Week 5

Before Class:  Use the Internet to find some information regarding the Promethean ActivBoard and its impact on learning in the classroom.  Provide a link to the information you found and summarize what you learned.  Include at least one question you have about the ActivBoard and be ready to ask the questions during the classroom visit.

http://www.prometheanworld.com/server.php?show=nav.3507

This website claims that the ActivBoard brings the classroom alive and keeps students engages.

Are students really undistractible if the ActivBoard is being used?

Assignment 2

Create a post called “Assignment 2” before the class presentation and include the following: (25 pts)

List of SMART Board features you will use during your presentation. (moves, sound, link)

            Animations for parts of slides

            Video Game video

            Highlighter feature

            Pictures

            Writing on board with marker

            Links to Websites      

List the specific NETS standards for Students & Teachers this activity covers (at least one for each) and discuss how this activity meets the standards. 

NETS for Students

1.      Creativity and Innovation

c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.

This lesson teaches appocolypic theamed poetry which simulates critical thinking about the subject matter.

2.      Communication and Collaboration

b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.

This lesson requires student involvement and understanding with and of the SMART Board to communicate ideas.

3.      Research and Information fluency

a. plan strategies to guide inquiry.

Students will have access to power point and can click on the web links for further investigation into author and themes.

4.      Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making

c. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.

Students research information on author and themes addressed in class

5.      Digital Citizenship

b. exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.

Students use computers individually and participate by using the SMART Board to share ideas.

6.      Technology Operations and Concepts

a. understand and use technology systems.
Students participate in SMART Board operations and use individual computers.

NETS for Teachers

1.       Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.

In this lesson students are introduced to the issue of humans dying but technology living on. Students brain storm possible solutions.

2.       Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

b. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.

Teacher has student use computers to do individual research.

3.       Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

a. demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations.

Teacher fluently uses SMART Board.

4.       Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.

Teacher does not disrespect copyright for sources.

5.       Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

c. evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.

Teacher is taking this course to better her understanding of Tech.

EALR 1 – Integration

Students use technology within all content areas to collaborate, communicate, generate innovative ideas, investigate and solve problems.

1.2: Collaborate: Use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

Discuss how an interactive white board could improve student learning in your future classroom.

Using the interactive white board allows students to participate in active learning through the use of technology.Students would be able to share their ideas and research into new ideas easily. Also it is important for students to be up to date on technology because the World is changing very fast; touch screens are a part of everyday life. Having access to an interactive white board could prepare them for future technological advances.

    

Demographic write-up Redone.

Classroom Demographics

Students:

Middle School: 4 1 hour long blocks each day. Between 30-35 students in each class. 1:1 laptop to student ratio, Smartboard, document camera.

Classroom Demographics
Student Class Enrollment	Students: 33 Males:  17      Females: 16
Grade Level(s) in Your Class	7th grade
Subject(s) Taught	Reading & Writing
Parent Support	The classroom as 3 parent volunteers. They come into the classroom during the work time and help students. One student’s parent has a doctorate in American Literature and is willing to come in and give a presentation for the Huckleberry Fin. Most of the parents are highly educated (went to college) and all graduated from high school. They are enthusiastic about their student’s success.
Available Technology	·   1 to 1 laptop to student ratio           · 1 document camera          ·  1 SMART Board
Classroom  Mobility *your classroom	0% of student turnover within the school year
Race/Ethnicity *your classroom	Race/Ethnicity (October 2010) American Indian/Alaskan Native 1 Asian 5 Pacific Islander 1 Asian/Pacific Islander 5 Black 1 Hispanic 3 White 14 Two or More Races 3
Spoken Languages *your classroom	96% English as a first language  2% Fluent in English as a second language  1% English-language learner
Identified Special Student Needs *your classroom	4 Attention Deficit Disorder (diagnosed) 2 gifted students 6 students with vision impairments
School/Community Demographics:
School Location	Suburban
School Socio-Economic Status	14 % of free and reduced lunch
Population	May 2011 Student Count 558
Describe relevant aspects of your School & Community that influence and/or impact teaching & learning. (Examples: curriculum, reform models, school focus, community partnerships, community support level)	KJH is in a fairly efluent suburban neighborhood. The community ranges from upper to middle class. There are a lot of Microsoft employees living in the area. However 14% of the school is on Free or Reduced lunch. This class has one student volunteer from Northwest University as a classroom aid.  Lake Washington School District does not participate in any tracking programs. Microsoft has donated Word programs to the entirety of the school’s computers. Nintendo also has been a benefactor of our school by developing educational games for the students to use on school computers. Starbucks donates school supplies. Our after school study sessions have college student volunteers who help struggling students. KJH offers for future student teaching opportunities in exchange for the mentorship in this program. Local actor Wayed Goodall has done a theatrical reading for the classes. Kirkland Junior High is located in downtown Kirkland’s residential area. There are many cross walks in down town Kirkland but the school is somewhat lacking in sidewalks. KJH has a variety of sports facilities, these include a baseball, soccer, and a lacrosse field. The gym is used for our basketball games and P.E. classes. The district has passed levees with support from the community for these facilities.
Technology Standards	7th Grade EALR 1 – Integration Students use technology within all content areas to collaborate, communicate, generate innovative ideas, investigate and solve problems. Components 1.1: Innovate: Demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge and develop innovative products and processes using technology. 1.2: Collaborate: Use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. 1.3: Investigate and Think Critically: Research, manage and evaluate information and solve problems using digital tools and resources. EALR 2 – Digital Citizenship Students demonstrate a clear understanding of technology systems and operations and practice safe, legal and ethical behavior. Components 2.1: Practice Safety: Practice safe, legal and ethical behavior in the use of information and technology. 2.2: Operate Systems: Understand technology systems and use hardware and networks to support learning. 2.3: Select and Use Applications: Use productivity tools and common applications effectively and constructively. 2.4: Adapt to Change (Technology Fluency): Transfer current knowledge to new and emerging technologies. (Grades 6-12 only)

