December 8, 2009

PowerPoint

The Following are links you may use to find information for your PowerPoint.

Christopher Columbus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus

Earthquakes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquakes

Volcanoes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanoes

McDonald

Part 1:

Here are a few websites you may visit as a resource as you classify the pictures I have shown.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fault_lines

Part 2:

Use this kml file. This kml file will act as a layer on Google Earth to show where earthquakes have occurred recently.

When you click on the link above, you will download the file. When the download is finished, a window like this should appear:

You can also access this screen by clicking on the Window drop down menu on the top bar, and then click on Downloads

Now click on the icon that looks like this:

This will open up your Google Earth software automatically.

Task: Use Google Earth to identify where in the United States Earthquakes are most likely to occur.

Color your map of the U.S. using the following key:

Red: Color states and regions red where earthquakes are Very likely to occur.

Yellow: Color states and regions yellow where earthquake danger is moderate.

Green: Color states and regions green where earthquake danger is low.

Bonus Question:

A 7m Earthquake (7 magnitude, that's a BIG earthquake!) occurred this week. Where did it happen? When?

2 things I learned from presentations

I learned two things from presentations:

I want a promethean board in my classroom.

I also want a classroom set of cameras in my classroom.

Both would be a great way to let the students have the technology in their hands.

What I learned

What I learned from watching Nicole's and Hailey's lessons was how I can find ways to make regular lessons interactive by using technology. I enjoyed seeing how other people were proactive about finding different ways to use technology in their teaching. I hope to show that in my teaching I can find ways to use regular lesson plans enhanced through technology.

Internets talks

My wife and I discussed with her Aunt how she uses the internet in her home this weekend. We talked about how through talking about the internet and making some decisions early a lot of things can be avoided. Even for those who are not as technology savvy internet safety can be obtained. We also discussed how much computer literacy is a necessary skill in today's world. As parents we have an important role to keep our families safe from the dangers of the internet.

Readings

1. What article did you choose to read for your fourth article?
Fighting Internet Filth
By Mario Hipol
August 2005 Ensign

2. What were the most important things you learned from the readings?
This isn't something I learned, but I liked the idea of using pop-up filters, showing kids how to use credible internet browsers, and to keep kids from using P2P file sharing applications. By doing this, kids and students can keep computers safe from harmful material and viruses.

3. How will what you have read influence your actions as a parent and/or teacher of children and youth?
Teach them correct principles to make the correct choices is one thing, but providing them an opportunity to make mistakes with the internet can have lasting consequences. I will keep computers in public places in my home, and make sure students are always given access to the internet, but with supervision.


4. How can you use what you have learned from the reading to have a positive influence on family and friends?
Lead by example. As people come into my home they and they see how someone can be connected to the internet, take the necessary precautions and still have a safe environment for their children and family.

Techno Lesson Slideshow

MrYoungGEPP

View more presentations from mrlewisyoung.

My notes didn't work, so these are the notes:

2. Mrs. Haggerty is not afraid of technology, but she has mentioned that she does not know very many creative and effective ways to use it in her classroom. I offered some of my ideas, and I think she may use more in the future.

3. Students have a hard time understanding the difference between cities, states, countries, and continents. I wanted to teach them this concept. I felt that through this google earth tour of the world, I could better prepare them to understand the concept. Students didn’t have access to a computer lab, so I couldn’t let them discover on their own. Ideally, I would have spent 30 minutes in Google Earth letting them play around with the concept of city, state, country etc. on their own, but because of limitations on my own time, I could not. Right before our last day, a computer lab opened in the school where a lesson like that could, and probably will be taught.

4. I started on a zoom out view of the earth. I talked about how the Earth was made of large bodies of land called continents. I stated the objective clearly, that we were going to go on a field trip without leaving our seats.

5.I let Google Earth zoom all the way into their school, where I had placed a logo on the soccer playing fields. They connected with the school and some of the students came to the screen and pointed out the playground, and where the bus drops them off. Then I showed them that draper was a city, smaller than a state. The state which we live in is…

6.I showed the students that Draper Elementary was just a small dot compared to all of Utah. Again, if I could have had the opportunity to let the students discover and play with Google Earth on their own, I would have jumped at the opportunity. But because the computer lab was under construction the entire time I was there, I couldn’t.

7. I explained that Draper was a city inside of a state inside of a country, America.

8. America is apart of something larger than a country called a continent. The zoom feature of this slideshow helped run this lesson, they could see the zoom in, and zoom out during this portion better than other portions.

