Summative Blog

ICT has played a major role in regards to my teaching strategies and what I want to be as a teacher. Throughout this course, Mike Nantais has shown me several websites, apps, and other technological assets that I will definitely be using in the classroom. Using technology in this day and age is a necessity. Children are exposed to technology on a daily basis and find it enjoyable. Why not bring technology into the classroom so they can perform work with something that interests them. Being a physical education teacher has always been the career path I wanted to go down. I have never had a change in heart with what I wanted to be. Before coming into the ICT class, I personally thought this class was going to be useless in terms of physical education as I thought to myself "How much technology can you really use in phys. ed.? Mike completely changed my outlook. Technology can be used on a daily basis. Using Youtube alone I could explain numerous aspects to sport such as how to perform a movement properly, the task we would be completing that day, along with many positive assets. Using technology can also cover many different types of learners using videos each day. It would cover the visual learner, auditory learner, and also kinesthetic as it would show the person performing the task. I could create my own videos as well instead of going onto Youtube. This is just one of the ways I would use technology. While there are many different programs I could use for my teaching, the other one that really stood out to me was Evernote. I think I could use this app in many ways whether it be a way of introducing everyone in the classroom or relaying what everyone knows about a topic we would be researching. It is just a different way of engaging the students, and personally, I think it makes classes much more enjoyable.

I think ICT has changed our world and education in both good and bad ways. ICT will bring further engagement into a world filled with technology. Students will be able to continue to use technology they have at home and find it more enjoyable. It will open up doors to new and exciting information they may have never experienced before. Technology has made finding information extremely easy, and there are now thousands of different ways to relay the information they have found in creative ways. It helps people think critically on what they want to research, the type of technology they want to use for the research, and also opens up a creative window for how they want to display their findings. Technology does not only help with research and finding facts, but I find the most important aspect is the creativity they are exposed to with technology. Communication has also never been better as people can communicate with others all over the world. For example, in a school setting, if someone is researching interesting facts on Mexican culture, it would be easy to have a small presentation, and then Skype with this person and let the class get a full on look on what an everyday Latino person goes through. this is just an example.

The only way I believe technology has stifled our society is perhaps the face to face interaction that used to be strong in the world. People are no longer wanting to meet with people face to face, its now more over text, Facebook, or Twitter that people communicate with each other. This is fine, but sometimes its better to meet people in person. This is just one small negative with communication. One can also just Skype or Facetime and it would be a face to face conversation anyway.

I think the future is looking bright for technology. It is very useful and now makes the world go round. It is scary how far technology has come already, running factories, being able to text someone thousands of miles away in seconds, it is an exciting asset to the world that will only continue to get bigger and better. I can not wait to see how big and sophisticated technology will further come.

ICT Week 8

This past week in ICT I finished off my E:portfolio, and overall I think it looks great. The setup and design of the website is colourful and eye catching, and it has already got several positive remarks from not only my family, but also schools that I have shared the link with. I sent this link to schools I am interested in working at and they were impressed. They expressed how it is a breath of fresh air to see something different come in to the school for  resume and that they could get an in depth, up close and personal idea of the type of person I am. I have already sent this link to the D.R.C.S.S and Vincent Massey, the two placements I have had this term. As time goes on and my experience gets stronger, the possibilities are endless as to what I can add to the portfolio, as well as the further networking I can hand the website out too. The schools were also impressed that I could create a website like this and demanded the link so they could work on something like this with their students. With the E:portfolio being done I will now be planning and working on my Summative Blog. There have been many things I have worked on throughout this course and semester, and I plan on relaying everything I have learned, along with which programs I am going to apply to my own classroom.

ICT Week 7

This week in ICT, I was not able to join a couple of classes because of conflicting schedules with my daughter. The project I did work on for the class was my Eportfolio. I finished the portfolio this weekend using Weebly. This Eportfolio is going to benefit me in several ways including networking, being the biggest attribute. I can continuously update my Eportfolio as my life and career develops an gain more interest in possible employers. By the employers knowing that I have a fairly sound knowledge in technology and having he ability to create Eportfolios and use other beneficial programs, it will only increase my chances of getting a job. It will give them some in depth insight about myself, my philosophy on teaching, and some of the work I have done during my schooling. These three topics are key because these topics are not always included in a regular resume. It may be a nice change from handing in the same old resume over and over, while my Eportfolio has some nice designs and will catch an employers eye.

Another area I regret missing during ICT was the visit from Jon Finch. I knew of him as he had worked at the DRCSS, the high school I attended through my senior years. While I did not see the presentation, I did go through the LWICT booklet that I received from class. This book was full of interesting concepts. The sections I really focused on in my reading was the section on High Critical and Creative Thinking. This section was exactly what I was looking for, because I do not want to be that teacher who goes on and on about a topic while losing the class in the process. Having the class engaged and interested in the topic at hand by using technology and literacy components will go a long way in classroom engagement and management. This book will be very helpful and I will use some of these strategies from the booklet to help me with my teaching career.

ICT Week 6

The digital story telling for my placement was pretty straight forward. I am sure I had many of the same responses as my fellow students such as being an eye opener, having to be adaptable, creative, and patient with many of the student body I encountered. As I mentioned in the previous post, I would have liked to have seen technology being used more often throughout the entire school. With such fantastic programs that I have been shown such as Wordle, creating your own website on Weebly, and having an e-portfolio soon to come, it would greatly benefit each students progress. The technology world is limitless and to get these types of programs into the student body as they are already living in a tech savvy world, the possibilities would be endless for them. It was very disappointing to have such a small amount of technology in the classrooms.

