Week 12

This was an interesting assignment. I did not know anything about Windows Movie Maker, and now I do know something about it! It is handy for creating a learning tool. I thought it would be easy, and it was relatively so. . .I found a way to make it more difficult!
 I believe the utility of this program is restricted to classroom learning, and for use on a Web site. This is not a program that would be easy to use at home. A limitation is that it will not play in a DVD player, so the viewing space is limited to the size of the computer screen used to view it. It might not be the most appropriate media for getting a parent involved with a lesson. It is great for providing a tutorial to a student, when computers are available in the classroom.


This program will also be useful to help a student. I would recommend this program for a student to use as a practice for an assignment. This would be especially helpful for a student to see just what is being presented and evaluate his/her presentation. The creativity this would allow a student to produce is a positive addition to any research paper, or routine class presentation. I can imagine the information gained by a student just from creating a movie about the research subject matter; picture the following: photos of a vegetable grown in a foreign country, and then explaining the process to get that vegetable into our home in the United States. This project would require discerning important information, putting it in chronological order, and most of all, preparing the audio to accompany the visual. What a fantastic learning event for a student!


This tool is one that should be used early in the school year. The best way to start may be small projects that will culminate into a final research presentation, or a tutorial for the rest of the class. The list of uses is endless, and again, limited only by imagination. I also believe this will have the biggest advantage because it will require repetition of the information used by the student. Anytime you can get a student to re-read, re-write, practice fluency, and other such skills, you have a winning combination.


Oh, but back to my personal experience with this assignment. I thought I had it completed, and for some reason, I always get it wrong the first time.

Miss Byrd's Math Class

Web Site Reflection - Week 10

Here I sit thinking back on the emotions I felt when this assignment had to be started. I was scared stiff! I completed it and I do not think it warranted all the fear, anxiety, and confusion that I gave it. I have always heard that “hind-sight is 20/20”; now, I know what it means. Of course, Dr. Wang has heard me whining all the way from Sumrall, MS. I must thank her for her patience and the fact that she never gave in to all my complaining.

When starting the Web site, I was overwhelmed with what to do first. Once I got started, it kinda all fell into place. Google has truly made it a simple task. The first template I tried, I kept for several days. I went back to look at it numerous times. It just did not work for me. It almost appeared too elementary in appearance. I was trying to use a template that was definitely “education” in presentation. I have decided it is fine not to overdo the education motif.

As for the utility of this Web site, I think it would be great. My only concern is whether or not the school district will allow the use of it. I know the school where I teach now will not allow me to have a Web site; the school has one and they keep it updated with PR type of information. I have a friend who teaches, and her school provides Web sites for all the teachers. My friend’s students and parents can access testing information, assignments, and everything I used on this Web site. My friend believes the Web site is an asset to her class. She believes it is an excellent resource for the parents.

I will stand by my comments I have made from the beginning. All of this is great, but if I am not proficient, or if I do not keep the information up-to-date, it is all for naught. There must be a purpose for everything placed on the site. The site will also require a lot of time to maintain properly. I also believe this site could wind up being detrimental to communication with parents and students. Just like e-mail, people begin to rely too heavily on the written communication. It will be important to put only information that will be general in nature. It is imperative that regular meetings and phone calls remain as the number one method of communication for the teacher.

Please visit my Web site: GED Fore Golf

Week 8 - Experience

This activity was loads of fun! I enjoyed the learning activities more than I did the evaluation activities. I discovered that Web sites I find useful, may not be up-to-date. I say that because I could not readily find the information regarding “last updated”. I know I have seen the notation last updated on professional group Web sites; e.g. physician associations, educator associations. I just do not recollect seeing it on sites such as the ones I have been using. Now, I will know to look for that date. With math, unlike many subjects, I am not certain how much “new information” is readily available.

Since my teaching experience is in the area of GED preparation, I guess the only new information I would expect to find would be that of GED testing requirements. Math, pretty much remains the same, so I am not certain I am bothered when I do not find a new revision date listed. Now, I do find the newest copyright information. This info includes the origination date of the site, and two of the three sites listed 2010 as the second range date. I am guessing that is the revision date, huh?

