PowerPoint and Taxonomy

PowerPoint: Effective Tool or Dull Distraction?
This week we were given an advanced tour through the world of Microsoft Power Point. Now Power Point, for those who don’t know, is a great tool for both teachers and students, due to its ability to facilitate discussion as well as give direction to a class. With that said, not all power points are equally impressive. As a mater of fact it can be very easy to create a power point presentation that is dull, boring, or worst of all distracting.
There are a few simple tips to follow to avoid making a horrible power point... Keep its short and simple. The presenter shouldn’t be reading the power point to the class. Some people have the habit of putting all the information on the power point and then reading it to the class. This is bad for two reasons; one the back of the presenter is to the audience affecting the delivery of the actual presentation. Two, more often than not, students will end up trying to copy every word of the presentation distracting them from your lesson. It is better to think of the PowerPoint as an out line of your lesson. This will keep you the teacher on point and in the right place. Some teachers have the tendency to get of on a tangent. An effective simple PowerPoint can help teachers stay on message and get the desired point across.
Organization is Key! Make sure that the each slide has the same format. It is very fun to add sound effects and or media, however when doing this make sure it has a specific effect. The presenter must make sure that the media supplements relate to the presentation on hand. For example if I am talking about the music theory and I put a picture of a frog, to be creative I need to be able to tie the frog to the music. If I cannot do that it becomes a distraction or confusing to the learner.
Implementing an effective PowerPoint in the classroom can really help facilitate learning especially for more visual learners. Students can take advantage of this technological tool to create slide shows and create games for review among other things that can make the classroom very entertaining. As long as multimedia and PowerPoint are used correctly it becomes a great tool for learning. However is used incorrectly it becomes more of a burden on the class rather than a effective learning tool.

Blooms Taxonomy
Taxonomy is essentially a set of criteria for learning. At first I saw it as a rubric of learning but in reality it describes different standards of learning competence. A lot of times students are only evaluated at one level, which is the knowledge level (the most basic). Bloom argues that there are many different levels of knowledge. Consequently it is essential for the teacher to incorporate more advanced methods of knowledge in order to promote competence.
I found the page on applying taxonomy very helpful, as it will help me as a teacher to challenge students to think deeper than just the facts. The site gives hints on what types of verbs to use in teaching as well as asking questions. Furthermore it suggests possible questions to hit different types of competences in the knowledge of the students. I will definitely use this to further challenge my students to think critically about the given material. I look forward to using this also in assessments to make sure that there a complete knowledge of a particular unit.

Integrating Technology in the Classroom.

In different parts of my schooling I was exposed to a wide variety of technology that nowadays seems obsolete. The CD/radios walkmans are now ancient compared to the i-pod’s and MP3/4 players of the 21st century. These devices and tools that we are seeing are part of “the digital revolution,” can be interpreted by teachers as one of two things: a distraction or opportunity.

When I was in school, teachers many times discouraged the use of such devices because they were distractions to other students. In reflection on how Burg and Fagg used technology, one would think that teachers would be able to incorporate fun technological tools to help facilitate the learning process. As a matter of fact it was a video editing class that got me inclined to actually be interested in new technology, more specifically technology with apple. The successful application of video editing technique easily transferred into applicable projects that got instant A’s as substitutions or supplements to projects in other subjects.

The point being that there is a place for technology in each class. More times than not, technology can be a useful tool rather than a distraction. The use of Google Earth, although simple, can teach students relevant concepts about geography and space. Furthermore, with the correct implementation, i-pods can become learning tools for students. I know that I want to provide a short podcast for my students on what happened in class. This will help students who might have miss out, to get involved and up to date with a or any issues that might come up in class.

However, as a teacher it is very important to always keep your students on task. Therefore, it if a teacher doesn’t communicate effectively in order to keep his or her students on task, technology can be a hindrance. I know first hand from being a student that if there is a possibility to get off task, the tendency to go off and engage in activities having little or no to do with the actual assignment at hand becomes highly probable.

The only other issue that becomes problematic with plans to incorporate technology with in the classroom is access. Teachers in many cases, cannot go in to a class room and assume that every one has their own personal i-pod. As a matter of fact there are many school districts that are not as privileged to have such generous grants from technological companies. When implementing an effective communication strategy to your students, it important to survey whether or not they have access to the applicable tools.

In conclusion in order to get students cognitively engaged, technological tools become important resources that facilitate an effective learning environment. With that said, the tools need to be appropriate as well as an effective method to communicate with the students. Like any good idea it can back fire, therefore effective planning is key. Don’t assume that everything will go perfectly. Keeping that in mind should foster a great environment for students as well as teachers.

I’m not sure about listservs but Back Flip is a huge WOW!!!

I’m not sure about listservs but Back Flip is a huge WOW!!!!
This week in class we were introduced to the different ways to find lesson plans online as well as subscribing to list serves. It is in my own personal opinion that list serves create more of a hassle for me than ther are effective. Although the message goes to hundreds of people seldom do people respond, at least in my experience. Nevertheless, perhaps yahoo groups might be a little different. I remain stubborn on the use of list serves. I have just not seen the benefit of using them.
So at home I got acquainted the program called back flip. What a cool tool! Basically it’s like a book marking site that saves all my bookmarks on-line. So, what is so good about that you might ask? This is because I will be able to access the bookmarks remotely and be able to share them with students, colleagues, and myself. This will actually be a great tool to give students a warm up on certain issues. I ended up making a lot of folders dealing with social science and history. One site is great for kids; its basically fun facts about today’s history.
Whether it is for looking up lesson plans to finding resources for my students, Backflip makes it easy and simple for me to organize websites for easy access.
On the one hand this tool is a great resource for me as a teacher as I will be able to essentially save all my bookmarks in an organized fashion in order for me to resource it
in future occurrences. On the flip side my students will benefit from this because I can give them an assignment that will guide them in the right direction when it comes to accessing appropriate websites. The Internet is a great resource to use when it comes to research however; as many know there are many sites that don’t reflect scholarly credibility. Tools such as back flip will be essential for me to keep track of my students to make sure that they are on task. When my students are on task and learning they will minds will grow!!!!!

Screen shots on the Mac and PC

MAC 101

This week was mostly introductions to the class as well as Mac 101. I did learn how to do screen shots on a Mac which will come in handy especially for this class. When using Mac I knew doing screen shot was possible but did no know it was so easy to do. I think that when I am a teacher I will use this tool in order for students to prove and demonstrate to me that they were at certain web sites. On a side note this might be an easy way to get pictures online that are not always copy able.

When it comes to blogging, this is an activity that I was very engaged in when I studied abroad. However my adventures in the United States have not been as note worthy I must admit. Nevertheless, I feel that the class will give me plenty to blog about. It will also be valuable to review these blogs to see all that I have learned over the semester. More over, blogging can be an effective teaching tool to inform students about assignments, updates and perhaps some tips and trick to increase their learning and hence make them better students.

Besides that I am currently working on the proper business etiquette when it comes to writing a professional letter. I expect to have the letter sent to Mrs. Erika McCulloch by Sunday. I am exited to learn more short cuts on the Mac as well as getting my knowledge about teaching more integrated with the Macintosh. I feel that in college and in life in general people have become too dependent on PC. I constantly tell people that they discriminate against apple. I don’t care what people Say Apple will always be cooler.
Felipe