My 21st Century Classroom

SEDU 183 Final Exam: My 21^st Century Classroom  

Welcome

Hello my name is Mara Benson. The following recording tells about what my views on the very basics of education are.



I had made a video in class but experiences technical difficulties when trying to export it off of the computer. I was really disappointed that I couldn't share the video so I decided to at least share the recording.

In the future I plan on continuing college and graduating with a dual degree is Early Childhood Education and Special Education.  Right now the plan is to work for the Department of Defense or State Department in an overseas school. I want to teach somewhere outside of the states to gain experiences that I can not have here.

My Classroom:

I am teaching in a DOD Elementary School in Germany. The Department of Defense has a school system world wide intended to provide education for the families of military service people. This particular school is on an army base that supports Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. The medical center employs many American doctors and workers and is the main center for soldiers injured over seas. This elementary school serves the children of military service men and women and other professionals on the base and in the hospital.

               

Demographics:

 

Racial: White- 11

        Hispanic/Latino- 3

        African American- 2

        Multi-Racial- 2

        Other- 2
 

Gender: Male-9
        Female-11

Parental Service Branch:  Army-13
                          Air Force-5
                          Navy-2
                                 
My class is on many different levels.  Most of my students are average, with successes and struggles in different subjects. There are 2 students who are in the schools gifted program and 4 students who have exceptionalities. Two of the children with exceptionalities are diagnosed with ADHD, the third child was recently diagnosed with Aspergers and the final child is in emotional support.                                       

Setting

 

 



My classroom is organized this way for several reasons.  I wanted my room to have plenty of space to move around. The room needs to be accessible to all children, especially children with physical disabilities. Also I must be able to move around the room and get to each student's area. The room has several distinct areas that allow for children to be doing different activities at the same time. The room is set up so that children have plenty of room to move around and keep the flow moving, there are no places where the classroom will bottle up. This classroom has areas for technology, reading, and a storage area. Each area supports a different need of the students. As my desk shows there is a computer and a telephone which hold two very basic forms of communication with parents. 

              

Technology Integrations

1.    Connecting students and teachers inside the classroom

Smartboard Flip-Chart: To connect with my students inside the classroom I will have a daily smartboard chart. Every morning the smartboard will display my morning annoucements.  This will include reminders about homework and their seat work assignment for the morning.  There will also be reminders for students to put their belongings in the correct place and check their lunch option. I could also use this to display videos that I think are beneficial to them or on certain days I would read my annoucements. This tool allows for the technology we have in the classroom to be integrated in more ways beyond the instructional value of a smartboard.

2.    Publishing student and teacher work locally and globally

Website: In order to publish student work I would create a website for my classroom. Depending on the age of my students they could first help me create the website. Also throughout the year I would have them work to update the page, possibly have a place where they can post all year round.  This work on the website would be a perfect place to show authentic assessment of the students. Also I would post the work that students are especially proud of. The children would be able to periodically pick projects, tests, or assignments that they want to post on the page. I feel that allowing them to choose what is shared makes it more meaningful to the community.  I also would have a seperate page within the site that is for my work. I could use this to publish particular lesson plans and ideas that I think are appropriate to share. Also any projects or outcomes that I feel are especially interesting. This site would be like a snap shop into my classroom.  This is particularly helpful in my particular school. Because the children I am teaching are the kids of American military overseas, this is a way for their family, that may be scattered across the world to see what their family has been up to instantly.

(here is an example of a classroom website from 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Winston)

3.    Connect students and teachers outside the classroom

Discussion board: Because I am creating the website for my classroom, having a communication tool on that site makes the most sense. Within the site their would be a password protected page. This will be a discussion board for the students and I to communicate with each other.  They can post questions about homework, tell me things that are going on at home, or share important information with me. This way I can tailor my responses to exactly what each child needs instead of having a general announcement system.

4.    Connect with experts around the world

Twitter: As we discussed in class the Twitterverse has a whole sector dedicated to education. Through a professional Twitter account I would open the doors to experts from around the world. You can search virtually any interest on Twitter and someone out there is tweeting great ideas about the same thing.  With these short blurbs of information, I can get what I need and get it fast. I can also use this tool to share my ideas with the rest of the world. While I will have the website, Twitter would be an incredible place to promote that site. The ways you can connect through the Twitterverse are countless and the depth of knowledge is more valuable than you can imagine.

5.    Collaborate with others to create and share knowledge

Google Drive: Another technology we discussed in our class was google drive. This would be an incredible tool to use in collaboration.  By simply uploading the document to your drive and sharing it with your peers, they have instant access to your work. They can either help you with your work, borrow your ideas, or you could create a project together. This tool can be used for classroom work, professional development, or even something such as discussing a management plan. All your work and thoughts can be put into the document or added into the comments section which acts almost as a chat.  Creating a google drive that is shared with your entire school is a great and easy way to share work immediately.

