Chapter Eleven

Chapter Objective: Clarify key stages in an effective demonstration that guides student learning with and about technology in various subject areas?

Question: Who are we supposed to go see when we encounter problems? Especially in Montana or rural communities where having a technology class is unlikely?

Connection to my teaching...

This objective connects in every way to my teaching and should to every teachers plan. To be an effective teacher we as teachers need to be able to capture the student's attention. In order to do this we need to know how to use the technology. I have been in far too many classes where teachers do not know how to use the technology in which they have prepared their lesson. It is not only embarrassing for them but me. I hate watching people struggle with a problem but when there is nothing I can do and the teacher is fumbling around with the projector for 10 minutes and the solution was as simple as hitting a button. It really makes me question why they are a professor at a university. As teachers we should not be embarrassed to ask questions because if we are embarrassed to ask then how are our students supposed to overcome their fear of us asking questions?

Chapter Three

Chapter Objective- I have chosen constructivism and how it affects teaching and learning today. This is because I agree with how the book states that the student is the most important factor in their learning. A good teacher can inspire the student to WANT to learn more but a student has to have their own drive to actually initiate the learning process. As a freshmen in high-school I did not care at all about academics and preferred to just hang out with friends and concentrate on athletics. It was not until I learned how important grades in high-school can be for the rest of my life and college career that I started to focus on academics.

Question-Is there anything we can do as teachers to get students who do not care about academics to care? Being one of those students, I had numerous teachers and counselors my freshmen year who told me how important my grades were but it was not until I learned for myself that I actually cared.

Connection to my teaching- As the book says, we must bring our personal experiences into the classroom in hope of inspiring students to attempt to do well in academics. I feel as a teacher who was a student that did not care for academics I can help communicate with students more than other teachers who excelled in academics. This is because I can help connect to students who are not interested and help them one on one and show them the importance of academics in a persons life. By doing this hopefully I can guide a student through my experiences but allow the student the freedom that (s)he needs to learn from their own personal experiences to truly understand the importance of the lesson.

Chapter Eight

Chapter Objective- Identify authoring tools that offer a multimedia environment for students to express and communicate their ideas. I feel this is an extremely important objective especially after what we did in last weeks class. As we went from station to station we were able to use (play) with tools that can be extremely useful for students. The most interesting to me personally (and most of the class) was the smart pen. Being a college student and having gone to a private school which stressed education I have learned how important it is to take good notes. By being able to record a professors lecture makes everything that much easier, from being able to go back and check dates for a history class to checking a reference used in-class. After seeing the smart pen in use it seems like almost anything is possible.

Can we (as teachers) use technology too much? With my generation growing up with technology and the younger generations being able to use technology as if it were as easy as reading a Dr. Seuss book. It is hard for me to think of a teacher using technology too much unless they use it in an unproductive way.

Connection to my teaching- As I look forward to being a history teacher one of the most useful ways of learning was watching historically accurate movies. I personally love watching the History Channel for all the useful things you can learn in a short amount of time compared to reading. As a way of catching a students attention I could have them do a project of reenacting a part of history. One of my friends in high-school worked for a company which produced movies and television shows on the Civil War. I know my students would not be able to make as well produced movies but they could have fun with the acting and producing. As a teen-ager my friends and I loved making stupid short films and coming to school in Bozeman I met numerous kids who also had a similar passion as they entered into the film program so I think it is something which would be useful for them to learn and could help further their education in two academic areas at the same time. Especially with the growth in technology we see these days most high-schools are offering multi-media classes in which they learn basics about editing films, taking photos, and other various aspects of the area.