I also noticed that the Web sites were more specific with the math appropriate age range than I thought. I just have never looked at the age recommendation information. I just know the site included information I needed, and with the varied skill levels I teach, it was a benefit that some of the information was more remedial than most may want to use in class.

Let me back up for a minute to the puzzle and test. These were superb tools for a new teacher, or anyone. I find I can use the test maker for daily isolation skill building tests, or for the more involved tests. This site will also be beneficial to developing individualized tests – not the struggle it has been in the past! I mean, I can make the test as soon as class is over!

The puzzle center was not my favorite. I find Discovery Education has a better site for creating useful puzzles. I found I could only get 10 of the 20 definitions included in the puzzle center creation, and I was able to get all 20 in with the Discovery Education puzzle maker site. I do not mind if the puzzle is spread out, I just need all the vocabulary to be available. Otherwise, it is not as useful.

Great time with this assignment!

TrackStar
Rubric
Quiz
Puzzle
Progress Report
Flyer

Week 7 - The Web for Teaching and Learning

How can a classroom web site improve communications with students, parents, and community? What is an acceptable use policy? What impact does it have on the use of the Web in the classroom?


I do not believe my thoughts on a classroom Web site is the popular thought. I do find merit in making use of the internet as a great tool for learning, but I do not find it necessary to have a personal Web site for each class. With that being stated, I do find advantages to the use of the Web site as an educational tool. As stated in the chapter, it is limited only by imagination.

The Web site will offer a communication route to the student, parents, and teacher. Many parents have access to the Web throughout the day and in the evening, and this could be a much faster communication system. It will also allow more up-to-date communication, because it is the most recent activity posted on the classroom Web site. A parent can be informed on what is being studied at all times; pretty close to being considered involved. There would be no “phone tag”, or future meetings on a problem that is taking place today.

There is also the possibility the results of a test, or classroom assignment, can be returned as soon as the “submit” button is pushed. It is often that a teacher does not return the graded papers as quickly as would be best for the student. This same idea of feedback is also important for the parent, and the teacher. Parents can more easily follow-up on a child’s progress, or lack thereof, if they can track this via the classroom Web site. The teacher will have a faster means to check for need to re-teach, if the assignment is graded immediately.


It will allow you to tailor the lesson(s) and mode of teaching to the various skill-levels of your students. The tools available are limitless. There is video, photographs, and written information available from government sites, other school districts sites, news media sites, and corporation sites. There is no need to spend countless hours developing tools. Now, it often takes hours to choose which information is best, but that is an entire chapter topic. These resources provide educational tools to the most financially deprived school districts and to every school with internet access.


With all of this information, it is imperative to develop a policy and guidelines for this Web site. While the policy may be the only “limit to imagination”, it is important that overuse or inappropriate use of information does not take place. I find that when you think you do not have to state a reasonable point, it is often then that you should. People do dumb things every day, and a classroom Web site is a very public arena that opens up a can of worms when misused. For the classroom, with so many people being able to access the site, it will be impossible to police to prevent problems.

Using Technology For Education

Quiz - Progress Report - Flyer
This was going to be my finest hour – creating all of these neat ways to garner class participation. Well, that road was a little more difficult than I expected. The flyer was especially tough, and I do not understand why. The basic concept of keeping it simple should have been the first thing to jump into my head. Unfortunately, it was more, “let me show off my computer skills”. I had to stop myself several times from trying to over-do just getting the information out to the parents. Overdesign is no better than under-design.
 The next task was equally complex. There are several grade book templates available, and I just haven’t decided the best one for my use. I am trying a couple of different ones, and the one I am using for this assignment is probably the one I will continue to use. It has more information than I probably need, but I want to see what information may actually come out of the time and effort of grading all of these assignments. I know it has probably been done before, but I want to reinvent the darn thing! I chose a bar graph and a line graph to convey information. The bar graph displays the class standing of each student based on the grades accumulated through the first exam. The line graph demonstrates the exam grade for each student. Since the homework assignments give a snap-shot of the current lesson/task, I believe the exam grade is important to measure understanding and retention of the various lessons.

