4.27.2016 Tech in Ed: a sample classroom newsletter

One more assignment for Tech in Ed: A sample classroom newsletter. I built the newsletter in InDesign, a powerful Adobe program that I am familiar with from my days working in a newspaper. For a simple newsletter like this, Microsoft Publisher would have worked just as well. I like the sample newsletters I saw being used with the student's weekly packets that went home to parents each Monday in the First Grade Classroom where I observed. I know however, that newsletters have the same problem as other information sent home: no matter how pretty, some parents just don't seem to read them! These are the students we need to pay the most individualized attention to! Sample Parent Newsletter

EDEL 2200 Building Presentations with Google Slides

As a big fan of Powerpoint, I was happy to find out that Google Slides works almost exactly the same! Here's a presentation I built about fractions:

EDEL 2200 Tech in Ed: Playlists for You Tube

Well here's an optional assignment I should have discovered sooner! Better late than never: this is an embedment of my favorite videos about autism which I became aware of through the class I took this semester (SW2500 Understanding the Autism Spectrum). Now I see on the grading rubric they were supposed to be videos that would be good for elementary students: these would only be appropriate for maybe 6th graders...but would be great resource for parents of any students looking for information on the Spectrum. What a useful too. I think this is my favorite new technology I have learned this semester, with Symbaloo being in second place.

EDEL 1010 Blog #9 Year End Thoughts

It is hard to reflect on the Intro to Education without reflecting on my semester as a whole.  Several classes have been intertwined for me and I'm not sure which class taught me which thing!  But it has been a good semester for me professionally as I have faced the challenges of assignment after assignment that forced me to work with technology as never before in becoming familiar with a few of the internet applications that are available for education.  I'm sure I have just seen a very few compared to the many, many applications available.  But I am also sure that my instructors have guided me into finding some of the better programs available.

My Service Learning experiences were somewhat of a disappointment to me in that it seemed very difficult to get them scheduled with the schools and teachers near me.  I learned most about classroom management from spending time in the classrooms but I felt like ten hours of special ed and ten hours of regular ed. were not enough.  There were so many interruptions to classroom schedules that it made me wonder how teachers ever get the subjects taught!

In spite of the challenges, this is a semester that I'm glad I took at UVU.  I had considered switching to Western Governor's University in January and I am glad I did not.  However, I feel now that this is what I should do.  Through Western Governor's University I can go straight to a Master's Degree and I can be flexible in my physical location while completing the coursework.

Yes, teaching is what I want to do!  I am not totally sure if I want elementary or special education but I know I want to be in the teaching field!

Thank you Dr. Sue Womack, Pam Turley, Dr. Wangsgard, Dr. Damion Smith, Brandon Condie, and Mrs. Donna Hall--my instructors this semester!

4.15.2016 EDEL 1010 Blog Entry #8

This blog is a helpful "portfolio" about the projects and activities I have done for both EDEL 1010 and EDEL 2200 this semester.  I have learned a lot about the technology used by teachers today in both classes.   The best part has been seeing some of these things actually used in the Service Learning locations.  The worst part has been not having enough time in Service Learning!  I did ten hours in a special education classroom first and then have just finished 10 hours in a regular first grade classroom.  Next week I am going to spend an afternoon in a regular fourth grade classroom so I get a little wider perspective.  The ten hours in regular education wasn't enough: if I was doing it over again I would not "count" my special ed hours (required for EDSP 3400) as part of my regular ed time because I feel like I didn't get enough time in regular classrooms.   Doing the special ed hours first prevented me from learning about regular ed classrooms in the same time frame as we progressed through the lessons.  This made the required blog entries more difficult.
I did gain a lot of broad understanding of teaching in the 21st century and am anxious to learn more in the professional portion of the program.

4.13.2016 EDEL 2200 Google Docs Assignment

First Grade Core Standards for Parents

Today I finally completed the Google Docs project for my Tech. in Education class.  I made an informational document for parents to familiarize them with what will be taught to their child in first grade.  I started the project weeks ago and then procrastinated in getting it finished!
I learned several things in the process of this assignment.  One big thing I learned is that Google connects everything to your Gmail account name.  I created a Google Doc in a Google Account that was tied to one email; then tried to link it into this Blogger account which is connected to a different email account!  Confusing!  I struggled and struggled with Why can't I edit my Blogger??
Now I am wondering: Why do I have two Gmail accounts?
This assignment also helped me learn the capacities of Google Docs by requiring me to add a picture and a table.

4.12.2016 EDEL2200 Creating Animated Videos with Powtoons

We All Have Feelings

Today I created an animated video using a program called Powtoons.  There are several internet programs which teachers (and others!) can use to create videos that will help teach a lesson or share information.
I chose to do a video about feelings, which could be an introduction to a curriculum unit for a first grade learning outcome under "Demonstrate responsible emotional and cognitive behaviors" in the core standards.