Homework Logs - WP

As a teacher and a parent I understand the importance and sometimes confusion of homework.  Working with third and fourth grade students, I see an influx in homework.  It is also important to instill accountability to the student with regard to homework.  In this grade there are agenda books that are available to the students.  This is a transition from the weekly calander that went home from the teacher in second grade.  The agenda book is large and a daily task.  The students I work with are having difficult keeping track of the agenda book.  I think it is overwhelming to them.  The transition from the calendar to the big agenda book has been a big jump.  I am uploading a Homework log that can go home with the student.  This log will be a quick easy to view sheet the parents can check and the students can keep up with. 

Word Processing and Desktop Publishing

This week in school the sixth grade was charged with creating a brochure for a Province in Canada.  A rubric was provided to each student that defined the value of each aspect of the brochure and what was expected.  That was all. The students were not confined to the use of a desktop publishing software and they were able to present the brochure using crayons and markers if that was what was available.  This was not a classroom project.  In fact, the teacher did not allow the students any time on the computer.  This project was self directed and given on a four day break. 
The product would be based on many factors.  Will the students have the information available to them?  Will the student who does not have access to the library or media at home be able to provide information or present it in a way the will allow the student to receive a good grade?  Many children go home to an environment that is not conducive to complete a project of this magnitude.  The project is a great idea and is an activity children would enjoy but the base of knowledge was not provided.  The teacher made assumptions and we can't do that.  The assumption that each student is literate enough to create a brochure on a computer without any review.  The assumption that students who would benefit from learning the information  in this way will have access to the tools they need.  Many students presented brochures made with colored pencils and markers while many of their peers presented brochures created using a publishing software. 
The activity would have been more beneficial if the students could have had an opportunity to work in the classrooms and received a lesson on the ways brochures can be created and the reality that a brochure should not be presented in the real world in our own handwriting.
The videos this week provided good examples of lessons on how the students can implement DTP in the classroom.  Creating the brochures, newsletters and other information using the software allows the children to apply the content and make it relevant. 
One of the most important things I learned this week was to make sure to keep the students on task.  Time can get lost when you are creating brochures and other documents.  Spending too much time on searching graphics can lose a student.  I know.  I have fallen victim to the time drain when searching the Internet for information and graphics. 
Providing an alternative assessment tool that engages the students is exciting.  The activities encourage thinking and creating using their knowledge instead of providing me an answer on a test that I create.

Week 2 "Excel" in the classroom.

Databases in the classroom is something I am using but I did not realize how much.  Creating a schedule with my colleagues to serve the students, creating a chart that keeps track of accommodations, running queries to disseminate testing results, rubric information and much more.  When I reviewed the website http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/excel/ I spent time reviewing getworksheets.com.  There are so many templates available that can assist the management of my caseload.  Calendars, lesson plan templates, worksheets, PowerPoint's, behavior incentives etc.  It is an affordable option.  The availability of these items online is manageable in comparison to the many hundreds of workbooks that are available to me at school.  The workbooks in my arsenal at school are overwhelming.  I spend so much time trying to decipher what I can use and getting them copied. 
The difficulty with adhering to pre-made templates is compatibility with my computer and alignment with the standards.  There are many lesson plans that will work in the classroom but I need to be sure to align the activities to the core content.

There are many opportunities accross the curriculum to implement databases and excel.  The projects are easy and appealing. Sorting information and presenting it in a way that is exciting and seems relevant.  When "leading" projects it will be important to allow the students to think through it on their own or in their groups.  The readings this week discussed how answers can be found in different ways and the process of storing the information and presenting it may vary. 

I look forward to implementing excel in a math group.  The children continue to struggle with multiplication.  They are able to use multiplication charts that we have printed up.  I am going to have the students create their own charts in order to use them.  I found that even when the children are handed a multiplication chart to use they struggle to understand them.  The process of creating the chart them selves should help.

Technology - Week 1

What did you learn this week that you will use immediately in your classroom? What steps will you take to implement this in your classroom? What challenge(s) will you face when using this in your classroom? What will you do to overcome the challenge(s)?

The classroom is a different place than when I was younger.  In fact it is bit of sensory overload to enter a classroom or look at all of the options I have as an educator.  IT is so exciting to have a smartboard, computers, laptops, talking pens, kindles, blogs, web pages, and more.  Is it too much?  How can I implement it all without overloading the students?  How can I possibly use all of the cool things I have access to and not lose the content? 

I have been a Special Education Teacher for 47 days.  With each day I get so excited about what is available.  I am like a little kid at Christmas.  I open one thing and get excited, play with it for a minute and open the next cool thing.  While I am learning how to "play" with one thing, there is a PD opportunity for something else.  I have to try and take a deep breath and work with one thing at a time.  I notice that in many classrooms.  Technology projects seem to get started and stall while we check out the new thing.

Technology can be expensive.  As a grant writer I am eager to use my talent in the classroom to find resources.  I will truly see what kids like and benefit from. 

The new technology isn't new to the kids.  I may be learning about something that the kids already know how to use.  I find that kids still like the basic activities and are not always that impressed with the technology.  I do understand the responsibility I have to use technology in the classroom.  It is a new world.  Our future is with technology.  As I look in a classroom and see a kid struggling to write cursive I wonder if he should even have to.  What will ever be required of him to write in cursive other than his name?  I need to be realisitc and purposeful as an educator and I need to make sure that when I use technology it is linked to core content and to what will really be relevant and functional.