Sunday, February 24, 2013

Technology Use




Generation @: 0-16
 Millennial’s: 17-31
Generation X: 32-48
Baby Boomers: 49-67
Silent Generation:68-88
Minutes per week texting
2779 min
1299 min
441 min
80 min
32 min
Percent that use email

97%
91%
77%
53%
Minutes per week talking on the phone
631 min
981 min
896 min
587 min
398 min
Main source of news

Internet
Internet
TV
TV
Seek news or come across it
I could not find exact numbers for this category, but from what I was able to find.  Generation @, Millennial’s, and Generation X typical come across news, while Baby Boomer, and Silent Generation are more likely to seek out news.
How many Internet-connected devices do they use?
1-3
3-5
3-5
2-3
1-2


References:

Millennials Defined By Technology Use. (n.d.). NationalJournal.com. Retrieved from http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/no_20100225_3691.php

New Generation of Communication: Texting versus Talking. (n.d.). The HireAHelper Blog.            Retrieved from http://blog.hireahelper.com/2009/06/11/new-generation-of-communication-texting-versus-talking/

Chart/table from: Majority of US Seniors Now Online. (n.d.). Chart/table From: Majority of US   Seniors Now Online. Retrieved from http://www.marketingcharts.com/direct/majority-of-us-seniors-now-online-22327/pew-internet-use-by-age-june2012png/

Comparing cell phone use by age. (n.d.). The DO Loop. Retrieved from http://blogs.sas.com/content/iml/2010/09/28/comparing-cell-phone-use-by-age/

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Issues and Activities



One computer in the classroom
Potential Issue
Possible Activity
Only one student can use
Have students look up questions during a lesson
It may break leaving you with none
Use as a station during an activity
It may freeze while using
Skyping with another school in another country.
If doing a group activity not all students will be able to see.
Use during a scavenger hunt.
It may be very very slow
Skills drill tests/quizzes
It may crash during use.
Accommodations for students with special needs
It takes a long time to boot up
Books, stories, primary sources online
Student get jealous if only one kid is able to use it.
Research
Spam
Jeopardy review





Small cluster of computers in the classroom (assume 1 computer for every 10 students)
Potential Issue
Possible Activity
Students may be looking up things they should not be.
Have students look up questions during a lesson
One or some may break leaving you with fewer then planned for or none.
Use as a station during an activity
They may freeze while using
Skyping with another school in another country.
If doing a group activity not all students will be able to see.
Use during a scavenger hunt.
They may be very very slow
Skills drill tests/quizzes
They may crash during use
Accommodations for students with special needs
Student will argue about who get to be the computer person
Books, stories, primary sources online
They would take a long time to boot up
Research
Groups will distract each other
Jeopardy review
Spam
Webquest



A portable computer cart or COW
Potential Issue
Possible Activity
Students may be looking up things they should not be.
Skyping with another school in another country.
One or some may break leaving you with fewer then planned for or none.
Use during a scavenger hunt.
They may freeze while using
Skills drill tests/quizzes
If doing a group activity not all students will be able to see.
Accommodations for students with special needs
They may be very very slow
Books, stories, primary sources online
They may crash during use
Research
They would take a long time to boot up
Jeopardy review
Students will distract each other
Webquest
Spam
Writing papers





A computer lab
Potential Issue
Possible Activity
Students may be looking up things they should not be.
Skyping with another school in another country.
One or some may break leaving you with fewer then planned for or none.
Use during a scavenger hunt.
They may freeze while using
Skills drill tests/quizzes
They may crash during use
Accommodations for students with special needs
They may be very very slow
Books, stories, primary sources online
They would take a long time to boot up
Research
Groups will distract each other
Jeopardy review
Spam
Webquest

Writing papers






Saturday, February 9, 2013

5.2 Assessment Spreadsheet


To create this spread sheet I used google docs.  I started by creating a form.  As a classroom teacher it would have been easier to have the students fill out the form as their assessment, but since I was given the results of the assessment after is was taken already I filled out a form for each students answers.  I set the form to automatically record the results onto an Assessment Spreadsheet .  I then colored red the cells that contained the wrong answers to better see any specific pattern.  I added under each question the concept the teacher was look for the students to have learned.  When you take the results and graph them you can easily see patterns.

According to the results of the assessment and seeing it on the spreadsheet it is easy to see that question six is a topic the teacher is going to need to go back to before moving on.  For the other concepts that students could revisit, you could use the results to place students into four groups of three.  I would place them in the following groups:

Group One:
Zoran B.
Zirii G.
Zon D.

Group Two:
Zyntar C.
Zuitar F.
Zancy D.


Group Three:
Zinvis E.
Zup C.
Zhield H.

Group Four:
Zucy S.
Zorelda I.
Zamsung K.

In each of these groups there is one student the understood the different concepts assessed. The teacher could easily provide a group activity to the groups that addressed all the concepts and each group would be able to work together to teach each other the concepts that they might have missed on the assessment. Another way to group would be to put all the students that missed the same concepts in the same group and give them an activity to clarify their understanding. But I feel that the better option would be the first. It allows students to teach each other and makes sure all the concepts are covered.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Building Relationships

I have only been in the classroom as a student teacher and when I original looked at the assignment for this week my concern instantly went to the fact that I was never put in the position to "Compare and contrast strategies that, as a co-creator and collaborator, could be used to build relationships with an individual or group who is already competent but may not be incorporating newer ideas or methodologies. Share at least one strategy that you believed worked and one that did not. Then, compare your experiences with those of your classmates."  (Tufts, 2013)  Then I started thinking about all the things I did as a student teacher.

I was responsible for taking over classes that were originally taught by my cooperating teachers.  The school that I was at had no curriculum mapping so when I asked what topics were covered in each class I was directed to the text books and the teachers' lesson binders.  Other than those sources I had a lot of freedom to create lessons that I felt would benefit my students.  The whole process of student teaching was an exercise in collaboration.  In the beginning I was required to run my lesson plans by my cooperating teachers for approval.  They would make suggestions or comments and I would make any needed changes or notes.  I did notice that I used the laptop station more than one of my cooperating teachers.  He felt that the students fooled around on them to much.  He did like the political cartoon activity that I had the students do for per WWII.  He never did anything like it because he did not want to alienate the students that could not draw.  He never thought to allow clip art, graphic design, and any combination of these to create it.  The other cooperating teacher liked my idea of doing an online scavenger hunt instead of doing it through out the school.  I learned a lot from them and I think they learned a trick or two from me as well.

While at this school I was able to take part in a professional development day.  They had decided to use the time to work in groups to rewrite some of the school wide rubrics for the common assessments.  It was a very interesting process.  They were having an issue with the language the rubrics used.  After reading a couple I understood the problem.  Students and parents were reading them and not understanding what they meant.  The language was very teacher and administration oriented and not very student/parent friendly.  The group I was working with took some of my suggestions, like combining some of the similar categories, but they felt the need to continue to use some language that would be difficult for some of the students to understand.  It was a practice in give and take, they saw the value in some of my opinions and I had to see the value in theirs.  We have to understand that we are all individuals with varying opinions and we need to respect each other.  It was a great experience for me.

Tufts, K. (2013). Discussion 4.1. Blackboard. Retrieved from 
                 https://blackboard.snhu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?      tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_86929_1%26url%3d