Productivity in MY Classroom!

Technology can most certainly help to make me a more productive teacher, within the classroom. I say this because of how much you can really do with technology. It not only helps me get what I want to say across but it also helps my students with their learning process. I say this because there are so many different ways to present material through technology. There are different apps and websites that can help me develop whatever I want to present to my class. Or even remind me of things for my classroom that I might need. As far as my students go, technology is such a vital part of their learning processes because I believe all of my students require differentiated instruction and assessment. Technology helps with this because it allows my students to perform in ways that best fit their academic needs. They are able to learn in ways that are a better fit for them, as well as, assess in ways that fit them best. For instance, if some of my students work better creating a presentation to convey that they understand the material. Then they are able to do this!

Reading through the article 10 Best Tools for Teachers and Students to Use in 2014 there were a lot of great tools in that article that would be helpful in a classroom. However, two that really stood out to me were Smore and Screenr. I see myself really using these two tools to better the productivity of my classroom! Smore is a website where you can make cool flyers. I think this would be cool, as a teacher, to make different posters and what not for my students when we are starting a new topic or lesson. For my students, this could really be useful for projects they are doing! Screenr, is a website where you can record yourself explaining websites. Therefore, if I am introducing a new website in my classroom I don’t have to explain it to each child I can just record myself explaining all the different parts of it and my students will already have that at their disposal.

Something I found to be very shocking about his presentation is when he stated, “You’re not married to the tools you use in class, just because they worked last year doesn’t mean you have to keep using them”. I found this to be very eye opening and cool because it’s so true!! And I feel like we lose sight of that sometimes when we’re caught up in a certain way to do something. I even face these types of things in my everyday life. I constantly focus on a way that I know something will work instead of trying new ways that may be way more beneficial once you get the hang of it. I really think this will stick with me because of the type of world I live in. Things are changing constantly and there’s always a new or better way to do something and as an educator I can’t be afraid to try new things.

Something I thought was really cool was that he made a Google Site for his class. Meaning he set up a Website with all of the different periods he teaches and had each periods assignments that needed to be completed for the quarter. I understand, like he said, this wasn’t the best tool out there. However, coming from a students perspective I still thought this was pretty cool and I would have liked to have something like this available to me when I was in school

Blended Classrooms

One way that, I believe, we have effectively used blended learning is by all the different ways that the information is presented to us. Mainly, because I prefer the videos rather than reading the articles. I like that we have the option to watch the videos to learn each weeks topic. Just as well, we have the option of participating in the WebEx so even though it is an online class we still have the interactive portion of an actual classroom. It’s not like we’re left on our own to figure it out.

I'm not sure if there was much about this course was ineffective. One thing I had issues with was getting to an open innovation at a time it was available. I ended up figuring out how to post my blogs but I was a little frantic about that in the beginning. I wouldn’t say that this portion of the class was ineffective. However, I guess if there had more options on how to explain setting everything up in the beginning that would have been helpful. I only way this because I am very technology challenged.

Blended learning follows the rules of existentialism. This means that this type of classroom understands that each child learns and assesses differently. We, as teachers, need to cater to each child’s individual person to fully fulfill each child’s needs.

Something that especially shocking about Stacy’s presentation was when she explained how a tech rich instruction isn’t the same thing as a blended classroom. We need to realize that just because we have technology incorporated into our classrooms doesn’t mean that we have a blended classroom. Having technology isn’t enough. In a blended classroom, data from the online instruction is used to inform the face-to-face instruction. We must adapt new and invent new learning environments to better assist the teacher and the student.

Something that I really enjoyed about Stacy’s presentation was the slide on “The 10 Drivers of Blended Learning”. I really liked this because I felt like it was a fun and creative way to show how to better blended learning within a classroom! This image just really stands out to me.

Role of EdTech in Cognition

I believe that information and communication technologies really help to expand the way we think. It helps to open our minds more to different ideas. I say this mainly from personal experience. Before this course, I didn't think technology much affected elementary school teachers, I have now found out that I was 100% wrong in thinking that. I now understand that there is so much to be done with technology and learning. We are in an everyday changing environment. I believe that a lot of learning right now is "un-empowered", however, with the way our lives our changing and how technology is being more and more incorporated into schools each day, I believe soon that will be a thing of the past. 

