What I did this week

       Creative Environment

     This week in Creative environment I did a group presentation with Brandy Smail, Aaliyah Davis, and Amber Barletto. We had to teach a Art project to the class and we wanted to use a under the sea theme. So to find a idea we used good old Pinterest we searched fish until we found one we all liked. So we found a CD fish that we could bedazzle out. We decided to base it on the book The Rainbow Fish. Our presentation was an overall success besides the fact that it was only supposed to be 12 minutes and we went 27 minutes oops. We worked well as a team and we learned from our mistakes. We also used the computer lab to learn about power point we made our own power point which is similar to the one I put in my blog for open house. I saved it on Google drive and used what I previously learned in technology for education. Below is Ernest Borgnine reading The Rainbow Fish with animations.

Intro to Philosophy

I did a paper about the Allegory of the Caves by Plato and my opinion about it. We also had a test which was tough but, I pulled through. We have also done a group project where we had to research about philosophers. If you are interested about the Allegory of the Cave you can watch a video about it below. 

In all my other classes we did homework, take notes, tests, and research papers.

All About Me

 

 

 

Hi my name is Brittany Worman. I am currently a sophomore at Edinboro University and, I am studying Early Childhood Education. My interests are in animals, shopping, outdoor activities, arts and crafts, concerts, and most importantly music. I have a cat and a dog at home and would like to adopt more animals in the future. I like to go camping, hiking, swimming, skiing, any type of fun outdoor activities. My passion though is going to concerts, listening to music, finding new artists, and dancing. I like almost all types of music some categories more than others.

My first impressions of Technology for Education are excitement I'm hoping to learn new things to incorporate into my future classroom. I'm excited to learn how to use a smart board which students seem to enjoy. I'm interested in learning other methods than just power point which I believe isn't very exciting to students. I'm expecting from this class to learn new technology and other social medias to use in a classroom.

My technology skills would be a 5 I know how to use the computer, I have Internet skills, I know how to use  Photo shop, illustrator, and Microsoft word and other products, I also use social media. In my current studies I use Microsoft word, Google search, and Microsoft power point.

I hope to use technology in my future classroom I would like to use computer programs, iPads, and smart boards in the classroom. I hope this would help my students be excited about learning and having fun. Technology is very important in the classroom since our generation uses technology on a daily basis.

 

A Twitter Find..

 In tech for Ed we had to find a source on twitter that sparked our interest and discuss why we liked it. While searching my twitter feed I came up on a tweet from huffington post saying students protest standardized testing. I thought wow this will be very interesting! Having gone through standardized testing in high school I was never the best at them, and thought they didn't really show my my potential. As teachers our main focus is on these standardized tests and getting our students to meet at least proficient. Now they are implementing new tests in Pennsylvania called the Keystone Exams students will have to pass this test in order to graduate. This sparks the question is this fair? Should students be based on a score to graduate? Will this lead to more students dropping out? This is something we will have to face with as teachers.

I hope you will read this article and I will post the video down below. The students dress up as zombies while protesting against taking standardized tests. They stated that 60% of high school students graduating in 2014 are at risk of not graduating from not passing the tests. I thought it was cool to see how the students feel and are reacting because this puts a lot of pressure on them and us. Well I hope you find this as interesting as I do.Enjoy!

Wow. Students from ALL over protest standardized tests! huff.to/XlDbpG
— HuffPost Teen (@HuffPostTeen) February 20, 2013

Welcome to Our Future Classroom!

This is my power point for my future classroom. I would like to use this for open house to give my student's parents an idea of how my classroom would run. I also learned about Google drive and all the different documents you can make. I personally like using the power point on Google than Word. I also learned how to embed codes on to blogger or any website which brings me back to the old Myspace days. I also learned how to make a grading presentation which is below my PowerPoint   Any constructive criticism or ideas would help so please comment below. Also please fill out the presentation form below.

Look What I Found Video Games+Education= Who Knew?!?!

                 Video Games In the Classroom

While looking through the teaching palette's blogs i found a blog post that stood out to me. Trying to find a blog about new ideas and integrating technology i found this blog Using Minecraft in Your Art Curriculum. It opened up a new perspective for me since there could be a possibility of schools taking out art programs. If this happens us as teachers will have the responsibility of taking on the role of an art teacher. Using Minecraft is an exciting way for students to learn and be creative. In this blog post it explains different methods they used in the classroom to learn.

What is Minecraft?

Minecraft is a sandbox game which allows players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D world.

Minecraft Project #1: Convert a drawing to a Minecraft

This was interesting students would draw any image of their choice. After they would replicate the image on minecraft using the the 3D blocks. This shows kids different ways to make an image then just drawing. Also this is great for kids to see their own image they drew on their iPad or computer. Here are some images of students art work.

Minecraft project #2: Connect architecture with other subject areas

In minecraft you can integrate architecture and history. Students can build castles using castle floor plans from this website. They can also build ancient pyramids this helps students by integrating a history lesson while also building replicas of ancient artifacts.

Promoting Social Interaction

Student's can explore other people's worlds and see what they have built. They can also show other students what they have built. Students will be interacting with other constantly and they can also help other students. Students will be fascinated seeing others work and, also proud of what they have accomplished.

Pros & Cons

Minecraft promotes student interaction, student creativity, imagination, thinking outside the box, learning, and fun. Minecraft is like the original Legos there are no directions and your mind is the tool. It doesn't tell you what to make or do you just create and explore on your own. This can also students to have an interest in architecture , art, or animation. Cons you will have to supervise students make sure none are killing other students in the game or go fight zombies. You would need to have a set rules in class before playing the game and supervise students. Otherwise I think this would be a great art lesson and a fun team building activity.

My Thoughts

I would love to use this in a lesson someday it's very creative and fun. This would be fun for students and, they are learning with out even knowing. This gets their mind going instead of just play action video games or watching TV.