Wednesday, December 2, 2009

I Wanted to Help

I helped my mom learn how to text message.

I helped my brother download and attach files in an email.

I helped my sister create a Facebook.

I helped my brother-in-law type a resume.

I helped my friend Bridget learn how to pay bills online.

I helped my brother create a MySpace.

I helped my mom type a letter.

I helped my brother change an ink cartridge in his printer.

I helped myself navigate through the web.

I helped give a new perspective on social media.

I helped let other teachers know they aren't alone in their struggle to understand technology.

I wanted to help.

Unfortunately though, I am taking a break from this blog. It is the end of my Fall 2009 semester, and I won't be back until all my finals and projects are completed. I thank all my readers for following me and my thoughts on technology usage in the classroom.

Good bye until January. Take some time and think about the controversial topics I have mentioned in my posts. Perhaps you can help me decide on some of these controversial issues in the classroom...

I hope I helped.



.

Monday, November 30, 2009

The Technology I Want: A Round Up

My intention today was to post some new and exciting information about technology in the classroom.

But, I just can't seem to keep my head in the classroom today. Just like any average student, I have my off days. I just can't focus. Maybe I spend too much time online, instead of studying...

The holidays have me all out of wack. My stomach is full of turkey and wine, and sitting on the couch watching football in my sweat pants sounds like heaven.

So that is exactly what I have been doing. But in my fit of laziness, technology still plays a role in my life. I didn't even realize how bad I wanted some of the new technology. I am just like today's students, technology is fun, no wonder it is so hard to pay attention in school sometimes.

My mom just asked me today what I wanted for Christmas. Not that I want to think about Christmas already, it is still November. Yet, part of me is greedy, and loves gifts as much as a five year old.

I started thinking of things that I might possibly want Santa to bring me this year. The first thing I thought of was the Keurig coffee machine. As a college student, I drink a lot of coffee. It keeps me going at all hours of the day. The problem is that, I hate making coffee. It never tastes right. It might have something to do with my lack of knowledge in the cooking department of my life, but nothing tastes as good to me as fresh coffee, that somebody else made. This coffee machine though, is what I would call technologically advanced. It's amazing. It makes the coffee for you, all you have to do is buy these single cups that already have the coffee measured out in them, and put them in this coffee machine. It makes a fresh cup every time. I know that this is coffee at it's extreme laziest, but it's amazing what technology can do for a fresh cup of Joe. And frankly, I wouldn't have to stop and buy coffee every day if I had this. It's an expensive machine, but I think it would be worth every penny.

The second thing I really want is the Droid cell phone. I can't even describe how cool this thing looks. The Droid Does everything you could ever want your phone to do. It has a big screen, awesome video and audio features; it's got a ton of accessories and applications. I mean, it's beautiful. I want it. Please Santa, I have been good.

The third thing I really want is a GPS for my car. I am the girl driver that always gets lost the first time going somewhere new. This is never fun, because I always end up wasting gas, and time. Two things I cannot afford to lose. Yet, there are so many of them, I don't even know which one to get. I think I need help understanding the different specs on these things. If Santa just brought me the Droid, I'd be all set. That awesome phone has a GPS built right into it. Santa could save money, and his elves wouldn't have to make so many things.

I also really want a plasma television. More specifically: Sony 52 inch Plasma 1080p. How awesome would this piece of technology be on game day? I am going to say pretty awesome. I really don't think that the LCD televisions have as a great a picture as the plasma's do.

I guess I should have gone shopping on black Friday. Everything I want is expensive technology. I guess I will have to do some bargain hunting.

I wonder if the price of technology is going to keep rising...I am worried that schools soon won't be able to afford technology to make learning interactive and fun.

I know that I probably won't get any of these beautiful technology devices for Christmas, as my family isn't rich.

But a girl can sit on the couch in her sweats and dream...right?

I love technology.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Taking The Smart Board A Step Further

After I attended the Smart board workshop, I wanted to look up some other websites that could possibly expand on the information that Christine Paige so kindly shared with me on Thursday night...

I know that she said how great it would be for all subject areas in school, and she showed us how you can actually dissect a frog on the smart board without all the chemicals and grossness, but how can you really use it for other subjects more specifically?  Frog dissection is great for science...but what about math, english, and history?

I think that perhaps I would have done better in a class like math if I had a Smart board when I was in school. I always thought that math class was so boring in school. It always seemed to me that math class always went the same way. 1) warm up 2) review 3) review homework 4) new lesson 5) new homework...and then at the end of the unit, a test, and sometimes frequent quizzes. Yeah, it is structure, but it gets boring after a while. Using a smart board for math, I think would have made my math experience more exciting.

Hopefully, as future teachers, we can improve the learning experience for our future students. Especially in subjects like math. We should try and collect all the resources we can, to try and take advantage of the Smart board, we have the technology available to us now, we might as well use it!

Heck, some schools even have games you can play using these boards! How fun.

