Powerpoint (Terrific)

This project.

 



We were asked to create a Power Point, but it was for something else other than what we are used to Power Point.  The project called for us to do something with Power Point that wasn't direct instruction.  After reading an article called "Beyond Power Point" I was convinced this was a great idea.  The article talked about how Power Point is used, and later in one of my classes the wrong way to use PP was reinforced. We were forced to go outside of our "Power Point" comfort zone. And as a future educator, I think this is invaluable.
Another point of view on Power Point is here.

 

Well, I really liked this project.

I have worked with Power Point for many projects before but never in depth.  I discovered a lot with this project and I am really proud of my project.  I made my project based on a standard about community living and roles within the community. I focused on emergency services and their role in the community.  The presentation was made to be the beginning of the lesson as a personal discovery so that students could drive their own learning.
I learned how to use Power Point in a new and fun way.  I learned that Power Point is very time consuming, but I learned that it had so many different capabilities. I was also able to connect my Power Point to the internet and have a lot of fun things added in, like this website.
I created something that I am proud of and will use in another way sometime in my life.

Presentation of Projects

I like presenting my project to peers.  I worked really hard on my project, and I know that my peers did as well.  It was nice to see how other people took the project and what they did.  This project was highly personalized so you got to see a part of your peers personality. 

If you didn't realize I enjoyed my work, so here it is.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bw9JaM9rKljdVENnZ1NtWHBOMHM/preview"

And here was where the lesson plan was supposed to go.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bw9JaM9rKljdUU5YaHgxUnFiMDg/preview

Two More for The Blog Roll

The first blog I chose was purely based on interest.  I love music and I love music in education. As my earlier blog post displays, music was extremely crucial to my education.

This blog MusTech talks about educational musical at all different levels.

I think it is beneficial because not only is it witty and entertaining but also holds a lot of resources for music teachers.  It talks about music education and music technology, which is especially important in today's educational realm. As a teacher, not specifically in the music field, with a little creativity I believe I could apply his ideas to my future classroom.

The other blog I chose was First Grade Blue Skies which applies directly to my major.

This teacher once again makes her blog witty and entertaining while also keeping it informative.  She has a varity of different post topics and fun ideas for the classroom. This blog feels authentic because she is a teaching living and breathing what we are learning about.

My Beliefs about Technology and Learning

I enjoy technology.  It makes my life much easier most of the time.  Instant communication of information and free flow of knowledge are two of the best things that come from technology. Technology has shrunk the world and you can talk to someone hundreds or even thousands of miles away in seconds.

In a classroom technology can be helpful…to a point. As an Early Childhood Education and Special Education teacher I believe that I will be responsible for exposing students to technology and how it can help them.  As a teacher I can use the resources to make my classroom much more interactive and enjoyable for the children. With special education students technology may be the only way they can be successful in school.  Faced with these things I have no choice but to use technology in my future classroom, and I think that is great.  The downfalls of educational technology in a classroom are that students may lose the ability to write properly or do math problems by hand if the classroom is all technology based.  Some things must always be taught the same way so as not to lose those skills further down the line.

As a teacher technology opens up and entire world of resources that were never even a thought before.  From the simple technology such as a CriCut machine that makes bulletin boards easier all the way to the vast bank of resources online.

Technology is going to be in the classroom whether we are ready or not.  It is best to use the technology to your advantage rather than letting it get away from you and out of your control.