Web Quest "Tour the States Project"

                                                     Click on the link below to view my webquest


                                                          http://bit.ly/1NpXVTo
                                                                         

Why integrating technology is a necessity!

Why Integrating Technology in the Classroom is a Necessity

By: Kristin Hassig

            I believe that integrating technology in the classroom is vital in today’s society.  We live in a society that uses technology in every facet of our lives, from communication, transportation to school and work.  Children today spend more time on electronic devices than ever before. The question is why wouldn’t you integrate technology into the classroom?  I believe technology should be integrated into our classrooms because it gives every type of learner a fair opportunity to learn.  Technology today allows deaf people to hear, blind people to read and students with disabilities the ability to connect with the information in a different way.  I have seen firsthand how open minded students are to using Chromebooks, Smart Boards i-Pads in their classrooms.  It opens a whole new world of knowledge and information for them, and helps solidify the information already learned during the face to face time with the teacher.  Integrating technology in lessons is necessary because it allows children to really use their creativity and show themselves as individuals.  When students have the ability to create something whether it be a research paper or an in-depth WebQuest, students have endless possibilities on how to create and develop these projects.  Technology is the way of the world now, and it is our duty as educators to prepare our students for the real world. We must build a foundation for using technology so when they get their jobs after they graduate they will be ready for the workforce that awaits them. 

                I recently did an observation in a classroom on technology integration and I was impressed on how comfortable and confident the students were when using the Chromebooks as part of their grammar lesson.  When I walked into the classroom the first thing I saw was the students sitting at their tables which they shared with three other people, retrieving their Chromebooks and setting up for the lesson. Mrs. D had the students go to the Brain Pop Jr website for a lesson on Adjectives. She began the lesson by calling on students to give examples of what an adjective is, then they had to watch a two minute clip on adjectives and how they are used. I started listening to two boys who watched the clip and were playing adjectives games.  They were talking about “how cool it was to do their lessons on the computer, “and how they “didn’t feel as though they were learning because the games were so fun”.  They used Brain Pop Jr. for a total of thirty minutes and her students were excited, engaged and discussing adjectives the entire time. It was interesting to witness so many students on task and engaged because the Brain Pop Jr. website was teaching them in a manner in which the teacher could not.  It was a moment of realization for me that technology can be integrated into lessons as long as it is used properly. 

                As great as integrating technology in the classroom is, there are some barriers when using technology in the classroom. One of the barriers include the fact that not every school has the money to provide enough technology to every student in every class.  The fact of the matter is technology is not cheap, and it is hard for schools to justify certain types of technology when the money could be spent elsewhere.  However, just because every student doesn’t have access to their own individual computer doesn’t mean they can’t use them at all. Students can share, and work in small groups, to build collaboration among the students.  Taking turns and borrowing from other classrooms is always an option.  

                I believe that integrating technology into the classroom is a necessity in the twenty-first century.  Being computer proficient is a normal part of life, and it is unacceptable to send children in the real world without firsthand experience with technology.   Using technology in the classroom not only helps keep the students engaged in the learning materials, it opens up a whole new way to learn that teachers just can’t provide.  As a future educator I can make say that I will make sure I design my lessons to include technology into my lessons.

Impact of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, LA 2005

I made a digital story about The devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, LA in 2005.  Click below to check it out. 

Click here for the Impact of Hurricane Katrina Digital Story:

http://bit.ly/1kDMBwz

Technology in the 21st century Classroom Field Experience

Technology Integration in the Twenty-First Century Classroom

Field Experience

By: Kristin Hassig

                Throughout this course we have learned ways to integrate technology into our future classrooms. It has been very intriguing and eye opening experience and I have really come to embrace technology.  To understand how teachers integrate technology in their classroom we were asked to observe an educator to see how they utilize technology in their classrooms.  I currently work at a school that is kindergarten through eighth grade. Since I am going for an elementary education certification, I chose to stick to with elementary level. I chose to observe a fourth grade classroom because the teacher I observed is well known for her technology integration in her lessons.  Each classroom is equipped with a class set of Chromebooks for everyone in the class which makes integrating technology into their lessons much easier. The teachers and students also have access to iPads.  The iPads have to be signed up for in advance since there is only forty for the entire elementary school.  The specialists and special education department do have a few iPads in their classroom for students who need them for their programs or communication. Unfortunately iPads are not widely available to every classroom every day. 

