Saturday, November 14, 2015
Monday, October 12, 2015
How to Use Technology for a Field Trip (to Art Prize!)
One way
that teachers can use technology to take advantage a field trip to Art Prize,
or any other type of field trip, is to get the students interested and engaged
before you even leave for the field trip. There are a few different ways that
teachers could do this.
One
option would be to preview parts of the field trip, in the case Art Prize,
beforehand. Once the teacher has seen many of the exhibits, they can create a pre-field
trip presentation of a couple of the exhibits. Teachers could set up the
presentation as a sort of “I Spy” activity, where they crop a picture of one of
the exhibits, and just show the students a piece of the art (they could also include
a picture of the whole exhibit if desired). When the students go on the field
trip, you can have them search closely to find the art piece(s) that you showed
beforehand. This could help the students to pay more attention to the exhibits
while they are walking around.
Here are
two exhibits a teacher could easily do this “I Spy” activity with:
Part of picture: Actual Exhibit by Randall Libby :
Actual Exhibit by Sarah Heath:
Another thing teachers could do to get students interested is
to either show clips of artists talking about their work in Art Prize, or even
creating the actual exhibit!
Video showing how Roy and Amanda Clark created Spring Trees
exhibit:
Thursday, October 1, 2015
CIPA and COPPA Information
CIPA:
CIPA stands for the Child Internet Protection Act. This act
states that in order for schools and libraries to receive federal funding for
technology, they must meet certain requirements. These requirements include
creating a policy which pertains to restricting internet access and filtering inappropriate
material for minors, which includes pornography, obscene material, and other
harmful information. Schools must also monitor students’ online activity, as
well as provide documentation to show how they are educating their students
about safe use of technology.
Congress tried for years to limit children’s exposure to pornography
and other harmful material on the internet, and they finally accomplished this
goal by tying the law to federal funding. This law is meant to protect young
eyes from much of the obscene material on the web, which they are not yet
developmentally able to process and filter for themselves. Unfortunately,
filters today are still not perfect, and in 2008 they still under blocked
15-20% of explicit material, and were only 83% accurate.
http://fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/cipa.html
(Definition)
http://www.foreffectivegov.org/node/485
(Rationale)
http://www.lrs.org/2014/11/05/ala-cipa/
(Statistics)
COPPA:
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) applies
to the protection of the privacy and personal information of minors under the
age of thirteen. Companies must obtain parental (or educator) consent before
collecting any information from children under thirteen. This act also
restricts marketing that targets those who are under the age of thirteen.
Companies and websites must include the information on how they are complying with
this law in their privacy policy.
COPPA came about because in the 1990’s there was exponential
growth in online companies targeting their marketing towards children. Children
do not realize the potential negative effects and consequences of having their
personal information online and public. It was easy for companies to obtain
children’s information without obtaining parental consent, so the public
pressured congress to intervene.
http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/COPPA
(Rationale and definition)
Teacher
Resources:
There are many interactive and fun websites that schools can
use to teach their students about internet safety in an engaging way. One of
the best websites for students to learn about cyber safety is FBI Cyber SurfIsland, where students from 3rd-8th grade can explore
different aspects of cyber safety such as privacy, bullying, etiquette, and
more. Another website is Surf Swell Island, which is a Disney created website
directed towards lower elementary students. Students can play different games
which teach about viruses, privacy, password making and more to receive gems
and win the game!
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Feedly is Fantastic!
Feedly can be an amazing tool to help organize all of the different blogs that we all enjoy reading. Feedly lets you find all of the blogs that you enjoy reading and organize them into different categories to make them easier to access. A couple different categories that I have my blogs organized in are classroom decor, literacy, education, classroom technology, and Spanish blogs. All I have to do is click on a category, and all of the latest blog posts from those blogs will appear in my feed!
Here is a screenshot of my home page with Feedly.
Here is a screenshot of my home page with Feedly.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Technology at César E. Chávez Elementary
As I did
my research on the technology found at César E. Chávez Elementary, I was told
by many teachers and faculty about their strong need for better technology in
their classrooms, and for the school as a whole. Only a couple of the teachers K-5 have a
student computer in their classrooms. One teacher that I chatted briefly with
talked about how she had to collect old, throw away parts of different
computers in order to have a computer in her class for her students to use.
