Reflecting back on this course, EME5050, a lot of emotions come to mind- excitements, frustrations, discoveries, and the occasional disappointments. I feel that though out this course I was able to learn about several resources that I had never heard of and even the opportunity to work with many of them. Having the weekly discussion with fellow peers was a great opportunity to learn what teachers were already using in the classroom and how they thought it was working out for them.
I mentioned that there was some frustrations mixed in my wide array of emotions. Majority of the time technology will work for you and your benefit, but in a few cases it can work against you. Working with several new applications I found myself trying to do the same thing over and over again and it never really turning out how I had pictured it in my head. That is one important thing that teachers must keep in mind about all aspects of teaching; sometimes things aren’t going to be as we imagined and we must learn to be flexible. Technology is a great tool, but always remember to have a backup plan.
Creating the final project had its headaches as well, but all in all I am glad that I had the opportunity to put together something that I am truly proud of. I can look back at what I have put together for years to come and use it in my future classrooms. While constructing this project I was able to work with many different applications, such as prezi, slideshare, irubric, wikispace, and blogger. This project alone opened my eyes to many different facets of technology available to use in the classroom.
Now that I look back at what I was expecting to gain from this course and what I have gained in the end, I find that I got more than what I bargained for. When I started this class I figured I would learn about how to implement technology into the classroom, but not to the extent of what this course prepared me for. As a future teacher and ‘graduate’ of this class I know that I will be able to offer my students some of the best applications available.
Peace.Love.Happiness.
All we need in this world!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
A Place in Florida- Teacher Created Project
Hi All! Below you will find a link to my Wiki where you can take a look at a project I created for a 4th grade classroom. At this link you will find the lesson plan, curriculum page, an example, and a grading rubric. I hope you all enjoy looking at what i've put together because believe me.... IT WASN'T EASY!!
Check it out-
https://msanderson86.wikispaces.com/
Check it out-
https://msanderson86.wikispaces.com/
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Spring Poem
Spring
Seasons come and seasons go
But there is one we can’t wait to show
Spring is that special time of year
When the sun is out and there’s lots of cheer
This is when all the flowers bloom
And all the beautiful butterflies start to loom
The sunny, cool weather is really great
Especially for adventurous outside play dates
We hate to say good-bye again
But we know that summer is creepin’ in
-Ginnie Anderson
Seasons come and seasons go
But there is one we can’t wait to show
Spring is that special time of year
When the sun is out and there’s lots of cheer
This is when all the flowers bloom
And all the beautiful butterflies start to loom
The sunny, cool weather is really great
Especially for adventurous outside play dates
We hate to say good-bye again
But we know that summer is creepin’ in
-Ginnie Anderson
Friday, April 16, 2010
Ready with Rubrics!
When I think back to before I created my rubric I recall thinking this was going to be a piece of cake. I have used rubrics throughout my education and thought I was a pro when it came down to it. Boy was I wrong! Using a rubric and creating one are two totally different stories. According to our text, Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom, a rubric is a scoring guide based on certain criteria that is used as an assessment tool. After reading the definition and thinking back to the many rubrics I’ve used in the past I started to create my own rubric for my project.
As assigned I became a member if iRubric and found this site very easy to navigate and use. After I created the template and the point values I was going to use came the hard part, adding the specifics. I thought long and hard about the different criteria I wanted in my students projects in order to receive full credit. Once I created the full credit column I start to go down the line from excellent to poor. During this process I would delete a little at a time until I get to the point where the students showed “NO EVIDENCE” in their projects.
I do have to say that I am satisfied with my final product and feel that it is easy to follow and grade appropriate. The different columns ask the students to compile an assignment that will inform the reader on a specific place in Florida. My example will be on Orlando due to the fact that this is my current location and one that many people in my technology course are familiar with. “Rubrics describe specific and measureable criteria for several levels of quality against which teachers and students can evaluate completed projects” (Shelley, 2010) and I feel that is exactly what my creation does.
References:
Shelly, G.B., Gunter, G.A., & Gunter, R.E. (2010). Integrating Technology and digital media in the classrom. Boston, MA: Cenage.
Here is a link to my rubric. Go ahead and take a peek!
