Technology Integration Research

Hello everyone! Hope everything is going well with my regular followers. Exciting things are happening for me these days; I am planning on student teaching this spring and then graduating with my undergraduate degree in May. I can't wait!

I'm posting today about my research that I recently presented in October in 2012 on web-based technology integration in elementary school social studies. I presented at the Pennsylvania Council for Social Studies in Bethlehem PA and all the participants really seemed to enjoy it. I completed the project in coordination with Dr. Han Liu, a social studies methods instructor at Shippensburg University.

The research was divided into thee parts with a brief introduction. The introduction's objective was to generate the question of why we need technology integration in classrooms while at the same time developing an awareness of how integrated technology is in our society.

Two videos were discussed, reviewed, and talked about.

The rest of the presentation was then divided into three easy web based technology applications that could be used in many grades and ages within school buildings. All activities are free to use (the most you need to do is create a free account) with the exception of the smart board applications (you need to download the smart software and it only provides you with a 40 day free trial).

Below is the Prezi (or presentation tool) in which I presented my research to the participants in the council. This Prezi has the two videos in the introduction and the links to all the web-based applications (and examples of those applications).

http://prezi.com/n9jw2mqbsyaf/technology-integration-of-social-studies/

In addition there was also a wiki space that I used to organize all the additional information for technology integration. The link is also here for your convenience.

http://clpcss2012.wikispaces.com/Presentation+Page

Enjoy these tools and use them in your classroom. Technology integration is absolutely essential in a 21st century education!

Whole Brain Teaching: Effective or Trend?

Hello my blogger followers! I'm sorry for the summer delay and lack of posts in the last few months. I was dazed in the summer sun/fun and just hadn't had the time to get on here and post. But nevertheless I'm back!

Before I went on my short leave of absence from the blogging world I attended a high impact strategies professional development seminar. This seminar was part of a new initiative of Pennsylvania school districts to develop an understanding to their newly formed curriculum plans/styles under an idea called Learning Focused Schools.

One of the most interesting parts of the seminar featured a video explaining (through example) "whole brain teaching". The central focus behind "whole brain teaching" is active engagement; getting the learner to stay as active as possible while receiving information.

The example video featured college level students. Since I have a focus of younger students I came across a similar video featuring younger age groups.

 

 

 

Personally I think the teaching style is a refreshing new way to conduct whole group lessons. Critics say that its simply what is trending in lecture style right now. What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

Ready.......Set....GO!

Get ready.....Get set.....GO!! A few weeks ago me and some of my fellow students from Shippensburg University participated in Ready, Set, Go-an early reading initiative in which parents drop their kids off at learning stations that promote early literacy while they (the parents) participate in an informative seminar on providing an enriching emergent environment for their children to grow and learn.

 Our particular station used the children's book The Farmer in The Dell as our literary cornerstone for our activity. We first read the story to the children who came to the station. After a quick read we allowed students to participate in a role play situation where they all had props and had to step in to a circle and dance when their character was mentioned in the "Farmer In the Dell" song that we played after we read the book.



Each character was picked by the student anonymously and had a picture and text of the particular character they were listening for in the song. Above is a student who chose the cat, notice the cat ears she is wearing on her head as a prop!

Above is myself holding on to the child who was playing the cheese. His head was too small to wear the cheese on his head!

Overall the kids and the college participants had a great time and made the night meaningful and fun!

PSEA Conference Activities

I had the privilege and joy of participating in the the annual PSEA conference representing (with some fellow classmates) Shippensburg University. PSEA is a subset of NEA (National Education Association) and a fathering partner in the group that I directly belong to SUEA (Shippensburg University Educational Association). This year the conference included amazing guest speakers as well as political action discussions and legal responsibilities seminars.

Each participant in the conference signed up for three professionally directed teaching seminars in which a variety of topics were covered. The three seminars I signed up for were Educational Games Kids Love, Integrating Instructional Technology Into the Classroom, and Integrating Music/Movement into the classroom.