I hope Smart boards end up making it into every classroom. I know that I would be excited to have one.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Where Are You...Oh Dear Smart Board Workshop


8:10pm: Christine and Ben are now answering questions that the students in this classroom have. One girl asked how you save stuff, she said that everything is just saved right to the program. The Smart board is like its own computer. Neat! And that is the end of the workshop. The teachers left, and the students who are head of the CEC on campus, are handing out certificates.

8:05pm: Christine is now telling us that teachers should design their classrooms around the technology. If the Smart board is in a kindegarten classroom, the Smart board should be mounted lower so students can actually reach it. Christine also says that you need to bring your own writing tools and erasers to use on the Smart board. Apparently people steal the Smart board tools, which makes no sense, because the pens for the Smart board, are nothing but glorified sticks. They don't do anything expect work on the Smart board.

Ben says if you have any questions to come to the technology department and ask questions. He gave us a handout with numbers, names, and even directions. The handout they gave us also has tons of websites to visit to learn more about the Smart board, as well as different tips on how to use it successfully.

8:00pm: Christine just told us that she actually works right here on campus. She also told us that they actually make smart board tables now. Students can actually sit at a table, and the top of the table is actually a smart board. Students can then sit at their tables, eat their lunch, and work on their smart board tables. She said that Ben Clansy is now going to show us how to use the document camera.

She just told us that Smart boards are wonderful. She said that her daughter's teacher got a Smart board, and her teacher actually didn't even want it. She said that once her daughter's teacher used it though, she couldn't imagine her classroom without it.

Ben is now telling us that you can use the document camera on the Smart board, and use the Smart board pens to write all over the document. Pretty neat. He's letting students play around with it. He says that teachers are still kind of afraid of using these new technologies, but they shouldn't be because they are awesome.

7:50pm: Christine is now showing us smart resources on the web. You can actually just do a simple google search for Smart board ideas for both elementary and adolescent education. There are also tools right on Smart board that give you ideas on what lessons you can do with smart board in your classroom. She seems to be double clicking things on accident, you can sense she is getting frustrated. This Smart board is really touchy. One wrong touch seems to lead you in the wrong direction.

A girl sitting at the table in front of me just looked back at me as if my clicking on the keyboard is secretly pissing her off.
My bad...

7:40pm: Smart board comes with software that allows you to dissect a frog! How much better is that than actually using a knife and cutting up a frog. I always thought that was gross in school. Now, you can do it right on the smartboard!! It's also paperless. Yay for going green!

You can also use the smart board for math. Christine says that kids love to work out math problems on the smart board because they get to use technology. Students are learning, and they don't even know it.

The pens that come with the Smart Board, also work as a mouse. Christine says never to use real markers or erasers on these boards because it will destroy them.

Christine tried to get one of the students in the crowd to work out a math problem, its funny that no college student would volunteer even though these are elementary math problems. College students are lazy.

The smart board is also good for spelling. You can program the board to display vocabulary words. You can use your hands to put the vocabulary words in alphabetical order. Kids would love this!

Christine is complaining about how hot it is in this classroom.

7:30pm: Christine just showed us that you can write anything on the smart board in a word document the notebook software that comes with the Smart board.  just by using your finger. She wrote her own name on the board, and spelled it wrong. She forgot the, i, in her name. haha. She just said that if you try to write fast on the smart board, it won't catch what you are doing. She says that when you write on the board, you must write slowly. Now, the whole class is writing their name on the smart board with their fingers. Oh, what fun.

7:20pm: The room is filling up with students. Two other girls just sat at the table with me. I can't find any information on Christine Paige. There is another guy standing at the front of the room with her, I heard him introduce himself as Ben. Looks like the presentation is going to start at 7:30pm.

7:10pm: I just found out that a woman named Christine Paige is teaching the workshop. I am trying to do some research on her.

7:01pm: A girl came and opened the door. I am sitting in the library classroom. The girl on the couch was waiting for the workshop too. I'm in, and ready to learn about these smart boards. Updates are on the way.

7:00pm: Still, no one is here. Perhaps this flyer was right all along. This event has to be taking place at 7:30. I just saw a girl who was wearing shorts and a tank top look into the classroom. Is she here for the same thing as me? She is sitting on the couch texting on her phone. I think I may go ask her if she is waiting for this workshop.
I will keep you updated.

6:50pm  I just got up and asked the reference librarian if this event was still taking place. She said that the room is reserved from 6:30pm until 10:00pm. That is a pretty wide gap of time. Who the heck were those formally dressed people? I didn't recognize them as teachers from campus, what were they doing in the Neil Hellman library? I am really beginning to think that this event isn't going to go down. This is funny, but it kind of stinks because I actually was looking forward to learning how to use a smart board. The library is getting louder. Four students walked in and appear to be working on some sort of group project. They are working on a laptop, but two students have a side conversation going on about their weekend. One girl hooked up with Dave at his apartment.
Still patiently waiting..

6:40pm:  I saw some important looking people walking in the direction of the library classroom, but then they turned around. There was two men, and a woman. They were dressed formally, and looked important. I got excited for a second that these were the leaders of this workshop...but nope, now they are gone.
Still waiting...