Fall Placement ICT

The five weeks of student teaching I experienced was nothing but educational for me. It was an eye opener with many experiences that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Technology in the classroom and throughout the school at the D.R.C.S.S was relatively low. There were not many chances to use the technology I wanted to as the new technology has not yet reached this school. They did have projectors which I used for my classes as much as I could. Using youtube I would show them what we were doing almost every class whether it be for fitness purposes or to show them the proper technique for an exercise. I would have liked to have had iPads that were disposable to the student body as they would then get an up close and personal experience of what I was trying to explain. We also used heart rate monitors that showed their progress as they went through the school term. It would track their progress in regards to health. This was the only technology they were really exposed to. Overall, technology needs to be connected to this school more often.

ICT week 5

This weeks ICT gave me a good set of skills to wrap up before I go out for student teaching. This week learning how to edit and crop pictures, and just make them more engaging and creative will most likely be implemented into these five weeks of teaching. Pixlr especially. From creating websites to creating a Wordle, I feel much more confident in my skills on a computer, and feel more knowledgable as well. We will see how the next 5 weeks go and see how much technology I will be implementing into my lessons!

ICT Week 4

This week in ICT there were several notable points to build off of.  I have finally completed my website. Though I have a fairly broad outline on the site so far, I am planning on putting much more material on to the site. Most of the material will be emphasized when I am done my student teaching placements, and when I start my teaching career. I put some videos on their to catch their attention, as well as other links that parents and students can look into. I put some information about myself so that they can get a good vibe of what kind of person I am. I figure this would be important for the parents especially. Also, I decided to include a button on homework assignments. This way the students are well aware of their assignments, and they also can not lie to their parents about not having any homework!  I thought an inspiration page would be good to have as well so the people who visit my site can see that I am happy to be a teacher, and what people drove me to want to be the best that I can be. So far, the kickstart of my website is pretty good. As more information comes in it will get even better. I figure as soon as more information and ideas flow, then I can start using the software Symbaloo. 

Another neat aspect to our class this weak was what we learned today. I found out that there will be smart boards in one of the classes I will be teaching in. The smart board is going to open up many doors to let the creative side of the students flow. I will definitely be getting the students to participate by drawing and writing on the boards. It would work perfectly by creating a centre topic, such as social studies that I will be teaching, and let the students build a web off of the main topic. They can tell me everything they know. 

One more week an student teaching begins! Should be a great experience!

ICT Week 3

This week in ICT there was a lot of focus on creating our websites on weebly. While I have only just started my website, I am already coming up with ideas to implement this into my classrooms. A personal website for education can expand into many creative ideas. Using this website I can put anything I want on to it, or at least as far as my imagination will take me. I can upload videos, post blogs, put up pictures and this just scratches the service. For the start of my website, I really want to let the viewers know about me. I want to put many pictures on so they can get an idea of what kind of person I am. I will include an about me page, an inspiration page, along with pages for my students and their parents as time goes on. I will also include lesson plans, some of my ideas for teaching, unit plans etc. This will show the parents especially what their child is in for when they have myself for a teacher. They will be able to provide feedback and other comments if they so wish. Symbaloo could be a useful piece of software that I eventually want to incorporate into my website. That way I can link several different websites into one. It is a very useful tool. Of course there will be other features added to my website, but that will come sometime later down the road. I am looking forward to completing my website because its a good way for my students and their parents to get to know me and see any other information they may find interesting. The second aspect we focused in for technology that i found interesting was the animo to site. While making my picture slideshow titled "randomness", it was fun placing the music you would want into it, along with pictures that may tell a story. I decided to do a random video just for fun. I could definitely use this website in the class and get my students to create their own videos to show their parents. So far i have learned a lot from this class and I am looking forward to next week once again!

ICT Week 2

The second week of school is my favourite time of the year. You are reuniting with your past colleagues and finally getting into the swing of things and back into routine. Since I have been back at school, I have started my journey in many of the goals I am aiming for. I have quit smoking since the beginning of school and  have no had any hiccups on the way. I am now going everyday without any cravings and I feel mulch better about myself. I have also started going to the gym and eating healthier as my activity and diet has been slipping a bit. These are all goals that I think are very attainable, and with the right attitude and determination I believe that completing these goals will make my life much better. Hockey is also starting soon. I will be playing recreational hockey on Sunday's and Senior hockey twice a week for the Grandview Comets in the North Central Hockey League. I am looking forward to the senior hockey because it is competitive, but there are no politics. The beer after the game is pretty great too! I am also learning a lot in ICT. When it comes to computers now, I feel more knowledgable with the different programs we have learned about. I am coming up with ways to implement these programs into my classroom and brainstorming ideas for their use. Creating our website is going to be a lot of fun as well. I have never tried making one, so this will be a good learning curve for me. I am looking forward to next weeks blog!

Week 1 ICT

Week 1 of ICT opened my eyes to many new concepts regarding technology. Technology is becoming more and more crucial in our schools as time goes on, and in reality, technology is the future. After looking at our overview of the term, I am excited to dive into technology as I am not as savvy as others. Creating websites, making my own personal portfolio, having a blog, etc. is exciting as I lack experiences with these things. This week, the topic that grabbed the most interest for myself was Wordle. Wordle is a simple, yet effective way of broadcasting your own personal views, hobbies, and interests. While tweaking my own Wordle, I thought of a few ways that this program could be effective in a school setting. When talking about subjects such as history as an example, each student could use the program and expand on each word. Another effective way would be to use this program at the beginning of the school year. Everyone could make a Wordle splash about themselves, and the students could see who had things in common. I am looking forward to what we will be learning this coming week.