Reflection 5

My reflection covers a short video that I showed in class on Monday of this week. I used a site called TED.com and showed a 5:30 video over cephalopods. The video was actually a speaker (David Gallo) who was showing some amazing footage of deep sea creatures and cephalopods in their natural environment. What I learned from showing this video was that short video clips are so much better than showing longer clips which I usually show. I was able to show the clip, talk about what we saw, and actually go back and show bits and pieces of it again without wasting too much time. This was a great way to introduce a topic that usually is not that exciting. This links back to our class in that it introduces a topic and stimulates interest for those students to go out and build off of that knowledge.

Resource Log 15

http://earth.google.com/

Google Earth is a free site that offers many educational benefits. I teach ecology, taught oceanography in the past, and will teach earth science next year. I have used and will use this site in all of these courses. I can look at maps, read the text, and show my students all sorts of stuff but when they see it on google earth they really seem to understand it and want to seek out more information. They can see the world in 3D and it really interestes them. I like the tool especially for use in a constructivist classroom.

Resource Log 14

www.blogger.com

I know that this is weak, but this blogger site is a great tool to use in the classroom. Whether you teach science or english of drama, students can keep a log of what sites or articles that they read and keep a running tally of those for other students to see. As a class we can follow up on each other and share materials with others in the class. What a great opportunity to allow students to speak their mind and get ideas from other students!

Resource Log 13

http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-3/views.html

I found this article to be very intersting, as well as very helpful for me in the science classroom. This article talked about what teachers can do to be more of a constructivist, but also went through different ideas and techniques of using constructivism in the science and math classroom. Got some good ideas!

Resource Log 12

http://www.ted.com/index.php

This is very similar to my last post, but this is the overall site where I found that last video. I actually used this in class today and found it to be fantastic. I am talking about cephalopods in my Zoology class and I found a 5:30 video on the amazing adaptations they exhibit in nature. It was a great way to introduce the material and it really grabbed their attention. What I like about it as well is that it is free and has talks about many different subject matters and the students can go in and explore multiple topics and speakers.

Resource Log 11

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

This was a very interesting video that I found while researching Ch. 2 wikibook. It dealt with the decreasing creativity in our children in today's schools. While it doesn't prove useful in what I can do in the classroom tomorrow, it does make me think about what I do in the classroom and if I am killing creativity in my students.

Reflection 4

This too was one of the resources that I posted last week. The website was an article on constructivism and technology....perfect for this class! I found it when I was researching information for the sandbox and thought that it was a great little article to post on my resource log. What I really liked about it was the intro section on why to use constructivism in the classroom. It had some really nice points that were quick and useful for all teachers to read over. I also liked the fact that the article discussed using Simtown for simulation software in the classroom, and listed a number of other sources that can be used in a wide reange of disciplines as well as websites on where to find them. I looked into the simulation on frog dissections and this led me to open myself up to using other dissecting simulations in my classroom. I thought that the article was great in that it gave teachers tips on how to incorporate technology into the classroom too. This article deals with this class in every way and every techer should look it over to get some ideas on how to use constructivism and technology in their classroom.

Reflection 3

This is a little late in posting, but last week I used a branch of one of one of my resources dealing with online dissections. I have been teaching Zoology for over 2 years, and I have always been looking for something to use with students who don't want to dissect or who have already dissected worms and need a quick refresher. I found that the online source was great for dealing with both of these issues. The site was great in that it had a lab manual online, outer and inner anatomy, and you could check your labeling to see if you got it right. Not only was I able to vary my labs and make lab interesting for those wanting to dissect, I was able to give those not wanting to dissect and alternative that still enabled them to get the lab experience. I will be using these in the future with many other species dissections.

Resource Log 10

http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/;jsessionid=5C3865E6162ACF5B70152A9629F26114

This was an interesting site that I need to look into a little more. It is called Trackstar and is a site where you can start to build and create lessons by collecting websites and other information. You can also access other teachers websites by researching topics, authors, or keywords. Looks good, but we'll see after some further research.

Resource Log 9

http://www.intime.uni.edu/model/center_of_learning_files/principles.html

This was a very intersting article titled "Students at the Center of Their Own Learning". The article went through the learning process, students constructing their own knowledge, individual differences in learning, as well as a host of other topics. What I liked about the articles was all the research backing their ideas. The article also did not preach about how good student centered learning was but rather supported it with facts. Very useful info. for the future.

Resource Log 8

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/integ_tech_lessons.htm

This is an entrance site into a bunch of other sites that offer lesson plans, ideas, and assessments for teachers. What I also like about it is that they have ideas on the bottom of different ways to use technology in the classroom. I think that this site would be great for new teachers for help in lesson plans and ideas for integrating technology into the classroom.

Resource Log 7

http://www.ebioinfogen.com/virtual.htm

After finding my other source detailing online dissections (one of the online links that was provided) I went searching for other sites and found this one. While not too elaborate, it is a simple online site where students can probe further into animal anatomy or complete online dissections as opposed to reall dissections. This would be a reat site to use for students to see real examples of what we do in class.

Resource Log 6

http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tapinto/v1n1.pdf

This was a site that discussed constructivism and technology. I liked this site for two reasons: 1-It had some good information for the average teacher on why they should use constructivism in the classroom. It discussed the benfits for the student and the teacher. 2-The article had some examples and links to certain webpages that teachers can use to incorporate technology into the classroom. These ideas and sites ranged from elementary school to high school.