Presentation Software

This chapter was very informative and I was amazed at all the ideas for using presentation software in the classroom. I thought it was a great point that slide shows with pictures to generate students thinking. Also, slide shows invite student participation and keep students engaged. I liked the idea of creating a portfolio slide show. This enables students to track their own progress and share it with parents and other students. For younger students, I thought the acrostic poem would be a beneficial tool to introduce students to the power point program and tools. I will use the postcard and trading card idea in my future classroom. These projects can be applied to any subject and are very engaging for students. I was surprised at how many project ideas this chapter presented. I am looking forward to learning more about power point and creating some of the projects that were suggested in the chapter.

So far I am amazed with all I have learned. I never thought I would be able to create projects with excel such as the interactive quiz.  I look forward to learning more and becoming proficient with power point.

Presenting Presentations

I am in awe of how many things you can do with software like PowerPoint. I would have never thought of many of these activities or the way it can be so helpful to students in the classroom. 

I really liked Hamilton's idea of using instructional slide shows to, "outline the key ideas or use visuals to stimulate questions and discussion among students," (125).  I never thought to use PowerPoint int his way. By creating a presentation where the images are large, you limit the text, and skip the glitz as Hamilton says it seems like it would be a great way to open a unit.  

I really enjoyed the ideas for the portfolios, bookmarks, and acrostic. But my favorite idea was the class shows and to have them running at parent teacher conference or to hyperlink each child's name so the parents can see each child's individual work. 

I never knew that so much could be done with Excel so I am excited to being learning about PowerPoint! 

Presentation Software

Once again, I was familiar with powerpoint but this chapter showed me a variety of activities I could do with powerpoint, and I am amazed. I love the idea of portfolios because it gets the parents involved. If you burn a copy for each family then the parents can view their childs' progress throughout the year. I also love the idea of creating a game such as "Jeopardy" out of a powerpoint because not only are games fun for the students, but it is a good way to review for a test, or even just use as a way to test them on information they have learned. I thought the homophone idea was extremely beneficial because students seem to struggle with that a lot and this would provide them not only with an auditory aid, but also a visual aid with pictures representing the different words.

Each chapter I read provides me with more and more ideas about the use of technology in a classroom. I feel as if there is no subject where technology could not be used. I cannot wait to view all the activities that powerpoint can provide.

Chapter 10

I thought this chapter had a lot of useful information for the classroom. I think presentation software is a very effective way for students to do different and interesting kinds of projects, but besides that, it is also a good way for teachers to present information in a different way. Learning to use Power-Point is one of the first things I remember learning in our computer class in junior high.

Hamilton brought up a good point on page 130 when discussing an interactive slide show: "The students enjoy the activity without thinking of it as a test." Making slide shows in which students have to complete things is a good way to evaluate what they have learned without making them take a test.

I also liked the idea of making the bookmarks. It allows students to show what they know by presenting it in a concise project. It does not have to take a lot of time, but it allows them to show their creativity and summarizing skills while creating something that they may use.

The dictionary and idiom collections were also good ideas. It is a way for students to learn vocabulary and expressions that they may not otherwise learn. The idea of the "Dictionary Day" where students dress up as a word is really cute.

Excel and Ch. 11: Databases & Spreadsheets

I am so excited about what I have learned already in this course.  Before last week, the only thing I had ever known how to do in Excel was input numbers into the spreadsheet and make a graph.  Now I am able to make an entire interactive quiz that incorporates many features that I had no idea even existed.  When I showed my quiz to one of my roommates, who is also in the education program, she was just as amazed as I was and wanted me to show her how to do it so that she could possibly use the program when she is student teaching and/or in her future classroom.  I never thought that Excel would be very useful in the English classroom.  Now, however, I can see that with quizzes such as the one I made, charts, timelines, webbing, graphs and I'm sure so much more, the possibilities are endless to really engage the class.

The reading for this week was also very interesting.  I agree with the text about introducing databases and spreadsheets to students early.  I think programs like Excel clearly provide many useful tools that students can utilize if they are aware of them and know how to use them.  With so many ways of using these programs, I don't think it would be very difficult to find a way to incorporate databases and spreadsheets into the curriculum at every age level and every subject in one way or another.      

Databases and Spreadsheets

I really liked chapter 11 because it gave me many more ideas about how to use a spreadsheet. The only things I now know how to do with Excel are those that we learned in class, so it is very helpful to incorporate more ideas into my knowledge. I was impressed by all of the functions of Excel. I was sure they existed, but I certainly did not know how to use them. I think the quiz is an important assessment tool that I will use in the future. When I finished my quiz, I showed it to some of my family members, and they were surprised that I had done that in Excel, especially since some of them knew a lot about computers. It was fun to expose them to something new! I was more familiar with the functions of word processing, so I was excited to learn something new when we got to spreadsheets.

I agree with the book that students need to learn how to use databases because they become important tools throughout a student's grade levels. Personally I do not know the most efficient way to search a database because I never know which words to incorporate in the search. I think it is important for students to be able to find what they are looking for on the internet. I also think it is important that they learn how to use the internet safely and where to find reputable sources, and what better place to learn these things than at school where you will use them.

I like that they suggested using spreadsheets to teach older students about money management because that is something you can use throughout your life. That is an important life skill that students should learn, and it is nice to find a resource that can help you stay organized and on top of your finances. Last year, I did a project where we used Excel to make a budget sheet, and I added all the numbers up with a calculator. It would have been efficient to know that a formula could have been used instead. I also like the idea of an using Excel to make a timeline. That way the students have a hands on approach to history, and they can incorporate their own ideas and creativity to the assignment through pictures. I also like the idea of having all of the students graph about a subject, such as the weather example in the book, and track the trend later in the year. I think the chapter had a lot of useful ideas, and I can't wait to learn more.

Ch 11

I found this chapter to be extremely interesting and informative. Hamilton mentions in this chapter that teachers are hesitant to use spreadsheets and databases ,and most adults are actually unfamiliar with the tools themselves. I think this was the case with my teachers because I was never properly introduced to these programs. I only knew how to use the basic tools because I taught myself. This is really disappointing to me because there are so many benefits to using spreadsheets and databases in a classroom. I especially liked the timeline idea because a student could incorporate pictures into their timeline, along with hyperlinks that would provide them with more information about an event or person. Of course the use of timelines is not new, but I think being able to associate pictures with an event would be beneficial to a student who learns better with a visual aid.
I think most of the tools discussed in this chapter are a good way to "spice" up a lesson plan. In the two weeks of taking this class, my eyes have been opened to the possibility of using technological tools with a variety of subjects. I am just amazed at all I have learned already, especially with spreadsheets. When Professor Nillas informed us that we would be using spreadsheets all day in class, I was curious as to what she could teach us in this basic,boring program that is mostly designed for financial reasons. I was shocked to discover it was far from basic. I couldn't believe we could actually create interactive quizzes with combination tabs using a spreadsheet. I am so thankful I am taking this class because I do not want to be one of those teachers who do not think technological tools such as databases should not be taught in the elementary schools. I cannot wait to use what I am learning; I think it will make learning more fun for my students, and essentially make me a better teacher.