Week 15: Can Technology be a bad thing?

In 2011, almost 2012, why is technology still a class kids go to to learn to use a tool and not an integrated part of the lessons we teach? 

I really feel that in the younger grades, it is still be in used to learn about the tool because of the home life that the students are coming from. There are such heterogeneous groups that show up at our schools, we are forced to continue to teach the student how to use it, not manipulate it for learning.  I do think that the computer teachers should have to start differentiating, just as the classroom teachers do, but unfortunately it it not a certified position. Also, the classroom teachers are not given an opinion as to what should be taught in the computer class, even though they really don't have a curriculum to follow. We constantly feel frustrated with the low level of knowledge that our students have of working with documents.

Week 9: Instant Messaging

Many moons ago, the teachers on my team and I used to use IM as a communication tool through the walls of our school. It was great until the SmartBoard came along! Now, it is not safe to have have something that can pop up on the screen for all to view!  I still like it because it is a more immediate way to get an answer from someone, versus even sending an email. Also, it lends itself to only being a short note instead of feeling that more should be said in an email.  I wasn't aware of Meebo, and I am still catching up on the short-hand writing!  LOL! (I remember having the discussion a couple years ago with a friend about how they perceived LOL- lots of love OR laugh out loud. Time and technology can even change the meaning of words, which can make communication awkward for someone who doesn't change with the times!

Week 8: Cloud Computing

I made a Google Docs page. I also had to research  how to cut and paste on a Mac mouse!!! Double lesson here!

23 Things Kansas Week 8 - https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=18wIEvVwvuhrwBI7RzxJo-hSMJzc6CZfizBhRjk1nhSo

Week 7: Microblogging

I remember hearing about Twitter several years ago when I had met a lady that was really involved in community development. I thought it sounded kind of weird for her to tell people what she was doing during the day. The term "tweet" hadn't even been established yet!  I am obviously way behind times, but I did create an account this year for my classroom. (My regular life is nothing anyone would want to stay up to the minute with!) I have about 20 followers. Some teachers, but it is really intended for the parents of my classroom. I would really love to hear about the little things that my baby girl is doing during her school day, so I hope that the parents that follow me enjoy getting periodic updates. I am not real good at remembering to do it, but maybe I will get better before the fad fades.  OHEgraham is my screenhandle.
I follow other teachers in my building. It helps me to see theirs so I can retweet common announcements that relate to my class. I also follow VisitKC  pbsparents and AboutKidsBooks. It was easier to find some sites with the suggestions that were provided.
I was resistant about adding another thing to my plate, but communication is such an important piece of the relationships with parents, so I thought I would give it a try this year. It isn't bad since it is pretty much a one-way information highway.

Week 6: Tagging and Social Bookmarking

I think I created a Delicious account this summer but of course I can't remember my password or account name! I created another one and now wish I could change the username- but if you want it, it is brendagrahamksu  - I am kind of putting it on here so I can come back to my blog later and retreive it! I did actually take all of my bookmarks from my school computer and put it on this website, just in case our genius I.T. people erase my bookmarks, again!

Effective Instruction

When comparing the two articles, I definitely gained more knowledge from A Model of Effective Instruction. I double checked to make sure that I wasn't missing any pages from the Principles of Instruction, but it only listed two principles. Both of the articles encouraged motivating the learners with various types of incentives. I feel that this is necessary, but can be overdone at times. It is a hard balance to find, especially when you start offering extrinsic rewards. I like how they encouraged the teacher to engage the students with activating their prior knowledge in order to get the most out the learning. I thought that the first article offered a more organized format for listing the elements of effective instruction. The QUAIT method was easily to follow and remember. It did seem a bit out dated, as far as some terminology that was used versus in the Principles article. Cognitive development was one reference that really stood out to me as showing it was a more up-to-date article.


I tried to see if the Mindmeister web site would work by posting the concept map, but it wouldn't display the map. I will be producing something similar on Word, but my laptop doesn't have a wireless internet connection since I am in the boonies right now (St. Paul!) The computer I am on has Word 1976 or something! My mom's dial-up even more ridiculous yesterday; pretty bad when you have to go to your grandmas for a better internet connection! I am spoiled by the city life. :-)


Lastly, I think that effective instruction is important for EVERY single educator, including LMS professionals. I think the most powerful piece of instruction is getting students to realize the connection that your lesson has to their real life. They need to know that their is a purpose for learning it, or they are like the rest of us when it comes to professional development and just are left wondering why their time is being wasted. I think we can help teachers by showing them news ways that technology is going to benefit the projects or lessons that they are learning. The time that a LMS instructor could save a classroom teacher is also a way to make them more effective. I can think of several ways that blogs could benefit a classroom, but teachers have such limited time to prepare the sites. I wish my LMS would time some time to set those types of things up for me right now in order for me to utilize what I am learning about technology. Hopefully I will be that "life-saver" some day!

P.S. Thank you Patrice for helping me with concept map!

Week 10: Presentation Design

This week we began studying presentation design, I had no idea...
    how bad I "sucked" at making Powerpoints! :-) Here are a few of the questions, comments and concerns that I came up with after watching everything. I will be using these as notes for myself in the next week.

1.       If we aren’t supposed to use any of the standard slides from PP, do we have to make all of them ourselves?? Yikes.

2.       I don’t know how to place pictures over pictures using the watermark or transparent method.

3.       I do usually use a color theme, probably because I have used the standard slides! Colorlovers.com- never heard of it!

4.       I agree that presentations are super boring when you have exact words in them, yet I do do that sometimes if I am giving it as a print-out for students.

5.       Uh, we can’t use Google images?? Had no idea! Royalty Free istockphoto.com and Creative Commons compfight.com or flicker.com - made a note! Skitch.com  as well for making arrows and such

6.       How do you embed videos??

7.       Slideshare.net sounds like a place I could make some money after I upload and share it!

8.       Recapping is often the missing element. Probably because everyone, including the presenter, is sick of the content by the end!

9.        I will try to Google “beautiful fonts” it may help me- but I get overloaded with options! I am a sucker for the default!

10. Wow! 30 hours suggested on one presentation! I don't think I have that many sick days left to use to make mine this next week!