                When walking into Mrs. D’s classroom the first thing I noticed was the huge Smartboard in the front of the class.  When I looked to the left of the room I saw a hub of Chromebooks charging on their docking stations, and a moving cart next to them that contained the iPads.  Each Classroom should have enough Chromebooks for everyone in the class however, this year Mrs. D has a very large class so they are short two Chromebooks.  When the students have assignments that entail using the Chromebooks, the students either borrow two from the computer lab or from one of the other fourth grade classrooms.  I asked Mrs. D if she has a system in place for retrieving the Chromebooks to cut down on long transitions times and confusion.  She explained to me that she tried a couple of different ways at the beginning of the year to see which method worked the best.  First she tried having two students of the week pass out the Chromebooks, she said it was a good idea in theory because the students knew for one week who was supposed to pass them out, however after about two weeks of this, the students started saying “I don’t want this Chromebook, I want Chromebook number twelve because that is the one I had last time”.  Or “Eww Travis had that Chromebook yesterday, I don’t want to touch that”.  Apparently in fourth grade they still believe in cooties.  So Mrs. D decided that each student would be assigned a number, and that number would correlate to the Chromebook number.  Now since she is short two computers she chose the two students that were responsible to be the students who have to retrieve the other Chromebooks from other classes.  Mrs. D said it cut down the transition times and bickering drastically. 

                During my observations in her classroom I was able to see four different uses of technology.  The first observation I did was really interesting.  It was a “Google Hangout” called google talk with another teacher’s daughter who is studying abroad in Europe for a semester. The website is www.google.com/hangouts.  The students read a story called Good-Bye 382 Shin Dang Dong by: Frances Park.  This story was about a little eight year old girl and her family who lived in Korea and moved to the United States.  The students read the book aloud, then Mrs. D played it over the smartboard so they could listen to it together as a class.  After the class was finished reading and listening to the class she had them discuss some of the things the story talked about.  A big part was comparing the cultures, landscapes and food.  Mrs. D used the Smartboard to compile the list so they students could copy them down into their journals.  The students were then told they were going to have the opportunity to talk with a former student of the school who is living in Belgium for a semester to study abroad.  They were told to get their Chromebooks and open up a Google Doc that she had Shared with the class and come up with four questions they would like to ask Kathryn, the student who is studying abroad.  They only had about ten minutes to compile their lists because Kathryn called at 10:00am our time to discuss her experience in a foreign country.  She talked about her experience for about fifteen minutes before the students were able to ask their questions.  Most of the questions the students asked her were about the same thing’s they discussed in class about their reading.  For example, one student asked “What type of foods do they eat in Belgium and what’s the grossest thing you have tried”?  Another student asked “What is the terrain and landscape like in Belgium”? The students were so engaged and loved listening to her experience, especially since they could see her and she could see them. She spoke with the class for about thirty-five minutes before she had to take off to catch a plane to Spain for about a week.  Once the session was over, the students had to do a Venn diagram about Kathryn’s experience and Jangmi’s experience in a new country.  They did the Venn diagram in their notebooks. 