Rubric: "A Place in Florida" Rubric
As assigned I became a member if iRubric and found this site very easy to navigate and use. After I created the template and the point values I was going to use came the hard part, adding the specifics. I thought long and hard about the different criteria I wanted in my students projects in order to receive full credit. Once I created the full credit column I start to go down the line from excellent to poor. During this process I would delete a little at a time until I get to the point where the students showed “NO EVIDENCE” in their projects.
I do have to say that I am satisfied with my final product and feel that it is easy to follow and grade appropriate. The different columns ask the students to compile an assignment that will inform the reader on a specific place in Florida. My example will be on Orlando due to the fact that this is my current location and one that many people in my technology course are familiar with. “Rubrics describe specific and measureable criteria for several levels of quality against which teachers and students can evaluate completed projects” (Shelley, 2010) and I feel that is exactly what my creation does.
References:
Shelly, G.B., Gunter, G.A., & Gunter, R.E. (2010). Integrating Technology and digital media in the classrom. Boston, MA: Cenage.
Here is a link to my rubric. Go ahead and take a peek!
Rubric: "A Place in Florida" Rubric
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Evaluation in Education.
Evaluation can occur in many different ways for a variety of subjects and lessons. Throughout this course I have been able to create many projects and discover a variety of learning tools that I would’ve never been exposed to. I have also had the opportunity to evaluate myself and my peers on the work we have completed. In return, my peers have evaluated my work and given me constructive feedback on ways I can improve my submissions. Evaluation can come in many shapes and forms.
Some popular types of evaluation are rubrics, teacher observation, and standard test.
As our textbook states, “a rubric is a detailed scoring guide for assessment, base on stated criteria” (p. 396). Our textbook also discusses how teacher observation can be an authentic assessment technique—“where teachers observe their students through the learning process” (p. 407). Many students like using a rubric because it allows them to know exactly what is expected of them so they can ensure all criteria are met.
As I was reviewing and evaluating the projects created by my classmates I realized the many different ways that a project can be done when a general idea is presented. As a future teacher I will need to be sure that I gave specific instructions on how I wish each assignment to be complete to ensure fairness at the point of evaluation. One of my next steps is creating a rubric for my digital storytelling project. While creating this rubric I will make sure that it is easy for the students to understand and follow and also something that I can use as a roadmap when the time comes to evaluate each of my student’s projects.
References:
Shelly, G.B., Gunter, G.A., & Gunter, R.E. (2010). Integrating Technology and digital media in the classrom. Boston, MA: Cenage.
Some popular types of evaluation are rubrics, teacher observation, and standard test.
As our textbook states, “a rubric is a detailed scoring guide for assessment, base on stated criteria” (p. 396). Our textbook also discusses how teacher observation can be an authentic assessment technique—“where teachers observe their students through the learning process” (p. 407). Many students like using a rubric because it allows them to know exactly what is expected of them so they can ensure all criteria are met.
As I was reviewing and evaluating the projects created by my classmates I realized the many different ways that a project can be done when a general idea is presented. As a future teacher I will need to be sure that I gave specific instructions on how I wish each assignment to be complete to ensure fairness at the point of evaluation. One of my next steps is creating a rubric for my digital storytelling project. While creating this rubric I will make sure that it is easy for the students to understand and follow and also something that I can use as a roadmap when the time comes to evaluate each of my student’s projects.
References:
Shelly, G.B., Gunter, G.A., & Gunter, R.E. (2010). Integrating Technology and digital media in the classrom. Boston, MA: Cenage.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Only the good stuff: Curriculum Pages and their importance
A curriculum page is an important component to any project for it serves as a road map for the projects. According to Shelly, a curriculum page is created by the teacher that has several different web site links preapproved for a specific topic or lesson. Once given this assignment I thought it was be a piece of cake and could be put together in no time. Boy was I wrong! This assignment took hours of searching and investigating to make sure the sites provided were “kid-friendly” and contained information relevant to my topic.
Looking back at Week 10’s discussion and on a project I would like to implement into my future classroom I used an example of a project I did myself not too many years ago. I created my project on a person who was very meaningful in my life. Seeing that this topic or project would be hard to make a curriculum page for I chose to tweak the project and make it about a place that is special to you and chose Orlando since that is where we live. The links I provided on my curriculum page contain information about Orlando and the state of Florida. Generally students study the state of Florida in the fourth grade so this would be a perfect lesson to use at that time.
