Great Class - GE 555!

Time flies really fast as we are at the end of the semester! GE 555 has truly been a wonderful class. I learned a lot of valuable information, especially the creation of webquests and finding educational websites, that I can use when I start teaching in my own classroom. Despite the limited number of class meetings, I truly appreciate all the presentations and discussions we had in class.

The modules were very helpful to me as Dr. Luongo carefully organized those in a manner that students could have access to appropriate and relevant readings, videos, and other educational links. The blog entries of my classmates were all very informative and interesting and I find delight in knowing their thoughts and views about education, technology, and all other matters.

This is my first online class and I never voluntarily enrolled in one before because I consider myself as the traditional type of student. I believe I learn better when I am in a classroom setting together with the rest of my peers. I prefer to see and hear my professor give the lecture. However, Dr. Luongo never made me feel like she was a "distant professor"... like someone who is hard to look for considering that this is an online class. She was very supportive and very helpful and I thank her so much for all the help! I realized I could actually have fun and learn new concepts in an online class, as well as perform in the same manner as I could when I am in a regular classroom.

I learned couple of days ago that I could actually have access to the blog even after this semester or after I graduate from SPC. I am glad to learn that. I may not regularly blog but I know I will be checking it from time to time just to keep myself posted with the latest tips and updates that I could learn from.

Thanks Dr. Luongo for your great ideas, your kindness, and for your help. Congratulations for all your great work!

Have a great holiday everyone and kudos to all of us for our hard work this semester!

WebPages

Thank you Tania for posting the list of websites for the webpage rubric presentations! I especially copied the list as I know the sites will be useful in the future. I love the fact that we have these abundance of useful educational tools that teachers and students can readily refer too. I think learning has become more exciting and engaging! I cannot wait to see the next batch of webpage presentors!

Reading & Technology

I enjoyed watching the videos Introducing the Book and Why We Need To Teach Technology. In as much as I love reading, I could relate to the difficulties presented in the first video about books with technology. I, somehow, could not easily find my way to understand as well as manipulate these so-called technological innovations. But I certainly appreciate its value, especially when it comes to the roles it could play in the classroom.

As shown in the second video, we need to keep up to all these technological changes if we want to be on the game. Schools need to invest in technological tools and trainings. I agree with that. Sometimes I feel that technology changes too fast that I miss the opportunity to enjoy the experience of fully understanding it. But I think the only way to look now is forward -- and that is being able to understand and incorporate technology in classroom instruction and appreciate what it can do for our students' education.

"Virtual Friendship"

I came across the In the Classroom portion (p. 260) of Chapter 7 of our reference book and read about how a carefully structured chatting activity can be useful and beneficial for special education students. Accordingly, computer and the internet can help teach communication skills by e-miling and carry on meaningful virtual communications.

In most cases, students with special needs tend to have problems communicating, interacting, and socializing with other children in schools or in any other public places. But while person-to-person interaction is what we mostly encourage to take place, the internet could help improve not just the students' ability to express themselves but also give them the opportunity to learn about other people with different interests and cultures. In Tel Aviv, the article states, there is a program called Virtual Friendship where students with special needs are paired with non-handicapped students. I like the program's concept. I believe it is very helpful not just for the child with special needs but also for the other child. Both of them will not only acquire information from each other but will also learn to develop friendship and have appreciation for each other despite their differences.

KnowledgeBox

KnowlegeBox, according to the description on the webpage, is a site that intends to deliver dynamic, effective, and engaging media to the classrooms and computer labs all over the country. It aims to foster learners environment wherein the teachers enforce individualized instruction and use wide range of activities. The students, on the other hand, are encouraged to work together or independently.

I went over KB Kids and I like that it covers activities on subjects like Math, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. Compared to other sites, I find it to be less interactive. This is a site that offers more visual instructions, rather than interactive activities that allow students to be more engaged and participative. The sound, the videos, and graphics are really good. The science lessons are very good as well! As I went over the websites for this course, I am so pleased that there are a lot of available resources out there that students and teachers could make use of. The choices are too wide that allows them to decide for themselves which ones are appropriate for their needs.

Kids Less Likely to Graduate than Parents?

