Lesson 4: Computer Presentations in the Classroom

     This week I learned…about the effectiveness of using presentation programs in the classroom. I must admit, it was an easy “sell,” because I already think that PowerPoint is the best teaching aid since the chalkboard. When I started teaching 8^th grade Physical Science ten years ago, I had to start from scratch as far as presentation materials go. I laboriously hand-copied notes onto pages and pages of transparency sheets for all of the scientific topics in the book that we covered. Eventually I got more techno-savy and typed the notes in Microsoft Word and copied them onto the sheets, so they were easier to read, save, correct, or update. Still, I disliked having to say, “Okay, stop copying notes for a second and turn to page __ in the textbook to look at a picture of ____.” I knew there was a better way, but it wasn’t until my school purchased several LCD projectors that I realized exactly how much better it could get. A colleague, who knew how much I enjoyed “telling stories” while I lectured, suggested that I create a PowerPoint presentation where I could insert pictures of the things that I was asking students to “imagine.” It took off from there. You might say that I was obsessed. I spent every planning period from that moment on until I had created a multimedia PowerPoint presentation for every single topic that I covered in my class. I even created review PowerPoints to use at the end of the year to review material before the state standardized test. I spent many, many hours at school and at home adding video, sounds, and pictures to my presentations until they were educational, engaging, and entertaining.

     I am especially proud of the presentation that I created for the chapter on chemical bonding. I found wonderful animations on the Internet that move to show exactly how the electrons move and come together during the different types of chemical bonding. I found video clips that show explosions (complete with sound) as energy is released during an exothermic reaction and ice forming on the outside of a beaker during an endothermic reaction. I also enjoyed making the PowerPoint for the Motion and “Force” unit. Being a self-proclaimed Star Wars geek, I squeezed in a few sound clips from the movie like Obi Wan saying, “May the FORCE be with you” as they copy the definition of “force.” At the end of the presentation, after I talk about Galileo and the rate of falling objects in a vacuum, I play a sound clip of astronauts from the Falcon space capsule testing his theory on the moon by dropping a Falcon feather and a rock hammer, which fall at the same rate without air resistance on the moon. Courtesy of the Internet!

     The students like the presentations and are often caught off guard by the pictures and sounds that I find on the Internet and include in the show. It keeps them on their toes. I also created note-taking worksheets for the 6^th graders.  The worksheets have the same text as the presentation, but with key words missing for the students to fill in. I made them so that the students can easily find the missing word or words, but still be able to pay attention to the presentations and keep up.

     I enjoy making the presentations so much that I have allowed students to have the opportunity to create their own presentations for several of our topics-volcanoes, elements, and scientific inventions of the future.

     In the future, if I get a Flip video camera dedicated for use in my classroom, I would like to record my students doing laboratory experiments and include clips and instructions for students who were absent to use as a “virtual” lab make up.

Lesson 3: Word Processing and Desktop Publishing

     This week I learned...about how word processing and desktop publishing programs have changed the way that people communicate with each other for the better. Gone are the days of late nights spent typing and retyping papers with revisions, only to realize that you made a typo or left out a paragraph and have to retype the entire paper. Gone are the agonizing hours spent learning the proper way to cite references in that same paper. Now, thanks to word processing programs such as Microsoft Word, error-free bibliographies can be produced in minutes. Inserting references is also quick and easy with the help of the same program. Spell-check and grammar-check help make sure that we are producing relatively error-free documents. Word count also helps us monitor the length of our documents-some of us may get a little wordy, others not enough, but regardless, we know where we stand with a quick click. This week’s lesson also pointed out that students who use word processing programs write more than if they had to hand-write the same assignment. It’s simply more fun on a computer. 
     If word processing software gives our documents structure, then desktop publishing makes it look complete. The polished documents that are now easily produced by students and teachers alike were not possible not that long ago. Inserting pictures, adding borders, using the wide variety of available fonts, text colors, etc., not to mention the existing templates that are available, make the job of creating professional-looking documents easy and fun. Students enjoy personalizing their papers with different fonts and colors. They like searching for pictures on the Internet to make their research paper stand out. They actually ask to be able to type up their short stories or poems in the computer lab. These types of programs have changed the way both students and teachers go about the process of writing. As a part of this assignment, we were supposed to review a document that we had created that went home to parents or students and review it based on what we have just learned. I chose a flyer that I produced to advertise my school’s drama club. My original version was effective, but maybe a little “blah.” It had the necessary information on it, but wasn’t a real attention grabber. At the bottom of my blog is a flyer that I created for the drama club that I coach. I revised it and added more graphics and color font. 
      Also extensively addressed in this week’s lesson, was the role of assistive technology in helping students achieve more in the classroom. Adaptive keyboards with “word predictive” programs allow students with physical disabilities to use computers more effectively by offering students a selection of words to complete the two or three characters that they had typed.  Voice playback software, such as “Simple Text” also helps students who are struggling readers, by pronouncing difficult words or reading complex paragraphs. On-line textbooks or websites allow teachers or students to “redisplay” text at different difficulty levels to accommodate the different performance levels of readers.