                Another way Mrs. D integrated technology in her class was through a grammar lesson.  The lesson was about verbs.  She briefly asked the students about what they had learned about verbs the day before.  Then she had the class open up their Chromebooks and go to jr.brainpop.com.  When the students got to the website they automatically knew that they had to login.  The school has a trial so they all use the same login information.  Once everyone had logged in, she had the students type in “VERBS” in the search bar.  They were told to watch a short video that was posted about what verbs are.  One student was out of the room when she gave instructions and another student went over to his desk and helped him get logged in and set up.  The students were asked to bring in their own headphones at the beginning of the year, so Mrs. D asked them to take them out of their desks, plug them in and watch the video.  Mrs. D told me that for her class this year “it’s better when they can listen to it on their own than through the smartboard, because they have a lot of different types of learners and it is easier for them to watch it at their own speed and pace.”  After the video was done they had to take a quiz that the website offers about the video they just watched.  Mrs. D likes it because it helps the students see if they understand the material, and it could be used as a formative assessment because there is an option to print the scores out after it is completed.  Once they were done with the quiz they had time to poke around the verbs section.  This section had eleven different activities that involved verbs.  This was very fun and engaging for the kids.  One of the questions I asked her was “Do you think that technology keeps the students engaged in the materials longer”?  She said “Yes, especially if they are games and activities because they don’t feel as though they are learning”.  After about fifteen minutes of freedom on the verbs section of the website she asked them to log out of their accounts and close the Chromebooks. 

                The final observation I did in Mrs. D’s fourth grade class was a science lesson.  The class is doing a unit about observations so the Auburn Audubon came in and did a presentation on Fiddler Crabs.  This year the fourth grade teachers decided to do an online journal, instead of doing it in their notebooks which they had done in previous years.  This part of my observation was very useful to me because she gave me a brief synopsis of Google Classroom while the students were at their special.  I asked her "Why she thought Google Classroom was so helpful in her classroom? She explained how Google Classroom worked and how she has integrated it into some of her lessons and why she thought it was such a great tool to utilize. 

 Why Google Classroom Is Helpful:

·         The ability to Share lessons and activities with not only the students but with the parents as well.

·         Accountability. Mrs. Duffy is about to keep her students more accountable with assignments because it displays who has or has not “Turned in” assignments. 

·         Editing.  She is able to make comments on the student’s papers.  Mrs. D explained that the comments don’t fix the errors, but helps them see the areas that need to be reexamined.

·         Suggesting. The suggesting tool on Google Classroom allows Mrs. D to show the errors that the students made and how to fix them. 

·         Sending messages.  There is a way to send comments to the students about their papers or assignments.  She also said that there is a way for the students to communicate with one another however, she said the students are too young to give nice constructive criticism and they were hurting one another’s feelings so she disabled that option.

When the students got back from their special she told everyone to login to their google classroom accounts. Once everyone was on she told them she was going to “PUSH” a website through to them.  When you “push” a website to the students you have to make sure everyone is in google classroom, then the students can click directly on the link she sent and it takes the students directly to that website.  If a student didn’t make it to Google Classroom in time before she pushes the links through, the students can just click on the Green Chalkboard Icon and it can be accessed through there.  Once the students were on the website they were able to explore and investigate the website.  They had to write down or type up on a google doc a list of things they learned from the website in order to generate a class list at the end of the activity.  They also had to find a picture they wanted to use as their cover of their journals.  One of the students showed Mrs. D how they could do an image search and literally drag the picture from the website onto a google doc to save the picture. Mrs. D used this as a teaching moment and had the student go up to the Smartboard and Do it for the entire class to see. I was so impressed that a fourth grader was that well versed in Google Classroom in fourth grade, and she was completely comfortable teaching two adults and twenty-five other students.  This was such an eye opening moment for me as a future educator because I was able to see how good students really are with technology. 

       

 “The time has come to reject incremental change and to radically transform education to reflect the current global community.  Teachers must learn to model connectedness and enable students to develop personal learning networks, made up of people and resources from both their physical and virtual worlds- but first teachers need to become connected collaborators themselves.” (Nussbaum-Beach, Ritter Hall, pg.4)  I believe this quote sums up the quality of my observations.  I believe I chose an excellent educator to observe. Not only is she a great educator in general, she really wants her students to be a part of the global education community.  She is more than willing to learn about new technologies and try them out with her students. She allows the children to explore learning websites and be as creative as they can.  She is not only an educator with her students she is a learner also.  When I was observing her class, a student showed her and the entire class a short cut on how to add images to their journal articles. Mrs. D was so willing to listen and learn from her students.  Mrs. D is a collaborator which is something we learned about throughout this term.  She agrees with the studies done on “collaboration focusing on teacher practice overwhelmingly suggesting that collaboration having a strong effect on instruction and student learning.” (Nussbaum-Beach, Ritter Hall, pg.13).  I learned a lot from my observation and it has really motivated me to want to integrate technology into my lessons when I am an educator in the future.  I saw first handed how engaged the students were, how fluent they were with Google Classroom and how open they were to using technology.  Mrs. D told me “I believe that most children have become visual learners because of all the technology already incorporated into their lives.  I think that it is an easy connection for them to use it during school as well.” I was also able to connect this class to my observation of Mrs. D by showing her some websites on shortening the URL addresses and easel.ly website.  She was grateful for the websites, I also told her I would share my portaportal.com website with her so she can grab some ideas off my lists.   I am grateful for this opportunity and it has really opened my eyes to how important integrating technology is in our classrooms. 