I thought that each seminar was so meaningful that I would share each one on this blog! Hope you enjoy!


1. Educational Games Kids Love:

This workshop was presented by Scott R. Hnasko a wonderfully exciting 5th grade teacher who has a ton of ideas when it comes to making enjoyable games for kids. Not only did he share the game design but he made it clear how they connect to academic studies.

There were so many games introduced I don't know where to begin! One of the common themes that was presented was the use of two easels. Each team received an easel and the instructor would ask a question. After the question was asked the team had to write the answer (with the correct spelling) on the easel faster than the other team.

 A variation to this same was something he called "Beauty/Ugly Contest" in which teams would both use the easel and a description of something would be given. Students would then draw the most beautiful or the most ugly version of whatever was asked to be drawn.

 "Eraser Race" (above) was another very interesting game. On the board were different numbers inside boxes covering a length of space. Students were asked a simple math problem and if they answered correctly they got a turn to slide the eraser down the board and try and score the highest amount of points by making the eraser stop underneath the the box with the highest amount of points on the board. It was almost like shuffle board with a mathematics twist. The were four erasers (four turns) and each eraser was slid by a different student. The game seemed like something kids would really enjoy!

Overall It was a great workshop and the games were really exciting. Scott Hnasko is really great at his craft!!


2. Integrating Instructional Technology Into the Classroom:

Dr. Sara Rutledge is extremely technologically savvy. The amount of resources that were given during this seminar would take me all day to blog (literally all day). The packet that she handed us during the seminar had so many resources that I couldn't even count them (it was awesome). I thought I could share a couple resources that I thought were interesting and beneficial.

The IEP app! Holy cow who knew that there would be such a tremendous organizing application for a cell phone like the IEP app. IEP (for those that don't know) are educational plans designed to fit the individual needs of student who require special services in some form. Examples of students who have IEP's could include students with disabilities, behavior problems, or in some cases students who have experienced a traumatic home life.

The app introduced in the seminar had all the factors that a paper based IEP would have only in an electronic interactive folder that can be stored right on your phone. This app will be an amazing tool to use while teaching. Definitely check it out! The best part about the app? Its free!!

I admittedly use this next website and was familiar with its existence before this seminar but it is such a great teaching tool I really thought it deserved mention. Pintrest  is an online pinboard in which you can literally take any idea in the world and organize it on your own personal bulletin board. Its like taking all the resources that you want online and organizing them into a perfect board that you can use/organize at your disposal.

 The last thing that I found interesting and useful was a device that she shared with us that connects a phone to a computer. I sometimes struggle with understanding how these technological phone apps can translate into concrete lessons that students can complete in the classroom. With the device that she shared with us in the seminar, anything you download on a phone can be connected to a computer, and displayed on a smart board which can then be used by a student. I believe the device needed was just a certain type of iPhone charger.

Overall I thought it was an extremely useful seminar. I definitely wanted to stay and learn more!




 3. Integrating Music Into the Curriculum



Phil Wilson was the 2010-2011 Alabama teacher of the year. He was one of the guest speakers at the PSEA conference and I was very glad that I had signed up for his personal seminar in advance.

Mr. Wilson's seminar was directed around three themes; the moving child, the singing child, and the listening child. Each type of child has a specific set of characteristics to follow when implementing them into the curriculum.

The moving child will develop body awareness by recognizing beats and relating music to sports or other relate able content. Additionally,  moving will also promote socialization and imagination. Here, Mr. Wilson is showing us an example of the moving child (doing the hand jive).

The singing child develops a form of expression or communication, can develop beginning letter sounds, and can have fun by reading/singing non-sense words. Here Mr. Wilson and the class are singing apples and bananas, a song that substitutes different letter sounds in different verses.

The listening child can be a form of perspective or analysis. Puppets or interactive readings can be used in the "listening child" curricular understanding. Here Mr. Wilson incorporates musical instruments into different character parts within a popular story.

