Movie

http://gallery.me.com/teresa105#100123

My movie would be used during a unit on settlements/natural resources in a social studies class. My plan would be to split the class into about four groups with six students in each group.  Each group will travel to different stations throughout the week.  The game Catan would be a fun way for them to put their learning into action because the goal is to use the natural resources on your island to create settlements. The video I made would be viewed by that group before playing the game to refresh their memory about how to play!

Electronic Portfolio

https://sites.google.com/a/malone.edu/electronic-portfolio-erica/home

Williamsburg Webquest

https://sites.google.com/a/malone.edu/williamsburg-webquest/home

Technology in the Classroom

I plan to use multiple forms of technology in my future middle school classroom. At the beginning of the semester I was not confident with my technological skills, but now that I've gone through this class, I feel much more prepared to integrate productive technologies in my classroom. I have also learned throughout the semester, that even though I don't always prefer technology, students are much more responsive to lessons that use some form of technology. I was honestly surprised at how much my opinion has changed about using these new ways to teach. I loved the teacher webpage and can't wait to make a real one for my students/parents in the future. Outside of this class, I learned how to use a SmartBoard and fell in love with it after teaching one lesson! It's a great way to incorporate multiple learning styles because students can manipulate their learning in different ways. I enjoyed making the webquest, even though it's a lot of work. Nevertheless, I believe that students deserve the best, so I hope to find time to put together a solid webquest to use in my first few years of teaching. I am thankful for the information I have learned in this class throughout the semester, and I plan to use these new ideas that I have learned thus far in my future classroom.

Miss White's 5th Grade Teacher Webpage

https://sites.google.com/a/malone.edu/malone-middle-school/

Podcasting

A podcast is a digital audio file that is available for others to download. Podcasts can be downloaded on computers or ipods, mp3 players, etc. for others to listen to at any time. 

At first I wasn't sure if I would use podcasts in my room because I had never made or listened to a podcast. However after making my own, I realized that it's a very simple process that could easily be incoporated into the classroom. I think that podcasts could be used as introductions to lessons because it gives students a break from listening to the teacher.  Also, I think they would be very useful in the case of my being absent. It would make things easier for the sub and would ensure that directions for activities are explained the way I would want. If I had time I think podcasts would also be interesting to keep on my teacher webpage.   

I only see benefits for podcasting.  I think it's a productive way to incorporate technology into the classroom. I think it would be problematic if podcasts were used as the main method of lecture, but I think it's a great additional resource for teachers!

Ethics...does it really matter?

As defined online, ethics are the "moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior" (http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=ethics+definition).  I think this is a perfect definition of how ethics is relevant in the classroom.  Teachers need to be intentional about modeling for students.  Modeling should include instruction, activities, expectations, and ethics.  Teacher's need to be the first leader in the classroom.  Each person has different beliefs, but morals are accepted as what is right.  As a teacher I will display appropriate and moral behavior in the classroom in multiple ways.  The most relevant example to me it when we learned in class that we need to use pictures that are not copyrighted.  It's so easy, as I proved, to go to Google and copy and paste pictures into a presentation without thinking twice about copyright laws.  As I learned that night, we as teachers need to teach our students to follow rules and guidelines by showing them appropriate behavior.  Even though ethics may seem insignificant at the time, students will remember the actions of a teacher, whether good or bad.  If not we risk effecting children in negative ways - whether it's immediately shown in their classroom behavior, or later on in society.  It's my personal conviction that teachers should even be aware of ethics outside of the classroom because you may never know when students are watching, and I never want to disappoint my students with unethical behavior.