Resources used during Observation:

v   The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age. By Sheryl Nussbaum- Beach and Lani Ritter Hall

v   portaportal.com

v   Googleclassroom.com

v   jr.brainpop.com. 

v    www.google.com/hangouts.  

Natural Resources: Renewable& Nonrenewable Resources Lesson Plan (integrating technology lesson plan)

Natural Resources:

Renewable and Nonrenewable

Grade 4 Lesson Plan

Big Idea:

            It is important for students to understand the differences between the different types of natural resources. It is also important for them to understand why it is important to the environment.

Title:

 Natural Resources: Renewable and Nonrenewable

Education Standards:

            Science Stem and Expectations: Earth and Space Science (ESS:4)

                        Social Issues (ESS:4): ESS:4:3.1

                        Environmental Change (ESS:4) ESS:4:3.4

ISTE Standards:

            Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity:

                        ISTE:1.B

                        ISTE:1.C

            Design and Develop digital age learning experience and assessment:

                        ISTE:2.A

                        ISTE:2.C

Objectives:

1.)    Students will recognize that natural resources can either be renewable or nonrenewable.

2.)    The students will differentiate between what a renewable and nonrenewable resource is.

3.)    The students will apply their knowledge of the content by executing a digital T-Chart using Google Docs. This will prove the students understand the differences between renewable and nonrenewable resources.

4.)    The students will design a Google Presentation Slide on the natural resource of their choice.

5.)    Students will discuss which type of resource is interesting to the individual student, and develop the Slide on that resource.

6.)    Students will navigate and investigate student approved websites to construct information about their resource. 

7.)    The Students will assemble the Google Presentations into a slide show as a class, in order to present it to the school on Earth Day.

Materials:

1.)    Lap Top Computers, IPADS, Chrome Books. (Whichever is available to the class).

2.)    Smartboard or white board.

3.)    Printer

4.)    Our Resources Crossword Puzzle

5.)    Google Docs T-C

6.)    Handout with Jumbled nonrenewable and renewable resources the students will use to create the T-Chart.

7.)    Pre-made Bulletin Board

8.)    Glue

9.)    Construction Paper

10.)            Crayons

11.)            YouTube

Anticipatory Set:

            Begin the lesson by having the students watch a short video. The video is titled “SC.4.E.6.3 Dirty Jobs” By: Summit Training.  After the song has completed turn it off and have the students do a “turn and talk about what they learned from the video. 

Procedure:

            Begin the lesson by having the students watch a short video from  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIm1cPAuWkU The video is titled “SC.4.E.6.3 Dirty Jobs” By: Summit Training.  After the song has completed turn it off and have the students do a “turn and talk about what they learned from the video.  After the students have had about two minutes to discuss what they learned with their neighbor, ask the children “if they can formulate a definition for renewable and nonrenewable resources, based on what they learned from the video and the turn and talk?”(Hot Question #1). Write the definitions on the board and discuss the video with the entire class for about five minutes.  Once the class truly understands the differences between the two, ask them another question.  Ask the students “if they can compile a list of renewable and nonrenewable, and classify which type of resource it is?” (Hot Question #2). At this point in the lesson have the children go get the Chromebooks/IPADS or whatever form of technology they have available.  Once everyone is logged on, give them instructions to go to their google classroom accounts and access the Google Presentation File. The file is titled “Natural Resources”.  Use the website: http://www.randomizelist.com/ while the students are getting logged in to enter the student’s names to figure out the order the students will be on the Google Presentation.  This will make it so it is fair and there is no confusion about whose slide is whose.

