Blog 9

Overall, the midterms was a mixture of the material learned. It was very interesting taking the test because it was unexpected what exactly would be on the test, and after taking it, i was able to determine how much information i know. It was satisfying to know that i grasp the material, especially since i will be using it as a teacher. I think all the material on the test was fair game, given the fact that we were told all that we learned would be on the test. I struggled with minor details, but all in all i felt confident and proud that i knew so much given the fact that it was such a wide range of information tested. The way the test was formatted was different than normal tests and was a mixture. It was a good example for us to take in consideration on how to test our students. It gives the students the ability to use technology and to respond without their own answers, rather than a multiple choice test.

Blog 8

After reading the article ‘Creating Valuable Class Web Sites’, Elizabeth Baker discusses three methods that benefit teachers who want to make class websites. If teachers are tentative about the internet and struggle with computers, method one ( Website Providers) is recommended. It gives two ways one can build a website either through a free websites or ones to be a member. This technique makes it easy to make a website quickly. The second method is called Blog, Groups, and Wikis is recommended for users who are comfortable with technology yet have little time to learn. It gives you flexibility, online discussions, and literacy abilities. In addition, it lets you sign up for RSS, a system that notifies of changes on your site through an email notification. In method three, Be Your Own Developer, a variety of software options are available to make it easier to learn how to make a website and generates a site with a simple appearance. Overall, developing your own website requires you to learn, especially since technology is important in the classroom. Giving students the opportunity to use the internet based on a website you produce seems very interesting and beneficial. It is a great opportunity to involve technology and variation in teaching techniques.

Blog 7

World Wide Web: After reading each individual article, the inspiration of using technology and the internet is highly evident how necessary these tools are in the education process. In the first article, the various forms of web databases are discussed. This concept is highly useful for it benefits both students and educators. Educators can organize what topic is to be researched and using databases, plan out how students will investigate information. For example, if given the students the topics of the different biomes, students can use database to find comparisons between the subjects on how related or opposite they are. This facilitates the learning process because students are able to investigate research based on their own findings that are guided by the educator. This process is much more organized form of handling class assignments. Technology can reduce the difficulties of assignments. The second article discussed is the constant changes of technology in the world and the skills needed in daily life. It is important to incorporate both the skills of technology and the everyday skills that are needed. It is a challenge to apply both, but students need to learn at an early age the ability to manage technology and skill such as compute, communicate, conclude, confirm, etc.Technology used such as database is highly needed in order to teach students valuable lessons of organization and interdependency of searching information. It is applicable for all ages since database is an easy concept to understand. There are two parts if database: the records are the topics or names in the research and the fields are the information about that topic and/or name. The third part of the article is about the program called Clarisworks.It is a program that after creating database, you can search specific topics. After using InspireData, this program sounds to resemble to Clarisworks where it is easy and explanations to use the program. Basically, all three articles are about the importance of database and incorporating the use in classrooms. It benefits both students and teachers, making the learning process easier and organized. It allows students to research and investigate in detail, and teachers are able to control the topic and fields for students to find. I will definitely use the idea of database in the classroom in the future.

Blog 6

After reading the information about Bloom's taxonomy, i found taxonomy to be very useful for future teachers.Bloom developed a classification of levels of intellectual behavior that is essential for learning. Bloom concluded the 95% of test questions that students encountered required them to recall information. The information included the recognition or recall of patterns, facts, and concepts that contribute in the development of intellectual abilities and skills. Bloom made six categories that are Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. These six categories are learning objectives that educators set up for students. By mastering these categories, i found it very useful information to know. This will make the teaching process much meaningful because i will able to know what to expect when requiring students to learn and recall information. It is useful teaching tool, especially with determining which student is struggling with learning. It gives different techniques to approach the student in the level he or she grasps information. By helping students retain information by identifying their strengths and weakness, it will motivate students to find information interesting and useful, and overall, understand the material, not just memorize and forget.

Blog 5

The article of Mapping Student Minds introduced the importance of science and technology. In the classroom, students were using the mapping tool called Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE). This program was used in the sixth grade classroom at Foothill Middle School, where students were given the opportunity to do research and gain a learning experience through the use of database tools. Students were in groups and would gather data from a nearby creek. With the information, they would give it to a "data master", where the information was then put into excel and organized into a Palm Pilot Data form. Then, that information was put into WISE, where the online data base that gave results that they could not do in person. This gave students to continue their field trip and science experiment without halting their project or coming to a conclusion. WISE was a wonderful opportunity to teach students the ability to use technology at the same time, learning important subject matter of science.The program also gave students the ability to create useful maps to organize their data,creating the knowledge of looking for cause and effect relationships through material found and observed. I really enjoyed this article because i thought it was great how the teacher was able to incorporate both important factors, science and technology, in the classroom. It was able to make the experiement fun, easy, organized, and meaningful. I think this would be a great opportunity for schools who have low funding, and cannot have field trips, etc. Students should be able to learn information through various forms, and if not given the opportunity to step outside the classroom, the option of simulating the experience through technology makes up for the loss to a certain extent.