The rest of the school has to schedule time periods to
use the one computer lab, which is full of computers that are 7+ years old,
even though the building is only five years old. Unfortunately, since the
computer lab is on the second floor of the building, the kindergarten and first
grade students are not allowed access to the lab, as it goes against fire code
for our youngest César Chávez students to be above the first floor. This means
that any kindergarten or first grade teacher has to schedule a time period to
use on of the six movable laptop carts in order for their children to even have
access to computers. The laptops on the cart are also old, so many of the
teachers do not even bother with them. Since the students are not using
technology consistently in the classroom, they are not encouraged to bring
their own devices to school.
Thankfully, many of the teachers do have very functional
computers, projectors, and even document cameras, due to phase one of the
school improvement plan. My own cooperating teacher uses her document camera
and projector daily. Her
computer and projector are linked, so she is able to show the students her
educational videos and websites from her computer.
Even though much of the technology at César Chávez
Elementary and Grand Rapids Public Schools as a whole is lacking, there is a
current bond proposal in the works to have the entire technology system
updated. The vote for this bond happens in November, and I have no doubts that
the bond will be passed, as the last two bond proposals and improvement plan phases
have been accepted and executed perfectly. According to their instructional technology
plan, GRPS values technology integration, growth, and competency for their
students and faculty, and many of the steps in their plan for staff
professional development have already occurred. For more information about the
upcoming bond, you can watch this quick video, or visit the GRPS site http://www.grps.org/bond-proposal.
GRPS Bond | November 3rd, 2015
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Classroom Blogging
A classroom blog has the potential not only to be useful to
the teacher, but to the students as well. I as the teacher can use my blog to
keep the students and parents updated on current assignments, classroom happenings,
and other relevant information for our class. My students could also have their
own blogs, and create posts involving their learning and research in different
subjects such as science, Spanish, art, social studies, and more. The
possibilities are endless. Students can also post finished projects for their
parents, teachers, and peers to see. Blogs can be used differently than Word
documents because they offer a much bigger audience, and are much more interactive;
students can comment and initiate discussions on each other’s blogs that they
cannot easily do on paper. Blogs also give the opportunity to post pictures, videos,
and live links onto them which take readers directly to the source of
information. Blogs can be an amazing asset in the classroom.
Friday, September 11, 2015
10 Educational and Inspiring Blogs
1.
http://www.alicekeeler.com/teachertech/
: Teacher Tech is a blog created by Alice Keeler, who has her B.A. in
Mathematics and her M.A. in Educational Media Design and Technology. Her quest
in life and on her blog is to promote new and effective ways of using
technology in the classroom.
2.
http://www.teachingandlearningwell.com/
: Teaching and Learning Well is a Weebly website run by GVSU professor Susan
Laninga. This site is meant to be a well of information for teachers and more
specifically, Social Studies teachers.
3.
http://www.coolcatteacher.com/
: The Cool Cat Teacher is a blog run by Vicki Davis, who is a fulltime teacher,
author, and keynote speaker. Her blog, full of countless ideas, innovation,
inspiration, and more, is a constant on the list of top 50 educational blogs.
4.
http://larremoreteachertips.blogspot.com/
: Chalk Talk is run by Mrs. Laramore, who taught kindergarten for 16 years and has
a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Dallas Baptist and a
doctorate in early childhood studies from the University of North Texas. This
blog is aimed to provide useful tips and strategies for early childhood
teachers.
5.
http://corneroncharacter.blogspot.com/
: The Corner on Character is authored by Barbara, a school counselor, character
coach, and former Spanish and ESL teacher in Texas. Her blog contains many
helpful and interesting posts about her experiences in teaching, in hopes that
she can inspire other teachers to become better.
6.
http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/
: The First Grade Parade is run by Cara Carroll, a first grade teacher from Texas
who’s been teaching for 13 years. The goal of her blog is to be a “virtual
scrapbook” of her everyday classroom happenings.
7.
http://www.kids-bookreview.com/p/about.html
: The Kids’ Book Review is run by ten women with decades of experience between
them who fill roles such as authors, speakers, teachers, librarians, and more. This
blog is a literature and book review site which includes literary news, book reviews,
interviews with authors and illustrators, events, literacy articles and more.