“Supervising students and controlling Web activities with curriculum pages are crucial to the successful use of the internet in the classroom.” (Shelly, 2010) The internet is full of resources that are beneficial to students when used in the correct manner. By teachers taking the extra time to create curriculum pages, it will save them a lot of headache in the long run. As stated in the text, creating a curriculum page will ensure students are spending our valuable time on content that pertains to the lesson at hand by using the available links. Students love using computers, therefore, by utilizing curriculum pages and allowing them to take advantage of the computers, students will enjoy researching their topic.
Once the curriculum page was completed in a Word document I transferred it over to my Wiki by using the copy and paste feature. I did not encounter any issues transferring my text from one area to the other. I recommend using this technique when adding material to your Wiki because I was able to save it as a word file as well as on my Wiki and now have access to my information in two locations. Creating the curriculum page was a challenge, but something that will be extremely worthwhile in the near future.
Check out my Wiki by following this link:
https://msanderson86.wikispaces.com/
Looking back at Week 10’s discussion and on a project I would like to implement into my future classroom I used an example of a project I did myself not too many years ago. I created my project on a person who was very meaningful in my life. Seeing that this topic or project would be hard to make a curriculum page for I chose to tweak the project and make it about a place that is special to you and chose Orlando since that is where we live. The links I provided on my curriculum page contain information about Orlando and the state of Florida. Generally students study the state of Florida in the fourth grade so this would be a perfect lesson to use at that time.
“Supervising students and controlling Web activities with curriculum pages are crucial to the successful use of the internet in the classroom.” (Shelly, 2010) The internet is full of resources that are beneficial to students when used in the correct manner. By teachers taking the extra time to create curriculum pages, it will save them a lot of headache in the long run. As stated in the text, creating a curriculum page will ensure students are spending our valuable time on content that pertains to the lesson at hand by using the available links. Students love using computers, therefore, by utilizing curriculum pages and allowing them to take advantage of the computers, students will enjoy researching their topic.
Once the curriculum page was completed in a Word document I transferred it over to my Wiki by using the copy and paste feature. I did not encounter any issues transferring my text from one area to the other. I recommend using this technique when adding material to your Wiki because I was able to save it as a word file as well as on my Wiki and now have access to my information in two locations. Creating the curriculum page was a challenge, but something that will be extremely worthwhile in the near future.
Check out my Wiki by following this link:
https://msanderson86.wikispaces.com/
Friday, March 19, 2010
Digital Storytelling
Digital storytelling is a whole new way to telling stories! In the past week I have had the opportunity to learn more about digital storytelling and how to create my own stories. I also learned about an awesome website, prezi.com, that allows you to make and publish digital stories right on the site. Want to know the best news?! IT"S FREE!! Be careful, there are a few versions to choose from so make sure you pick the free one.
Check out my creation below!
-Ginnie
Check out my creation below!
-Ginnie
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The good, bad and ugly: Online Reputations
A reputation says everything and your reputation made through your “online identity” could make or break you and your chances of landing the perfect job. Before the internet it could be easy to leave a reputation behind and start again by just moving to a new area or going somewhere the people didn’t know you, but now with the internet and “online identity” it is hard to run from your past. Solove stated, “We may find it increasingly difficult to have a fresh start,a second chance, or a clean slate.” Creating and upholding a positive online identity is extremely important and crucial in any career, especially education. A positive online identity can be very beneficial.
I have used Google to search myself before and did again for this assignment. In the present and the past I have only found a few articles that are actually about me. These articles are things that I did in high school, such as the school newspaper and sports, and college, for example, my involvement with the Greek community. Using the MIT’s Personas project only found 2 articles that it evaluated associated with my name. It showed that computer-based searches mainly see me related to politics. The Online Identity Calculator placed me as digitally distinct. This means that a search of my name showed a lot of positive results about me.
I am a user of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace and I am extremely careful with the information I share and the information posted about me. I found the following statistic from Solove frightening, “According to one study of Facebook users at a particular school, the profiles “provide an astonishing amount of information: 90.8 percent of profiles contain an image, 87.8 percent of users reveal their birth date, 39.9 percent list a phone number . . . and 50.8 percent list their current residence.” Although I am guilty of a couple listed statistics I would never reveal my current address on an online site. Along with Facebook and MySpace, I also have a blog and now an “About Me” page.
