An Interating Technology Activity

Title of Activity: Learn to Read

Reference (website to use): http://www.starfall.com/

Grade Level: 1 English Language Arts

Description of Activity:
-each student will have their own computer to work on
-they will be shown how to type in a url and go to starfall.com
-on this site students will have to use the mouse and navigate along with the teacher
-they will go to “Learn to Read” and simply click on the start button
-once they have started the students will independently work on the reading activities given
-the website will help guide students through it, by using a hand to point at where to click
-when done the activites the students can begin the read the stories

General Leaner Outcomes:
- Students will listen, speak, read, write, view
and represent to comprehend and respond
personally and critically to oral, print and
other media texts.

Specific Learner Outcomes:
- use strategies and cues
- associate sounds with letters and some letter clusters
-self-correct when reading does not make sense, using cues such as pictures, context, phonics, grammatical awareness and background knowledge

Relevant ICT Outcomes:
- F.6 - Students will demonstrate a basic understanding of the operating skills required in a variety of technologies.
-1.1-perform basic computer operations, which may vary by environment, including powering up, inserting disks, moving the cursor, clicking on an icon, using pull- down menus, executing programs, saving files, retrieving files, printing, ejecting disks and powering down

Technology is extremely important to integrate into education. Our society is becoming more and more technically advanced, therefore we must educate our students to ensure they are prepared to enter the “real world”. Integrating technology into the classroom also allows teachers to well educate their students. It allows students to communicate and learn from different places or even classes around the world. It also allows students to feel more comfortable in expressing themselves and gives them a chance to reflect on themselves as well as on others (ex: blogging).

Technology can be integrated into all grade levels, even grade one. In my lesson the grade one students are using computers to be able to become comfortable with navigating around a website as well as using the keyboard and mouse. They are doing this while also completing a lesson on reading. Integrating technology into the classroom can be quite easy if there are available resources.

Blogging in the Classroom

Though there are many precautions to take into account, I have definitely taken a positive view on integrating blogging into the classroom. They allow quiet voices to be heard, students to become engaged, promotion of collaboration, work to be easily shared, collected, and preserved, etc(1). Blogging could be started as early as the elementary grades.

For example, integrating into a grade four classroom. As students are starting to learn more and more about using computers as well as the internet, using blogs can be a great tool for practice. In turn it will allow internet safety to be taught and carried out by students. When used in the english/language arts area, blogging can be used as a way to help strengthen writing skills. For example students can write in the blogs using new writing styles or techniques they have just learned. The blog could also be used to help brainstorm ideas as well as ask questions about story plots, morals, characters, etc. Blogging can also give students a spot to post their work, they can then reflect on what they have learned as well as reflect on others work. I agree that reading the blogs of others is just as important as writing your own(2). Integrating blogging into the classroom has innumerable benefits, however teachers must ensure web safety.

Important safety issues for teachers to remember when blogging in the classroom:
-Teacher supervision and easy access to student blogs
-Privacy and posting to the public
-Content, perversion, authenticity, misrepresentation
-Respect
The list goes on...


(1) http://literacymatters.wikispaces.com/Blogging

(2) http://remoteaccess.typepad.com/remote_access/2006/05/blogs_invitatio.html

http://www.eschoolnews.com/eti/2004/10/000180.php

http://www.eschoolnews.com/eti/2005/06/000882.php

About Myself and Blogging in the Classroom

Hey I'm Sara, born and raised in Medicine Hat. I graduated in 2005 from McCoy High School and went straight to college the following year. Throughout high school I realized I wanted to be a teacher and decided to major in CTS with a general business focus. I chose CTS as my major because I have an interest in implementing more technology into schools and also have always had an interest for business. This is my third year in the education program but my first year at The U of L. I took my two previous years of education at the Medicine Hat College. I hope to teach Kindergarden, but if that doesn't work out I would like to teach grade one, two, or three.

I feel that blogging could be an excellent way to integrate technology into the classroom. It gets students on computers and working on typing, navigation, internet, and communication skills. It not only provides an excellent place for collaborating, brainstorming, and a place to help classmates, it allows students to feel more comfortable about sharing ideas as well as asking questions. I also believe blogging is a good tool for teachers to use. They can post assignments, reviews, test dates, and also have a place where they can connect with parents and students who may not feel comfortable with face to face discussion.

One of the teachers I had an art practicum with posted all her lessons and monthly themes online. I thought this was a great idea because it allowed the parents of her students to see what was going on in the classroom and also provided any assignments a student may have missed on certain days they were not in school. On her posted site she would be able to answer any questions the parents as well as the students my have had.

Though there are many safety precautions teachers have to take into consideration, such as respect issues, publicly posting items, etc. Blogging could be an extremely effective tool in classrooms.