When it comes to technology I believe we have an easier access to our children. With how absorbed we are in technology these days, I see children taking to it and focusing on it more aptly than pen-paper assignments. Just as well, technology is a great tool for adding to children's metacognition because metacognition is your awareness and understanding of your own thought process. Therefore, when finding different outlets online that help better ones learning process you have to be aware of how your mind works in order to find that. A child has to understand how they learn in order to choose the right learning tool for them. There are tons of different learning options online, therefore a student will have to keep in mind their own abilities in order to choose which is right for him. For example, if a child does better with comprehension when someone is reading something to them, then they would need to choose an app/site that allows that. They need to understand as individual learners what will be the best asset for their learning. Another example would be letter recognition, if a student is aware that they struggle with this and know that they need more of an interactive way of learning for it so stick. Then that student needs to be provided with some sort of online activity that allows them to work with letters in a game type setting.

More than anything the increase in technology, connectedness, and tools has increased the way we learn. I say this because we have so many more outlets available to use now that these things have increased. Before there were limited options to what teachers could do in their classroom to accommodate to the different types of learners they had, but now there are endless options of ways to reach your students. Going along with Gardners' Multiple Intelligences, I believe the increase in technology really helps to feed into the different types of intelligences. For example if you are a learner that requires music or visual aid then technology can provide that for you. There are so many different ways of finding these different ways of teaching one subject, with technology that it helps the teachers accommodate to all different types of learners.  

Cool Tools Final Take!

This week I went with something under the Story Telling Tools. The one I choose is called Storybird.
This is a Google Chrome app that is free and you just add it to the apps we all already have on our Google Chrome accounts. The nice thing about this is its right on your computer and since we all had to make Google accounts for the class, we already have a Google Chrome account.

This app is really cool because, as a teacher, you can create your classroom and invite your kids to the classroom. For example I created a classroom called "Miss Lehman's Classroom" and from there I was able to add all of my "students" to that class so that they could see story that have been created by other people on the site, by their teacher, or other classmates.

The way this site works is that you start with the picture rather than the story. You then use the picture to create your story. This can either be a long book (chapter book), short book (picture book), or a poem. I started to make a picture book and it is super easy. All you really have to do is pic the picture and then the text box is right there. It is kind of like a slideshow in the fact that you just keep adding sides for however many pages you want your book to be.

I think this is a great online tool for kids to use. Especially in second-fifth grade. The students are able to create things of their own an use all of their creativity to do that. If I were teaching a third or fourth grade class I might make this a bigger project and have the students take a few months to create a chapter book on this site. I think that would be a great way to see what their imaginations are capable of and see where they take it.

I would really love to use this type of activity in my classroom as a teacher. One of the reasons I love this is because you can take it anywhere. All you need to do is sign on a computer and your work is right there for you to continue to work on.

From what I could tell the app was pretty easy to navigate. I may have to do a tutorial to really show the kids what to do with this and let them play around with it for a while before they fully understand how to work it. However, I think that it could be something really beneficial for both them and I.

Major Project Summary!

Looking back on where I started a few wees ago, I would say, I've come quite a long way. I know I still have a long way to go in order to be considered a "baker". However, I am pretty proud of myself!

I can do much more now than I could before and I don't plan on stopping just because this project is over. I love to bake and create new things. But from everything I've done the past few weeks I realize I really need to master all the basics before I can venture out and start really experimenting. Not only with new recipes but also how I decorate cakes and cupcakes.

More than anything, I am very pleased I took on this project. I now have a whole new appreciation for what bakers do. Especially, after this past weekend. We did three whole days of baking and that took a lot of mental energy. I'm not kidding when I say that I was tired at the end of the day! I guess I didn't realize how much focus some of the things you make takes. I'm sure for someone more conditioned it wouldn't be as trying. However, I am not there yet. I know, especially if I stick with it, that I will be there someday but for now it takes quite a bit of work!

All in all, I feel I have really acquired a few new skills with this project and I hope that that has showed over the weeks. One thing I feel I need to work on is sticking with one task at a time. Over the past few weeks I took on whatever recipe was appealing to me. But I feel if I want to conquer frosting I need to only focus on that for a while and then move on to something else. So that is what I plan to do as I continue my baking career. 

I know that this class is coming to an end, however, over the summer when I have more time to bake, I would really like to continue to post on this blog. So anyone who wants to continue to follow, there will be more posts coming your way!!!

Professional Cupcakes! Major Project

My aunt Brenda is a professional baker. She makes a living, in the town she lives in, selling different cakes and cupcakes for parties and such!

I had the pleasure of baking with her this past weekend. Well I more observed because I didn't to mess them up for the shower, however, she did let me frost a few cupcakes. Also, I helped actually make the cupcakes which was super fun!