9.What continent is this?
None of the kids knew. That was OK. They didn’t get it right the first time, and they didn’t leave the lesson knowing the continent’s name. My objective wasn’t to inform them of the names of each continent, but it was to help them understand the relationships between their community and the world.

10.My favorite part of this lesson came here.

Mr. Young: Does anyone know what continent this is?
Student 1: Africa!
Mr. Young: No…
Student 2: Australia!
Mr. Young: nope, not that either.
Student 3: Texas!

This illustrated to me that they have a hard time understanding what I was trying to teach, and further convinces me that this could be a most effective tool to teach them this.

11.The slide show goes on.
12.
13.
14. Seven or eight students knew this one. Probably because it is the most unique of all the continents.
15.
16.I created a pop-up, and for this lesson I had one member read it to the class. If I had the students working in groups with their own computer, I might give them a task at each location, or one location. It worked well for my lesson, but in the future I will probably do it a bit differently.
17.
18.
19.I brought the slideshow to a close by bringing them back to Draper Elementary. It seemed to me that the zoom function really hit home that time. They saw the earth zoom out, and then zoom back into Utah, and their school come into view.

I could have used the technology more effectively in letting the students use Google Earth to learn the concept in my objective. I would have too, given the opportunity.

I think the technology gave this learning activity the backbone it needed to learn a difficult concept for first graders. Without technology it could be learned, but the technology helped greatly in the aid of learning.

The students may learn this concept without technology, but allowing them to discover it on their own using the technology could be quite beneficial. Using it as a discovery model instead of direct instruction would be the most effective, and I would try to implement that more next time.

You could do a similar activity without technology, but it would seem like a boring direct instruction lecture about each of the continents. Would not engage the students in the same way.

Inventory

Mrs. Haggerty's first grade classroom in Draper Elementary is full of technology. She claims that she doesn't know how to use it, and doesn't think how to use it instinctively, but she seems to do just fine.

Her class has the following

• LCD projector
• TeacherCam (she can film her desk and her kids can see it up on the big screen)
• 3 iMac computers in the back (They're OLD though... like OS9 with 96 MB of RAM... but they work)
• a laptop
• Teacher mic (she's wears a mic all the time and there are speakers around the classroom so her students can hear her)

She does a great job with what she is given by the school

PowerPoint lesson

It was pretty simple, but the kids ate it up. It was for a small group, I planned for 4, but one was sick. I used my computer, and they crowded around it and they loved it. I used a remote control to change each screen so I didn't have to reach and hit the space bar.

The lesson went well, and I plan to use this and other technology (and I have used other technology) in the future.

PLE week 10

I planned this lesson for week 10

Standards: Language Arts, Standard 7 Objective 3, a. Students will identify use and features of grade level text and identify aspects of literature such as problems, and problems being solved.

Objective: Students will identify three problems in the book Corduroy, and discuss the final “Main Problem” (which is that Corduroy is in search of a friend,) and how the other problems and the main problem relate.

Assessment

Formal:
The children have read the book once. I will have them read the book again, but this time I will have them look for the problems Corduroy meets, and have them mark that page with a post-it note. Students should mark 3 problems and explain them orally.


1. Hook- I’m going to show them how I use post-it notes to help me identify places I want to remember when I reading something.

2. Telling- They already know that every story has at least one problem, and that a problem needs to be solved. This has been drilled into their heads for a long time. I want them to be able to identify how small problems can lead up to the main problem.

3. Instruction/modeling- I will show the students how I have identified problems on my own about the story. I will show them that I have used post-it notes to mark the pages and remember where the problems were. I will use powerpoint on my computer to show my three problems, and my main problem. I want the kids to find 3 of their own, and see how they compare to mine at the end. My language might sound something like this:

a. “I have read this story, marked three problems that I could find, and then found one “Main Problem”. What I want you to do is find your own 3 problems… they might be the same as mine, they might be the same as someone else, but they might be different altogether. When you’re done reading we’ll come together and share.


4. Independent Practice- Have the students find the problems in the book on their own. When they find one, they are to raise their hand and I will give them a post-it note. When they’re all finished they will share the problems they found with each other, and compare them to mine. See if they find the “main problem” and if they can identify how the small problems relate with the main problem

5. Closure- Compare the problems they find to mine. If they do not match up, then the closure is that everyone can find different problems in the story, but most if not all problems relate to the main problem. If they do match up, then talk about how the problems we found together relate to the main problem
Management-
These kids need to stay on task for this to work. They watch how fast others read, and skip pages to keep up, so I will do my best to make sure they don’t skip pages. I think giving them the post-it notes and having them search for problems might curb their desire to skip pages. (I might be wrong) The culture in the classroom is for the students to take off once they have read the book twice, so I will let them know that they are to have a discussion after they read it, so they don’t jump up and take off. For early finishers I will have them read the book again, and see if they can find any other problems.

