Week 9 Mail Merge/Group Project

The mail merge was simple. Having background in corporate America, I've had to use mail merge often. Consequently, I enjoyed doing the project. On the other hand, I 've been in the school district for the last two years and I don't know that any of the teachers here ever use mail merge. They usually just type out the letters and place them in the student's folder.
It was hard selecting a partner for the project. Finally, Brandon and I decided to be partners. We are still working on the topic.

Lesson Plans

Finding lesson plans to incorporate technology was an easy one. The Promethean Board is fairly new at our school, and most of the teachers love it. We only have about 2 or 3 that our teachers have to share, which means they are excited when it's their turn to present a lesson using it. The Promethean Board offers a ton of lesson plans for Kindergarten such as calender math, shapes, lengths; all sorts of fun things. Consequently, I found lessons using the Promethean Board. There is one lesson where students use a "remote control'' type device to lock in their answers. I had no problem finding lesson plans; it was just hard deciding on the right one to use.

On Line Discusssion

We had to do an online discussion in class because we couldn't schedule a time outside of the classroom that was good for everybody. In class, it went smooth and I feel that online discussions are good for online classes. I have had to do weekly, mandatory online discussions with online classes I've taken in the past. The only difference is we were given a certain time that we all would have to meet. I know our professor is trying to be a bit more flexible which is great but sometimes is harder for 20 people to agree on a time than it is for the professor to designate a time and we have to do it.

WEEk 4 3M Chart/Websites

I liked the idea of the 3M chart we were introduced to. This is something I am sure I will use in my classroom.
Finding the websites was very easy to me. Because I already work in a school, I have access to numerous amounts of websites for parents, educators and students. However, to challenge myself, I tried to find at least half from a new source. It is amazing the amount of free resources available on the Internet to parents, educators and students. It's just a matter of knowing they're out there. Having this list handy when I begin teaching will be a great resource.

Multiple Intelligence

I've always been aware of how I learn/ study best. I learn best through mathematical, logical, and musical. I've come to learn that teachers usually teach by using their personal learning style. That scares me a bit, which means I will be very conscious of how I am teaching. I do realize that not every student will share the same learning style as I do. Therefore, I must be able to recognize each student's style and accommodate my lesson plans accordingly. One professor suggest that I teach using my learning style and then reteach or review the lesson using different learning styles. I can honestly say that I will observe and assess which method works best in my classroom.

Week 3 Bloom's Taxonomy

This week we discussed Bloom's Taxonomy and it's impact with technology. I believe technology and Bloom has a positive impact if it is applied correctly. Technology has such a wide variety and differs in relevance to cognitive learning. I believe that students don't learn directly from technology, but indirectly depending on the amount of thinking the student has to do. The more the student is required to think the more meaningful the learning will be.