She made two kinds of cupcakes:

1. A lemon cupcake with raspberry filling and lemon frosting. These were so good!! and I don't normally like lemon.

2. A chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. These she let me do the chocolate drizzle on and the sprinkles. A very small job, yet still super fun! 

We were a little crunched on time this past weekend, therefore, I wasn't able to spend a ton of time with her baking. But the next time I go there I really want her to help me in my progress with baking and hopefully show me some new techniques. 

More Shower Fun! Major Project

We did a few other treats that weren't really challenging but still delicious and fun. This is something I've always loved about baking. there are easy ways to make fun stuff that isn't difficult. Some of these things don't even involve an oven!

1. We made some colorful kabobs. These are great because they were super easy but everyone loved them. We bought brownie bites from Sams (kind of a cheat but that's okay!), then fruit and marshmallows. Topping them off with some chocolate drizzle!

2. We made Banana Bites. These were vanilla wafers, vanilla budding (with banana bits mixed in), cool whip, and a banana chunk on the top. These were super yummy and easy to make! A little time consuming, only because they were so little, but not difficult. I wish I would have had more time to do these. If I had had more time I would have made them more appealing to the eye. The next time I make these I'll use one of my pipers (like I would use for frosting) and put the pudding and cool whip in those so that they came out "prettier".

3. Finally, we made apple cinnamon bars. These did use an oven for the crust portion of the dessert and then again one the apple mix was added. Once baked and topped with the apple mix we drizzled with caramel! Although very sweet, these were delicious. 

Sugar Cookies Everywhere!!! Major Project

So my aunt claims that her sugar cookies are the best sugar cookies ever to be made, therefore, we must include them in the shower right??? (They were pretty good!).

We ended up doing a couple different things with these cookies. Although I'm not the best at frosting cookies, for just jumping into it. I would say I'm much better at frosting cookies than I am at frosting cakes! 

The first thing we did was make heart shaped cookies and placed a "P" on them for my cousins soon to be last name. I didn't do all of the frosting, only a few cookies. BUT I did do all the "P"'s on the cookies. Which, if I do say so myself, were pretty good! lol

Next, were the fruit pizzas (which we do not have a picture of). But these were a huge hit!

Finally, and my personal favorite, were the mini wedding cakes. We took 3 different sized cutters and made a tiered mini cake. The hardest part was putting the little pearl beads around the edges of the cookies. We found it easiest to put the pearls on each individual cookie first then layer them. Putting it together and then putting them on made it too difficult. I will say, regardless, these took forever! They were not difficult to do, just time consuming. Even with three people working on them! We only made about 10 of these.

Fruit Pizzas Major Project

So my specialty for these dessert bars is fruit pizza. I make mini fruit pizzas. These are super simple, but time consuming. Unfortunately, with the craziness of the shower, I was unable to take a picture of the them before they were gone. I made 35 and all of them got eaten!!! I was kinda upset I didn't even get to eat one.

So I start off with sugar cookie dough. For the mini ones you can really use anything to cut them out. This past weekend I used a flower shaped cookie cutter. But sometimes I even use the end of a cup and just cut them into that shape. If you are making a big one you would simply use all the dough at once and roll it out. Then use your hands to shape it into a circle the best that you can.

Once you've baked you sugar and let it cool you will add the toppings.

First is the cool whip mix. This is simply a block of cream cheese and a tube of Cool Whip. I would use a hand mixer for this, only because the speed will help to get all the chunks of cream cheese to soften into the mix.

Once you have this spread on the cookie(s) you will add whatever fruit you would like. In any order you'd like. One the big ones I normally make a circular design and work my way to the center of the pizza. I do this so that when I cut them into triangle pieces each person gets all the fruit on their piece. The fruit I normally use is strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and pineapple.

Finally you would top it off by boiling together: 1/2 cup of orange juice, 1/2 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 cup of water, and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Once this has cooled a little you drizzle it over top of the pizza(s).

Such a great dessert, especially for summer! Plus the minis are great for a party because there is no cutting involved. You simply set them out and let people pick what they want.

Major Project News!

This past weekend was my cousins bridal shower in Iowa and being that I am her Maid of Honor I was in charge of the shower. I had tons of help from my mom and aunt, which was a life saver!

We decided that since the shower was in the afternoon we were just going to do a dessert bar instead of food food. We did this for one other shower we were in charge of a few summers ago and it was a huge hit! The thing I really like about a dessert bar is you can have so much fun with it. There's a lot you can put on it and ways you can do it. Also, things don't have to be perfect to go on a dessert bar. There are ways to have fun with it where it can kinda look thrown together and still good!

