Thursday, October 9, 2008

Internet Safety Concept Map


So I made this concept map that students could use to help them decide which sites were safe, authentic and not just marketing. They could use this as they were doing research just to make sure they were on the right track with their research. Some of my advice came from the following website: http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Grade 1 Math Lesson

General Learner Outcome:

Recognize and apply whole numbers from 0-100.

Specific Learner Outcome:

Count by 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's up to 100.

Most Relevant ICT Learner Outcomes:

F.6-Students will demonstrate a basic understanding of the operating skills required in a variety of technologies.

F.1 - Students will demonstrate an understanding of the nature of technology.

F.2 - Students will understand the role of technology as it applies to self, work and society.

P.2 - Students will organize and manipulate data.

Description of Activity:

One of the links talks about the benefit of using a number grid to teach children to count by 2s, 5s and 10s. My other useful link talks about using excel spreadsheets to teach children to organize and interpret data. My activity for children would be to allow them to create their own number grid on an excel spreadsheet. This activity gives them practice counting to 100 as they would have to type in all the numbers themselves. Once they have completed their spreadsheet, it could be printed out and laminated, so that it could be used for further practice in counting by 2's, 5's and 10's.

Benefits of using technology:

The use of excel gives students the opportunity to use the font, color and size of text they like best. In this way, the students are more likely to appreciate their number grid when they get it. It will look how they want it to look, and they may be more excited about using it for practice. I think using the computer also gives confidence to children who may be creative, yet aren’t exceptional at drawing or painting.

Another benefit of using excel is that students are able to make mistakes and easily fix them. If children are less afraid of failure, they are more likely to try and to learn. Through the use of excel, even if mistakes are made, they can be corrected before the final copy has been printed. This way, even the children who made mistakes initially end up with a “perfect” number grid.




References:

Moskel, M. (n.d.). Teaching Skip Counting By 2’s. Retrieved September 24, 2008, from http://www.ehow.com/video_4403079_teaching-skip-counting-2s.html

Lewis, P. (2001). Use Spreadsheets to Teach Mathematics and Meet Standards. Retrieved September 24, 2008, from http://www.angelfire.com/wi2/spreadsheet/necc.html

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Assignment #2 for Ed

I pretty much changed everything about the powerpoint presentation. My 5 specific changes were

1) I added an introduction and a conclusion to start off the presentation and to sum up the information at the end.
2) I changed the template to make the whole presentation easier to read.
3) I grouped the information into categories.
4) I used point form to allow for easier and faster reading.
5) I added a title page with a picture to help capture audience attention.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Weekend Fun

So, this is my first blog ever so I'm not really sure about exactly what to write. (I don't really want to have my personal info on here so how about what I did on the weekend?) I went to a bbq that my former teacher was holding for his students. One of the students had recently seen a U tube video where some guys popped popcorn using four cell phones. We decided we should try it. Turns out, it doesn't work. We used microwave popcorn instead of the regular, maybe that had something to do with it.. If anyone else has ever made this work, let me know. I'd like to know what we did wrong.
We then played cranium. If you've ever played, you will know that it is the most entertaining game ever. You wind up acting, drawing, sculpting and answering random questions. I was the designated sculptor/drawer for out team. The game wasn't even close, we came in dead last but I enjoyed playing nevertheless.