Close, But No Cigar...

So I almost completed my project and I was very happy before the lesson began. I had a lesson on giving instructions and using transition words. I had created all of my slides using ActivStudio 3 and was ready to use ActiVote - which is a system that allows the students to use little remotes, similar to the iClickers that we use here at BYU, except the remotes look more fun and are more colorful than our iClickers. Anyway, so I had two questions in the presentation that needed to be answered. I was going to have the students use the ActiVote remotes to decide which was correct. I was going to do this because it would give me an indication of who understood what we were doing and who did not. However, I did not realize that I have to have all of the remotes registered beforehand on my computer. I am using my own personal MacBook rather than using my teacher's. This works out well because it allows her to do her work on her computer and I am able to use the Promethean Board. So tomorrow morning I will go and talk to the tech guy and see if he will be willing to put all of the devices onto my laptop and then I'll be able to use the ActiVote for my project. I almost had it done today...but I just didn't know that ONE detail!

Idea for Technology-Enhanced Lesson

Tomorrow I am actually teaching a math lesson on measurement (for 3rd grade.) With the Promethean board at my disposal - I believe it will be good for me to use that in my lesson. Tonight, I will use ActivStudio 3 in order to create a "flipchart" to present to the class tomorrow. The class has already been measuring one of those alligators that grows when you put it in water - and we will be focusing on teaching the students how to use the 1/4 inch, 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch marks effectively. So I beleive that I will get a very large ruler and put it up on the board and then demonstrate things that we can measure on the board. It is nice because I can make notes on the Promethean board and then clear them off as needed. Students are then able to see where they should be mentally drawing the lines. Then the students will be making graphs of the growth they have recorded of their alligators. I will probably put up an example of that as well on the board to show them what the computer can show them in a graph made my the computer. So there will be a bit of technology involved in the lesson tomorrow!

Technology Inventory Findings

I must say to begin with that Spring Creek Elementary ROCKS when it comes to technology. In the classroom that I am in right now I have access to a plethora of different technologies. I even have a Promethean Board! That is my favorite things to use right now. I was observed today for one of my lessons and I used it and it worked flawlessly...actually I used it for two of the lessons that I did today. It is amazing what technology can do! This morning, it was an inside day and so my mentor teacher had me turn on an educational show for the students to watch before the day started. I just can't imagine not having a "wired" classroom! I have the TV/VCR/DVD Player, Promethean Board, CD Player, 7 computers and the teacher has her own laptop - of course I have my own laptop as well!

I have spoken with some of my other friends in other classrooms at different schools and one of my friends told me that she did not even have a computer in the classroom! Even though she was working with a grade younger than mine (I'm in 3rd) it is interesting to see the inequality even among Provo Schools when it comes to technology. But I must say, getting the longer end of the stick...I'm not complaining! =)

Virtual Tour Link

Here is the link to my filing cabinet which contains the Google Earth File that I created.

http://sites.google.com/site/mateookabe/my-files

TPAK for Tour

• What is the content you’ll be using in your lesson?

The content for this lesson is focused towards the U.S. History II class. Standard 7, Objective 2 which says, "Examine the impact World War II had on the American home front." Although we will be visiting various locations in the tour and having class discussions that do not always focus on the American home front, I believe that this enrichment activity to be important because it allows for higher levels of thinking as they take past events and apply them to more recent events. It also gives them an idea of what went on and where during WW 2.

• What is the pedagogy you’ll be using and why is it a good fit with the content?

The students will be observing the locations and participate in group work (as they discuss the presented questions with a classmate) as well as participate in class discussions. I think that class discussions are important especially in an enrichment activity such as this one because it allows the students to express their thoughts about a specific topic (and this is assuming that I have created a safe environment for my students, of course.) Ideally I would have a number of computers for students to work in small groups so they are able to look and think about the questions, however, worst case scenario would have the entire class looking together on the projector while I manipulated it all from my personal computer.

• What is the technology you’ll be using and why is it a good fit with the content and pedagogy?

I will be using Google Earth. Contained within Google Earth I will use the panoramio took in order to look at photos of the various sites. This is a good fit because the Earth portion will show the general location on the world of the places that we will be looking at. Then, it goes in close up so we will be able to look at the geographic area and actually view real pictures of the locations.

Locations for Google Earth Tour

Please note that this lesson is designed as an enrichment activity to go hand in hand with the text book.

Location	Activity	Google Earth Content
1. Pearl Harbor, HI	View the site where Japan attacked As a class discuss the following: Why did Japan decide to attack here? How did this affect the US? What was the response from the US after the bombing?	Panoramio
2. Betio, Tarawa, Kiribati	View a remaining cannon on the shore at Betio from WWII Discuss with a classmate: Why do we rarely hear about the battles that took place at this location?	Panoramio
3. Hiroshima, Japan	View the memorial for the people where the A-Bomb was dropped **With GREAT SENSITIVITY** - View the memorial with a number of names of people who had died in the bombing - ask students to make a more recent connection.	Panoramio
4. Nagasaki, Japan	View the memorial for the people where the A-Bomb was dropped (See activity for Number 3. Number 3 and 4 go together.)	Panoramio
Details of image overlay / path / polygon:	A path could be created from Japan to Tarawa and then another one from Tarawa to Hawaii

Book Trailer

A little bit of difficulty using TeacherTube...rather than use YouTube where ALL could see this, I have just embedded it into the blog itself.