Saturday, September 26, 2009
Item of Interest chapter 4 00159553
I chose Oregon Trail as my item of interest this week. Boy did I get excited to see this was one of my choices. I loved this game when I was younger. When I was in fifth grade I was introduced to this game. I never realized until I read this article that I was learning history, geography, and social studies all in this one game. To me this was just a fun game. Games like this make learning all these subjects fun! I think students playing games of this caliber make learning more enjoyable for students who don't enjoy history, social studies or geography. Technology even game playing is so crucial to a students educational growth.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Item Of Interest Chapter 3
Software Corner Primetime Math
What a great idea Primetime Math series is! How many times have you heard someone say we will never use this math in the "real world"? This series shows kids stories of when real-world professionals use math in the everyday life. Some of the titles include Adrift, Cliffbound, Fire, Lost, Emergency and Stakeout. Alot of the math stories have to do with Police, fire, medical emergencies and some search and rescue. These are all professions that are very interesting to young children. So Primetime Math makes math exciting for this students. I believe that any kind of learning computer game is wonderful. Children love to play on the computer and love to play games so lets make them educational and most times they forget they are even learning. Another favorite math computer game of mine is FastMath. The students love it!! I am defintely going to use Primetime Math and Fastmath in my classroom.
What a great idea Primetime Math series is! How many times have you heard someone say we will never use this math in the "real world"? This series shows kids stories of when real-world professionals use math in the everyday life. Some of the titles include Adrift, Cliffbound, Fire, Lost, Emergency and Stakeout. Alot of the math stories have to do with Police, fire, medical emergencies and some search and rescue. These are all professions that are very interesting to young children. So Primetime Math makes math exciting for this students. I believe that any kind of learning computer game is wonderful. Children love to play on the computer and love to play games so lets make them educational and most times they forget they are even learning. Another favorite math computer game of mine is FastMath. The students love it!! I am defintely going to use Primetime Math and Fastmath in my classroom.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Essay # 1 Virtual High Schools
When I decided to do my essay on Virtual High Schools I was totally against them. Question is Do I think 100% online high schools are an effective solution? Well after doing some research on this subject I am 75% against virtual high schools and 25% for them.
There are many different situations as to why you would use a virtual high school. Some reasons are there are not certain classes being offered at your high school such as AP classes, or classes that were cut due to budgets. Another reason that students would use a virtual high school is if they are home bound due to medical reasons. In cases like these I can understand why someone would take part in an online high school. I actually think it is a great idea for teenagers that can't go to school due to a medical problem. They can still get there school work done and graduate on time and have the same opportunity as a student attending regular high school.
I don't agree with a Virtual High School just for the sake of not going to school. Does that make sense? I think there needs to be a legitimate reason for needing a Virtual High School. Not attending a regular high school can be crippling to your social growth. Your teenage years are the years you grow so much as a person. What about all those firsts? Your first football game, high school dance, kiss, your first boyfriend/girlfriend and your first heartbreak. You will never know what any of these feel like unless you are in a traditional high school where there are other students. I know that all of that is not important to most people but it really makes you who you are going to be as an adult. I personally am so glad for all the good, bad and ugly experiences I had in high school. They made me the person I am today. Another reason is you never get to experience what the real world is like if you are doing all your school work from your house alone. Doing your school work at your convenience or when you want to!!!! Does that prepare you for the real world?
A last reason I do not agree with Virtual High Schools is if everything becomes virtual one day then why are we going to need so many teachers? Our job security is gone. I don't want to think I am wasting my time going to school to become a teacher when some day I could be replaced by a computer. I don't think a computer can do as good of a job teaching students as a live teacher can.
In closing it is something that a believe will be a debate for a long time whether it is effective or not. I personally hope I don't live to see the day that Virtual High Schools become the norm.
There are many different situations as to why you would use a virtual high school. Some reasons are there are not certain classes being offered at your high school such as AP classes, or classes that were cut due to budgets. Another reason that students would use a virtual high school is if they are home bound due to medical reasons. In cases like these I can understand why someone would take part in an online high school. I actually think it is a great idea for teenagers that can't go to school due to a medical problem. They can still get there school work done and graduate on time and have the same opportunity as a student attending regular high school.
I don't agree with a Virtual High School just for the sake of not going to school. Does that make sense? I think there needs to be a legitimate reason for needing a Virtual High School. Not attending a regular high school can be crippling to your social growth. Your teenage years are the years you grow so much as a person. What about all those firsts? Your first football game, high school dance, kiss, your first boyfriend/girlfriend and your first heartbreak. You will never know what any of these feel like unless you are in a traditional high school where there are other students. I know that all of that is not important to most people but it really makes you who you are going to be as an adult. I personally am so glad for all the good, bad and ugly experiences I had in high school. They made me the person I am today. Another reason is you never get to experience what the real world is like if you are doing all your school work from your house alone. Doing your school work at your convenience or when you want to!!!! Does that prepare you for the real world?
A last reason I do not agree with Virtual High Schools is if everything becomes virtual one day then why are we going to need so many teachers? Our job security is gone. I don't want to think I am wasting my time going to school to become a teacher when some day I could be replaced by a computer. I don't think a computer can do as good of a job teaching students as a live teacher can.
In closing it is something that a believe will be a debate for a long time whether it is effective or not. I personally hope I don't live to see the day that Virtual High Schools become the norm.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Item Of Interest Chapter 2
Software Corner
My Item of interest in chapter 2 was Virtual Dissecting software. I have heard so many educators talk about this great software. I would definitely use this in the classroom. One thing i remember most about 7th grade was the horrible smell when I dissected a frog. I was so disgusted having to cut that frog out and the liquid coming out of it. If my teacher would have had access to this software I would not have had to been traumatized!!! =)
I am sure that purchasing this software is much cheaper than getting enough frogs for every student year after year.
Software Corner
My Item of interest in chapter 2 was Virtual Dissecting software. I have heard so many educators talk about this great software. I would definitely use this in the classroom. One thing i remember most about 7th grade was the horrible smell when I dissected a frog. I was so disgusted having to cut that frog out and the liquid coming out of it. If my teacher would have had access to this software I would not have had to been traumatized!!! =)
I am sure that purchasing this software is much cheaper than getting enough frogs for every student year after year.
Item Of Interest Chapter 1
Digitial Media Corner
I chose Brainplugg as my item of interest. The link in the book did not work so I had to google search it. The brainplugg website that came up did not look like the brainplugg in the book but i still checked it out. What an interesting website. You can find any kind of video you can imagine without having to sort through thousands of videos.
I would defintley use this website in my classroom. You can easily bookmark videos to be used.
One downfall I found was there are some videos on here that may be inappropriate for school so the school district may not give you access to this website. If you do get access to it I would make sure the children do not have access to it.
Digitial Media Corner
I chose Brainplugg as my item of interest. The link in the book did not work so I had to google search it. The brainplugg website that came up did not look like the brainplugg in the book but i still checked it out. What an interesting website. You can find any kind of video you can imagine without having to sort through thousands of videos.
I would defintley use this website in my classroom. You can easily bookmark videos to be used.
One downfall I found was there are some videos on here that may be inappropriate for school so the school district may not give you access to this website. If you do get access to it I would make sure the children do not have access to it.
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