me as I was working with Google docs is that it would show Amber what I was doing without me even sending it. All I would have to do is save it and she was able to see what I had done. I feel that Google docs has great potential to help people communicate well and work together on a project.
We also did an activity in class today that I really enjoyed. We went onto Microsoft Word and started this Round Robin sort of thing. What you do is you start a story by first giving it a title. Then, you write the first sentence of your story and move to the person's computer on your right side. You then write add a sentence to their story that they started and continue on with that process about 4 or 5 times or as many times as you desire. At the end you edit the story for grammar and read story for entertainment. One story was quite entertaining and funny. In fact, it was my neighbor to the right (Tambri Hansen) that had started it. I definitely think this is something I will use in my future classroom because not only does it stimulate creativity, helps with grammar but it also uses technology! :) It was a good day and I feel that I did not fall too far behind. Hooray!

Video on Technology in the Classroom

Blog Posting #2!

Alright, today's class was awesome! I learned so much in the YETC from Nathan. He has done so much for education teachers out of the kindness of his heart. It is just so awesome. I learned about so many resources that I can use as a future Elementary Education teacher. He informed us about spellingcity.com where it teaches spelling words and has many other activities that can help your students with their spelling. He said, "It's like having another teacher in the classroom!" He also told us about the Mathematics Worksheet Factory Deluxe 3 which has so many options for math worksheets. My favorite resource which I will probably use even just for my entertainment is storylineonline.net. It has famous movie starts or TV actors that read aloud children stories. We watched the actor that played Sam on Lord of the Rings read the book, "A Bad Case of Stripes." I couldn't help but smile the entire time. I really am going to go onto that website whenever I need to relax and have a "pick-me-up". :) I love reading children books and love having them read to me. There truly is nothing better. Nathan also taught us about the Format Factory which converts videos into a format that works better for teachers. He also informed us of how we can find help when we are confused or looking for certain materials. He told us to go to http://teacherlink.edu.usu.edu or ucet.org. This is where I found out how amazingly kind Nathan is. He has provided all of these resources for all of us just out of the kindness of his heart. He has worked very hard and asked nothing in return except that we use them to become better teachers. How awesome is that!? You don't find people like that everyday. Another resource he showed us is kiddierecords.com. This website has the ability to put records on MP3 files. He also showed us pioneer.uen.orgk12, and phunland.com which were very informative and something that I know I can use in the future as an educator. I really enjoyed this class period and felt that it was very valuable. I'm so grateful for people who work hard to make life easier and more enjoyable for others.

Class Blog for INST 4010

Hello! I have never really done blogging before but here we go! This blog was created for my INST 4010 class so that I can become more technologically savvy. Seriously, when it comes to computers and technology I am a little challenged. :) Hopefully, by the end of this class I can come to understand computer lingo and understand how it works! I guess we'll see! Adios!