I read an article titled "Report: Kids Less Likely to Graduate Than Parents" which was published just today, October 23, 2008. It is an interesting read as it provides information about a study made by a children's advocacy group that says the dropout rate in US continues to increase (1 in 4 Americans) and how currently US is the only industrialized country where young people are less likely to earn diploma as compared to their parents. According to Anna Habash, United States continues to stagnate and the poor performance will affect the country's ability to compete with the rest of the world. Because of this, the federal government is poised to raise the bar on graduation rates and new rules is expected to be issued that will force states to use the common tracking system. If you want to check this article, just go to the DailyHerald.com website.

RocketReaderKids

I watched the video on RocketReaderKids and I think it is a great educational tool that could be used for teaching and learning how to read. Its interactive instructional method will really encourage children to work on their reading and develop the skills needed to be successful in reading. I like the part where the student's work is immediately assessed for immediate feedback. As I go over some of the listed websites, I realized that there are a lot of educational materials on the web that could really provide a wealth of information that educators and students can learn from. But I wonder who assesses all these websites to make sure that the content is accurate. I just feel that educators should be able to properly choose and assess the web instructional tools they will use to ensure that the content of the materials is accurate and reliable.

A Digital Education ( Podcasting)

An article titled "A Digital Education" by Timothy Ryan from American.com talks about how the internet can now bring people to the best college lectures in America. By podcasting, the internet offers an opportunity for people to have access to first-rate instruction, for free, from various universities such as UC Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, and other Ivy League schools. Most of the lectures that are made available are topics that are most accessible and useful to the public such as lectures on global financial markets, politics, and even arts. Various universities made the lectures available online for the purpose of being able to serve society for higher learning and a way to generate interest in the school.

I think this is a very good source of information for everybody- young, old, in school, or not. These online lectures are now popular among US soldiers, bedridden stroke victims, and even high school students. Although podcasting cannot replace the experience of being in an actual classroom where there is a direct interaction between professors and students, this type of digital education can be a good alternative for those who are not in college but interested to learn.

Kidspiration!

I successfully downloaded the Kidspiration 30-day trial today and I must say it is really a wonderful software especially for K-5 students. I had fun time going over the activities for writing, math, and social studies and there are also activities for reading and science. I enjoyed the writing activities especially with all the wonderful colors and pictures that I could incorporate on the writing. Young students would definitely enjoy this tool as learning becomes fun! I really love it! I find it very inspiring to see all these educational devices that could help make learning come alive in the classroom. It also helps enrich every teacher's learning experience.

MyAccess Report

I learned about MyAccess last summer and I was very, very impressed with the program. It is definitely an extremely useful tool for teaching and improving writing skills. The MyAccess Report clearly illustrates the features as well as the benefits of this web-based writing program. What I like most about it is that it gives immediate feedback about the write-up, therefore it constantly assesses the student's writing. The process is very easy and the feedback includes the score or the grade for the submitted writing material. By receiving the score, the students can immediately see their strong points as well as know which area to improve on.

I really love this writing program and based on the report, MyAccess helped and continue to help students increase their standardized test scores. The grades for their writing assignments also improved after teachers incorporated MyAccess in the teaching instruction. I really hope I will able to introduce and avail of this program when I start teaching because this is something that both teachers and students can benefit from.

Technology and ESL Programs

While I was looking for possible topics for a research paper, I came across an article titled "ESL Programs Allow for Self-Paced Learning" which is about how technology is being used to promote and support ESL programs in a high school in Irvine, California. I am sure these software programs are available anywhere but I wonder if it is readily available in every school and every classroom with students who are trying to learn English. Accordingly, certain software programs are being used in the classrooms to help Limited English Proficient (LEP) students learn the English language based on their skills, which means they learn in a pace right enough for them to cope. The Steps to English Language software emphasizes on communication and introduction of language pattern with interactive activities. For example, the topics deal with real-life situations and the audio sounds very natural that students will be able to copy voice patterns that include pitch, sound, and pronunciation. There are also computer activities that require students to work with their peers which gives them more opportunity to build their vocabulary and language structure. Another advantage of the program is it does not allow students to depend on their teachers for direct instruction. They do not just listen and take notes in class but they actually are able to have control over their learning. And because the students love the interactive activities and visuals, they are more engaged and motivated to learn. I thought this is really interesting because I believe technology can be used as a tool to support ESL programs. The main concern though is if there is enough money to finance these programs so that ESL students will have ready access to it.