I recently created the “About Me” page using Google profiles. This was a fun and easy process that allowed me to create a profile the way I wanted with the information I chose to display. As a professional educator it is extremely important to present ourselves as positive role models both inside and outside of the classroom. I hope to use my blog and Google account in my future classrooms to communicate with parents and display student work. Shelly (2010) gives many examples on how teachers can use web pages such as sharing student projects, promoting specific activities, or creating an e-book.
Solove quoted the Book of Proverbs in saying, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.” Always be aware of what you as an individual post on the internet and what is being linked to your name. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to clear bad traces to your name. Schools and all future employers will most likely use the internet as a source before hiring you so make sure it’s a good source.
*Future of Reputation by George Washington University law professor, Daniel J. Solove
I have used Google to search myself before and did again for this assignment. In the present and the past I have only found a few articles that are actually about me. These articles are things that I did in high school, such as the school newspaper and sports, and college, for example, my involvement with the Greek community. Using the MIT’s Personas project only found 2 articles that it evaluated associated with my name. It showed that computer-based searches mainly see me related to politics. The Online Identity Calculator placed me as digitally distinct. This means that a search of my name showed a lot of positive results about me.
I am a user of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace and I am extremely careful with the information I share and the information posted about me. I found the following statistic from Solove frightening, “According to one study of Facebook users at a particular school, the profiles “provide an astonishing amount of information: 90.8 percent of profiles contain an image, 87.8 percent of users reveal their birth date, 39.9 percent list a phone number . . . and 50.8 percent list their current residence.” Although I am guilty of a couple listed statistics I would never reveal my current address on an online site. Along with Facebook and MySpace, I also have a blog and now an “About Me” page.
I recently created the “About Me” page using Google profiles. This was a fun and easy process that allowed me to create a profile the way I wanted with the information I chose to display. As a professional educator it is extremely important to present ourselves as positive role models both inside and outside of the classroom. I hope to use my blog and Google account in my future classrooms to communicate with parents and display student work. Shelly (2010) gives many examples on how teachers can use web pages such as sharing student projects, promoting specific activities, or creating an e-book.
Solove quoted the Book of Proverbs in saying, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.” Always be aware of what you as an individual post on the internet and what is being linked to your name. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to clear bad traces to your name. Schools and all future employers will most likely use the internet as a source before hiring you so make sure it’s a good source.
*Future of Reputation by George Washington University law professor, Daniel J. Solove
Saturday, February 20, 2010
New Google Profile!
Hello Fellow Followers,
I just created a Google Profile. Check it out by clicking on the web address provided below. Stay tuned for more to come!
http://www.google.com/profiles/ginnielanderson
Enjoy,
Ginnie :)
I just created a Google Profile. Check it out by clicking on the web address provided below. Stay tuned for more to come!
http://www.google.com/profiles/ginnielanderson
Enjoy,
Ginnie :)
Friday, January 29, 2010
Searching and exploring the WWW and all it's resources
When I find a website I like/need I always bookmark it as part of my favorites. Of course, this could have is cons because it is only available on the computer on which it is bookmarked and if something happens to that computer then all the bookmarks are lost. I have somewhat come up with a way to solve this dilemma and bought an external hard drive backup and on that a back up my favorites are saved. I have tried another alternative of saving websites by using Twitter, but found that I wasn’t a fan of twitter so I do not continue to use it.
I always joke in saying that Google is my best friend and to be honest, it is! I Google EVERYTHING! Although I am such a huge fan of using Google I was unaware that there is a difference between using a search engine, such as my wonderful Google, and using a search directory, such as Yahoo. A search engine allows you to type exactly what you are looking for in the search bar and all the websites that contain any or all of the words in you search bar will appear. A search directory is a little more complex and organized in the way that you click on a series of links to get you exactly where you want to go. I still like the idea of a search engine better because I like to just type in the words I am looking for and see what the WWW has to offer. I found it interesting that if you add quotation marks around what you type in the search bar that the engine finds that exact sequence of words.
The amount of websites available for our use today is infinite, but there are a few websites that I really like for K-12 educators. Of course, my number one favorite is Google for Educators. I really like Google for Educators because it offers a large variety of teacher resources. Ask for Kids is also a personal favorite. Although I am considered an adult I still like to ask a lot of questions, and I find that this website is excellent for answering some of the question kids and adult have. Lastly, I like Sites of Teachers because like Google for Educators it offers a wide variety of resources. This site also has the sites listed in order of popularity so you can see which sites are used more often by educators like yourself.
