When I was studying for my first Master’s degree in Educational Leadership, the topic of free and appropriate education for students with disabilities was briefly discussed. I do know that it falls under the Rehabilitation Act and I believe it has something to do with inclusion. With inclusion, students with disabilities are included in general education. It is essential that their educational needs are met as well as accommodating to their physical and/or mental disability. The student must have an individualized education plan and teachers must be trained to work with the students. Other than these few basic facts, that I can recall, I do not know much more about providing free and appropriate educational services for children with disabilities.
For the final push of my Technology Integration in the classroom course, I decided to do a claymation. I had so much fun...maybe a little too much fun creating this project. I never would have imagined that I would someday be able to put "creator of a claymation" as a part of my "things I never thought I'd do" list. My claymation was based off of an English and Language Arts Georgia performance standard for 4th graders. The standard is basically about identifying the main idea and supporting details. They are also required to present their knowledge visually, orally, and written. Switching to the role of the student, I had to write my story that included a main idea and supporting details. Mr. Johnson and his day off was the main idea for my story. The things that he had to do while on his day off, like taking care of his baby, feeding her, reading her a story, and trying to write his report for work, were all the supporting details. I think that this will definitely be a fun project and an engaging way to not only teach my future students, but a way for them to present information as well.
I was not the only one who decided to step up to the challenge of creating a claymation or stop motion. I had the opportunity to look at some of my other classmates projects. One of which belonged to David Smith. David did his stopmotion on species interaction. He included vocabulary and definitions and then illustrated that through his animation. It was very interesting to watch. His video was seamless and stayed on topic throughout the entire video. What I liked most about his stopmotion was that I forgot that I was watching a stopmotion. I really felt like I was watching the real thing. Ronica Williams is another classmate that did a claymation. Ronica's claymation was based off of a historical event. She too gave informative descriptions and then illustrated the point. I viewed just about everyone's work in my class. I think that all of us did a really good job, and really put forth the effort to not just do it right, but make it entertaining as well. I know I have stated this before, but even though this class was challenging, I am so happy that I stuck it out. I really did learn so much in a short period of time. I will continue to keep blogging and posting my work throughout my academic career. It is my prayer that all of my classmates succeed, continue to master the craft of teaching, never be afraid of innovation, always be innovative, and continue to be passionate about teaching. I thank Dr. Eley for being patient and understanding, even with all of my silly questions and blank stares. You will always be one of the stories that I tell my children and students. I can hear myself now, "You want to know what tough is? Did I just hear you say this was challenging? Oh yeah, well you try creating a podcast, webquest, and claymation all while you have a major paper due and haven't slept since last week, and then go to your full time job and then you tell me what's challenging!" LOL. Be blessed everyone! Live like it's your last breath, sing like no one is listening, dance like no one is watching, and teach like the world is waiting to learn from you! Sincerely, Lauren C. Caswell Having never done or even imagined doing a podcast, I was a nervous wreck when asked to complete my podcast assignment. Sure, I have heard of a podcast before. I watch a comedian on Youtube who speaks of his podcast often and of course ask that his subscriber also subscribe to his podcast. Through context clues, I concluded that a podcast was just another name for an online radio show. Thank goodness that my professor gave me a few suggestions of where to go to record one. Oh yes, it is much more than just turning on your computer's built in microphone and hitting the record button. I am an Android user and had to download an app called "Spreaker". You can check out my podcast assignment by clicking on "The Main Stage" tab of this site and scroll down. You will see "Podcast: Digital Storytelling".
I put a great deal of effort into this project. Figuring out the standard that I was going to use that would be appropriate for a student to do a podcast as an activity was a task in itself. Then changing into the role of the student and doing the assignment, I wrote what I was going to say based off the standard that I, the teacher, had chosen. Once I was able to figure out how to use the preset sound effects, adding music, and recording, I was all set to go. It took me all of 7 attempts until I finally got it right. Once I heard the finished product, I was quite pleased with myself. For my digital story project, I have decided to do a claymation/stop animation video. Yes, I know...I wonder why I would choose to do such a time consuming project when I have little time too. Honestly, when I read some of the articles I was assigned to read, I became fascinated with the idea of creating an animation. That fascination grew when my professor showed us a video clip that some students had done to demonstrate science lab procedures and precautions. I thought to myself, I can do that. If you can't tel already, I love the creative aspect of things. Writing stories, poetry, and music, as well as, making and editing videos. This was obviously right up my alley. I am not quite finished yet, but when I do complete it and upload it I will definitely add it to this blog site. The value of doing these tasks are priceless. I have learned so much that I can take with me into the classroom to make my lessons more exciting and engaging for my students. We are truly living in a digital world and it is ever evolving. As a teacher, you have to stay on top of the new innovations. Students will already come in the classroom knowing how to utilize a smartphone and things of that nature. You will be doing a great disservice if you are not ready to integrate these technologies in the classroom. My professor including this in the coursework, while at the time seemed like such a daunting task, I now understand and appreciate why I was required to do it. It makes me a better teacher and in turn I will have better students. I plan on using both digital storytelling and podcasts in my classroom. I would like to teach early childhood, preferably 3rd, 4th, or 5th graders. Just as my professor taught me, I would pick a standard (or two or three, depending on how closely related the standards are) and determine the level of higher order thinking according to the Bloom's Taxonomy chart and then list the objective. From there if either the podcast or digital storytelling is an appropriate activity, then I will definitely use them. There are so many FREE, yes, FREE digital storytelling sites such as Storybird and Toondoo that will be so much fun for my students. I know, because when we used them in class I didn't want to stop and I am 31 years old. Imagine how a 7 or 8 year old will feel. If you need more resources regarding digital storytelling sites, then click on the "Additional Resources tab below. It will guide you to my Diigo account where you can find a few links that I have found to be very useful and informative. Throughout this class thus far, I have learned so many different aspects of technology and how to use them in the classroom. I was just discussing with a classmate today about how I can integrate these tools in my lesson plan. Long gone are the days where a teacher stands at the front of the classroom with her glasses hanging off the edge of her nose, instructing the students to turn to page so and so and write the definitions 5 times each. We have moved on to the digital world.
