Changes

I am sitting in room 169. The walls are bare. I took down all the decorations that I had so carefully and thoughtfully put up 10 months ago. My stuff is all boxed up and waiting by the door for Mr. Jennings to load (they are very heavy).

And I am real sad.

I feel like a big part of my chest is being yanked out when I think about my 30 little guys coming tomorrow and giving me one last hug goodbye. It may seem dramatic, but I never knew how much I would love these guys.

When I started teaching in August I was ready for a new adventure, a distraction, so I could focus on that for a while. I was excited about interacting with my 7 year olds. But I never knew how much they would change me. This has been a life changing experience. I am better because I saw them and talked with them every day. They are my best friends. They make me laugh. They make me cry. But mostly laugh.

So forgive me if it hurts my heart a little.

I told them yesterday that I won't be returning next year. One of my boy's little sisters ran up to me at lunch today and asked me if I could move in the middle of next year instead of before school starts because "she just wants a chance to have me as a teacher". This is the same girl that walked with me during the whole walkathon and told me that I am her favorite singer because she has heard me sing before and it is the best she has ever heard. I love these kids. It has been a year and a class I will never forget.

In August I thought that the first day of school was going to be the hardest, scariest day of my life. I didn't realize then that the last day would be so much worse.

week 14 PLE

I completed the Course Evaluation on Route Y, the course feedback survery, and told Nicky the only thing that was missing from my grade.

and I already posted my reflection.

Internet Safety Reflection

1. I chose to read the article “Mixed Signals” from June of 2001in the Ensign. This is a quick guide to the appropriateness of the media that we are using. The message is that the Bretheren of the Church are warning us to be careful of what we choose to participate in with music, the interenet, and television and movies. They say that our choices can either be uplifting to our souls, or damaging depending on the content of each.

2. I watched the ikeepsafe videos, all of the netsmartz videos, most of the PBS documentary videos, and Katie’s story on webwisekids. All of these dealt with some aspect of internet safety, whether it be not giving out personal information, not meeting strangers online or in chat rooms, cyber bulling, and inappropriate material. All of these were very informational and made me realize how easy it is to get information about a person if they want to online. If our kids are not being safe on the internet, they can willingly or unwillingly be putting themselves in a potentially dangerous situation.

3. I took away a lot of very useful information from the videos and the articles. First of all, I was shocked that is was so easy to accidentally give out too much information. I think for this reason we need to be very explicit with the students about what they should not post, such their names or even gender. I was also impressed by the sheer number of youth that are participating in these activities. So many children are on social networking sites and chat rooms and spend SO much time on them. I think that we should counsel them to not spend too much time engaged in these activities. Many of the articles stressed the point that the internet is a great tool. It can be a great resource to have and use, if it is used properly. I think we really need to remember that as teachers. We need to give our students opportunities to be on the internet, but stress to them the importance of being responsible on it. If they are taught well enough, then the internet will be a great activity to use in our classrooms.

4. I shared the information I have learned with a mother of 10 children. She has one child still at home and several grandchildren that come and visit on a regular basis. Most specifically, we talked about preventative measures that could be put on the computers to help protect children from inappropriate material and too much access to the internet. This was something that this mother has really taken seriously. She told me that several years ago she looked into the best way to take preventative meausures for these dangers. As a result, she has filters placed on the internet and a password required for logging onto the computer. That way she knew who was on the internet and when because these were the only computers in the house; there were none allowed in the bedrooms or private rooms. She is just as concerned about these issues for her grandchildren as she is for her children and is going to keep all these measures on the computers for them. She was very informed. I was surprised at how big of an issue this was to her, and I was glad because I think it should be for every parent.

TPACK Report

week 12 PLE - Summary

I read the article “Early Connections: Technology in Early Childhood Education”. One of the first things that I realized is that using technology to enhance lessons is helping the students learn in an abstract way. They are learning curriculum through another activity and not explicit instruction. Abstract learning is an important developmental and cognitive skill for young children to learn. This is another reason that technology is so useful in the classroom.

Another thing I realized is that technologically enhanced lessons can be a social interactive activity. The article gave an example of how 2 or 3 chairs could be placed at a computer at a time. This would allow the students to interact with each other as they determine answers and solutions for the activity that they are working on. This is a valuable way to get the students to converse and create open communication between their peers, another very important developmental milestone in early childhood.

Going along with the previous information, I also learned that it is important for a teacher to create a classroom environment that is technology friendly and encourages more social interaction. The website mentioned that an example of this would be to place the computers in an open and big enough area for many students to congregate and work together. If smartboards are being used, there should be plenty of floor space in front of them to accommodate the entire classroom.

One important thing to note is that teachers should teach safety with the technology that they are using. This should include telling them to not sit too close to the monitor, have good posture, get up and walk around when they have been using technology for a long time, and not overcrowding an area. If all of these are taught, it will be a much more effective and rewarding technological experience.

readings notes

5 ways for young children to use technology
- make and display a graph
- explore with digital tools
- tell a story in pictures and words
- write, record, and revisit
- share and document learning

collaboration is important. make it interactive.

Week 11 PLE

I watched both videos, the Bookends of War and Inside Kapunahala.

I have always thought that using technology in assignments and activities in the classroom would be enjoyable for the children, but these videos confirmed that. When technology was used to enhance the activity, the children were much more engaged in and focused on the activity. Because they were so much more focused on the activity, there was less problems of off task behavior for the teacher to worry about. They were more engaged because using technology is not something that students are used to doing in all their schoolwork, so it captures their attention more. I think it prevents the students from becoming bored because it allows them a new, more fun way to learn the information that they are studying. This just shows how important it is as a teacher to incorporate in some way technology into our lessons. Not only will it enhance the activity and make it better and easier to learn from, but it will keep the students more engaged which in turn creates a more harmonious classroom.