Here's the dessert bar we made for the shower:

&& then here is the dessert bar we did two summers ago for my other cousins shower. We had a lot more help with this one from my neighbor who is a great baker! She contributed a lot to the treats on this one. Her theme was more elegant, rather than rustic. Still both beautiful!

Major Project Star Frosting

Okay so I haven't had a chance to post in a while with all the traveling I've been doing lately. However, I have still been working on things for my major project and documenting along the way!

About a week ago I made a standard yellow cake and frosted it. This wasn't a fancy recipe or anything, purely just for frosting purposes. I wanted to practice doing stars of frosting around the sides of cakes.

I feel it went pretty well. You can definitely tell where I started on the cake opposed to where I ended! I used a tutorial on YouTube, however, it was an interesting one. The woman did pretty well with it but not like the others I've been watching. The tutorial I watched was called Cake Decorating Boarders Demo.

So Here is where I started on the cake, you see how at first it was kind of difficult to get the hang of.

And then this section was the last part of the cake that I did. Which I was pretty proud of!

Finally here is my cake as a whole! You can kinda tell that the left side was the first side that I did and the the right was where I finished. I have to kind of laugh when I see the whole thing from this angle because of how prominently you can see the difference in the two.

I would really like to try this again! Maybe next time try something different on my cake. I watched a really cool tutorial about creating roses on cakes, which I would love to try. However, I'm not sure if I'm up for that yet! 

Assess Assess Assess!

My philosophy on assessment is, and always will be, that there is no ONE way to assess. I believe that every student learns and tests differently. I believe that there is no one way to teach a child, just as, there is no one way to assess a child. I know that some children are assessed better in a verbal setting, active setting, traditional setting, or even in a group setting. When I become a teacher I would really like to get to know my students well enough to know what type of assessment works better for them and have all off these different types of assessments open to them.

I really like all the different options that Pear Deck offers in ways of asking the students questions. Just as well, I love how interactive it is. As well, how you are able to expose who answers what or not. I believe this helps to build the children's confidence in their answer because then they wont be afraid to be wrong or ask questions themselves. They will see that other students are confused as they are. I think this is a great interact tool.

When I was in school we had a way of answering interactively like this but not to this extent which I really like! I also think its cool when sites allow you to use your cellphone. Not so much for elementary school students but I think that's a great interactive tool for high school students!

I like eduCanon. I thought it was cool how you could specifically see where a certain number of students need help in specific areas. Especially because now you know what 5 students need help in that area and yhou can help them with it. I also like how easily laid out each questions answer is and how you can see exactly what needs worked on!

Both tools are very cool and I would love to use them in my classroom someday!

I was shocked by the fact that he had us interact to much. I really liked that. I understand a lot of us are just now learning about all of these things so its cool to see I'm not the only one that was clueless before the WebEx. Plus its cool to see how interactive the classroom can be through technology like this! Just as well, I was surprised when he was talking about how the line between formative assessment and summative assessments is not clear to a lot of teachers within the school systems. I feel, still being a student, that there is still so much I don't know about teaching and all the terms. I feel as if its something I am missing and something that all the teachers in the work force know. Its a relief to know that there are still some questions to be answered once I enter the work force!

Cool Tools Take 4!

So this week I decided to go with the website Popplet. This was under the Concept Mapping Tools.

I thought this website was really cool because not only could I use it for presentations in the classrooms but also my students could use it as well. I say this because its easy to use. With step by step instructions. You dont even need an account to use it. You can "try it out" without even signing in or creating an account. 

Once you click "try it out" the site walks you through the 9 steps you use to make your popplet

1.Double-click to make a popple

2.Type a popple

3.Change a popple's color

4.Set a popple's text size

5.Draw a popple

6.Add an image to a popple

7.Click and drag to resize a popple

8.Move a popple by dragging it

9. Move the whole popplet board

While you go through these different steps there is a screen that shows how to do each step. This is the main reason I thought this would be a great tool for children to do.

If I were to use this in my classroom I would make like a spider web diagram. Meaning I would have the main idea in the middle of the board and then from there I would put pictures around that, description words, or facts about the subject. The kids could do this as well as a project to teach the class about a specific topic.

One of my favorite things about these "cool tool projects" is that they are all things that can really be used in the classroom when I become a teacher! I plan to keep these in mind in the future.