I have always been the type of teacher that loves innovation and forward progression. Students learn and different ways and technology allows for all learners to become actively engaged. Key words here are active and engage :) I read a quote from Conficious that said, "I hear but I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.". This is truly important. I want my students to DO more so than just sit and listen to me lecture. My ideas about technology in the classroom was limited to just having students get online and conduct research so that they can write on the subject. However, I see now that technology can do so much more. Students can participate in blogs, wikis, TedEd's, create digital animations and stories, they can do podcasts and videos...the possibilities are endless. Taking this class has truly opened my eyes to what I can do as a teacher and I am so excited to present this to my students once I begin teaching, I believe one of my biggest challenges is dealing with a school that does not support or is not utilizing technology in the classroom. Due to budget restrictions, liability, students not having access to their own devices, and how instructors can include this in their lesson plans, all will probably play a part in not being allowed to use mobile technology. If this is the class, I'm not sure how I would handle it. Perhaps I could create a Prezi presentation that shows the relationship and benefits of using mobile technology and use examples of other schools who may be using the technology and give suggestions on how my school could integrate it in the classroom. I think sometimes people don't do or rather do not support because of lack of information. Sometimes it may be because people are resistant to change. Some people feel like how it is done now, is how it should always be done. However, that was of thinking will not only fail the school and the teachers, but more importantly fail the students. They will be the ones falling behind. Technology is ever present and ever changing and not utilizing it in the classroom will be a great disservice to the students. Teachers need to stay abreast with technology and there is no way I will stand stagnant and not embrace it in my classroom. I have never used a blog before in my personal life. I have however, kept a journal written poetry and songs...but I have never used a blog before. Now that I am actually using one, I can become more familiar with what it is and its purposes. I believe that incorporating a blog in the classroom will be wonderful. As a teacher, I would use a blog to show what my students are learning and invite their parents to see what their children are doing. It would be an awesome tool to allow my students to use to showcase what they have learned and things that they have created. It will also be a great writing assessment. I can see how far a student has come from each blog post. I would allow my students to collaborate and give feedback to their peers. Blogs are a great tool in that you can update and edit anytime. I can inform students of their assignments and post handouts and it can be a great student portfolio.
Writing across the curriculum is basically implementing writing throughout all subject matter. Some technological tools that may help promote this are software programs that allow students to create their own stories. Storybird is one of these types of programs. It allows students to create their own stories and the program puts it in a storybook format. Another great tool is a software program called Toondoo. It allows students to choose a character, a theme, and choose from a range of gestures and objects. The student can also type what they would like the character to say in a comic book fashion. The program is very easy to use and can be very entertaining, all the while allowing the student to write and be creative. I would implement all of these tools in my classroom, especially since I want to teach Early Childhood education. I think that these programs are very age appropriate. In addition, two subjects that I will need to research ways to implement writing are science and math. I think that the number one problem is that students learn writing from English teachers but they may not know how to apply writing when it comes to science and math. One idea may be to have the student solve a math equation and then write a paragraph on how they came to that conclusion. What formula did they use and why? I think the same would go for science. It's not enough to just read about science but perhaps have the student write about their experience in the science lab too. I understand how important writing across the curriculum is and I plan to utilize it in my classroom as much as possible. Some of the technologies I have seen in the classroom include, Smartboards, internet research in the classroom versus in the library, eBooks (Kindle), and in some cases the use of your mobile or tablet device can be used to download course material and provide instruction to students. As teachers I feel that we must keep up with the technology that surrounds us. Our students will benefit from the incorporation of technology, especially at the grade level that I am interested in teaching (K-5). Teaching my students early on will prepare them for what is to come in their educational future. Almost everything deals with some type of technology. I think that it is only befitting to incorporate some form of technology in your lesson plans.
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AuthorLauren Caswell is an Early Cbildhood educator. She has earned a Master's degree in Educational Leadership and is currently earning a second Master's to obtain her initial teaching certification. Archives
February 2016
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