Interactive Whiteboard...

Interactive whiteboard are a great item to have in each and every classroom. I would definitely recommend it to all teachers. It is both enjoyable for the students as well as the teachers, because it makes teaching and learning fun and hands on. When I look at my elementary school days the things I remember most were the hands on activities and the ones that had all the students involved. Many different activities can be used with interactive whiteboard, such as PowerPoint presentations, showing educational clips internet sites can be projected on the screen for all the students to see. Teachers can stand in front of the classroom and walk around to help students who are having problems; they do not have to worry about sitting at the desk to click the mouse to move to the next slide, because they can just click on the smart board. Smart, the program that is used for the smart boards have many different pre-made activities that classes can work on together, such as tool where the class can have a picture of a map and drag a state over to its position where it belongs. This is one of the activities that gets every child involved and excited to participate. Teacher can also use the clip art and drawing tools that are provided to create their own screen to use with their class. These tips are a great way to grab each and every student’s attention, and also it’s a way to get the students away from reading page after page in their textbooks.
When I first used the smart program I did not know where to begin. There is a lot of information that comes with the program. It is definitely hard to learn at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a great program to use. Also, a teacher who does not know better might not know they have to align the projector with the screen, so when you hit the screen you are hitting what you want. Also, some of the premade activities do not come with directions with how to work them, so most of the time you are on your own to figure out how they work. Once I figured out all the kinks of the program I loved it.
The pros of having a smart board installed in the classroom is that it a new items for the class. Everyone loves to get new and fun things and the interactive whiteboard is definitely fun and exciting. Smart boards open up a lot of possibilities for the classroom, there are endless amounts of activities and lessons with the interactive whiteboard. I had so much fun just playing around with all the applications that I think the students would too. It a great way to show important information to the students, or use a review for a big test that is coming up. These boards can be used in every subject. In science I might show my students the process of the water cycle, or in math how to figure out how to get the area of a square. The possibilities are endless. The only con I have is that students might write on the interactive whiteboard with a permanent marker, because they think it is a regular whiteboard.
The other day I taught a math lesson on time and I incorporated the interactive whiteboard with my lesson. My classmates really enjoyed the presentation I came up with. I used the premade clocks and had different members of my class come to the board to record times that I dictated to them to help them review the concept they just learned. It was a great way to get everyone involved, moving around and interested in my lesson.

Video Project...

Video projects are a great way to get children exciting learning. This project will allow students to get out of the classroom and interact with classmates to create a wonderful masterpiece that they can show to their classmates and families. Although a lot of preparation goes into these types of projects, the end results are well worth the time spent preparing.

Title: Light, Camera, Action
Age Level: 6th-8th grade
Content Area: English
Materials: Novel, Video Camera, Computers with Window’s Movie Maker, and Story board worksheets.
Project Description: Students will be placed in groups of four and will take the novel that they are reading in class and make a short commercial which is based on the book. The ideas for this project are endless, the children make a trailer for an upcoming movie, an infomercial trying to sell an important object that were used in the book or maybe even a dating commercial for one of the main characters. These are just some ideas that can get the children thinking. Students will create a story board, which will plan out all the situations that is going to happen in their production. Students will learn how to operate a camera and how to edit their movies in window’s movie maker. Then students will film their idea during class time. The final project should be on longer than 5 minutes. The students will present their final projects on the last day of the unit to the class.
Preparations: I would have to make sure there are video camera on the school grounds that the children can use, if not I have to see if the children’s parents have ones that they will be willing to let them use for the project. I would have to make sure the weather is nice, because the filming will be taking place outside to limit distractions to other classrooms and spread out the children so they are not interrupting each other filming.. I have to set aside time to show the students how to use a video camera and how to use window’s movie maker, so they can learn how to edit their movies. I would also make my own youtube. account, because I would not want children uploading videos to their own account, for their own safety. I would also send home content forms to the parents to make sure it was alright that I was uploading the children’s final projects to the internet, because I know some parents can have problems about that and I do not want to make anyone unhappy. If it was not alright I would just have the children convert their final projects to a DVD, so they can still showcase their final project.
Timeline:
Day 1-6: Read novel in class and out of class and complete activities relating to the book.
Day 7: Split students in to groups and have then start thinking of an idea. Clear idea with the teacher.
Day 8: Make storyboard, assign parts (cameraperson, main actress/actor)
Day 9: Teach how to use video camera. Let students begin filming.
Day 10: Filming Day.
Day 11: Teach students how to use window movie maker and how to use sound clips.
Day 12: Edit Day.
Day 13: Edit Day.
Day 14: Show presentations.
Day 15: Show presentations.

Software Lab...

I always thought I knew everything about Word, but I was definitely wrong. I never knew all those neat tricks existed. Those are things I wish I knew all throughout high school and even during the first two years of college. I know I would not have spent endless hours trying to figure out how to make columns in my documents. I think it was beneficial to take the time out to learn the different programs that I could use when I am a teacher, because it will help make my classroom interesting.
When I was in elementary school, teachers would send home plain and boring newsletters to my parents, now when I am a teacher I will be able to use what I learned in class to spice my newsletters up. It was happy to find out that I didn’t have to create my own templates; I could just use the premade ones. The newsletter I would help me as a teacher, I would like to send newsletters home on a weekly basis. I can communicate with parents, by letting them know what the children are doing in class, and present them with important information that they should know. This would be an easy way to stay connected with the parents during the school year.
When I was asked to make a concept map in other classes, I always used paper and pencil. I never knew inspiration existed, and I am happy that it does because I believe this will be the most beneficial to me when I begin to teach. I can use this program to outline lessons I will teach in my classroom and to organize important information from English lessons to Science lessons. This program will help outline the important information in a chapter for my students. The pictures also allow me to make the maps kid friendly. I will probably even use it in my current classes to outline notes.
It was nice to learn about the tables in word. Now I don’t have to use the tab key all the time to type where I want. Tables help make the page more organized. Tables also are a good tool to use when making quizzes and tests. Word also made making lesson plans easier. I never knew what the developer tool was and never knew all the neat things you could do with it. It will definitely make my life easier in the future when I can just fill in the information I need in the blank spots. The flyer is something I can use to put around my classroom to present vital information to the students. It is also something I can post around the school to get people’s attention on important school events. I can send the flyer home to parents to inform them on specials events that are happening in my classroom.