8.
http://www.kleinspiration.com/p/tiny-tech-tips.html
: Kleinspiration is run by Erin Klein, an educator who makes it her goal to
help bring other teachers into the 21st century by embracing
technology integration and global preparation in the classroom. Her blog is full
of pictures, examples, and more to help other teachers to implement technology in
their own teaching.
9.
http://blog.maketaketeach.com/
: Make, Take, Teach is run by Julie, a proud Michigan resident with a history
in special education. Her goal in her blog is to help teachers better meet the
needs of their students by providing multi-sensory materials, as well as other
literacy, special needs, mathematics, and DIY resources.
10. http://funforspanishteachers.blogspot.com/p/about.html
: Fun for Spanish Teachers is run by Carolina, founder of 1-2-3 Spanish
Together, an early language program for teaching Spanish to children and also a
K-3 Spanish teacher. Her blog is full of useful materials for elementary Spanish
teachers such as songs, games, lessons, and more.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
20 Social Media Educators
PINTEREST PEOPLE
1. Maria Manore: Kindergarten teacher from Detroit who runs the blog Kinder Craze and keeps up a well-stocked Pinterest board with teaching ideas.
2. Seusstastic: Melissa D. is a first grade teacher from Chicago who posts classroom inspiration regularly to Pinterest and is the author of the blog Seusstastic.
3. Megan Zachman: second grade teacher from Minnesota and manager of the website Almost a Third Grader, who keeps up an active Pinterest board for teachers.
4. Stephanie @ Third Grade Thoughts: Third grade teacher who runs the website 3rd Grade Thoughts, which is full of teaching resources and more.
5. Charity Preston: Pinterest user who runs the Organized Classroom website and frequently posts important classroom resources and information acquired during years of teaching.
6. Mandy Neal: Runs the website teachingwithsimplicity.com and shares tips and tricks for teaching with simplicity.
7. Mr. Hughes: John Hughes is a full-time elementary administrator and blogger of An Educator’s Life, who has a huge Pinterest board full of educational ideas for teaching.
8. Schoolgirl Style: Melanie Ralbusky authors the website schoolgirlstyle.com, which offers many creative ideas for classroom decor.
9. Patti Barker: Fifth grade teacher from South Caroline who posts about classroom management and technology in the classroom on also authors the blog Tales from a 4th (and 5th grade teacher).
10. Jennifer Jones: Literacy staff developer and curriculum and instructional coach who keeps up the blog Hello Literacy.
11. Samantha Ham: Samantha keeps up boards about Spanish education and English as a Second Language.
TWITTER ACCOUNTS
12.
@donalynbooks: Donalyn
Miller is the author of The Book
Whisperer, and is a strong promoter of books in education.
13. @pernilleripp: Pernille Ripp is a 7th grade teacher and creator of The Global Read Aloud, who keeps followers up-to-date on literacy development.
14. @ronclarkacadamy: Ron Clark is a middle school teacher and author, and is the founder of Ron Clark Academy.
15. @frankigibberson: Franki is a 3rd grade teacher and blogger who tweets mainly about literacy and technology in the classroom.
13. @pernilleripp: Pernille Ripp is a 7th grade teacher and creator of The Global Read Aloud, who keeps followers up-to-date on literacy development.
14. @ronclarkacadamy: Ron Clark is a middle school teacher and author, and is the founder of Ron Clark Academy.
15. @frankigibberson: Franki is a 3rd grade teacher and blogger who tweets mainly about literacy and technology in the classroom.
INSTAGRAM EDUCATORS
16.
The Pinspired
Teacher: The
Pinspired Teacher is a fourth-grade teacher
and active Instagram user who posts photos about creative classroom activities
and other things for teachers to enjoy.
17. Apples and ABC’s: This is a kindergarten teacher who is very creative in her classroom and loves sharing her teaching life and experiences with others.
18.
What the Teacher Wants: This Instagram account
is geared towards those who work with children and is mainly used to provide inspiration
and teaching tips for educators.
19.
Tattooed Teacher
Blog: Mrs. Lamb is a teacher who posts about what it is like to be an
elementary school teacher by including pictures of students working and other
school-related activities.
