Blog Post #16-Final Reflection

Final Reflection

In this blog post, I will be reflecting on all that I have learned throughout this semester in EDM 310. In addition, I will be looking ahead to my classroom when I begin teaching. I will discuss how I plan to teach, how my students will learn, and the overall environment of my classroom. So much has changed in my thinking about teaching and learning. My eyes have been opened to new methods and technology that are available.

I am majoring in Elementary Education, however, more specifically I hope to teach third or fourth grade. My desire and goal is to be a loving, caring teacher. I also hope to be a technologically literate teacher that is constantly reflecting on and revising my teaching and students. This is so important with constantly changing children, curriculum, and technology. I also hope to have a structured classroom with set rules that are enforced. I will discipline students who make fun or bully others. My students will know they are loved, cared for, and respected, and I will expect the same from them with their fellow peers.

If I were to describe my classroom in one word it would be fun! There is no reason that learning should not be fun for children! In fact, it is where they spend most of their time. I want my classroom to be bright, cheery, and organized! Children need structure and organization. The last thing I want is a chaotic classroom. My classroom will have numerous amounts of technology available. I will also have various centers set up all around the room where technology can be implemented. In addition, I will have many books for my students to read at any time.

I will teach using Project Based Learning. I have learned the danger of Burp Back Education where normal pencil and paper are used to assess, and students simply spit back out the information they have been fed without actually learning and applying the material. I will use many projects in all different subject areas. Like I stated earlier, I want my classroom to be fun, so we may make a mess every now and then, but what matters is that they digest the information and learn it. In fourth grade there are so many options that students can do with projects. They are older and do not need to be walked through projects. They can be creative and have fun!

There are so many technology tools and resources that I will use in my classroom. I should have a Smart board in my classroom, so that is one tool I will use. I can use it for bell ringers and instruction time. The students can also use it in free time and during centers. In addition, I hope to have classroom computers and iPads. These tools can be used in a wide variety of ways. In the fourth grade, they can be used for blogging and research. They can use websites like iCurio, Blogger, and Google. In addition, they can use the iPads and classroom computers to play educational games. There are so many options that technology can be for in a classroom.

So... What has changed since the beginning of the semester?

My view of teaching and what all is required to be an effective teacher has changed SO much since the beginning of the semester. My thinking has definitely been refined in a positive way. The main thing that has changed is the importance of asking questions. As a teacher, I need to know what types of questions to ask my students in order to broaden their thinking. This is so important! Another view that has changed from the beginning of the semester is the importance of peer review. Through peer review, students are able to get feedback from someone of equal status as them instead of a teacher. I also learned the importance of self reflection and review. Students need to learn to look at their work and see how they can improve it. It is critical to do this in order to grow in your thinking.

However, the tools and atmosphere that I plan to use in my classroom has not changed. At the beginning of the semester, I said that I would use Smart boards, iPads, and personal computers, and I still plan to use these tools. I also stated that I want my classroom to be fun and colorful, and that is also still true. Last, I stated that I wanted my students to learn more through project based learning and hands on activities. This is also still how I want my students to learn.

So, as you can see, this semester has caused me to really evaluate my thinking and strategies I will use in my classroom. I am thankful for the experience that I had in EDM 310.

Blog Post #15

Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impaired Children
By: Elizabeth Johnson

For this assignment, I watched a video called ”Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impaired Children”. In the beginning of the video, it gives some examples for you to imagine what it would be like to be visually or hearing impaired in a classroom with no assistive technologies available. It really opened my eyes to what it would be like to not have ways to help these students. The video then describes how assistive technologies enhance learning, removes barriers, pushes boundaries, gives hope, and challenges the way we think. The video really encourages and challenges people and teachers to do all that they can to accommodate all students. Some examples of assistive technologies that the video gave were text to speech devices, text telephones, talking calculators, note takers, sensory aids, speech to text devices, FM radios, iPhones, Ipads, Ipods, screen magnifiers, and flip cameras.
”Education World” is another source that gives great information about assistive technologies for students. This website gives some other examples of assistive technologies. Some of them include hearing aids and amplification devices that enable hearing-impaired students to hear what's going on in the classroom as well as glare-reduction screens, screen magnifiers, and Braille note-taking devices that enable visually impaired students to participate more fully.

Ipad Usage for the Blind
By:Calah Reynolds

The video iPad Usage for the Blind is such an interesting video. I had no idea that the iPad could be set up to assist a person who is visually impaired. This opens up so many different opportunities to me as a teacher, especially if I have a visually impaired child in my class. As you are using the iPad it can assist you the whole way, from starting it up to using the apps. All you have to do is simply double tap to unlock it. If you are on a part of the screen that has no apps and is blank it makes a clicking noise, but when you hover over an app it says the apps name out loud and tells you to "double tap to open". I, as a teacher, already want to have iPads in my classroom for activities throughout the day, and now that I know that they can assist children with disabilities, it makes them so much more useful. Especially now since iPads can have books and textbooks on them. If you open up iBook on your iPad, all you have to do is double tap when the app is open and it will start reading to you. I was so interested in iPads for the visually impaired that I looked up the video Blind Apple iPad Tech Camp. This is a camp that teaches the blind how to use an iPad and what it can do for them. For those who aren't completely blind, they can zoom in as much as they need to be able to see and those who are completely blind can have the iPad set up to where it can talk you through everything. iPads opens up so many opportunities for children with disabilities. So many of the kids with no vision are behind in their academics and don’t have the same access to technology as their peers that have vision, but iPads give them a chance. It let's them do things that they didn't even know were possible.

Blind Doing Math
By: Rachel Hinton

The video, Teaching Math to the Blind, really shows what problem is presented when a student is blind and trying to learn complex things like math. Because blind students use brail to learn, and it is linear, it makes understanding and aligning the math problems difficult. With this being said the students are presented with a device with the number on one side and brail on the other with a barcode that they can scan and the computer reads. They can align the numbers in a digital graphs to keep them in order and able for them to read.
Teaching Math to Blind Students really shows more in-depth the different methods that can be used to teach the blind. One method is using mathematics codes. These codes are placed on a desk plate. This plate can also be used for students to plot points. For upper level trigonometry the students will use objects in the shape of triangles to learn the different functions. For statistics the students will use Microsoft excel to perform the different functions. They can also use other applications such as the virtual pencil algebra program with allows the problem to be read to them and the audio graphing calculator which provides them with assistance just like a regular calculator. These devices and assistive materials gives the blind students the ability to accomplish something that is essential for working and living today. It also gives them hope that they can accomplish anything.