Miss Mac's World » education

Celebrating Kansas Voices: Northwest Tech

DED 318 Projects, Reflections 27.11.2011 No Comments

View Northwest Tech-My Dad’s Story in a larger map

This project was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about the school that my dad teaches at. Kansas has a rich history, and it very important to learn about the stories of its residents. I did find it hard, though, to use Voicethread in making my project, since I had to do it over the phone. I do like the tool, though, and believe it would be useful in my future classroom. Great project, and great idea!

Here’s the link to my video on the Celebrate Kansas Voices Ning!!

Tags: DED 318 Classes, education, Education Change, Google, Google Maps, Northwest Tech, Reflections, Taylor McLemore, teachers, technology, Voicethread, Web 2.0
CBL: Save the Arts!

DED 318 Projects, Reflections 14.11.2011 No Comments

This educational iMovie addresses the issue of The Fine Arts being taken out of public schools, due to budget cuts. The arts greatly benefit our students; saving the arts is detrimental to the future of our country!

Tags: ArtEducation, Arts, collaborative, core strategies, DED 318 Classes, education, Education Change, Education Issues, FineArts, FlippedClassroom, iMovie, movies, Music, Projects, Reflections, SaveTheArts, Web 2.0, YouTube
Reflection Week 7: Using Photos in the Classroom

DED 318 Projects, Reflections 29.10.2011 No Comments

In every classroom, there are visual learners. I feel strongly that it is our job, as educators, to teach to every students’ best learning method, and a great way to do that is to use photos. Brad Patterson’s blog post on his blog “A Journee in Language”, titled Blog Challenge: compare and contrast photo discusses how photos can be used in the classroom to teach children about comparing and contrasting. Larry Ferlazzo’s blog, Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day post about using photos emphasizes the importance of comparing/contrasting, using vocabulary, and describing real-life objects, especially for ELL, ESL, and EFL programs. He believes that you can do that by photos in the classroom. I really enjoyed Feralazzo’s post describing the Picture Word Inductive Model. I feel like that model is very applicable and realistic for students.

I also created my own compare and contrast challenge! Here it is:

What is different between the two photographs? What is the same? Look at what is going on, peoples’ facial expressions, and the demeanor of the people. Comments are welcomed!

Tags: Blogs, DED 318 Classes, education, Free, Photos, Reflections, Resources, teachers, technology, tools
Reﬂection Week 6, Learning is Messy

Reflections 29.10.2011 No Comments

I thoroughly enjoyed Brian Crosby’s blog, Learning is Messy. Crosby is very focused on his students and what works best for them. This teacher focuses on “at risk” students; he fuses the use of technology with field trips, art, hands-on activities and a problem-based approach. Be believes in building students’ foundations, while connecting them to the world. Crosby teacher finds a way to appeal to kid’s interests, which increases their desire to learn. I feel this is key to education, and it really spurs me on to become an even better teacher.

Tags: Blogs, DED 318 Classes, education, Education Change, education websites, Reflections, Resources, TeacherTownHall, technology
Reflection Week 6, The Thinking Stick

Reflections 03.10.2011 No Comments

The Thinking Stick is one of the best education blogs I’ve seen…by far! He provides fact-based (constructivist) educational insights that all teachers should hear. The Thinking Stick discusses educational issues, provides advice, and gives resources to teachers.

One of my favorite posts was Utecht’s take on Google Docs.

Utecht gives the top 10 reasons to switch from a word processor to Google Docs. I definitely agree that Google Docs are the future. Utecht also gives reasons such as, formatting difficulties, working collaboratively, making things public, and more. Google Docs make word processing and education in general so much easier!

Tags: Blogs, education, Education Issues, education websites, Free, Google, Google Docs, News, Reflections, teachers, technology