            Once the students have gotten their numbers for the slides, have them formulate the list of the different types of resources.  Give them ten minutes, some student need more time to type than others. Once they have finished their Charts, ask them if they can “Analyze the Charts they just constructed and have them distinguish their top two resources they would like to learn more about, and why they find them interesting”? (Hot Question #3).  Have the Students go around the room one by one still in the same order as their Google Presentation Slide and tell the class which one they would like to do for the class Earth Day slide show.  Make sure it is written down on the white board so the students can see if their choices were already picked or not.  Once the Students have narrowed it down and everyone has their choice, have the students go one the internet using student approved websites to do the research.  The student approved websites were discussed at the beginning of the year, so the students know which websites they can navigate and explore.  Write down either using the white board or smart board of what they should be looking for.  Things that should be investigating for their slides for the Earth Day Slide Show include; The name of the resource, what type of resource it is, a picture of it and why they chose the resource they did.  This part of the lesson should take about twenty minutes. Once everyone is done with their slides, have the students print them out and mount them to colored construction paper. If they don’t have color on their slides have them use crayons to make it colorful and bright so that when it is displayed on the bulletin board. 

Closure:

            For the closure of this lesson have the students work together to assemble the class slide show. This will allow them to collaborate on how the slides should be arranged.  You can also use this as a form of assessment, by listening to how they classify all the different natural resources.  Once the slideshow is arranged, have the weekly paper passer pass out the Our Resources Crossword Puzzle.  This paper will be used to wrap up the lesson and have them reflect on what they learned.

Assessment:

            To assess the knowledge gained by the students throughout this lesson, there was a paper distributed during the closure part of the lesson, titled; “What I Learned about Natural Resources” paper.  This worksheet will allow for another form of assessment.  This paper will be used as a note sheet for the students during the individual slide presentations.  Once the papers are passed out have the student with the first slide come up and present their slides, using the ones they printed and added color to.  As the students are listening to their classmate’s presentations they were given instructions to write down a few things.

 The worksheet explained that the students had to write down information about their classmate’s projects.  When all the students have presented their projects collect the papers and use it as a form of assessment to see if they learned anything, also to make sure they were paying attention.  Another way to assess the knowledge gained throughout this lesson is to individually grade the slides they printed and constructed.  This can be assessed for knowledge gained, participation and a project grade.

 

Modifications:

            All modifications/accommodations identified on Individualized Education Plan or 504 plans are addressed.

           

           

Resources:

http://www.corestandards.org/

http://www.iste.org/standards

http://www.randomizelist.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIm1cPAuWkU

Attached to the paper copy is the “Our Resources” Crossword page.

Creating Collaborative Cultures!

make your own Infograph at www.easel.ly

 Building a Collaborative Culture:
I broke down the methods of creating and sustaining a collaborative group.  This Infograph summarizes  The two types of relationships that should be happening among the group in order to thrive.  Then it goes onto the Four stages of Collaboration.

Bookmarking using Diigo

DIIGO is a great way to bookmark all the educational websites you  could need and  you'll never loose a source again!

Here is the link to my Bookmarking Hot List:

 https://www.diigo.com/profile/misskristin

"Learning Is"... word cloud

My two word clouds  for My personal Interpretation of what Learning Is... When I reflect on what I believe learning is these words come to my mind!


credit for these word clouds:  http://www.wordle.net/create

integrating technology in special education classrooms

Integrating Technology into Special Education Classrooms

Literature Review

The two pieces I reviewed include:

1. A webinar on espark.com titled: “I-Pads in Special Education”.
2. A blog written by: Saomya Saxena titled: “Integrating Technology in A Special Education Classroom”.

