PowerPoint as an instructional Tool

Powerpoint has many diverse advantages to be used within a classroom. Powerpoint can be used as an efficient lecturing technique in which teachers strategically create powerpoint presentations and present them to their students for lecture purposes. When Powerpoint is used in this fashion, it makes it possible for students to refer back to. This serves as a multi-dimensional teaching tool because students with different learning capacities have something to refer back to incase they need extra time or forget something important. Powerpoint can also be used for students to serve as teachers. They can create Powerpoints of their own and use them as teaching tools for other students. Powerpoint allows them to become familiar with computers and programs that will further their computer saviness overall. It allows students to use their creativity and personal flare while encorporating important general computer knowledge. I am fairly comfortable using powerpoint in the educational setting. There are probably a few new neat tricks that I am unaware of regarding the program but I think the more I use it, the better I will become.

Master's in Special Education

I've known for a long time that I was going to acquire a Master's in a field related to Elementary Education. I think I have finally decided on what particular field. As an Education major I am required to take a class about Inclusive teaching to involve Intensive Resource (IR) children in the general Education population and separately in their own classroom. Part of the class requirement for 482 is to spend time in local IR classroom's. Thursday was my first opportunity to spend time in my assigned classroom. Upon arriving in said classroom, I was given an overwhelming amount of information regarding the daily schedule, routine, and each child's disabilities and goals set to accomplish for the school year. I was also given a brief but very informational run down on basic rules regarding working with students because of the severity of some of their disabilities. The teacher informed me that some of the children had tendencies to take advantage of adults and that while their behavior may appear cute at the time, it really shouldn't be viewed that lightly. Often times these children are a lot more intelligent than well-intentioned adults give them credit. Needless to say, I was intimidated and overwhelmed by the thought of doing something wrong and "jumping right in." My first "jump right in" opportunity appeared when I was asked to work with an Autistic child. He was instructed to read his homework words to me and then color the corresponding pictures. I tried to test my knowledge by not looking up each child's disabilities and try to figure them out myself. I had about 60% success rate because I kept questioning my judgment. After working with a few other students, I slowly gained confidence in myself and my abilities to help rather then detract from their learning environment. After an hour and a half in that classroom I have an overwhelming appreciation and admiration for what those teachers and aids do to better their students' lives. I think I have found my master's program.

Software Review

Title: Valentine's Day Counting

Grade/ Age level: First grade/6 & 7 years

Subject Areas: Math/Counting

Platform: Both Mac & Windows

Review: This interactive software allows young children to count the amount of dots in the hearts and put them in the corresponding Valentine's box. Children can use headphones to hear auditorial instructions but the game itself is very explanatory. There is one advertisement at the top but with relative guidance children can stay focused and on task. It is a very simple matching game used to help first grader's count. I would feel comfortable using it in my classroom. This game is very adequate in teaching young children how to count small numbers.

Title: Animal Universe

Grade/ Age Level:Kindergarden through 6th grade

Subject Areas: Science/ Social Studies (Animals)

Platform: Both Mac & Windows

Review: This game allows children to learn more about animals by placing them in their proper habitat. After you complete each level successfully, you are rewarded with animal cards that allow you to learn about the specific animal on the card. By recieving animal cards, you are awarded "iPoints" in which the site grants certificates after so many points are acquired. There are a few advertisements but they do not really distract from the bright, interactive game. The only downfall to this game is that you must acquire a user name and password. Little guidance is needed from adults to play this game.This is an intriguing way to learn more about animals because the factoids are very unique.

Title: Find-A-Word Puzzles

Grade/ Age levels: first through sixth grade

Subject Areas: Language Arts

Platform: Both Mac & Windows

Review: This game teaches children how to spell different types of words via solving crossword puzzles. There are different levels of crossword puzzles for different age groups of children. You use the mouse to scroll around the desired word and then the computer spells the word out loud, highlighting the particular letter it is on. There is one advertisement but it is not much of a distraction to this game. Again, little guidance is needed for this game as well and it is very self explanatory. This game is very effective in helping children develop their spelling abilities while helping them focus on the task at hand. This game also requires to you to create a username and password. But once done so, the site lets you play many games in many academic subjects.

One-to one program

I think the one-to-one learning program was a successful and unique learning tool in the Denali Borough school district. This program gives rural children a step up on the global scale because the Internet puts the world at their fingertips while also allowing for more creativity within learning. The students and the teachers worked together to create individual educational plans so that the one-to-one program could be as efficient and successful as possible for each student. It was very effective that these classrooms based their teaching around the concept of allowing students to learn by doing it themselves. I also liked the "throw you in the pond" concept because it allows students to work at their own rate while also acknowledging that not all students learn the same way. The classroom environment was very relaxed and the students all appeared to feel very confident in what they were doing. I also noticed that everyone expressed freedom to ask questions if any confusion arose.  Although the one-to-one program was based around computers, there was always an open line of communication between everyone in the classroom. I think the students felt that they were respected, valued members of the class because while they were given a lot of responsibility, they were also given freedom to express themselves and find the learning method that worked best for them. The students had very positive outlooks on the one-to-one program and the way they were being taught. There also seemed to be a lot of collaboration and enthusiasm among the students. The one-to-one program created an environment based around common interests among otherwise different students.

One of my concerns about this program would be whether or not it could be effective in larger classes and schools. I don't think the video addressed this issue but I am not sure how realistic this type of learning could be on a large scale. How would schools receive enough funding to buy all of their students computers? And what if many of them were to come up lost or stolen at the same time? As the video discussed, there is a lot of info structure involved in this program and perhaps that would be difficult when it is no longer in a small school setting. My main concern, however, would be whether or not there would be enough guidance and direction for students with so much educational freedom to be focused and stay on task in the larger classroom setting.

My hope for the one-to-one program would be that children would benefit from it because it allows independence and gives the students numerous, up-to-date resources. Personally, I am very interested in the one-to-one program as a primary learning tool. I also feel that I am just not comfortable enough with basing my teaching around this method because I am not as computer savvy as I would like. Once I was more confident with my abilities, I would love to take part in the one-to-one classroom environment.