Assistive Technology

This is CaraLee my student with Aspergers. She was diagnosed two years ago with Aspergers, which falls under the Autism spectrum.  Because she was diagnosed so recently her earlier years in school posed serious difficulties for her. She was not given an equal or fair chance because teachers did not know how to help her.

In my classroom there are several things that I do to help CaraLee.

1. I provide her with a daily class schedule. She is the keeper of the schedule so she feels control and always knows what is going to come next. Along with this schedule, when transitions are coming up I make sure that I give warnings such as 5, 3, and 1 minutes left.
2. Her assignments are broken down into smaller more manageable chunks. These give her small tasks that she knows she can accomplish. This helps prevent her from getting frustrated. At times she only has to complete smaller chunks instead of the entire assignment.
3. CaraLee sits in the front of the classroom to minimize her distractions. She quickly loses focus so sitting closer to the front of the room helps her in several ways. First she has less people to look at while trying to focus on lessons. Also with close proximity to the board, where a lot of teaching takes place, I am able to catch her before she completely loses control.
4. She has a card that she sets on her desk when she is feeling frustrated. Depending on what we are doing I give her a signal that lets her know she is allowed to leave the room to calm herself back down.
5. She has a peer aid from the class.  For activities that she is anticipated to struggle with she will be assigned a buddy to work with specifically.
6. Finally CaraLee has a personal computer. She can use this to communicate or to complete assignments. She is still working on her fine motor skills and writing for long periods of time frustrates her.  The computer CaraLee uses has a program where she can speak into a mircophone and it types what she says. This helps her to complete her assignments to the best of her ability.

This video shows some more strategies. Teaching Tips for Children with Apergers.

 Self Reflection

This class has taught me a ton about myself.  This has pushed me WAY beyond my limits with technology. I used to say that I was technology illiterate. I was able to use computers to do the basic things and never went beyond.  This semester I learned that beyond is where the fun stuff lies.  I learned that PowerPoint has SO many extra tools, I began to understand HTML code, I tapped into international eduation resources and I expanded my knowledge so much.  This class pushed me right out of my comfort zone and taught me that technology isn't scary. Technology is, at most times, an extremely fun and user friendly tool.
Some of the biggest risks I took were some of what I would call my biggest successes. Using the Mac to create my video was my biggest risks. Though it did not work I decided I needed to learn about the Mac system if I could encounter that later in my life.  Also I was willing to lay all my personal feelings out on the line. All along the way I put personal aspects into each of my posts and projects.
I gained the feeling that "I can do it!" I know that is cheesy but it is true. I learned that technology is in fact my friend. I also gained so many ways to use technology in my classroom. The students I will have grown up with technology, many of them from the day they born will be surrounded by technology.  It was a great benefit to me to garner this technology.
I have grown a lot in this class.  As a learner I have learned many different tools to use in my future projects. The things we have learned to use for our classroom are good for project I will have in my other classes.  As a future teacher I have learned that there are endless resources out there. This class has taught me something I know will use in the future.

Annotated Bibliography

"About DoDEA - Demographics." DoDEA Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.

        This site gave me the basis for my demographics of my classroom. This has a breakdown of the demographics of all the DODea schools. I did the math in order to apply it to the number of student in my classroom.

"Classroom Floorplanner." Teaching Supplies & Daycare Resources for Early Education Classrooms | Kaplan ELC. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2012.

        This was the source I used to create my floor plan. They created this tool so that teachers can see how Kaplan furniture fits into their room.

"DoDEA Home." U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity. U.S. Department of Defense, n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2012.

        This website holds all the information about the Department of Defense school system.

"Education World: Do Seating Arrangements and Assignments = Classroom Management? | Classroom Seating Arrangement." Education World: The Educator's Best Friend. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

        This article talked about the importance of seating arrangements. Seating arrangements are crucial to any good classroom management plan. The children are affected by the people who are around them. You must be aware of the spacing of students and where they are placed in relation to everyone else. Children need to be placed in a spot that allows them the most success.

McGee, Susie. "Aspergers and Classroom Accommodations." Autism spectrum disorders | Signs of autism. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.

        This article talks about accommodations that children with Asperger’s might need. The article outlines things teachers can do in order to allow for those children to have the greatest success they can.

"Office of Overseas Schools." U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2012.

        This site holds all the information about the State Department’s overseas school program.

"Sample Classroom Schedules." Web Corner. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012.

        This site had actual classroom schedules of teachers. They tell their schedule and have explanations of why things are the way they are.

Winston, Jessica. "Ms. Winston's Classroom Website." 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2012.

        This website gave me the idea of having my own classroom website.