What I enjoyed about my K-12 Technology class

I really enjoyed learning a lot about Google and the many tools and resources they offer to my future students and myself. I was able to brush up on things I already use like hangouts and google calendar, and even learn new information I didn't realize I was missing out on. I was able to learn new things also like the learning applications of Google earth and you tube.
I was able to also learn about the steps involved in making a lesson plan. The details needed and the information required to make a quality instructional guide. I was also able to make a web-quest activity which I really enjoyed and hope that even though it is not used regularly in today's schools around me that they will bring that make into fruition. Although it is a lot of work to make I think the benefits encourage students to think outside the box.
Last I enjoyed making updated blog post every week. I found it fun and really helped me compile that weeks learning into an informational tool for others to use.

The struggles are real

Today's blog is going to focus once again on lesson plans. I am completing my first final draft of my lesson plan today and I have some mixed feeling regarding it. I have learned a lot about the importance of having a detailed plan in your classroom, without which would cause a lot of confusion. I am not going to say I necessarily enjoyed making the lesson plans but with time they became easier and less effort was needed for the most part. I learn the importance of planning beforehand and keeping things organized. The only real hard part was matching up the correct codes and deciding how you will evaluate your students to determine whether they have learned the material you need to cover. I realize I will be making many lesson plans in the future and enjoyed having the experience. I like that I wont be running blind in the remainder of my courses and the beginning of my teaching career.

lesson plans and there importance

When you are teacher you will need to set some sort of lesson plan in place in order to know you are meeting the standardized goals set in place. With that being said there are many benefits to doing so.  Making a lesson plan helps you stay organized, helps you organize objectives, and better handle unexpected situations. A lesson plan also sets a guideline up for efficient teaching, as well as giving confidence and shows you are putting effort into your students learning. All of these aspects combined help you as a teacher be the most efficient and achieve success with their students. Not only does a lesson plan help you achieve this but also helps you with the little things you might forget about but because you made a lesson plan you will know exactly what you need to do and how you plan to do this. For example, maybe you plan to administer a drawing test but didn't put into account whether everyone can pass the assessment you can go back to the lesson plan and see who had passed the previous assessments to determine if the whole student body is ready to move on. Last, with a lesson plan in place you be be able to see over a series of test and assessments whether a student or group of students is struggling with achieving a goal and what steps you need to take to meet those goals.

Educational Websites

So first and foremost I would have to say that in order for an educational website to be beneficial it needs to meet certain criteria. 1. The kids need to enjoy it, because of that not the case, then they will not enjoy it or learn from it. 2. The parents need to like it, simply put if you are using something that your parents are not down with then you know that as soon as these kids get home, they will not use this website until they return. 3. teacher functionality. Meaning, you got to know how to use it and be beneficial on and off the day, whether you are in class teaching or at home preparing.
With all of that being said I have decided on three places that benefit me personally, and plan to use in the future.
1. www.classdojo.com : This is an app and website used to monitor your child's behavior while at school and gives points for good and bad behavior which are redeemable through each teachers own system. At the beginning of the year your teacher sets up the account and sends home a code that you the parent uses after installing the app. Not only can you see when the points and awarded but you are also able to message your teachers and vise versa. This is simular to the remind app which allows you to message back and forth and is more beneficial for older school age kids since there is no need for points any more.
2. www.coolmath.com : This website is simply put a child centers website full of mini games for kids to play in there free time. These games involve several aspects of learning from math to science and even money management but there are games with no educational benefit so you will have to keep an eye on your students to keep them on track.
3.www.youtube.com : With all the other options out there it seems silly not to include this. With the options to make playlist and browse hundreds of thousands of educational material there is no end to learning. The best part is kids are allready into this website and use it on a regular basis.

creating a lesson plan

In class I have been assigned to create a detailed lesson plan for a class I plan to have in the future. Through doing this activity I learned what all is involved in making a plan. Although I know it would not be simply I also didn't know how much work has to be out into it. This is just one or several I will have to do over the course of my teaching career. I enjoyed making it though. I t was fun being able to set up your own learning objectives and deciding how you planned on testing those goals. I also found it not fun trying to find the national standards that match those objectives. Don't get me wrong, I understand the importance of having standards and guidelines that every teacher must follow. I simply hope that with time I will either be given a lookup guide to assist me or be able to find a better source of updated information on what teachers are using today to meet there objectives. I knew that making lessons plans was mart of the job but I was under the impression that these were already made out beforehand, like you printed them out and kinda copy and paste bits and pieces that apply to your situation or work for your classroom. Although they might have something similar to that, I still enjoyed being able to see what it was like to make my own.