Mr. Young's Geographic Tour

http://sites.google.com/site/mryoungclass/geographic-tour

Tour Guide

Location	Activity	Google Earth Content
1. Mendenhall Glacier	Question and answer about glaciers in Alaska.	Terrain
2. Yellowstone	Write a letter to someone who has never seen features in Yellowstone	Terrain, seismic activity
3. Moab	List factors that contributed to formations	Terrain
4. Grand Canyon	Draw picture of what Grand Canyon looked like on the first day a river came through that valley.	Terrain
Details of image overlay / path / polygon:	http://www.danasjeeps.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Moab_March_2007_006.118204820_std.jpg

The content that will be taught is how geographical formations are formed.  Kids will discover the various forms that water, wind and glaciers erode rocks and formations to create canyons, formations and mountains.

They will learn through discovery activities and research these things.

They will learn by using google earth, and wikipedia.  

Holes: an existential tale of treasure, love, and mystery!

Our TPAC preview of Holes, By Louis Sachar

Coming Soon...

This project is a 30 second or so long preview to the book "Holes" by Louis Sachar.  We thought it would be a good lead, or hook to get the kids that hadn't read the book excited to read it.  The story board explains what we had planned to do, and we anticipated it taking around 10 slides in about 30 seconds.  We would then turn the project over to the students.  They would be instructed to create a similar hook for a book that they had read, citing pictures they captured from the internet, and creating pictures of their own.  

Educational Theorist Alphie Kohn claims that "Children learn how to make good decisions by making decisions, not by following directions".  This project leaves the decisions up to the students so that they can develop those crucial skills.  I might not base my entire lesson plan off of Kohn's views on education, but I can see the value of allowing students to create something out of nothing from the choices they make.

The technology used in the project is pretty obvious.  We would use a movie making program, and digital pictures to create this trailer.  Between the technologies used to create the trailer, the 5th grade science core Standard 1 Objective 2, and the pedagogy of allowing students to make their own decisions, I think this is a fantastic combination of TPAC in the classroom.  

But you don't have to take my word for it... ba dum bum! 

BoryStord.

Better Than a Windbag

My sophomore year at BYU I took an Astronomy class. It was a morning class held in a planetorium. It was taught by a professor that was the 16th physics professor ever hired at BYU. The man knew about fossils, because he had watched them form. He would stand at the front of the class, spout off facts, and lecture. Most of the class learned very little, got poor grades, and complained.

I hope to never become that teacher.

On my group's last post, we wrote about an activity about a technology lesson that would give us an opportunity to apply the things that we have learned thus far in this class in a fictional classroom. We were then asked the following questions:

• What is the content you’ll be using in your lesson?

• What is the pedagogy you’ll be using and why is it a good fit with the content?

• What is the technology you’ll be using and why is it a good fit with the content and pedagogy?

The content we used for the lesson came from the core curriculum. We decided to teach from 6th grade science core Standard 4, Objective 2. That objective stated, "Describe the appearance and apparent motion of groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them."

Much of the discovery aspects of this assignment was up to the children. When I present a lesson like this in a real class I will provide the students with directions for finding the information if they need the directions. Those who do not understand the assignment or don't know where to start might receive help individually, while those who already know exactly what they want to do can work on their own at their own pace. The amount of information and sources are up to them, but I would encourage the use of Wikipedia.

We would use the Internet where we would encourage the use of Wikipedia, and the program Stellarium. Some of the project would require the students to find something in Stellarium, requiring their ability to navigate that program. That would be combined with their ability to research things on the internet. Then they would be given the Australian and New Zealand flag, and required to research things on the internet they would find on Stellarium. That task would require some problem solving and basic understanding of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The North Star task would require a similar knowledge of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and could encourage discussion.

These assignments are creative ways to combine technology with content knowledge through using a unique pedagogy that can help the students discover these concepts on their own. Having them learn on their own is lot better than an old windbag spouting off facts at the front of the room.

Tech Savy Teacher: Move over Bill Nye!!!!1

We have been using technology in our classroom at Pretend Elementary School in the Fictional School District. Our students have really enjoyed the Computer program Stellarium, which is a fantastic program that helps students understand the movement of stars, planets and the relationship of celestial bodies to the earth.