Lesson 2: Spreadsheets and Databases in the Classroom

Lesson 2 Blog: Spreadsheets and Databases in the Classroom

      This week I learned...about how (and why) to use spreadsheets and databases in the classroom. As a science teacher you’d think I’d be all over using this type of technology in a science classroom, but alas, I am a teaching enigma-a science teacher who hates math, so the thought of incorporating more math into my lessons does not make me want to go shout from the rooftops. Now when I say “hate,” I guess that’s kind of a strong word. As a science teacher, I recognize that math is necessary, but my math phobia is deeply rooted in my past. I come from the old school where calculators were “verboten” and it was memorize, drill, and more memorization. No fun games, no computer applications, no Study Island. Memorizing metric conversion tables because “everyone in the whole world will be using nothing but the Metric System by 1977”…well, at least the rest of the world kept their end of the bargain. I guess there were some folks in the decision-making part of the country who weren’t too keen on memorization either, ‘cause it never happened. That created a whole different problem-learning the metric system in math and science classes and then going home and using the English system (which, by the way, not even the English use anymore). But I digress…my point is that if data tables, spreadsheets, and computers had been part of my educational math experience, I not only would have had a better attitude, I would have loved it! Hands-on and using the computer is right up my alley.

In researching this week’s lessons, I found some really helpful ideas for using Microsoft Excel charts in the science classroom. The following is the web address:

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/TCR/TCR3469_86-87.pdf

I already mentioned earlier in my discussion this week about using a spreadsheet to show the predator –prey relationship in an area, and then chart what happens if you change either variable. I think that would be a really impressive and immediate way to show students how delicate ecosystems are and how little changes can make big differences. This is technology that I already have access to at school and home, but never thought about using in this way. So without any extra funding or cost, I could easily incorporate this into an ecosystem activity that I already do with my students. This would give them an extra math and graphing opportunity, which they usually need. One spreadsheet idea from the site that I will definitely use in the fall is the one that charts and graphs the freezing and boiling points of a substance. Each year my students do a lab where they gradually heat ice until it boils, then turns into steam. Currently, they record it in a chart, by hand, and then graph it by hand. Each year I spend 20 minutes going over how to graph the variables and each year I get graphs that look like ragged mountain peaks, instead of nice gradual slopes. Using an Excel chart and graph would allow the students to become more familiar with where everything is supposed to go on a graph and what the graphs are supposed to look like, before they try to tackle them on their own. I thought the information found on this website was very enlightening-even if it is about math!

Lesson 1:Technological Literacy

This week I learned...that technological literacy doesn't just mean that you can open your email and turn on a computer. Laugh if you will, but not too long ago, that's all it took to claim to be technologically literate. Now my 5-year old can do more than that. I remember well the first "search engine" that I used at the local library. I thought it was a miracle. About 14 years ago, the library had just gotten this new machine in-you typed in the name of the person, place, or thing that you wanted to research, and get this-in a matter of MINUTES a list of all the magazines and books that referenced the entered name would magically appear on a long sheet of rolling dot-matrix paper. Wow! Like magic...then you had to cross your fingers and pray that the library still had some of the magazines that were on the list and that they were lost...or stolen...or checked out...or in a magazine that they didn't subscribe to... That was innovation at work.
I've been there through the birth of the Internet and witnessed the changes first hand that made my undergraduate "Educational Technology" course outdated by the time I graduated with my teaching degree less than four years later.
     After reviewing specifics of the National Education Technology Standards, I realized how many of the standards that I already implement in my classroom and identified several of the ones that I am a little "light" on. In particular, the standard that addresses leadership in the area of professional growth in technology. I hope to overcome the challenges that this standard presents by learning some valuable skills in that area during this class.
To end my very first Blog entry EVER, I include one of my favorite quotes from the assigned readings this lesson. It was from the YouTube video: A Vision of Today's Students. I am paraphrasing, but I have heard the quote previously in association with 21st Century Learning Communities, so it's not original to the site anyway:

"When I graduate, I will probably have a job that does not exist yet."

     I love this quote, because it's so true. That's what real technology is. We create what we need to meet our needs and wants, by using what we already know to help us learn more. As a science teacher, I always want to know more and look forward to keeping up with the changes in technology that make my job easier and even more exciting.