Standards 5 & 6

V.

BI use technology as much as possible to communicate with the parents by way of my website and sending them e-mails concerning their child's progress/ behavior.

My third grade team and I share information by e-mailing back and forth websites that we have found that is helpful to the subject matter that we are studying at the time. We scan items and then save them on the school staff drive so we all have access to different worksheets etc...

I am always searching for websites that the students can use to practice the skills that we are learning in class. We work on these sites during computer lab and during class time. I use the district's grade keeper, IGPRO to keep track of my grades.

At Pelham Road we have in services on computer programs that our technology team has purchased so everyone has time to learn/practice so we can teach the kids. Our media specialist keeps us informed about things the district has (in the way of technology) that is available to us.

I have not ever taken on on-line course. I am not sure if I am disciplined enough to do one yet...

VI.


At the beginning of the year we teach the kids about Internet safety and we have them signed an Internet safety form and then the parents sign it so they know what our safety practices are. We do not let the kids roam around on the Internet. We bookmark sites for the students to use .

We also teach the kids they have to cite their resources and not to plagiarize.

All the kids get to us the computers. the computers are not just used as "an early finisher" or "the smart kids" get to use them because they know what they are doing on the computer.

I teach all my kids in the room how to use the scanner in my room, the copier, and they all know how to turn on and orient the smart board.

.

standard 4

IV.
Assessment and Evaluation

Teachers apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies. Teachers:

A.
apply technology in assessing student learning of subject matter using a variety of assessment techniques.
B.
use technology resources to collect and analyze data, intrepret results, and communicate findings to improve instructional practice and maximize student learning.
C.
apply multiple methods of evaluation to determine students' appropriate use of technology resources for learning, communication, and productivity.


This standard is about how teachers use technology to teach students is different subject areas. I use technology to teach in different subject areas.

For math, I have found several sites that my kids can practice math skills that I have taught in class. The sites give them practice on their own and give them immediate results on how they are doing.

In science, there are sites that allow the students to perform science experiments on line and allow the students to view different habitats of the world and the animals that live there. My students can go on line and view in real time zoos animals, weather, and solar activities.

The hindrance to using this kind of technology is the time it takes to find suitable sources for the kids to use .

Nets Standard 4

IV.
Assessment and Evaluation

Teachers apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies. Teachers:

A.
apply technology in assessing student learning of subject matter using a variety of assessment techniques.
B.
use technology resources to collect and analyze data, intrepret results, and communicate findings to improve instructional practice and maximize student learning.
C.
apply multiple methods of evaluation to determine students' appropriate use of technology resources for learning, communication, and productivity.

This standard is about using technology to assess students.

The only ways that I use technology to assess students is when we do MAP testing or when the students use AR to test their comprehention of books they have read.

Using the MAP testing is very effective for assessing students because we get immediate feedback. The MAP testing also lets us compare the students and let us know what the students' strengths and weakness. Because the test is on-line, we have an automatic way to compare the students to the other students in class, students throught the district, and students in the same grade.

AR is good beacuse the students have the choice of what they want to read and then they take a test is see what level their comprehention was on the book they read. They get points, which they can redeem for prizes or get to participate in special events.

Using this type of technology is easy for me, because I don't have to do anything, the information needed for the asssessment is already in the system.

NETS Standard Three

Standard three is about using technology in your lessons (plans) to teach the curriculum.

Using technology in the classroom is a good way to differentiate instruction. In my class we have centers in the morning. This is a great time for me to use the computers. I have several math websites book marked. For my students that struggle with math concepts this is a great time to let them work on the math sites. It gives them time to have practice on working on math "in a game like" instruction. They enjoy "playing" the math games and by playing they have time to think through the problems they are having trouble with. Sometimes I have them paired with a partner, and the two of them work together on the games. This provides a peer tutoring session with out being singled out during class.

I use technology "formally" throughout the year.

At the very beginning of the year,we do a "Famous SC" power point. This research project has the students using school based and teacher bookmarked sites to find information about their famous person. The students use the standards we have created ( at Pelham Road). We basically take the students through all the standards, from copy, cut, paste( pictures of the SC), to using the Internet search tools. Students then have to create a power point about their famous SC, that they show during the year when we are studying that person's time period.