Overall the seminar was very meaningful. Children (especially young children) benefit in so many ways form having music integrated into their learning and interaction. Mr Wilson, an amazing nationally recognized teacher, showed us some great ways of accomplishing music integration effectively.  



Project Power

The highest level of thinking (according to bloom's taxonomy) is evaluation. What activities are associated with evaluation? Recreating something, projects that encourage you to construct, build, and design around a standard or a theme.

In my "assessing young children" class at Shippensburg University we did an activity that touched on the evaluation of thinking. During the project and after the project was over I couldn't help but think of ways that I could adapt or transfer the idea to students. If we can find ways to develop projects that touch on the evaluation of learning then students will most certainly prosper.

The project was to pick from a list of things to build. Your finished work may only contain recyclable materials. My group chose the option of designing a village.

In creating the village it took a collaborative effort with teammates and precision placement of materials.

We named our village awesome town. Here you will see the water tower, houses, telephone poles, and the school.

This is the urban section. In this photo is the apartment complex, corporation, park, bank, and radio station.

I felt like there wasn't enough time in the world to complete this project (we only had 50 minutes) my group members and I had a great time constructing this mini village. The standards connected to the activity were building and designing structures, problem solving, and displaying the rules of the road.

If projects like this are so engaging and enjoyable, and they touch on blooms highest level of thinking and understanding then we need to be planning more activities like this into the curriculum!

Biglerville Science Day

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of participating in a science day at Biglerville Elementary School. I must say before I go into detail about what we did the school was extremely organized and overall very nice. Mrs. Colino (the school principal) was very welcoming and supportive during the entire process. I would strongly encourage anyone who has the opportunity to participate or help out in the science day to do so!

The purpose of the science day was to build awareness about the environment, ecosystems and the interactions that occur within the environment and ecosystems.

My particular group did a version of a predator prey game.

Before we began the game we had to organize the inside of the classroom and the outside courtyard like a mini jungle. We flipped desks over, put blankets on top of tables, and placed large cardboard boxes all around the room. When the kids came in they were amazed!

Once everything was set up we had a brief whole group lesson on the definition of a predator and a prey with animal examples placed on place mats that students were sitting on (the yellow and orange things in the picture above).

The rules of the game are as follows:

The predators cannot cross the hunting zone which was divided by masking tape.

There is no running and no yelling!

The predators wear pennies while the prey wear flags

The prey will have 30 seconds in each round to hide somewhere in the room

The predators find the prey by calling out their name, calling out the body part that is exposed,  or calling out how they can see the prey

Once the prey is caught they become a predator

Playing the game the kids had a blast!

Here are two students hiding from the predators!

This prey is doing a great job of staying unseen.

At the end of the game we gathered students together for a brief discussion about the purpose of the game. We attempted (through teacher prompts and questions) to draw the comparison of their feelings and methods in the game to that of what predators and prey experience out in the wild.

Overall it was a great day and a great lesson!

10 Great Science Lessons For Kids

I wanted to credit the text book A Head Start On Science before I begin the description of the lessons. All the lessons that I am going to describe are from this book. It is a wonderful text book that basically lists lesson after lesson. Each science lesson in the book comes with a proper description of how a step by step process of the lesson, materials needed to complete the lesson, and helpful cross curricular connections that can be tied into the lesson. This is a wonderful science lesson book that has some really great ideas. The following are the 10 that I liked the best.


1. Smelly cans

Smelly cans is a simple and interesting senses game. Basically, you take five sets of metal cans and place certain scents inside the cans using cotton balls. For example, take a cotton ball and and douse it in cinnamon for a sweet cinnamon smell. Children will then attempt to guess what each smelly can smells like. The purpose is to build the understanding that smells can be used to identify objects. When conducting this activity be sure to include a variety of smells (lemon, mint, relish, etc. etc) so that children really have to designate between objects.