NETS

The 2008 NETS for teachers really emphasized on what are expected from the teachers nowadays. Indeed, the use of technology in education is necessary and has to be taught and promoted in the classroom. In order for our students to be able to compete globally in this technologically advanced world and succeed in the process, teachers should be able to provide them with necessary tools to guide and help them out. The NETS also require teachers to continue to improve their professional practice and I suppose that would include trainings. I just hope that the school/administration will be able to provide teachers the necessary trainings they need in order for them to keep up with technological advancements.

I was able to look into the ISTE and one of the articles dated Feb 2007 is about the plan to eliminate the funds for Enhancing Education Through Technology Program for FY 2008. I'm not sure what is the situation now (whether it was eliminated at all) but I am surprise that the government even considered eliminating it. It does not make sense to me considering that if we really intend to produce students that are competent enough to deal with the challenges as far as education or employment are concerned, we should encourage programs such as the one stated.

Internet Safety

Internet safety is definitely a major concern nowadays. Indeed, the internet is a wonderful resource not only for adults but also for our kids. The video on "A Vision of K-12 students" refer to our students nowadays as the 21st Century Learner. They only need to punch several keys and immediately they have access to the rest of the world. Unfortunately such access can also be dangerous to them. We worry about identify theft, or meeting criminals on the net, or exposure to pornographic materials, but no matter how much we worry about it, we cannot get away from using the internet. Emails, internet purchases, banking activities, to name a few, are now part of how our society functions. For example, I never blogged until I enrolled in a reading class last summer. I was hesitant about the idea, but since it was required I had to do it. Although I now appreciate its value, I realized that in order for me to function and participate in some activities like educational activities in the college, I have to use the internet to blog.

Although we worry about internet safety for our children, the use of internet is something we have to be open about and deal with. It is important that we are constantly aware of the information that our children acquire and give out as well as who they interact with. Our children are now the so-called digital learners, so just to be safe we have to talk to them about the internet and be watchful in order to protect them from any potential dangers.

Hello (GE 555 Class)

Hi Professor! Thanks for helping me set-up my Blackboard account. I look forward to a very interesting and informative class ahead.

After a two-month break, I am going back to blogging. I am sure this will also be a very interesting and rewarding experience. I also look forward to wonderful exchanges of ideas with the other students in class.

Happy blogging everyone!

Blogging

First, let me extend my appreciation to Professor Luongo and my fellow students who made this summer class a wonderful and enjoyable experience! I really learned a lot of information from this class that will be very useful when I finally get to teach. The lessons, the instruction, the engaging discussions, and the shared laughters made this class special. Thanks to everybody for being "nice" to me during my second book reading :).

The blog? I must admit that the blog was the only item in the syllabus that I did not like at first. I never had any experience with blogging until this summer. I wasn't motivated by the thought that I have to have a blog account and I was very hesitant to write on such a public venue. However, as the days went by and although I was slow with my blogging, i actually found myself reading my fellow students' blogs almost everyday. I enjoyed reading the articles that they posted and read about their thoughts on various issues. I was able to read interesting articles that I would probably not find if not for the blog. I also learned about websites that I could visit later on if I need to find research materials on education or about reading. Although I am not completely into blogging yet, I must admit that the experience was interesting. If there is another thing that I will remember most about this class, it would be the experience of being able to join the world of blogging then learn and enjoy the experience.

Thanks everybody for making this summer class really fun! Have a wonderful summer everyone!

NCLB and Test Scores

I came across this article today at the Education Week website edweek.org titled "Since NCLB Law, Test Scores on Rise". The article is about the result of a study conducted by the Center on Education Policy that studied data from all 50 states from 2002 to 2007. According to the study, student achievement in mathematics and reading has risen on state tests, particularly in elementary and middle school and that the gap between white and minority children has narrowed since the passage of the NCLB Act. They observed a "moderate to large" gains in mathematics and reading for 4th graders, while most 8th graders fared well in math but not much in reading. I find this to be a very interesting development. Please check the article if you want to read further.

Reading and Teachers

Kudos to all the readers during last Wednesday's class!

It was also interesting and refreshing to have our first male reader last Wednesday. Andrew's reading made me reflect on different styles or ways that male teachers and female teachers approach reading. Interestingly, I found an article about how struggling male readers respond better to female teachers. According to the article, boys who are identified as struggling readers develop higher positive perception as readers when working with female educators. The article which was published almost a year ago was actually based on a study of 175 third- and fourth -grade boys who went on a 10-week reading intervention. Based on the result of the study, researchers concluded that the decline in the number of male teachers in schools was not the reason why boys underachieve in reading considering that they worked really well with female teachers. It did not really elaborate on possible reasons but I think this is something that I can research further on.