6:30pm: No one is here. 6:30 cannot be the correct time. The door to the classroom in the library is locked. No one is around. The library is quiet. I am looking at a girl who is typing frantically on her computer. It looks like her head may explode soon. Other than that, nothing is stirring in the library. I am hanging in.

So here I am with three different times, sitting in the library waiting to see if this event is actually even going to go down tonight. I could be waiting here all night, but I prepare to live blog what happens. Stay tuned!

Back at the library again, I find out that there is an event scheduled in the library classroom, but it is to start at 6:30pm.

Then, I decided to visit the ITS department in the basement of the Lally building on Saint Rose Campus. These nice people informed me that there was a Smart board event to take place in the library classroom at 7:00pm. I was surprised at this, because I was pretty sure that the flyer that I read clearly stated 7:30pm. I proceeded back to the library, and on my way, I stopped at the Albertus building on campus, where I had originally saw the flyer. I proceeded to rip the flyer from the door, and head to the library to prove that I didn't just make up this workshop. I had proof that it was to take place!

I decided to do some research. I wanted to find out who was giving this workshop. I proceeded to the library in hopes that the librarian would know more details on the event. The librarian however, had not even heard of the event which was supposed to be held in the classroom in the library. I decided to then go to the curriculum library on campus, a library for specifically education, and contains materials for classrooms. Yet, the librarian in this library knew nothing of this event either.

At the college of Saint Rose, I saw this flyer. I decided that this would be an interesting event to live blog. I thought it would also be useful for future teachers because Smart boards will soon fill all new classrooms, and as teachers we should be aware on how to use them effectively.







Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Twitter and Facebook: A School Is Actually Using Them

I thought the idea of using Twitter and Facebook in the classroom was a neat idea, but I guess a part of me didn't think that it would happen right away.

Lots of teachers are kind of on the fence as to whether or not they should actually use these social media tools in their classrooms.

It is a great way to reach out to student's and the culture that they are involved in, but just like me, lots of teachers don't know how to use these social media sites, or don't want to try them because they consider it inappropriate.

I was surprised to read this article, and find out that Perdue University is actually currently using these social media tools in the classroom to reach students at a more personal level.

Perdue University actually developed a program that is called Hotseat. This Hotseat program allows students to use Twitter, Facebook, and even text messaging to allow students to comment while class is going on. Teachers actually said in this article that it is actually encouraging students to ask essential questions, and think about things more critically.



Let me emphasize again that perhaps teachers should give these things a try!

Monday, November 16, 2009

What Happened To Pen And Paper?

Good Morning. I'm back! I hope you all enjoyed hearing from Mary Hall. I think she brought some great points to the blog about using technology in the classroom...

Since I'm returning and in a fresh state of mind, I am going to change it up a little bit.

The truth is that a small portion of me absolutely hates the idea of using technology in classrooms. In fact, for a really long time, I didn't even have an internet connection. So, for the most part I am outdated when it comes to the newest technology.

Part of the reason I started this blog, was to help people like me try and figure out all the madness on the web, and how as a future teacher, I am going to try and keep up with it all so that I can relate to my future students.

In reality though, I am old school. I don't see anything wrong with paper and pencil. In fact, I almost get irritated sometimes that you can't hand in a final copy in school anymore that has been written neatly in pen like when I was in school.

Let's face it, in today's schools; if it isn't typed...it's not going to be accepted.

Yet, famous writers like Shakespeare wrote everything with a damn quill pen and an ink blot. There were no fancy fonts and printers to pick from then. Look how far he made it!


If you look back in time, people didn't depend on things like video games and electronic devices for entertainment...they had what I would consider real hobbies. For example, reading and writing. Writing on paper, not a computer screen. However, now as a future teacher I have to consider actually using video games in my classroom!

Honestly, I think hand written work is more personal. Hand writing is a personal art to me. I think that handwriting should be important in schools. If only I could find a college professor that would accept hand written work...but that isn't going to happen.

Unfortunately, as much as I hate technology and trying to figure out all its many components, the reality of the situation is that today's classrooms use these things and I have to learn them, whether I really like them or not...

I guess part of being a teacher is caring more about how your students learn than how you do.


On that note, I will continue to deliver data, and the multiple uses for technology in the classroom. I think it really will help me as well as other future teachers.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Saying Goodbye As I Make My Final Delivery. (By Mary Hall)

It is a bittersweet feeling knowing the week is over, and I have to go back to my blog. Although I love my blog, I have enjoyed blogging for Deliverin' Data.

I want to take this time to thank Brenda for allowing me to blog for her this past week.It has been a privilage to share with ,you, the readers of Deliverin' Data my view on the importance of technology, and social media  in the classroom. I hope you have all enjoyed what I've had to say.

Before I go back to blog at Abby's Web, I have one final thought on using technology in the classroom:

As educators, we want to make learning interactive, fun, accessable, and possible, for the students that we are teaching. If the use of computers, iPods, YouTube, Google, and distance learning, allow students to succeed, we need to think about that and have them available in the classroom.

So now, as I have made my final delivery, I want to take this time to say goodbye, and thank you for listening.

I hope to see you soon at Abby's Web.