 Now, the PowerPoint is an easy program for me to use. What is not quite as easy is to decide which questions would be the best to use on a PPT quiz. I was torn.

I selected angles as my quiz topic. I am teaching algebra and this seems like a fun, non-threatening way to teach the various types of angles. I also believe the PPT will provide me with the format for repetition that I believe is needed to help learn the various types of angles. I selected sounds I thought was appropriate to reinforce accurate and inaccurate choices made.


I believe the hardest part of all of this is there is so much technology available it is difficult to decide which might be the most effect support for teaching. As I have found through my experience with this class, it does not pay to be clumsy with technology. I need to find something that works, and I need to perfect it.

Quiz
Flyer
Progress Report

Define database management software and describe how you might use it to help you in teaching responsibilities

Database management software (DBMS) is that which allows the user to collect, to organize, and to retrieve related data. This software is ideal for managing large amounts of data. The different parts of the database management system are important to the utility of the program. The field is the smallest information unit, and it contains a single data attribute. Fields make up a record. The record is the set of field values. The combination of all the records is called a table. All of this information is used to determine relationships within the database. The great part of this program is the ease of use. Do not let the terms befuddle you.

 Once the information is entered into the database the operations that can be performed are: archiving, sorting, queries, reports, and forms. This is different from a spreadsheet; this program focuses on relationships between data, and not performing mathematical functions. Think about organizing library books – in a single sweep, the DBMS can organize a report on the inventory. The report can be based on any part of the information entered in the table I require. The time it takes is miniscule.

This is a great tool to help students understand relationships with data. An easy start for students in understanding databases is to start with information on the class. You may need to get them started, but the class will need to develop their own fields and records. To get them going, ask them what they would like to know about their classmates. Some good start questions, how many siblings, favorite football team, birthing order, etc. Once all the data is entered, the fun begins. Now, it will be easier for them to see just how many people with whom they have things in common! This exercise helps demonstrate the concept of relationships.

Once the class has sorted, performed a query, and completed a report containing the names of the middle child of each family (or some other record of information), move on to a class project. The class should decide on the project, and the length of time it will run. It will be simple enough to think global, once all subjects are considered. It would be simple enough to find another school, in another city, state, or country, with which you could exchange information.

What is a computer virus and how is it transmitted? What can you do to protect your computer?

     The computer virus will make the computer sick. It installs itself on your computer and affects the performance of the computer. The effects of the infection range from mild to total catastrophe. The virus was named in 1983, and they just get bigger and better. The group name for the virus is malware. This is an umbrella term for what outsiders use to interfere with normal workings of your computer. When you hear terms, such as, virus/Trojan/worm/etc., you are hearing about malware. The mission of malware is to get information, and return it to its creator.
     Early on, the virus was transmitted via floppy disks, CDs, and the USB drive. You had to bring the virus to your computer. Now, with the wide-spread use of electronic e-mail, there is another outlet for transmitting the computer malware; an attachment. The most I understand about the virus is that is rewrites computer code on the computer it infects. Typically, the virus is still transmitted most often via external media. This is the reason most schools will not allow students to use any personal software, or media, on school computers.
     The Trojan malware is similar to the Trojan horse of mythology; remember Helen of Troy who was kidnapped by Paris? Well, the soldiers entered the city in a giant wooden horse, and when night fell, the soldiers snuck out and attacked. That is similar to the working of the malware. This Trojan typically arrives via e-mail as an attachment. Once the receiver opens the attachment, it invades the computer system. One big difference, it does not need to wait until night to attack. Similar to the Trojan is the worm. It too arrives via e-mail, but it can “worm” into your system without your help. Once on your computer, it duplicates itself. When it does that, it sends out all kinds of messages to people with whom you have communicated.
     What can you do – USE AN ANTIVIRUS PROGRAM. Yes, the antivirus program will scan your computer and destroy the vermin. The biggest problem with destroying the malware is that it changes so frequently, it is difficult for the antivirus software to keep up with the viruses. So, it is important to scan often, and keep the software up-to-date to protect your computers from outside invasions.