Databases

Overall I'm glad I got some familiarity with databases. I was a little shaky still when I was asked to create them. I'd like to continue working with them to get more familiarity with them. To be honest I'm not sure yet of their application in my particular classroom. I have a feeling that this would be an extension activity for a small handful of kids that are up for the challenge. I think that some of them would be able to follow an existing one that was pre-made by me and get some benefit from it as far as analysis. Others would benefit from exposure to the concept but would not yet be ready to handle it.

spreadsheets and their use in the classroom

This is a great website for an activity on spreadsheets in the classroom. It involves an existing spreadsheet that can be used to extrapolate data and use that for higher level thinking skills. It's also a great motivator for students around the forth grade as they seem to have an innate interest in trivial facts about the presidents.
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110054/Presidents.html

The next one is a consumer economic spreadsheet that also works on math skills. It involves a budget of imaginary money and a shopping spree. Columns are used for the items purchased, the cost and the quantity. There are two options for either an existing spreadsheet or one that the students create.

http://www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope/techknowpark/FreeFall/ShoppingSpree.html

I've discovered a great spreadsheet for tabulating and synthesizing the data on weather patterns. Then there's graphing options also in connection with it

http://standards.nctm.org/document/eexamples/chap5/5.5/index.html

All these spreadsheets can be used in the classroom with the right implementation. Clearly spreadsheets can be an outstanding teaching and learning tool.

Google Doc Writing Activity

The Google document that I created from the second session of CEDU 510 was meaningful generally. A little background: I consider myself to have somewhere between a basic and a proficient understanding of Google documents. As far as general word processing I would rank myself somewhat higher. Therefore, the value for me personally came from the fact that practice is always a benefit for someone of my skill level. Obviously, practice reenforces the skills that I already know and others that are new were also made clearer through the assignment.

There is a great value of Word processing in an academic setting.  Word processing can be applied to a multitude of activities in virtually any area of academics. First off, its potentially the "backbone" of a any writing curriculum. All the steps to the writing processing flow so well into a relationship with word processing that it's extremely beneficial in this arena. However, it is truly not limited to writing as a subject by itself.  Across the content area it has a benefit.

This weeks graphics lesson

This week I used the graphics lesson in my science curriculum. I used it in the computer lab and connected it to a graphic organizer they were doing in the vertebrates and invertebrates unit. 

Presentation Activity

I investigated all of the presentation products mentioned on the WIKI site. I found that each was valuable and seemed to flow somewhat differently than the others. I suppose, like any piece of technology, the individual may choose a particular product based on any number of personal preferences or intentional or subconscious biases. That said, there was one that seemed to me to be the most user friendly and conducive to making an effective presentation. Google documents.

There are several reasons this seems to be the most effective. One is the fact that it could be worked on and constructed by numerous people simultaneously. Second it could be viewed online during the presentation. Finally the save feature of continual chances to retrieve changes seems extremely user friendly.

The value in fourth grade could most easily be seen in the presentation from my end as a teacher. However, towards the end of the school year and after building their basic computer skills, it would definitely be appropriate to introduce my students to these presentation tools for their own presentations in any subject.

Graphics Assignment

I investigated all of the graphics activities and found most , on a personal level, to be very amusing. I did an activity on the Mr. Picasso Head web site. That one and most of the others had applications within the classroom for my students.

The value of several of the websites are potentially great. Several of the sites could be used as graphic organizers in the content areas. Given the correct prompt, the students could use them as journal entries. The Mr. Picasso Head could be used in a lesson or possibly as a performance assessment on symmetrical vs. asymmetrical objects in math. Through the proper manipulation of eyebrows, noses eyes, etc. a student could generate desired asymmetrical vs symmetrical faces.

My first thought of their application and value was not directly related to content but is something that I do in my class. I could use both the Mr. Picasso head and the Jackson Pollock in my classroom since I do an "Artist of the Month." My class investigates the art of one featured artist per month. We do a variety of activities connected with him or her. These two would lend themselves well to activities during that time.

I'm excited to be in this MEIT program. The first class: CEDU 523 - Introduction to using the internet was an excellent one. I believe that the most general thing that I picked up from the class was that the internet is an outstanding resource in teaching. More specifically, the application of the google calendar and WIKI sites in my classroom are numerous and beneficial.