*School demographics data was found off the OSPI State Report Card from a school in the area I grew up in. All EALRs and GLEs were copied from the OSPI website. All other data is fictionalized.*

Assignment #1 – Mock school demographics write up (including tech) Due Date:  9/13 Points:  50
Create a blog entry called “Demographics write-up” and include the following:
Four paragraphs about each of the following areas:  1.  Classroom demographics:  students, parent support, and available tech (15 pts)
2.  School demographics: location, population, services and support (10 pts)
3.  Community demographics:  support of students and tech, volunteers, financial support. (10pts)
4.  Tech Standards for your grade level (10 pts)
EXCELLENT POINTS: 5

Reflection 3

6 Reflective or Informative Entries regarding technology and/or teaching labeled “Reflection #1 - #6”.  These can be observations from a visit to a classroom, from NU classes, or reflections on something related to technology & education. Each entry should answer these questions: What? So What? Now What? (5 pts each)  

I am T.A.ing for my Structures of English class and I learned how to use the document camera. I had to figure it out all on my own and to my surprise it wasn't that difficult to figure out. This is exciting for me because now I know how to use it and have confidence to figure out other Tech.

Reflection 2

6 Reflective or Informative Entries regarding technology and/or teaching labeled “Reflection #1 - #6”.  These can be observations from a visit to a classroom, from NU classes, or reflections on something related to technology & education. Each entry should answer these questions: What? So What? Now What? (5 pts each)  

I have been so frustrated in a few of my classes because of teachers who don't use  technology in their classrooms to engage the students with the material.  I wish that we could have a seminar for NU for our professors to learn how to use tech. well. It would really help students to learn better.

Week 4

What did you learn about the SMART Board this week?    
 I have learned how to navigate SMART Board this week. I learned how easy it is to download a lesson and tweak it to meet your needs.
What questions do you still have about using an interactive white board?
I have yet to figure out a lot about SMART Boards. I don't know how to turn it on and I haven't calibrated it before. 

Week 3

Prensky's main message of this article is clearly stated in the first paragraph. Students have changed.
He is not just talking about a physical change but a mental shift. They "think and process information fundamentally differently" because of their lifelong exposure to technology. It is fascinating that my Brain has formed differently physically then my mother's because of technology. I am a Digital Native and my mother and my grandmother are Digital Immigrants. My mother has adapted very well to technology, such as Facebook, while my grandmother struggles greatly to post a new profile picture. Interestingly enough I have what Prensky calls an accent because I prefer to have things printed to reading them off a screen but I do know how to do things such as email urls. I feel stuck between native and immigrant because I do blame teachers for not holding my attention in class if they are "boring" but I can still learn from these immigrant teachers. So I wonder what kind of teacher I will come off as to my students.