The FLDOE is a site that I am familiar with but definitely not an expert on. I really enjoyed exploring the site and seeing some of the information and resources that I had not discovered yet. One thing I found about the FLDOE site is that there is a link for colleges, but I was only seeing that they had the community colleges listed. I am not sure of I just didn’t see a link for the other universities, but I found that to be a little odd. After reviewing the FLDOE site I went to look at a few other states. The first state I looked at was New York because I love NYC and know that teaching there would be a whole different world than here in Florida. As I looked at their site they had a lot of the same information as FL, but I found FL’s site to contain more information and to be more appealing to the eye. Next, I clicked on the Rhode Island site and found the link to be incorrect and it actually takes you to a car insurance site. Looks like the site must’ve changed and the change hasn’t yet been made to the main education site. Finally, I looked at Maryland’s site and found that I liked that site and resources better than New York’s, but I still think Florida is my favorite.
I am currently not teaching so I chose to look at the Orange county website since I live in Orange County to see what they had to offer. I feel like this site has a lot to offer to students, teachers, and parents alike. Of course the usual information such as a school calendar and latest news and information was available, but other resources such as a letter from the superintendant, frequently called number for the parents and homework help available for the students. Moving forward I continued to look at different sites and links that were available on the web. Some of the sites were more user friendly than others, but they all were manageable after a few minutes of playing on them. If you can’t find what you are looking for on the different sites you can always use my plan of execution, Google!
I always joke in saying that Google is my best friend and to be honest, it is! I Google EVERYTHING! Although I am such a huge fan of using Google I was unaware that there is a difference between using a search engine, such as my wonderful Google, and using a search directory, such as Yahoo. A search engine allows you to type exactly what you are looking for in the search bar and all the websites that contain any or all of the words in you search bar will appear. A search directory is a little more complex and organized in the way that you click on a series of links to get you exactly where you want to go. I still like the idea of a search engine better because I like to just type in the words I am looking for and see what the WWW has to offer. I found it interesting that if you add quotation marks around what you type in the search bar that the engine finds that exact sequence of words.
The amount of websites available for our use today is infinite, but there are a few websites that I really like for K-12 educators. Of course, my number one favorite is Google for Educators. I really like Google for Educators because it offers a large variety of teacher resources. Ask for Kids is also a personal favorite. Although I am considered an adult I still like to ask a lot of questions, and I find that this website is excellent for answering some of the question kids and adult have. Lastly, I like Sites of Teachers because like Google for Educators it offers a wide variety of resources. This site also has the sites listed in order of popularity so you can see which sites are used more often by educators like yourself.
The FLDOE is a site that I am familiar with but definitely not an expert on. I really enjoyed exploring the site and seeing some of the information and resources that I had not discovered yet. One thing I found about the FLDOE site is that there is a link for colleges, but I was only seeing that they had the community colleges listed. I am not sure of I just didn’t see a link for the other universities, but I found that to be a little odd. After reviewing the FLDOE site I went to look at a few other states. The first state I looked at was New York because I love NYC and know that teaching there would be a whole different world than here in Florida. As I looked at their site they had a lot of the same information as FL, but I found FL’s site to contain more information and to be more appealing to the eye. Next, I clicked on the Rhode Island site and found the link to be incorrect and it actually takes you to a car insurance site. Looks like the site must’ve changed and the change hasn’t yet been made to the main education site. Finally, I looked at Maryland’s site and found that I liked that site and resources better than New York’s, but I still think Florida is my favorite.
I am currently not teaching so I chose to look at the Orange county website since I live in Orange County to see what they had to offer. I feel like this site has a lot to offer to students, teachers, and parents alike. Of course the usual information such as a school calendar and latest news and information was available, but other resources such as a letter from the superintendant, frequently called number for the parents and homework help available for the students. Moving forward I continued to look at different sites and links that were available on the web. Some of the sites were more user friendly than others, but they all were manageable after a few minutes of playing on them. If you can’t find what you are looking for on the different sites you can always use my plan of execution, Google!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
I'm back!
Hi! I know it has been quite sometime since I was on here last, but I am back!! I hope you enjoy the new work and projects that will be posted over the next couple of months.
-Ginnie :)
-Ginnie :)
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