The Digestive System using Prezi and Socrative-Something to Chew on

For my technology teach in assignment I would like to incorporate Prezi and Socrative. I currently just finished a unit on cells in my 7th grade life science class and we are moving into body systems. I plan to create a Prezi based on the digestive system. As I introduce each part of the system the Prezi will jump around and chronologically follow the order that food would be digested. Each organ will be described and discussed as a class. I feel that Prezi will be a great tool to use because it will enable students to see how food is digested in a visually appealing manner. Other platforms such as powerpoint will show students each part of the digestive system in a segmented way. By using Prezi I can show students a complete connected visual of the digestive process. I want to use Prezi because I feel students will have a better visual and understanding of the digestive process. I will have students take guided notes as I go through the presentation so that they have material to review on hand in the future. I will also share this Prezi with students via email if they would like to review. 

After completing the presentation I will have students log into Socrative and they will participate in a space race that I create. The space race game will not only stimulate healthy competition and provide engagement, but it will also be used as an exit ticket to test  students on knowledge they retained from the Prezi lecture and discussion we have in class. If anyone has any suggestions on  the ways in which I can improve the use of these tools in my class please let me know because I value all of your advice!! 

Flipped Classrom on EDUBLOG

"Flipped Classroom" by Jon Bergmann

Link:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/take-students-deeper-flipped-learning-jon-bergmann

I really enjoyed reading this blog because it discussed how classroom structure impacts the way students learn.  If you think about the way classrooms have been set up traditionally, they had a chalkboard in the front of the classroom. And then those chalkboards become white boards. Then, those white boards became overhead projectors, which then turned into LCD projectors that are hung on the ceiling. But really the classroom in all of those situations is a presentation station. It's not a center of learning. I really like the evidence that he mentioned about flipped classrooms saving time and space but I feel it may not work in all settings. In my feild placement the desks are is sets of two, they are essentially lab tables, that can move but if reshaped there would not be no room in the class to fit all the tables. 

The Flipped classroom is a transitional tool for educators to move away from being the center of attention in the classroom and move that attention onto students and onto the learning that's happening in those classrooms. Although I agree with this, it may not be possible for all classrooms to do this. I asked Jon to perhaps he could provide some advice to teachers who want to incorporate flipped learning in their classrooms when the have immobile desks? I notice that in our EDUC classes, especially our methods we have a flipped classroom set up and I feel it is very comfortable and prompts me to engage with my peers more. I wonder what advice Jon will give me (if any at all). 

EduBlog Post: 30 Techniques to Quiet a Noisy Class

I read a blog post by Todd Finley. It is located here:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/30-techniques-quiet-noisy-class-todd-finley

His post was titled: 30 Techniques to Quiet a Noisy Class. Working at a middle school and experiencing the high energy students bring into the classroom prompted my captivation with the title. When I read through his 30 strategies I was surprised to see how many ways a teacher can get the attention of students. Under the heading "call and response" one example explained that a  teacher could say, "when I get knocked down...." and students would reply, "I get up again you're never going to keep me down".  I laughed reading that one and proceeded to listen to Tubthumping. I really enjoyed reading his article and at the end he asked readers to describe techniques they use. I was interested to see comments made on this post. As I was reading comments I stumbled upon an exchange between two readers. They were criticizing one another on technique they use. The gist of the argument was that one commentator believed the other was too focused on "student manipulation"  rather than engaging students with the lesson intended. I wrote the following response:

Thank you Mr. Finley,

This post was really wonderful to read. I am currently a Masters Student at the University of Michigan SOE and this is my first year interning with a mentor teacher. My mentor teacher has a purple stuffed toy that makes a very squealing sound when pressed. In the beginning of the year she held a microphone to the toy and said when you guys all talk at the same time this is what you sound like. She told students the toys name was Zelda and now whenever the class gets too loud she yells ZELDA. She also uses the count down method.