The title of the article is "Struggling Male Readers Respond Better To Female Teachers" www.sciencedaily.com.

MyAccess!

I really enjoyed learning about MyAccess today. I am very impressed with what the program can do to help students of different grade levels learn how to develop and improve their writing skills. It is also a great tool for the teachers to use! While I was working on it this afternoon, I was excited to receive feedbacks about how I write. Although I was not very thrilled with my first grade :), the revision part was exciting because the immediate feedback served as my guide on how to improve my writing. And guess what? My second grade was far better than the first--- so many thanks to MyAccess! I really love this program.

Technology Training

I tried to post this as a comment to Professor Luongo's posted article on technology training for teachers, but it could not go through her blog account :) I just want to comment that based on my conversations with teachers as well as personal readings, I would totally agree that there are many teachers who feel they are not confident enough to incorporate technology in their teachings due to lack of training. I find this sad considering how teachers would really like to help develop educated students in this technology-driven society.

I read somewhere that one of the obstacles to teachers use of technology is the lack of release time from school to learn how to use technology. I totally believe that teachers should have access to technology training, otherwise the persence of advanced technologies in the school or the classroom will be useless if teachers do not know how to use and teach them.

I really learned a lot from today's lecture on techniques for an effective vocabulary instruction. The ABC Brainstorm activity is really interesting and I look forward to be able to use that in one of my lesson plans for the unit of instruction. I am really excited and happy to learn so many teaching techniques from this class!

Classroom Management Skills

I really enjoyed today's video on classroom management skills. I am once again reminded about the importance of having a well planned and well implemented classroom management strategies. I look forward to having my own classroom management plan that is directed to provide a safe, exciting, and well managed educational environment for my students.

But I found out from teachers that it takes time to have a "perfect" classroom management plan or maybe there will never be a perfect one. Everyday, I guess, is a discovery. I hope to be able to learn and employ classroom management strategies that are essential to create and maintain a fun but orderly learning environment where the students will have wonderful experiences and will fall in love with learning.

The video on No Child Left Behind: Truths and Consequences reminded me of an article that I read about a study that focuses on the relationship between perceptions of teachers, administrators, parents, and students on standardized testing and test anxiety and its effect on test performance. Interestingly, the study does not identify anxiety as a factor that influences how students perform on the tests. I have always thought that test anxiety exists in every testing environment and if not properly handled will have negative effects that could limit the student's eudcational opportunities. However, the study showed that students actually liked taking tests (surprising isn't it? my own experiences tell me otherwise:).

Teachers are most anxious over testing because the results could be used by the administration to make personnel and administrative decisions. But I also look at it in the context that they are anxious because they worry about their students. Like most of us believe, the test is not the only way to measure students' abilities and we are afraid that the results could be damaging rather than helpful to the children.

Huffaker's Article

Hello!

For someone who never had a blog account before or even posted in one, I was surprised to read from Huffaker’s article that out of the four million published weblogs, almost 53% are created by children between thirteen and nineteen years old. Our young children’s motivation to communicate with other people on the web, by posting their thoughts on varied issues that interest them, shows how the internet or the web plays an important role in this so-called technological age. If the chalkboard was the “technological wonder” introduced to the classrooms in the 1800s that would prove to have a strong impact on teaching and learning, today’s generation has the web, the blogs, among others --- all promising technologies that could help both the teachers and the students enhance classroom learning and instruction.

But how about those who do not want to use the blog due to privacy issues? If the blog is required in the curriculum, how would that affect a student’s interest to come to class? Although some school web servers can be completely in-house and students’ identities can be kept private, Huffaker argues that it would be difficult to generate feedback and further develop communication with the other bloggers if the blogs are kept private. After reading the article, I look at blogging as a wonderful medium for students to express their thoughts and ideas as well as engage in an ongoing conversation about other people’s ideas in a non-traditional way. When used wisely, the blog can enhance learning by developing interest to read and write using the web. It is a wonderful way for students to develop their writing and reading skills, communicate their thoughts, as well as develop understanding and respect for other people’s opinion.

Hello Everyone!

This is my first blog account ever and I am not sure whether I'm doing it right :) So please bear with me!

I think this is a very interesting class and I look forward to learn a lot from it!