At the end of the year my kids get to be creative. They get to pick a topic they are interested in and do research. They become "experts" on topic. They do research using the Internet, they can create a power point, do a slide show on Kids Pix, ...anyway they want to present it is fine. During this project they are using all the skills that they learned all year long, plus with this report I teach them how to scan pictures to add to their reports and they learn how to insert a hyperlink to their reports so they can show the class a clip, picture or video clip about their topic.

My class goes to the computer lab (alas) once a week. We learn how to use the different software that our school has. they work on typing skills, they take AR test on line, we take reading comprehension test on line from our basil readers, we create graphs...I try to make good use of our computer time.

ISTE-NETS for teachers Standard #2

Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences

This standard means that in the classroom, teachers should make the students aware of and allow the students to use technology in the everyday activities. Students should be "hands on" with technology.

In my classroom, I try to always included some type of activity that requires the students to use parts and pieces of technology. Each day we do editing using the smart board. The students go to the board and make the corrections.

I pull up interactive "games" with our math and science. The kids do the interaction with the board.

When we do reports (book, science...) the kids have the choice of doing the pencil and pencil, or they can create a power point, or type the reports. They use the different types of software( Kids pix, Graph club, Stationary Studio...)to publish their work with.

Each year we teach the kids how to create a power point and then they do a "famous South Carolina" research/power point that they present to the class. This is a way for them to learn a new skill and then practice it. The knowledge they gain through this assignment allows then to successfully use their technology knowledge and apply it to other assignments during the year.

In the computer lab, we use Bernie's Typing. This program teaches the kids the correct way(using the home keys) to keyboard.We use this program to practice keyboarding for about fifteen minutes every computer session.

Kids learn at home when they are interacting with their gameboys, Wi, computer games...so it just makes sense to let them have the same type of practice at school in a more structured and educational way.

I have three computers in my room. In the mornings, I have centers. Computers are a center in my room. What ever subject we are working on ...I find some type of interactive "game" that they can "play" on the computers during center time.

The computers in my room are not used as an early finisher activity, if I did that, I would have students rushing through their work trying to get to the computers. I also do not allow that because only the 'bright children" would be going to the computers. I don't want the kids to see the computer as a reward.

To have everyone at the computers, more than just at center time, when students have "I wonder" questions, I tell them to go to the computer and use one of the school supported reference software programs to find the answer to their question and share with the class.

ISTE Standard One

Technology Operations and Concepts
Teachers demonstrate a sound understanding of technology operations and concepts.

As a teacher, an on going part of my job is to continue to grow professionally. Growth should not only include knowledge of the subject areas I am teaching, but also technology. In order to "keep up" with my students, I need to understand technology and have a working knowledge of how to apply it in my classroom. I need to be able to keep up with my student's knowledge. With technology changing frequently, new ideas, new concepts, new "words"... I need to know where to find the information that will keep me current with the latest trends.

I am not that computer savvy. I have basic typing skills, but I am primarily a hunt and peck typer. I took typing in the ninth grade and I never took another typing class. I always vowed that I would never "work in a bank", so I did not see the benefit of having keyboarding skills. (Boy, what a mistake that was!!)

I have a smart board in my room, that I use everyday. I don't know what I would do without it. I have the copy, scanner, printer connected to my laptop, that I also use everyday.

Believe it or not, I was Pelham Road's webmaster for three years. I learned the basic operations from the former webmaster and between myself and the media specialist we kept the site updated. It wasn't great, but we did make a lot of improvements like adding pictures of the staff and setting up new tables etc. I learned how to manage the website in a linear way. As long as everything worked the way it was suppose to I was okay, but if things fouled up, I had to call on someone to help.

I am interested in learning about technology to help enhance my teaching. I try every year to add more technology to my teaching. Two years ago, I worked with a practicum student and the media specialist and we created a unit where my students did researched on the computers on a county in SC and then my students created a brochure (using a template) about their county on the computer.

I think part of my problem in working with technology, is that I don't take the time to play around on the computer. I attribute this to my (self diagnosed) ADD. I get the ideas for projects and then I find help...I also have the use it or lose it mental thing going on. I need to have lots of practice in order to cement things to my brain.