Part one of our three part unit was to help the students familiarize themselves with the program Stellarium, and fine tune their web based research skills. They were to find three constellations of my choice, and identify them in Stellarium. They were then to find background information about what people and culture named this constellation and how it may or may not have been used for navigation at sea.


Ursa Major, "The Big Dipper"


Gemini, "The Twins"

Orion


Part two on another day, i gave the kids following clue. "On the Australian and New Zealand Flag there is a constellation. Find the name of that constellation, and change your location on Stellarium to one where you could see this at night." This required the kids to understand that this particular constellation is not visible in the Northern Hemisphere, and you must be South of the Equator to view.


The Southern Cross

Part three required the kids to find Ursa Minor in the Utah night sky. They were to center the constellation on the screen.

The North Star is in the center of the screen.

I then had the kids "speed up time" on Stellarium so that the circumpolar stars around the North Star were moving, while the North Star remained fixed. I had them hypothesis why this was. The kids had a hard time fully understanding what exactly what was going on, and led to a very beneficial class discussion about Polaris.

The Students here at Pretend Elementary are really enjoying these technologies!!

Astrology is NOT Astronomy.

I like to look at the stars, and I like to find constellations. I might be guilty of being that boring guy pointing stars out to the girls at bon-fire parties away from the city lights in my "younger" days. I haven't, that is until last Tuesday, found a good software that could (or could have) helped me identify information about constellations. I was on my own. Then when we talked about TPAC, and combining technology knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and content knowledge and use the star sighting software in the classroom, my world opened up. That is the technology we are going to use for our assignment.

I've always seen my "classroom of the future" uses of technology limited to a projector, powerpoints, music, and maybe a Nintendo Wii. With the implication of the technologies that we talked about in class my vision of my "classroom of the future" looks more like "classroom of yester...day." My point is that there aren't just these technologies this class has opened my eyes to. There are more. And when I talk about my experiences at BYU in 25-30 years, I'll be sitting in a futuristic rocking chair, wearing a silvery shirt, wearing super-tinted sunglasses (from the radiation) and I'll chuckle that I thought it was awesome I could hook my computer up to a microscope.

I know everything

So when I came into class on Tuesday I came in with a chip on my shoulder. I've been on blogger with my siblings on my blog since something like 2005. I am rarely out of arm's reach of the internet. I have a hard time watching football, a movie, or TV without a laptop on my lap. I've poked fun at my friends and myself as we all sit in the same living room watching a large screen TV, with 6 laptops open... no words are shared, and if we find something we want to share with everyone we gchat, or facebook each other the comments we would like to share. It is to a point of stupidity, really.
So as I walked into our classroom on Tuesday, I figured I didn't need anyone showing me anything new on the internet because, I already knew everything.

Humble pie is nice.

I learned some pretty cool stuff on Tuesday. I had seen RSS icons everywhere on the web, but I didn't exactly understand how they worked. I knew that with Safari if I clicked the RSS button it took away most of the pizazz of normal websites, but I knew there had to be more.

Since Tuesday I have become a google reader addict, and I couldn't be happier about it. I plan to use the the goodreads website as a reference to communicate with parents and give them my recommendations for books to read. This would be a great resource to help parents become more involved in their child's education. Many parents want to be involved, but don't know what the best course of action is. This and other resources can help those parents find that way to help.

... oh I love techno-logy...

This blog, interline 2.0!!!!1, is a blog created for my IP&T class for winter semester 2009. It will be used to post various assignments for the class, and after the end of the class, I plan to revise the blog and use it as a medium of some sort in my teaching.

My interaction began when my father bought a Macintosh 128, in around 1986. I learned how to use a mouse, and other basic functions that a computer in the mid-late 80s could perform. I remember playing various games like solitaire, stunt copter, brickles, and other basic games. Other basic games like one of the greatest game ever, Oregon Trail. I remember naming the members of the family in my wagon after members of my class. I would of course name my wife after the girl I had a huge crush on, but I would be real cleaver about it by strategically using initials to avoid anyone knowing who I was talking about. When they would die, the headstone would say something like, T.C. died from a snakebite. Technology gave me an opportunity to be very cunning.
In Elementary school we used computers more and more as time went on and they became more of a focal point in our society. We had a Window's based computer in the 90s in our home, and I went back to using a Mac a little before my mission and after. In other technologies I am somewhat capable. I can set up audio/video systems, and I have a basic understanding of how these things work. I try to keep up with the current changes, and in my family when somebody needs something set up or troubleshot I am commonly the person that is called.

I don't know everything there is to know, but my experience usually provides me with enough background to figure most programs and problems out.