The Learning outcomes that this review reinforces include:

1. Demonstrating the understanding of how technologies can effectively promote student learning.
2. Evaluate and use a variety of current technologies to enhance content instruction and to advance students technological literacy.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the use of adaptive technologies and other digital resources to personalize and differentiate learning activities for every student.
4. Evaluate adapt and reflect upon emerging tools and trends in local and global learning communities and by reviewing current research and professional literature.
   

   

           The blog and webinar I reviewed discussed how technology can be integrated into special education classrooms.  The webinar was titled “I-Pads in Special Education”.  The webinar discussed the speaker’s schools personal journey with integrating I-Pads in their special education classrooms.  The two speakers were Mary Gurley, who is a student learning innovation specialist at Espark, and Genevieve Thomas, who is the director of integrated special education at Rocketship Education.  The blog I read was titled; “Integrating Technology in A Special Education Classroom” by Saomya Saxena.  This blog discussed the benefits of using assistive technology, and the different types of support that is available to special needs students.  Both pieces discussed how technology can greatly benefit special needs students and help teachers engage every type of learner. 

                        The webinar started off by asking having the listeners take a poll on “the biggest problem teachers’ face as a special education program”.  The top three responses were; differentiating instruction, supporting IEP goal progression, and managing behavior issues.  These three main issues were discussed throughout the webinar.  The first challenge they addressed was managing behavior issues.  Mary Gurley who was discussing this point believes that integrating I-pads into her special education classroom, promoted positive changes in the behaviors of the students. Some of the behaviors that changed were the fact that there was an increase in engagement that was met by applications and tools that were meeting the sensory needs the traditional teaching methods couldn’t do.  Mary also discussed how I-pads created predictability and fostered independence.  “I-Pads helped facilitate independence through the use of more personalized and dynamic visual schedules, and students had constant access to their schedules”. (Gruley, 2012)  The webinar explained how the how I-pads helpe facilitate functional behavior, which allowed for more teaching and learning time and less time on redirection and getting students back on task.  Here are some applications Mary quickly discussed that are helpful from a behavioral management standpoint.

Behavior Management Applications:

1. Quick Ques
2. Conversation Builder
3. Model for me going places 2
4. Proloquo2go
5. Sosh
6. And visual timer applications

The second problem was differentiating instruction. Mary discussed how technology provides appropriate accommodations and modifications by allowing access to tools that students with special needs can utilize. Some of the programs that I-Pads come equipped with such as cameras and videotaping, can be used to record mini lessons so students can go back and watch the teacher discuss the topic again.  There are applications that modify choices and differentiate content and assignments for multiple students at one time.  Before her school had these applications she would write different assignments for each student one at a time due to the fact they all have different accommodations.   

            The blog I reviewed discussed in detail how assisted technology like computers, I-Pads, tablets and applications help with differentiating instruction for every type of learner. Some of the disabilities Saomya discussed in her blog included mild cognitive disabilities.  She explained that there are programs to help students with reading problems can have the software read the text out loud to the student.  There are also interactive story books, voice recognition programs, word processing, and voice to text programs.  She also discussed programs that would benefit students whom have severe cognitive disabilities; some of the programs or applications consisted of; “software helps teach and reinforce functional skills such as money-management, daily living, etc., videos enhance acquisition, maintenance, and transfer of functional and community-based behaviors’.” (Saxena, 2014) The blog also discussed tools to help sensory disabled students.  There are tools out there that provide “text to braille” for blind students, also screen readers that will read what is on the screen.   There are magnification systems, listening devices and amplification programs to help the sensory disabled students.  The rest of her blog discusses how these applications work and why it is vital that students with special needs should have access to these tools and technologies. 

