Lesson Plans

We are in the process of developing a lesson plan that integrates technology. Our class has discussed learning standards and technology standards. I have developed numerous lesson plans in previous classes, and I feel like I have a thorough understanding of how to write a lesson plan. I have also had experience with supporting my lesson plans with state standards. However, it was interesting to learn that there are technology standards for children in Pre-K up to high school. In class we also learned about the ABCD's of writing effective objectives. The extra practice activities we completed in class were beneficial to me because I have always felt writing the objectives of a lesson plan are one of the most difficult parts. The acronym ABCD stands for Audience, Behavior, Condition, and Degree. Simplifying objectives to these terms helped me to better understand the purpose of an objective. I now feel I can successfully write an effective objective for a lesson plan.

I believe integrating technology into lesson plans will help me to better accommodate to children's various learning styles. Prior to this course I have been skeptical about using technology in a classroom setting. I now, however, have discovered appropriate strategies for incorporating technology into the classroom. I hope and expect the skills I am learning in this class will significantly affect my teaching strategies and future lesson plans.

Inquiry Based Activity

I worked with a partner to develop an inquiry based activity in preparation for a lesson plan.  The activity we developed, called "Healthy Kids!", was created primarily for children in 2nd grade.  "Healthy Kids!" requires children to investigate nutrition and physical activity as ways of staying healthy.  We ask children to choose one food group, list four types of food in their chosen food group, and explain how the food group helps one stay healthy based on a Nutrition Exploration (http://www.nutritionexplorations.org/kids/nutrition-pyramid.asp) website.  This website was created by the National Dairy Council for children who would like to know more about the food pyramid.

"Healthy Kids!" also asks children to research three reasons exercise is beneficial and to list three additional facts about staying healthy.  Answers to these questions can be found at Five Fun Ways to Get Physical (http://kidnetic.com/BrightPapers/?c=Featured&p=35).  The International Food Information Council provides this site, which presents information on fun ways to stay active. 

Overall, creating an inquiry based activity helped me to consider the various ways technology can be incorporated into lessons.  (Even a lesson on health and fitness!)  Developing the inquiry based lesson was simple to do, and it could be done in more than one way.  For the "Healthy Kids!" activity, my partner and I decided on the topic we wanted to focus on first, and then found two websites to support children's inquiry process.  However, other groups demonstrated that choosing a great website first, and then creating an activity based on the website is also possible.  I believe I will definitely use this type of activity throughout my career because it was simple to design and seems to be a great strategy for incorporating technology into the classroom.

More Wiki Entries

Two additional websites I posted to the ECE Wiki are the Community Club and the Education Place.  The Community Club (http://teacher.scholastic.com/commclub/) affords children the opportunity to explore various occupations in the community.  Children may click on the "speaker" icons to hear a veterinarian, librarian, firefighter, pediatrician, and other workers tell about their jobs.  This website offers classrooms a wonderful resource for investigating community helpers!  Additionally, the Education Place (http://www.eduplace.com/index.jsp) offers teachers several resources for reading, language arts, spelling, mathematics, science, and social studies.  This website covers material that may be used from Pre-K to 6th grade, and there are various activities, lesson plans, and educational games for children.

Today I also searched for and posted a webquest.  An exceptional webquest I found was called Ocean Exploration (http://questgarden.com/80/23/8/090412145526/task.htm).  This science related webquest is easy to read and appropriate for the targeted grade level, 1st grade.  Ocean Exploration focuses on learning about marine animals and their habitats.  This webquest also has several good links to education websites to help children during their investigation.

Wiki's and Webquests

Today was my first experience using a Webquest! I evaluated five webquests through the role of an "Altitudinist." I focused on higher-order thinking and creativity in the webquests to guide my evaluation process. I discovered some webquests are better than others because they incorporate more higher-order thinking opportunities, such as comparison and contrast and developing deeper understanding of a topic. Other webquests may allow for children to be more creative throughout the process, such as inventing a new ice cream flavor. After comparing my evaluations of the webquests to members in my group, I discovered that one should also take into consideration how easy the webquest is to use, the layout design, the amount of links that work, and the opportunities for team-work throughout the webquest. I look forward to creating a webquest in the near future!

I also added another entry to the ECE Wiki.  In the math section I recommended Academic Skill Builders - http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/.  Teachers could use the website to help children build math skills, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division through interactive games.  Two of the best games on the website for young children are Alien Addition and Minus Mission.  Teachers can also control the content range to meet the various skill levels of individual children.  I definitely recommend Academic Skill Builders to anyone who would like to make math fun through the use of technology!

More Wiki Fun

I am learning more and more about Wiki's during every class.  I added a picture of myself on the members page.  I also made an entry on the language arts page about a website called Star Fall (http://www.starfall.com/).  Star Fall is a wonderful website for children learning to read!  Specifically, this website is great for children in Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, and 2nd Grade.  The games Star Fall offers children are engaging tools to help them learn letter recognition, phonemic awareness, phonics, and much more.  This website also integrates Sign Language through interactive games and videos.  Overall, the Wiki is a wonderful way for groups of people to collaborate and share various resources.

Wonderful Wiki

Before this class I had never heard of a Wiki.  After today I feel I have a much better understanding though.  I thought it was interesting the term Wiki comes from the Hawaiian "wiki, wiki" which means "quick, quick."  Wiki's help multiple people to add, delete, and edit content on a web page.  A benefit of a Wiki is it can reduce and even eliminate the need to email.  I think Wiki's are a wonderful tool for older groups of children.  They would be able to collaborate on a class project or find help with homework.  I am unsure and wonder how I would be able to use a Wiki with younger children.  However, I think using Wiki's in a 2nd or 3rd grade classroom might be very beneficial for children.  I hope to continue to learn even more about Wiki's and other wonderful ways they may be used.  Click here to view our class Wiki  http://tpte486.pbworks.com/

Parks & Recreation

This is a picture of me and my wonderful boyfriend, Jeremy, taken at Tyson Park. We love going to different parks and enjoying nature's beauty! Most recently, we have often visited Cove Lake State Park. There is a nice walking trail, tennis courts, and picnic tables to eat a lunch. The last time we visited Cove Lake we sat on a pier and saw a huge turtle! It was really amazing to see the turtle swimming in the lake!

Website Evaluation

The "Website Evaluation Activity" assisted me in determining which criteria are most important to consider when evaluating a website for educational purposes. Some of the criteria I discovered were significant when evaluating educational websites were crediting an author, crediting a publishing company, having appropriate graphic, and few spelling errors. Through the activity, I feel I am better equipped to evaluate any website for future educational purposes.