Blog #8

As I was searching on Facebook, I went to my account settings and clicked on security. Mostly everything looked correct until I found a section that was called Active Sessions. When I clicked on it, it came up with nine different places that I have logged in at that dates back to November 21, 2011. The section has three categories for each location it detects: Last accessed, Location, and Device Type. Looking at my recent sessions, I noticed that on Saturday I supposedly was on Facebook in Columbus, Indiana while on Sunday I checked in at Columbus, Ohio and what shocked me the most; Wichita Falls, Texas. I was very confused because I know for a fact that I have not been to any of these places this weekend. Below is what the Active Sessions look like along with a fine print sentence about what to do.

ACTIVE SESSIONS:

Current Session
Location:	Cincinnati, OH, US (Approximate)
Device Type:	IE on Win7

If you notice any unfamiliar devices or locations, click 'End Activity' to end the session.


When I first saw this active session section I was confused and shocked because I could not believe that I was checked into these locations that I have not been to recently and I have never been to two of these locations. I feel that any normal person would react this way if they have never been to a city and have never heard of it as well and it says that you were logged in. I am not really sure of this security feature because all it says to do to end the session is click. I wish that it would tell us when we have a new location for logging in that would make me feel better about knowing when I am logged in and if someone is trying to hack me.

Blog #7

The game that I found was Factor Feeder which is on www.primarygames.com. The site has many games labeled by subjects and different levels for each grade. The Factor Feeder stood out to me the most because since I want to be a 4th or 5th grade math teacher it will help my students understand multiples and factors and go on to solve equations using multiplication and division. In the game, you use the arrows to eat the factors of a given number that the show before you start. While moving the arrows and eating the factors, you have to avoid the monster that is chasing you and the factors that are not correct. Evnetualy, the game becomes harder with fewer correct factors and extra monsters. If you run into the monster or eat an incorrect factor, you must start over and after 3 mistakes the game ends.

Looking at the ODE standards, I found that in 4th grade you must learn multiplication, division, and eventually solve problems. 4th graders must know their factors and multiples in order to learn these standards because without it students would not be able to do the simple math and have a harder time when being tested. I think this would be a good practice game for students to do in the classroom and at home in order to refresh the factors of certain numbers.

www.primarygames.com/math/factorfeeder/start.htm

Blog #6

We have now had two different lesson plan demonstrations and they did get me to think about my future classroom. I like the idea of having these presentations because it makes you as a future teacher think about what technology tools you could use for your students. As a student in these presentations, it helps you see if the lessons could work in your future classroom, are age appropriate for the grade you want to teach, and have fun being the student again. The first two lessons hit constructivism on point because they made us, as students, think about what the information is really trying to teach us and not flat out giving us the answers.

The first two groups used different technology that I never thought about using in my future classroom. I liked the idea of the second group using the accessory Paint on the computers and since they were touch screens, it was easy to draw and show our perspective of the poem. I hope to be able to try this in my future classroom in order to see my students point of view on a specific subject.

Blog #5

The article that I read was 4 Ways the iPad is Being Used for Education which was similar to mine about using iPod Touches in the classroom. This article talked about the many ways teachers and students are trying to incorporate the iPad whether it be donating to Teach for America, online textbooks, apps to help with student organization, and helping teachers organize in the classroom. Making a good point, they say in order for the iPad to be useful the operators, either students or teachers, must have knowledge on the product and make it worthwhile or they have wasted a lot of money.

My thoughts on this article was that it was good insight because it sort of  gave the negative and positive. I liked how it gave the reasons for the iPads and then went over why it can be a negative if not used correctly. I agree completely with the article because even though curriculum states that we need to integrate technology into the classroom, we have to make sure students are knowledgable about the material and not finding easy ways to get out of learning. We must make sure that the teacher and students are knowledgable about the technology as well because it could make learning more confusing and complicated when in reality technology is suppose to make learning understandable and fun.

Blog #4

Reading the article, I believe that since our educational society today is based off of 21st century skills, it is never to young to use technology if it is age appropriate for the learner. If it is for younger grades like K-6, I believe the teacher needs to have hands on activities along side of it. This will help the learner understand technology and the content. The example in the article was the teacher who had the students do activities on the computer like dragging the apple but made sure they had the construction paper version with it to make sure the students were physically doing the activity on their own. In my future classroom, I want to integrate technology because it gives students an interesting way to look at the content we are learning and I believe it is sometimes more exciting than just using pencil and paper.

I don't necessarily believe that technology makes students socialize less in the classroom but it can easily happen in their own home. I think it brings them together because it gets students to help others when they are having trouble or share their findings when using the technology. I believe that technology is necessary in curriculum but again if it is age appropriate and keeps the students talking and sharing ideas to increase the learning in the classroom.

Blog #3

When I was viewing the blogs and posting comments, I also read the comments that were already there. When they were the same thoughts as mine, it made it more enjoyable to read and write on other blogs. I feel like the comments help because it makes you sit down and really think about what others are reasoning and apply that to your own thought process. I feel like I learned more ways to think about blogging and the constructivist theory.

I realized that I am not alone when thinking about certain teaching aspects. Most were feeling the same way about blogging and especially about constructivism. It made me feel excited about the future of teaching because I realize more people are going to try to use the constructivist theory in their own classrooms. This may be a hard task but if we do apply the theory, our future students are going to understand why they are learning what they are learning and be excited about everyday lessons.

Blogging is more enjoyable now that I know what others believe. I would love to use blogs for my future classroom, for instance, with a science fair project. This way the students could write about their findings each day by saving them on this website and their own blog and worry less about losing a paper that they wrote their findings on and making sure that their lab reports are accurate. The students gain a new technology tool and are able to read others findings about different projects in the classroom.

Blog #2

In grade school, the teachers that I remembered most and learned the most from were those who used the constructivist theory. I am the type of learner that has to have hands on activities where I am doing the activities myself and with others or else I will not learn any of the material and will become distracted easily. Hands on learning to me is fun and worthwhile and I wish more teachers adopted this style.

Fourth grade was one of my favorite years because of all the hands on activities and projects that we were given. I thought most of the work was mainly busy work at the time but it helped me better understand the material, want to come to class, and participate. My teacher knew that she had to keep moving in the lessons or else she would lose us mentally. She was an awesome teacher and used constructivism well.

Unfortunately, I have had some objectivism teachers in grade school. In my ninth grade World History class, our lessons consisted of lecture based off of powerpoints. These powerpoints were always white backgrounds with black writing and little to no pictures and the teacher would randomly call on students sometimes but only if he remembered your name. Then, he would have us watch movies that felt like they went on for ages. This class did not make me want to learn or participate. I easily became distracted in this class and never felt the need to learn.

To me, Constructivism means you make students want to learn through activities, projects, and discussions while objectivism is mainly a lecture style. In my future classroom, I want to make my students want to learn through the constructivism theory because most students need to be motivated in order to retain information. I hope my students will see me as an awesome teacher just like I saw my fourth grade teacher.