            The final problem Mary discussed dealt with supporting IEP goals. She went into detail about how data collection is a lot easier now due to technology.  There are applications that record data while using the specific program.  There are also applications for monitoring behavior. These applications record can help record anything from social cues, like saying hello to some to number of correct transitions in a day.  Here is a link to another application called Articulation Station, which is an assistive technology that helps improve articulation.  The creator of the application describes the application on this website.  The website is; http://mommyspeechtherapy.com/?p=1563. This application is great for differentiation and accommodations.  This was very interesting because it really makes it a lot easier to record data, track progress and see what needs to be worked on more aggressively with the teacher or one on one paraprofessional.   This topic brings me to some of the ethical, legal and moral practices of this literature review.  While it is great that these and programs can record all of this data about individual students it raises an ethical question of confidentiality.  The second half of the webinar discussed how confidentiality is kept, and how it is very important to make sure the privacy of students are maintained.  Some of the suggestions Genevieve discussed include; making sure the students are properly signed out of the program every single time they were done with the I-pad, also having the teacher double check every time also.  It is illegal under IDEA to have any of these progress reports or any documentation out in the public where anyone can view it.   I have provided a link to the IDEA website so you can check out the rules about confidentiality, how IEPS are formed, what they do, and how they help students succeed in school. http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home.

            I chose the topic of integrating technology in the special education classroom because it is near and dear to my heart. I am a one on one paraprofessional for a nine year old boy who is severely autistic. We are in the general education for about two hours a day including specials and recess.  He is very low and doesn’t have social skills to communicate and intellectually he is at a toddler level.  He has an I-pad for his daily learning needs, from gross to fine motor skills to Lexia Core 5, which is a literacy and phonics application.  We also use it for brain breaks and as a choice.  I have seen first-hand how beneficial the I-pad has been to his learning and how crucial it is that we keep integrating different forms of technology for him.   When I see him using the different applications for different subjects I definitely see more engagement, than what I can provide on the white board and handouts.  The bright colors, fun voices and ways the applications grab and maintain his attention is so helpful.  His favorite application right now is an app from “Toca Toca”  it’s a cookie maker application, he can design cookies of his choice, which he thinks is great, but little does he know he is flexing his fine motor skills by the manner in which he has to design the cookies.  When I see my student working or playing as he thinks it makes me think of the quote from chapter three about constructing knowledge.  “True learning, deep retention, and knowledge construction really have little to do with school or teaching.  We learn because we want to, because it’s important to us, because it’s natural…” (Nussbaum-Beach, Ritter Hall, pg.46, 2012).  He may not know he is learning because the applications are designed to engage him and keep him captivated, but he is learning because he wants to play those games, he wants to win.  When he gets answers correct I always give him positive reinforcement, because the little feats like matching upper and lower case letters are hard, but these programs are making it easier for him.

            I really enjoyed listening to the webinar and reading the blog post about integrating technology and special education.  It was an educational experience for me in more ways than one, I can’t wait to try out some of the behavior applications and progress recording applications in order to make assessments easier for myself. I will also take some of the differentiation applications and apply them to my student now, because they would just enhance his current curriculum tenfold.  I enjoyed doing these reviews also because it is near and dear to my heart and I will take a lot of information away from this and utilize it in my future classroom.  I have also attached a link called “I-phone, I-pad and I-pod touch apps for special education.  The caseworker for my student and I were discussing applications for special education so she shared her knowledge about these applications with me which I found very helpful and organized.  Be sure to check it out and leave feedback! The link is: http://www.scribd.com/doc/24470331/iPhone-iPad-and-iPod-touch-Apps-for-Special-Education#scribd.

                                                                             

Works Cited

Gruley, Mary, and Genevieve Thomas. "IPads in Special Education." I-pads in Special Education. Espark, 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2015. <http://www.esparklearning.com/blended-learning-webinars/ipads-in-special-education.html?submissionGuid=c84026ac-e33c-431c-8a40-e0e5ca201369>.

Hank, Heidi. "Mommy Speech Therapy." Mommy Speech Therapy RSS. Momy Speech Therapy RSS, 12 July 2011. Web. 14 Oct. 2015. <http://mommyspeechtherapy.com/?p=1563>.

"IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004." IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004. U.S. Department F Education, 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home>.

Nussbaum-Beach, Sheryl, and Lani Ritter. Hall. "Chapter Three." The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age. Bloomington: Solution Tree, 2012. 46. Print.

Sailers, Eric. "IPhone, IPad and IPod Touch Apps for (Special) Education." Scribd. Scribd, Oct. 211. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://www.scribd.com/doc/24470331/iPhone-iPad-and-iPod-touch-Apps-for-Special-Education#scribd>.

