Week 5 - March 1, 2012

http://www.sascurriculumpathways.com/portal/Launch?id=32&bhcp=1

     The link above is a link for an interactive document analyzer containing four documents on the Mexican-American War.  I'm currently creating a unit plan for another class on the Mexican-American war with the use of a primary source document reader; I think these documents in conjunction with the primary source document reader would provide a more interactive and entertaining experience for students.  Additionally, this SAS Curriculum Pathways resource provides a few videos providing background on the war as well as a video providing directions on how to analyze primary source documents.  I may even consider using this resource in conjunction with the unit plan I'm currently designing in order to give this idea a test run to see how effective it can actually be.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/timeline/index.cfm

     This link was a link I found through Thinkfinity; I found it rather interesting.  It's an interactive map of American History, provided by the National Museum of American History on behalf of the Smithsonian Institute.  It provides an interesting overlay of Cultural and Political elements of American History in an organized format by year and era.  I would use this in the social studies classroom; while I might not use this for a lesson, I think it would be a great resource at the beginning of the year for a U.S. History course for students to get a general idea of what they're going to be covering for the year.  It's also a good way to keep student interest in what they're learning; sometimes interactive materials can help to break up the monotony in the classroom.
   

Week 3 - February 9th, 2012

     Copyright infringement in the classroom is something that is done on a frequent basis.  While it typically goes unnoticed, I feel like teachers should consider the moral and ethical concerns regarding the use of copyrighted material in their classrooms to modify or share with their students, especially since teachers are inherently seen in some communities as important role models who promote qualities of upstanding citizenship for their students.  In the face of a new digital era, it is also important for students to learn and understand the legalities they face when working with copyrighted materials so that they can understand what they can and can't share, change, use as their own, or utilize in order to turn a profit.


Since materials that fall under the Creative Commons license terms are safe to share with students as well as for students to share (provided that the licensing terms are not violated in the process), I'd like that they knew the terms included with the 6 variations of Creative Commons licensing.  I'd also like it if they stuck with those terms.  In the classroom, I'd probably teach the laws, rules, and ethics of copyrights in a way similar to that which we had learned in class last night.  The activity made for a simple and amusing way for all of us to understand the different rules of Creative Commons licensing; I found it to be a smart way for students to make sense of what's up for grabs.

Week 2 - February 2, 2012

     I think the Flipped Classroom is a great way for students to initiate a greater capacity for self sufficiency.  By learning outside of class, what was learned in class is not forgotten the next day; instead, what is learned outside of class is brought into class in addition with any questions the material posed.  I think the Flipped Classroom makes the learning process more efficient in the sense that an instructor can spend more time helping students with what they do not understand.  In a normal classroom setting, teachers might find themselves spending time teaching the material only to have their students fail to understand it without any time at the end of a class session to correct any misunderstandings.


    I feel like creating the videos for the Teaching Software assignment is going to be an effective way for this class to learn more about the potential for software in the field of education.  I noticed that I had a relatively easy time in today's class learning about Diigo; anything I needed to operate it was right in front of me thanks to the video and the audio file instructions.  I was able to repeat instructions without having to waste anybody else's time.  I look forward to seeing how everybody else will operate in the Flipped Classroom setting, and I hope everybody can use the software we're being exposed to in order to come up with innovative ways to manage class materials as teachers.

Week 1 - January 26th, 2012

Sup internet?

What I hope to learn from this class is a number of methods that can be used in order to increase the amount of uses for technology in the classroom in order to provide a more comprehensive learning experience for students.  There are a number of students who have a genuine disdain for learning in a classroom environment; I strongly feel that the use of traditional paper-and-pencil, top-down lecture methods are the reason for a large portion of negative attitudes concerning education amongst students.  Last week in class, I learned that this is exactly what I'll/We'll be learning.  I'm enthusiastic over the prospect of enhancing the amount of collaboration in classrooms of the future in order to ensure students' proficiency in the 21st century environment and beyond.