20. A Differentiated Kindergarten: Marsha McGuire is a kindergarten teacher who posts many unique ideas for teaching which are easily accessible and doable for other teachers.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Educational Organizations
One influential organization that supports the development
of bilingual students and educators is the National Association for Bilingual
Education (NABE).
NABE is very involved with social media, and is linked
with Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and even has their own YouTube channel.
There are many avenues for even nonmembers to keep up with NABE.
If an individual is interested in a NABE membership,
the rates are very reasonable. An annual membership for individuals is usually
$60, but university student memberships are only $30. A membership with NABE
includes six annual issues of its PERSPECTIVES magazine, as well as
unrestricted access to the website, discounted rates for other publications,
professional networking opportunities, and much more.
There are three publications put out by the NABE
organization. One is the PERSPECTIVES magazine. The other two publications are
research journals called the Bilingual Research Journal, and the peer reviewed
NABE Journal of Research and Practice. Some of these publications are available
to the public and the organization’s website.
NABE offers their 45th annual conference
in the spring of 2016, which is a 3-day conference in Chicago. A basic package
for the entire event is around $445.
NABE is one of the only national organizations that
is actively working to ensure that minority students have equal opportunities to
learn English, as well as support bilingual educators and usher in improvements
to the field of bilingual education in the United States.
More information can be found at the organization
website: http://www.nabe.org/
~
~ ~
A Michigan-based organization which supports
technology in education is the Michigan Association for Media in Education
(MAME). The purpose of this organization is mainly to support Michigan library media
specialists, and it does this by providing opportunities for profession growth
and access to resources and workshops, by keeping educators up to date on
recent educational media news, and by advocating for school libraries.
MAME can be accessed through the social media sites
Twitter and Facebook, which both provide extra resources and information about
the organization.
An annual membership with MAME is $50 for individuals
and $30 for fulltime students (with proof of fulltime, post-secondary school
attendance). Joining MAME allows members to be part of MAMElist, an active
listserv community for sharing educational resources, Media Matters monthly
newsletters, discounts on the annual conference, professional development opportunities,
and an awards program for recognizes outstanding professionals in school
library media services.
The annual conference is in late fall, and is a two
day conference. For nonmembers, the price of the full conference is $220 and
$165 for 1-day attendees. Discounts are available for students and retirees
upon request.
More information can be found at the organization
website: http://www.mimame.org/
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
About Me
Hi, all!
My name is Lanaia Walker, and I am going to Grand
Valley State University for Elementary Education and teaching Elementary
Spanish! Super specifically, I am a Core Sciences and Arts for Teaching (CSAT)
major, and a Teaching Elementary Spanish Minor.
Directly related to my degrees is my first fun fact:
I am the very first person to be going through my program in the College of
Education. This makes me a sort of guinea pig for the COE; while they figure
out the best way to send us elementary Spanish teachers through. This semester
I am in a Spanish transition bilingual kindergarten classroom at Cesar Chávez
Elementary School, and so far it is awesome! I get to teach the children everything
you would normally teach kindergartners, but for the Spanish language instead
of English.
Some things that I absolutely love, besides Spanish
and children, are reading, spending time outside being active, hanging out with
my husband, watching NCIS (season 13 starts September 22nd!), and
getting to see my family. I have seven people in my family, and soon there will
be nine of us, as we are in the process of adopting two toddlers who have been
in foster care in our home for almost two years.
As far as planning and using technology in the
classroom, throughout my time at Grand Valley I have spent a lot of time
planning and using PowerPoint presentations while teaching lessons. They are
very helpful for keeping lessons on track and interesting. I have also used a
couple different blogs, including Weebly, in many classes to organize information
and incite discussion among classmates. While tutoring in English 308, I relied
heavily on a couple different book websites, including the Children’s
Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD), to help me evaluate book levels and
quality for my tutees. Finally, in our elementary health class, we were required
to find websites and online videos to help plan lessons for each unit of
health. In many of these lessons, Pinterest was an extremely useful resource.
The schools I have spent the most time are Robinson Elementary, which is a part of Grand Haven Area Public Schools, and Sibley and
Cesar Chávez Elementary, which are both part of Grand Rapids Public Schools.
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