Blog Entry #3

This blog entry will focus on what you have learned in this course, how your project experience has helped you, how you see technology being used in your own classroom, what your future plans are for technology in your teaching, and what outstanding issues or questions you think need to be addressed as you continue to learn about and use technology. Use this blog to explore the future of educational technology in your own professional life.

Overall, I am excited about the experiences that I gained from this class. I can think of several ways to incorporate what I learned - especially to students who need alternate ways to complete/turn in assignments. I am interested to have some of my students record explanations and turn those in rather than writing them out. It is unfortunate that my school does not have access to as much technology as I would like but there are ways to work around it. I may just have to hog the lab next year!

In my curricular integration project, I really wanted to focus on a topic my students have struggled with to make it worth while (not just a grad school assignment but lesson planning for next year). I am proud of what I came up with and think it will transform the way I teach the probability unit. I can't wait to use it!

As I continue to use technology at my school, I really need to focus on access. Many of our students do not have access at home and we have limited access even during the school day. I would like to write a grant to get a laptop cart or other form of mobile technology at my school. I will continue to push for upgrades and can hopefully make progress. 

Blog Entry #2

In this entry, you will summarize your curricular integration project plans for the class, identify what you’ll need to complete the project, identify what you hope to learn by doing the project, and provide a discussion of how you can connect what you learn and do on the class project to your own teaching practices. An important theme of this blog entry should be how your project connects to your classroom and teaching practices. For my curricular integration project I plan on creating a WebQuest for a probability unit. This will be geared towards my Integrated II math class (10th grade level math). I have issues with how the topic is presented in the school text and would like to create more supplemental materials to support student learning. This was a topic they struggled with this past year. Also, I will have a class of students with special needs and learning disabilities next year and think a WebQuest project would be a good way to support their learning as it can be easily modified and they tend to be more comfortable with information presented using technology than our typical text. In order to complete the project I will need to research websites that contain usable data. I will also need to introduce how to use Google Docs to create a survey, as I would like to students to work on gathering their own data to support their learning. By gathering and analyzing their own data, I hope students will be more invested in the project and in their own learning. By doing this project I hope to experience an alternate way to engage my students. They are so willing to do anything with technology and, if this WebQuest goes well, I hope to create a library of relative WebQuests for applicable units. I focus on experiential learning and discovery in class and this will be a great alternative to the low-tech options I currently use. I am excited to try this project and think it will be something I can use often in class. I would also like to modify the idea of a WebQuest to a non-public Google Doc that takes my students through a concept. Our text involves a LOT of reading, there are not examples of how to do problems, but discussion questions that encourages students to think through the process and learn the method on their own. While I love this method for a majority of my students, the students with special needs really struggle with this setup. I would like to provide an alternate way for them to gather the material without just giving it to them and think I could incorporate what I learn in this project to do that. I hope to compile several unit lessons throughout the years.

Blog Comment #3

Ed Tech 4 Science post about discovery learning

http://www.ed-tech-4-science.com/2012/05/15/deep-conceptual-learning-in-science-and-mathematics/comment-page-1/#comment-8102

posted as Jessica Reinartz

Blog Comment #2

Apps in Education - iPad apps (posted as Jessica Reinartz)

http://appsineducation.blogspot.com/2012/04/apps-to-use-as-student-eportfolios.html#comment-form

Blog Comment #1

http://edte.ch/blog/interesting-ways/  (interesting ways to use Google Docs and other cloud formats)

Posted under: reinartzjl

Blog Entry #1

The following questions should be addressed in this first entry: (1) what do you hope to gain and learn by taking this class? (2) what experiences do you bring to the class from your own use of technology? (3) what kind of technology integration project would you like to work on in this class? (4) how will what you learn and do in this class connect to what you are doing in your own classroom? I currently have experience with some educational technology tools (Google Docs, SmartBoards, iPad for classroom use) but would like to expand my list of materials and become more fluent with the tools that I already utilize. In the past, I have taught at schools with one-to-one iPad programs, SmartBoards in every room, and multiple labs with PC and Macs. My current school, a charter school, sometimes hurts for funding and is not able to afford access to multiple expensive technology tools. I would like to learn how to best use technology that is readily available and affordable (or even better, free) so that I can become a more effective teacher and can help my students reach their full potential. Next year I will be teaching several math classes for students with special needs. I would like my project for this class to focus on utilizing the iPads that these students have access to. Currently, I do daily formative assessments on paper and these are not working with my special needs students; I am not gaining effective information from them in the way that I would like. I plan on incorporating drawing or sketch applications from the iPad with this class. This would give my students more freedom in the way they answer the questions and, since they can easily email a copy to me, it will be easier for me to look a record of one student's comprehension as any given unit progresses. I have noticed that many of the students in this class take easily to their iPads and are much more willing to learn if they are allowed to use them. I plan to begin with the formative assessments but expand the way that we use them in class as the year continues. I hope that I will be able to incorporate many of the Internet-based tools we see in EDT 619 into my classroom. If a student asks a question about a certain topic it would be nice to quickly and effectively pull something up on the computer that engages their curiosity, deepens their understanding, and makes them want to know more. As a math teacher I often get asked, "When will I use this in real life?". I think I can use what I will learn in this class to dynamically answer that question in a way that shows my students how what they learn inside the classroom can also be used outside of it.