Saxena, Saomya. "Integrating Technology in a Special Education Classroom." EdTechReview. EdTechReview, 05 Jan. 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://edtechreview.in/news/855-integrating-technology-in-a-special-education-classroom>.

 

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My 21st Century Classroom

Classrooms of the 21^st Century

Vision of Technology Integration

           

When I imagine my future classroom I envision a child-centered, inviting, bright, technological and educational classroom.  My classroom will invite the students into a learning space where they will be encouraged to explore the world around them.  I want it to cater to every type of learner and accommodate everyone’s individual needs.  I believe one vital way that we need to do that is through technology integration.  Some technological tools I would love to have in my future classroom include; I-Pads, lap tops and Smart boards.  Each device will serve an individual purpose in the classroom, and will assimilate into the curriculum seamlessly. 

            One of the first technological tools I would like to have in my classroom includes a Smart Board.  I believe that every classroom should have one.  It is a very helpful tool in many different subjects from math to science to social studies it can aid and assist any lesson. Smart Boards allow for collaboration to occur in the classroom.  According to Hall and Nussbaum-Beach in the book; The Connected Educator “Collaboration occurs when we approach goals as connected learners, relying each other’s skills, knowledge, talents and readiness to share.” (Pg. 12, 2012)  I worked as a paraprofessional in a fourth grade classroom, where the teacher integrated the Smartboard in her lessons and it was used so well. I think that it is most helpful in the math arena.  The Smart board allows for teachers to use the interactive math programs on a large scale to really break things down to the students.  Everyone can also “write” and display their answers, just like on regular white boards.  It is an interactive way to present more difficult math materials. 

            Another reason I would love to have a Smart board in the classroom is for brain breaks. Technology doesn’t always mean sitting in front of a screen, when appropriate the Smart board can aide in getting the students up and moving. One thing I know about working with children now, is that they can’t sit still for long. Smart boards will allow me to bring up Go Noodle or other brain break websites and display it for the children to see and follow along with.  Whether they are wound up and rowdy or if they are lethargic and slow, there are different games and songs to cater to the individual class’s needs. Having a Smart board in my classroom will allow me to integrate technology flawlessly into my lessons. 

The second tool I would want in my future classroom would be lap top computers.  I believe that lap top computers should be in every classroom because, everyone needs to know how to do a research paper.  With I-Pads and tablets, you don’t get the experience with practicing your typing skills because you are using your finger or a stylus to do the writing.  A lap top computer would allow the students to do research and write the research paper, without all of the applications and games there to distract them.  I know for some students writing is very hard and I do not believe they should be graded according to legibility.  I believe that even though they may not be strong writers now they should have a chance to still express themselves. By having a computer to do so, would help the students who have a hard time writing research papers.   I believe that having a lap top computer for everyone in the class is very important when it comes to research and writing. 

The final technological tool I would like to have in my classroom would be iPads or Tablets.  Having these tools in my classroom would allow for additional educational tools to help instill information I will be teaching my students.  iPads can give the students resources like educational applications and games to help them learn information.   For example there is an app called Spelling city.  This app allows the teacher to put the classes spelling words into the class word bank and allows them to review their words using different methods to help them study.  I also think having iPads in the classroom would help students with disabilities.  Not every student is at grade level and having access to helpful and educational apps will assist students who are struggling in the classroom.  Students with more severe disabilities will benefit from having iPads and Tablets to help enhance their fine motor skills.  There are tons of apps out there that can help tune those skills. iPads can also be used during free time to explore the educational apps, brain pop, and other appropriate apps.  It can used as a reward for hard work, best of all using these educational apps makes it like they are not even learning. 

            Integrating technology in my future classroom will be beneficial to my students in every subject.  I want to make sure it is integrated seamlessly and not as a special activity.  It is a necessity in this century and I want to make sure my students are prepared to learn using tools that are relevant and helpful in their futures.

References:

Hall, Lani Ritter. "Chapter 1." The Connected Educator. By Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach. Bloomington: Solution Trees, 2012. 12. Print.