2. Sound: Shake, Rattle, and Roll

In this activity you will need two types of film canisters, six clear and six black. Fill the clear canister with a variety of different objects (rice, paper, pennies, paper clips, etc. etc.). Children will then be give the black canister to shake around, observe, and explore and record any information that they believe to be important. After exploring the sounds of each canister students will be given the clear canisters and be asked to match the clear canister object to its matching black canister counterpart. The purpose of this lesson is to use sound to identify objects and match different objects with different sounds.


3. Matching by Touch

This next activity children will designate objects by touch. In one box place different objects that have a variety of texture. Be sure to choose objects that are different in size and in complexity. Make sure that once you have placed the objects in the box you cover the entrance so that students cannot see the objects that they are touching in the box. Once the box is created give children a matching set of objects. Have children pick one object at a time and see if they can find the corresponding object in the box based only on the texture or feeling of that object. The purpose of the activity is to develop a texture awareness of objects and identify objects based on texture.

4. Snow Tracks and Traces

 This activity requires the right location and a little bit of luck. To start off you need for there to be snow on the ground. So if you live in a place where it doesn't ever snow then this activity is not for you! The idea of the lesson is to build and understanding of how to interpret tracks. Children will find a smooth area of snow (one that has not already been walked on) and jump in the snow three of four times. The same child will then find another smooth area of snow and walk normally. The instructor will then have a discussion (think aloud) about why one set of tracks are side by side and another set of tracks are offset. Once these main tracks have been discussed you can allow children to make all different kinds of tracks and discuss how their different actions made different tracks.


5. Bubbles Raising Raisins

This activity is one that I think will astonish students. All you need is raisins and some clear bubbly soda. Have students drop the raisins in the clear bubbly soda and observe what happens. The raisins should sink to the bottom at first but raise to the top as the carbonation lifts them up. The purpose of this activity to have children understand carbonation pressure and discuss what makes things sink and float.


6. Snails

It is important to note that before conducting this next activity make sure anyone handling snails washes their hands after the activity is over. If anyone has any kind of immune deficiency disorder they should not participate in this activity. What children are going to do is first observe the actions and behavior of their snails. Next students will place their snails on sandpaper and regular paper. Have students observe which texture the snail prefers to crawl on and record their findings. The purpose of this activity is to observe and record the typical behavior of snails.


7. Looking Through Water

In this activity student will simply observe objects around the room through two glasses. One glass will be filled with water while the other glass will be empty. Allow students to observe objects in both glasses and conclude their own observations and understandings before prompting questions that will direct them into a deeper direction of knowledge. The purpose of this activity is to develop observation differentiation of surrounding features.


8. Seeds In Our Food

What kid doesn't like food? In this next activity students will be working with different foods that contain seeds. Set out different types of fruit, some that contain seeds and some that don't. Allow children to freely explore the fruit and see if they know the name of each fruit. As they are exploring begin asking questions about seeds and where seeds come from. Children will automatically start exploring and asking questions about where the seeds in given fruit are and which fruit has seeds and which don't. The science of where seeds come from and what fruit contains seed is the desired content that is being taught in this lesson.


9. Nature Bracelets

Children need to spend more time in nature. With the advancement of computers, video game technology, and the increasing integrative nature of movies time spent in nature has been dramatically decreasing. In this activity students will be given time to go out into nature and simply explore. Anything they find that they think is interesting they can stick to their bracelets (tape on their wrists with the sticky side facing out). Later after their time in nature children will have time to analyze and explore the items that they collect during their investigation outside.


10. Leaves: Falling for You!

This activity also takes place outside. In this activity students will be required to find two leaves that are the same in some way and two leaves that are different in some way. Leaves that are the same could be the same color, the same size, or come from the same tree. Leaves that are different could be different shapes or show evidence that critters have been eating them. Again, this activity is meant to expand and develop students sense of observation, exploration, and analyzation.