Youtube for school?

If you have never been on youtube and you are reading this blog than I have some important information for you! Here is what you need to do right now. Go ahead and open another tab on your browser and type this into your navigation bar. www.youtube.com and wala, you did it. Now go ahead and familiarize yourself with the website and create an account if you like what you see. Youtube offers a host of knowledge from how to sew a button to people video journals of there day to day life.
Youtube offers a wide variety of learning tools I feel every student and teacher should have access to. With that being said there are positives and negatives to any situation. You do not want your students looking up doodles of cats instead of the science material you are covering and deferentially do not want them to access something inappropriate.
Here's the good news though. You can block youtube channels you feel are not appropriate to view, you can also install a clean filter through youtube to only allow certain videos to be searched or viewed. Also, you can make your own playlist and have the kids adhere to said playlist by simply sitting behind them in class. As silly as it sounds it really is easy to just move to the furthest of the room and see everybodys screen. If you notice a student not following the rules, than block youtube.
You can also use add-ons through firefox to download youtube videos and share them with the class to aviod students making these mistakes altogether.
Last, you an have your kids make there own youtube videos for certain projects or group activities and just make sure to stay on top of privacy settling when you upload them.

Technology; The good and bad and Solutions

I love technology. I have spend many a hours browsing through hundreds of Facebook posts,watching several hours worth of you tube videos and googling every weird comment or concern I have on a daily basis. Now, with that being said I feel I am a fairly savvy computer user. I spend much of my time playing computer games and browsing the internet but I learning these tools when the they were just getting started. I wasn't exposed to all the crazy people like today's day and age kids are. I never had to worry about whether my snap chat picture would get sent around the while school or if that person on the chat room could find me just based on my IP address. I never had to worry about these issues because they were none existent. It is imperative that every child who has access to internet know the tools beyond virus protection for your computer. We all need to take our part in protecting our children and this is done by being aware of what our children are doing when they are online. There are many services you can use to help beyond the looking over the shoulder technique because lets be honest, we do not have the time to watch everything every child is doing. And a majority of the time we are allowing them on a device to give us parents a chance to get other things done, like the 10 loads of laundry we haven't started yet. Here are some tips on what resources you can use.
1. For a child's mobile device you can install apps like ourpact or qustodio to monitor everything from what your child is using app wise to how much and what times you want them to use there devices. They do cost but honestly it is worth it. I have used both services and its best to do your research and find the best one that works for your situation
2. For a child using the computer you can use applications like webwatcher or eBlaster. Again they have a fee but you are able to view snapshots of what they are viewing as well as what sites they visit and even put in key words to get notification of if entered.
3. General online game play and specific apps. There has been a lot of here say lately about Reblox and how adults are entered this child's online game and using the chat function to put children in sexual positions and encouraging them to continue. The simplest way to avoid this is to disable any and all chat functions on these apps. Prevention is key here. Also most apps now a days have a Parental Guide reference and I hate to be that person but I actually have a 12 year old that does not have a Facebook. They put these standards in place for a reason and we need to use them.
4. Last, there are open word games like Minecraft for example that offer open servers which means a child can type in the http address in the server line and join a open world to play mini games in Minecraft. The down side is they are aloud to chat and add friends to there accounts and although it is somewhat monitored meaning you can be banned of say curse words they is no real way around it. My suggestion to you is the open door open room policy. This means have your computers in a public space and accessible for you to view at will.
Always go over what is expected of your child. I made a list of rules and printed in out, laminated it and placed in over the computer. I had each of my children read it aloud and confirm that they understood the rules and explained to them what would happen if they broke that rule.