After using the technologies such as games, interactive whiteboard activites, simulations/role playing, and virtual reality/worlds, my opinon on each differs. I think that the games and interactive whiteboard activities are a good way to get kids involved and having fun while learning and I could highly see myself using these technologies in my future classroom. I could also see myself using a simulation when appropriate to further explain something that I was teaching. As far as virtual reality/worlds go, I don't think they are helpful or neccessary in an educational setting.
A game that I chose that I thought would be helpful in bettering students' vocabulary is the hangman game on "The Problem Site". It is the classic game of hangman; however, it uses more advanced words that most students might not know. If a student doesn't know what the word means, the site will give them a definition. Another technology that I looked at was the Third World Farmer simulation. Although I probably wouldn't use that specific simulation in my english classroom, I think it's a great way to engage students in their learning. If you're teaching a history class about farming in the third world, this simulation would express the extremity of farming in the third world.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Blog #1- Constructing Meaning with Word Processing
When I finally get to graduate in 6 thousand years (which is the approximate time I will be attending UT it seems like), I plan on teaching high school level language arts. For the newsletter that I did, I was working with grade eleven students on the standard of reading applications in literary text. Within the standard, I was having the students focus on the benchmark of analyzing and evaluating the five elements (eg. plot, character, setting, point of view, and theme) in literary text.
The activity that I simulated with my students for the newsletter was I had them read the first book of the graphic novel series BONE, by Jeff Smith. I then had them create a newsletter using the five elements to explain what each element meant and to explain the element as it pertained to the story. This activity represents a learner-centered activity that they could construct meaning from regarding the benchmark that I was using, while using word processing because they had to use word processing to express that they knew what each element meant and how to analyze the different elements within a story that they had read.
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