When I run a lesson I like to stare at them with a grim on my face and they usually understand I want them to be quiet. I have worked to build strong personal relationships with all my students. I have noticed that establishing mutual respect really aids in classroom management. I laughed when I saw the Tubthumping call and response example, I'm not sure if my students know the song but I think it would hilarious to use it as a strategy.

After I finished reading your article I scrolled and read some comments. It is very interesting to see the varying degrees educators wish to exercise classroom management. I feel that as educators we must be cognizant of of the fact that there should be balance between classroom management and actual time spent on a lesson. You can't have one without the other and finding that balance takes practice, time, and patience.

It was a pleasure reading your post, thank you!

-Sara

I received a response from Todd this was his response

I really appreciated what he had to say and I feel I am grateful that I am placed in a school where the silent treatment works and that I should be prepared to use other techniques when I am not as lucky.

A couple days past ...and then I got a comment from a nasty reader:

I won't respond to him. But I think this reminded me of why I don't like to comment on blogs...the trolls and critiques from others. I just don't like it. AND I REALLY don't like that he disrespected my school. -.-

Tech In My Placement

I am placed at Scarlett Middle School in Ann Arbor. In my opinion the technology available at Scarlett is more than accommodating. All staff are provided with a mac laptop that they can use to take attendance and record grades. In addition, staff are allowed to take these laptops home with them. Teachers use Powerschool to record grades and the grades that are entered can be easily viewed by parents and students. In regards to wifii, the school has a unsecured network that anyone can access and connection is very fast. 

Scarlett Middle School has four computers available in the library and students are allowed to log in and do work during lunch, homeroom period, or after school. Scareltt also has a computer lab, but these labs must be reserved by a teacher. This limits access to computers for students. The school also has a macbook cart that has 30 mac laptops. Teachers can reserve the cart if they wish to use it in their classroom; but, because there is only one cart so teachers may or may not be able to use them in there classroom depending on prior reservation.  

Each class has a screen and a projector.  The projector enables teachers to present powerpoints and videos. My mentor teacher does not use it often but as a future educator I would definitely put the projector to great use. In regards to science equipment, the science department also has a cart that has 30 microscopes and these microscopes are heavily used in the biology classroom I am in. I appreciate that each students can potentially work with microscope independently. When I was  in middle school my science class only had two or three microscopes. I noticed that when I entered college I found learning how to use a microscope a bit difficult. The students in my classroom are experts at using microscopes and I feel having exposure to working with science equipment is very beneficial for students who may pursue science careers. 

Tom Ward: The Math Transformer

On October 16th, 2014, Tom Ward, a Secondary MAC graduate and current high school math teacher at Greenhills in Ann Arbor, visited our classroom. I do not see myself teaching math in the future but I really enjoyed his presentation because he introduced novel ways to engage students with mathematics. 

From my experience math has always been a really boring class and I always had a love/hate relationship with it. I feel that if you "get it" you love it; but ,if you don't... then it can cause great heartache. Teaching math can be a very big struggle. My mother was a math professor, bless her heart. She helped me a great deal when I was in school and without her help I would have struggled to learn many of the things that my math teachers rushed through. I feel that providing students with interactive ways to understand math can be very helpful for some students. Math can easily become a boring subject and this method would dramatically boost energy in the classroom. I do not know if I would have enjoyed watching a basketball video and guessing if a ball would land in a hoop. Because personally, I like boring and quiet classes but, that's just me. I prefer taking notes and listening to lectures. I feel that watching videos and using math to predict outcomes would be a nice thing to do for a brief time; but if done continuously, I would find it rather irritating because I don't like to learn that way. 

I really enjoyed the points he made about Vine. I love Vine, and I feel as a biology teacher I could get really creative with using Vine as a tool in the class. It would be really cool to have students make a 10 second clip on something such as the function of the Golgi apparatus. I never would have considered Vine as a tool to use in the classroom and I appreciated that he discussed the legal issues (mind the pun) entwined with Vine. He mentioned that Instagram may be a better tool to use if you have students under the age of 18. 