Classroom demographics:

Assignment #1 – Mock school demographics write up (including tech) Due Date:  9/13 Points:  50
Create a blog entry called “Demographics write-up” and include the following:
Four paragraphs about each of the following areas:  1.  Classroom demographics:  students, parent support, and available tech (15 pts)
2.  School demographics: location, population, services and support (10 pts)
3.  Community demographics:  support of students and tech, volunteers, financial support. (10pts)
4.  Tech Standards for your grade level (10 pts)
EXCELLENT POINTS: 5

1)      Classroom demographics:  (a) students, (b) parent support, and (c) available tech

a)      This year in my 7^th grade English classroom I have 33 students. 17 are boys and 16 of them are girls. My students are very passionate about recycling resulting in an over flow of the recycling bin. Students also, in an attempt to live greenly, bring their own reusable water bottles to class.  
All of my students are proficient readers. Their understanding of English grammar is however sadly lacking. They enjoy reading fictional works but struggle with non-fiction works. Most students’ handwriting is nearly eligible. Often times student’s spell words incorrectly and have to look up that misspelled word in the dictionary.

b)       I am very blessed this year to have a hand full of parent volunteers. They come into the classroom during the work time and help student’s when they get stuck. Luckily one of the student’s parents has a doctorate in American Literature and is willing to come in and give a presentation for the Huckleberry Fin. Most of the parents are highly educated (went to college) and all graduated from high school. They are enthusiastic about their student’s success.

c)      Because my students’ parents are well off financially all my students own a laptop. This makes work time substantially easier because my students can work on their papers in class. I am blessed with a Smartboard which allows for students to diagram sentences in class. Also we have document camera which I have a good working knowledge of which allows students to bring up books or papers and they are on the screen.

2)      School demographics: location, population, services and support

a)      Kirkland Junior High is located in downtown Kirkland’s residential area. We have wonderful cross walks but are somewhat lacking in sidewalks in some areas. The sports facilities are wonderful. We have a baseball, soccer, and lacrosse field. The gym is used for our basketball games and P.E. classes.

b)      Population: Students here at Kirkland Junior High are fairly diverse. In a given classroom there are between 30-35 students. Typically the gender ratios are 1:1 male female but this past year we had 48 more boys than girls. We have a variety of ethnic groups here:

·         American Indian/Alaskan Native 4. 0.7%

·         Asian 49. 9.0%

·         Pacific Islander 4. 0.7%

·         Asian/Pacific Islander 53. 9.7%

·         Black 10. 1.8%

·         Hispanic 46. 8.4%

·         White 402. 73.5%

·         Two or More Races 32. 5.9%

c)      We have Free or Reduced lunch programs here but they aren’t used by many students given the fact that we have a 1:1 ratio of laptops to students in the classroom.

d)     The school has a lot of support by the community. We’ve passed many bills to get funding to our school. We also are blessed to be located in the same town as Microsoft, who generously donated Word programs to the entirety of the school’s computers. Nintendo also has been a benefactor of our school by developing educational games for the students to use on school computers. Starbucks donates school supplies and has hired some of the older students for their first jobs.

3)      Community demographics:  support of students and tech, volunteers, financial support.

a)      Parents of students are very involved but there are a few students who’s parents both work and thus need a little extra help. Our after school study sessions have wonderful college student volunteers who help struggling students. We team up with the volunteer’s schools for future student teaching opportunities in exchange for the mentorship in this program. Many teachers also invest in their students outside of class by attending sports activities as well as academic help. Every student has his/her teacher’s school email and can ask questions if need be.
As mentioned before we have a lot of support from technology in our school. Our students love the copious use of technology in the classroom. Through the use of our smart board and student’s cellphones we have been able to involve students in class participation like never before. Students can text in their answers an in anonymously. This provides a safe environment to ask questions and not feel singled out.

b)      Our technology department has a few Apple employees who volunteer and help trouble shoot. The full time employee we have is constantly up to date with upcoming software. He tries to keep us as up to date as possible but doesn’t exceed our budget.

c)      Financially we are one of the few school that is very stable. Due to our supportive community and savvy budget makers we do well. We could use more money to expand our parking lot. It is not sufficient parking. Also we would like to build a third floor because we are growing to the point of over population.

4.  Tech Standards for your grade level: At the 6^th-8^th grade level the Technology Standards are as follows on the OSPI website: http://www.k12.wa.us/EdTech/Standards/TechStandards.aspx .

EALR 1 – Integration Students use technology within all content areas to collaborate, communicate, generate innovative ideas, investigate and solve problems. Components 1.1: Innovate: Demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge and develop innovative products and processes using technology. 1.2: Collaborate: Use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. 1.3: Investigate and Think Critically: Research, manage and evaluate information and solve problems using digital tools and resources.

EALR 2 – Digital Citizenship Students demonstrate a clear understanding of technology systems and operations and practice safe, legal and ethical behavior. Components 2.1: Practice Safety: Practice safe, legal and ethical behavior in the use of information and technology. 2.2: Operate Systems: Understand technology systems and use hardware and networks to support learning. 2.3: Select and Use Applications: Use productivity tools and common applications effectively and constructively. 2.4: Adapt to Change (Technology Fluency): Transfer current knowledge to new and emerging technologies. (Grades 6-12 only)