Becoming a Blogger

Spanish 1 Unit Plan

shariprice — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:26:40 +0000

I have created a three lesson unit plan for my Spanish I class. I have utilized our language lab that has tons of cool technological resources to work on some of the goals outlined in the TEKS for languages other than English. The students will be working with the software in the language lab, the internet, videos, Microsoft Word, and PowerPoint. Here is a link to the lessons:

http://shariprice.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/unit-plan.doc

Fieldwork Entry 4

shariprice — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:08:20 +0000

December 4, 2008 (10:52a-12:23p)

Today I observed another Spanish teacher in my department. She took her class to the language lab to practice speaking, vocabulary, and verb conjugations. During the course of the class period, she put the students in groups of two and had them do speaking activities in their two-way head phones. Then they got on a website that is created by the publisher of the text book to do vocabulary games. Lastly, she had them use the lab’s instant messaging program. She put them with a partner again, and had them type to each other. The objective was to conjugate the verbs correctly in the conversation. I enjoyed this observation because I feel like I can use everything that I saw her do today. It was fun to watch someone who works in my field.

Fieldwork Entry 3

shariprice — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:57:01 +0000

December 2, 2008 (10:52a-12:23p)

Today I observed the same BCIS teacher that I observed last week. This week she was building on the project that the class began last week. She showed them how to format the Excel spreadsheet. They learned to change fonts, to click and drag formulas, to change background colors, to merge cells, and other ways of formatting cells. She taught them these things by using the projector to show her computer screen while she performed similar functions. These students are really becoming more familiar with the Excel program. When they finish with this project, I believe that they will be completely competent in using the program.

Fieldwork Entry 2

shariprice — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:48:59 +0000

November 27, 2008 (1:15p-2:45p)

Today I observed one of the BCIS teachers at my school during my conference period. She was teaching her class to use Excel. The lesson dealt with basic algebraic functions, so she opened up with a review of the order of operations. This is something that the students have learned in their math classes, so it should have been a review. I was impressed with her efforts to align her curriculum with that of the math department. The more practice the students get with a concept, the better they will perform when using it. This teacher started by taking the students to a website that taught the order of operations and quizzed for understanding. Then, she explained the lesson that they would be doing in Excel. Then, the students finally got a chance to begin the assignment on their own. This was a great way to combine technology and mathematics even though it wasn’t a math class.

Fieldwork Entry 1

shariprice — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:40:46 +0000

November 25, 2008 (1:15p-2:45p)

Today I observed another Spanish teacher in the language lab at our school. The assignment was for the students to research a Spanish speaking country. They then had to write a paper and create a PowerPoint presentation on the topic. The teacher had a set of guidelines, and he specified what types of things that he wanted to hear about. He gave the students several class periods to do the research, and I only observed one of them. He also gave the class the address to his website, which contained links to great websites to do that type of research. The students worked in groups, and they helped each other a lot. It seemed like a great project to teach students about a country’s culture.

The Cost of Technology

shariprice — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:23:38 +0000

The obvious costs of using technology in the classsroom are money and time. Not only do school districts have to spend money to purchase the programs, they also have to spend money training teachers to use the programs. This could get costly for all districts, and it is especially difficult for poorer districts and private institutions. The second cost that I mentioned is time. Educators would have to spend time getting familiar with the programs in order to successfully use them with students. The teacher would have to be so much of an expert since he or she would need to lead the class. It would also take time to plan new lessons that utilize the technology.

These costs are definitely something to take into consideration; however, there are many programs that are worth it. The important thing is to do the research and find out what is needed and what will be helpful to your students. It can do more harm than good to implement technology just for the sake of saying you did it. Make sure that the programs that you are using aide in ensuring a productive learning environment.

Webmastering

shariprice — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:17:48 +0000

Whew! I now have the beginning of what will be my company’s website. For my project, I decided to open a business that provides tutoring services for grade school kids. I decided to do this because as a teacher I get lots of requests to tutor kids, but I usually do not have time outside of school to do so. It would be helpful to parents to have a company to go to that offers tutoring in several subject areas.

I’m excited that I now know how to design a web page. It would be a great resourse for my students. I can post assignments and projects online. It is also more personal than the website that the school district provides.

Here is the link to my site: http://www.freewebs.com/sdprice/index.htm

Desktop Publisher

shariprice — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:33:06 +0000

In creating my very own newsletter, I used all four design principals. For starters, there is obvious contrast in the black, white, and red color scheme. Also, the font is either very big or very small, and there isn’t much in between. My spacial relationships and font sizes are very repetitive. All titles are one size font and all story text is another. My columns and pictures are very strategically aligned….even from story to story. And, I demonstrated proximity by placing lists on the left, stories in the middle, and pictures on the right.

Interactive PowerPoint

shariprice — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:29:12 +0000

Whew! I have just finished my interactive PowerPoint. I have learned all that I want to know about macros! Creating it was difficult, but the results were rewarding. It is a pretty cool little tool.

My MovieMaker Experience

shariprice — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:31:10 +0000

Videos are like any other teaching tool; they can be helpful when used correctly. They are exciting visuals that can definitely keep an audience engaged. The best part is that they allow you to give a demonstration of what it is that you are explaining.

However, they should be used as an aid only. Students will still need the teacher to be present and helpful as well. It is up to the teacher to use a variety of teaching tools, and videos are just one type. Some schools have opted to have distance learning classes where there is a video that does the teaching and the teacher is non-existent opinion, this is not a good idea. There should be a person there to lead the class and use the video as an aid. There will come a time when there is a situation or a question that the video doesn’t have the answer for; and for that reason, the teacher should be the primary educator, and the video should be the supplement.

Picture the following: You call the 1 800 number to get assistance with your _______. You immediately get the automated system that instructs you to push the button for the number that corresponds with your problem, but non of the descriptions apply. The first thing you think is, “I need to talk to a real person”. This is what it could feel like in a distance learning class with no teacher.

Remember……videos are wonderful aides, but they are not meant to replace all other forms of instruction.

I can think of many ways that I could use the video technology in my classroom, but I learned from this project that it takes time and patience. It took me a while to get familiar with the program, but it seems like it’s one of those things that you learn and get better at. The good thing is that once you’ve taken the time to create the video it can be used time and time again.