Mapping & Web Awareness

The following mind-map discusses the major issues and concerns that I will have as a teacher regarding web awareness.

Integrating technology into the Classroom

Title of Activity: Click and Read Challenge

Reference Section: StarNet Interactive Ltd.(2007).Retrieved Oct. 2, 2009, from www.kiddonet.com.

Grade Level: One

Subject: English Language Arts

Brief Description of Activity: Students will visit the website www.kiddonet.com. At the top of the page they will click on “see original homepage” which is written in a small white font on the top left corner. Students will click on the “KN Junior” option at the bottom of the channels provided on the left. Next the students will click on the option for “Early Learning Games”. They will then choose the option “Click and Read”. This program will take the students through a story about a bear who is backing pancakes. The story is read aloud to the students, while providing them with the text so that they can follow along. Students will then be asked questions about the events going on throughout the story. When the students complete this activity they can then explore the Alphabet Animals, Letter Sounds, and Word-a-cross activities.

General Learning Outcomes:
- Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to comprehend. They will respond personally and critically to oral, print, and other media texts.

The Specific Learning Outcomes:
-Identifying high frequency words by sight.
-Reading aloud with some fluency and accuracy after rehearsal.
-Self-correcting when reading does not make sense, using cues such as pictures, context, phonics, grammatical awareness and background knowledge.

ICT Division One Outcomes:
C.6 - Students will use technology to investigate and/or solve problems.
F.1 - Students will demonstrate an understanding of the nature of technology.
P.3- Students will communicate through multimedia.

Rationale for Computer Integration: The use of computers within this activity allows students to challenge themselves and explore this activity at their own pace. When the students finish, they will then be given the opportunity to explore the different activities included within this website, which touch on many other subject areas. By allowing students to use this interactive reading activity, they are able to read at their own pace. It allows the teacher to circulate from student to student, instead of having to read aloud to the entire class. Students are given the opportunity to explore reading on their own, while gaining confidence within their individual reading level.

Learning How To Make An Effective PowerPoint Presentation

After reading the module on Integration and Presentations, changing the original PowerPoint to a more suitable presentation for a classroom was fairly simple. I modified several different aspects of this PowerPoint in order to make it more aesthetically pleasing, and easier to understand and read. Since PowerPoint presentations are usually paired with verbal explanations I took away small details that I did not feel were as important as others.

The first change that I made was the amount of text used. In the PowerPoint given there was an abundance of words on each slide. The lesson explained that the information that should be represented on the slide should be easily recognized within five seconds. With large pages of text, students will lose interest and not read the information that is in front of them.
The second and third adjustments that I made were the size and color of the font. The module outlined that certain colors were easier to read, and explained that the size of the text should be extremely large allowing every student to be able to read clearly.

The forth modification that I made was adding pictures, borders and visual aspects to my presentation. I aimed at having an eye catcher on each slide to draw in the attention of my students. I even included an effect that sounds like fire crackling on the first slide to create an exciting introduction to my presentation.

Lastly I focused on spreading the information out throughout many slides opposed to just three. A longer PowerPoint presentation with more slides seems less intimidating and much easier to understand and follow. Not only did this assignment allow me an opportunity to explore PowerPoint and the different components that it has to offer, but it also encouraged me to learn more about how to make an appropriate presentation for a classroom setting.

Here is the link to my newly renovated PowerPoint presentation:

http://www.slideshare.net/ToryDoty/ps1-powerpoint-presentation

My First Experiance With Blogging!!!

Wow, I find it incredibly amazing that after all of the years that I have spent using technology at home and within the classroom that I have never been introduced to the idea of blogging till now. Blogging is something that intimidates and challenges me, but I look forward to becoming more knowledgeable and confident when dealing with this brand new teaching tool.

On to me, hi my name is Tory Doty and I am extremely excited to be a part of the Education Faculty at the University of Lethbridge. I am a third year student currently working towards by Bachelor of Arts in Kinesiology and my Bachelor of Education focusing primarily on Physical Education. For as long as I can remember, being active and participating in physical activity is something that I have had a passion and a drive for. At the age of three I began my gymnastics career which lead me through many amazing journeys till the age of seventeen. Throughout that time I travelled long and far distances competing all over Canada and in events such as the Western Canadian Championships as well as trials to the Canadian Championships. Throughout my high school years I loved playing volleyball, badminton and any other sports that were available to me.

I am the middle child of three girls and a sister to both Ainsley and Leighton. Ainsley just completed her Bachelor of Education from the U of L and was one of my main mentors and influences during the time when I decided to head in the teaching direction. My mom Lisa has been a teacher for over thirty years and also encouraged me to follow in her footsteps. My dad Tobin is a dentist and another professional who I greatly admire.

During my spare time I enjoy working with youth as often as possible. For the past six summers I have spent my time off in the beautiful northern tip of Ontario at a sports and arts camp called Celtic, located on Lake Huron. At this camp I specialized in coaching waterfront activities such as sailing, kayaking, canoeing, and wind surfing. A also taught activities such as rock climbing and golf which are all sports that I enjoy participating in on my spare time. Throughout the years I have also enjoyed coaching competitive gymnastics as well as volleyball.

I can see how blogging as a whole can be an amazing tool to be used within the classroom, however there are certain aspects about it that leave me sceptical. I find that the internet is an amazing learning device if it is used a safe and respectable manner, yet there are many areas online that are extremely inappropriate and unsafe for young learners experimenting with the internet for the first time. Despite the dangers that can be found on the internet, through the use of blogs students are introduced to a new technology based learning tool that can be used for journals, bulletin boards, and class websites.

Blogging introduces students to an idea of sharing ideas with other classmates and communicating with one another online which is something that students are already comfortable doing. In this day and age where computer games are so popular, asking students to partake in online activities will be exciting to them.

Another advantage of introducing the idea of blogging into a classroom or a school is the administrative role that it can play. If parents are aware of the class website that has been created, then they can be encouraged to use it as a communication tool between them and their child’s teachers. They can also be aware of upcoming activities and assignments that their children are participating in. The downfall to this type of communication is that it takes away from the personal parent teacher relationship that can be gained through phone calls and one on one meetings.

Blogging is still something that is brand new to me, and before I would feel comfortable and confident using this learning and communicative technique within a classroom of my own, I would want to see an active system set up in another classroom. I look forward to increasing my knowledge in this area and learning more about this potential teaching tool.