I would really like to see how the math field changes with the expansion of technology. I feel Mr. Ward is carving a novel and amazing path. He is using technology as a means to engage students with math. I am excited to see what other creative ideas he comes up with in the future and I look forward to seeing this trend occur in all classrooms. Many students were born into a world of technology, unlike myself. I believe that this knowledge will greatly shape the way I create lessons in the future. I feel that his presentation was very insightful and it was wonderful to see a secondary MAC alum transforming the realm of math education. 

Padlet

I had the pleasure of watching my peers present on a tool called Padlet. I found the presentation seamless and I learned a great deal from their presentation. I appreciated that they enabled me to create my own Padlet with a partner. Jesse and I had fun creating a wall that asked students to identify how living organisms are characterized.

I find Padlet a great tool and way to engage students in meaningful discussions. I liked that students do not need an account to access a Padlet and I also enjoyed that Padlet's interface is simple. Padlet is allows for customization and I feel that this feature allows students with an opportunity to be creative if they are making their own board. I find Padlet a great way to share bell work with students and to take notes. I believe using Padlet will also enable students to engage in deep discussions and share observations and thoughts.

I really find that the ability to share walls with others is a wonderful way to get ideas about how other teachers structure their lessons and use the tool. One aspect that was discussed pertained to the unavailability for a previously created Padlet to be modified, this can be a disadvantage if I wish to modify a padlet. I feel in the end I would examine another teacher wall and recreate my own. I noticed that padlet sticky notes have a limit of 150 words this may also be a disadvantage if you want students to write long responses.

I really find this tool to be useful because it is a great way to have students complete bell work and exit tickets. This tool however can only be used in schools where computers are easily accessible and if students have computers at home. I feel if I assigned a Padlet exit ticket for my students I would allow students who do not have access to the internet to send me an email with responses to questions I ask. I really appreciate these presentations on different tech tools because I feel that as education moves towards technology it is important to be aware of how to use technology as an aid in my future teaching career.

Inspiration from Mr. Theune

I really appreciated Mr. Theune's presentation. As a student I was lucky to have  parents who were engaged in my academic career. My parents however never attended my soccer games or my theater performances because they had work at that time. I feel that Mr. Theune's attempt to engage parents with their child in school was novel and brilliant idea.

Mr. Theune has his students write a personal essay and once they finish he has parents come and listen to students read their essay's. I think that involving parents is an excellent way to instill motivation and pride. Although his lecture revolved around ELA, I believe I can incorporate his strategies in many way in a high school biology classroom. I believe that I could potentially create a unit that prompts students to create a model and have them write up a presentation. I would then set a time and day that students will present to their parents and their peers. I would probably provide snacks and drinks and encourage parents to participate via email and phone call.

Mr. Theune also described other ways he seeks to engage his students. He has his students write to pen pals with students in another class. He did this by randomly asking a teacher to collaborate online. I believe that when students have an audience and an aspect of interaction is mingled with a lesson students will find a assigned task more motivational and meaningful. As a future teacher I should strive to find ways to provide meaning and interaction in my lessons. Finding entry points to activate student involvement and engagement will be a difficult task and I feel that it will take a lot of practice until I create a unit that can do this; but, I feel it is important to do because providing relevance and motivation is fundamental in education.

I feel Mr. Theune's presentation really left me pondering ways in which I can create a classroom that engages students and parents. Rearing the end of his presentation he discussed how he published a book with a student and I found this really applicable to myself. I have published a book already but it was more of a bucket list thing I wanted to do in my life. I am working on a series but I think I may put that on hold because I want to use the skills I have learned about publishing and apply it to my classroom.

Overall, I was very impressed and intrigued with what Mr. Theune discussed and I feel that I will take his wisdom and I will certainly try to implement some of his strategies in my classroom in the future.