Post 1

About me

Hello, my name is Nora Krijestorac and I am a student in this EME2040 class. My pathway at Broward College is the Elementary Education pathway. The reason I want to be a teacher is because I believe most social change occurs through schools, especially through elementary school. I enjoy working with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders, but I plan on eventually working in a high school environment. I have 3 sisters and 1 brother, and I also have a pet cat named Toothless.

(This is a picture of me when I was about 4 years old.)

Philosophy of Education

• I believe that curriculum and classroom planning are important because it will lead to a more organized classroom.
• Professional reflection and collaboration is important because it is a way for teachers to share what they do in their classrooms and give each other ideas.
• I believe that interactive learning is important for students because it is a common learning style and it gets students moving.
• The most important thing for students to know is how they learn, or discovering their learning style. 

Teaching Style

My teaching style is a combination of Collaborative and Hands-On. I believe that pairing students together or putting them in a group for a project or activity is beneficial for a their problem solving, communicative, and interactive learning skills. I believe that students learn best from practicing the work on their own.

My Students

My students are all between the ages of seven and eight. They enjoy hands on assignments and are very active when it comes to participating in either lessons or activities. They also like working together in groups and are all very friendly with each other. Some students in my class are English Language Learners, as well as exceptional students, and several students that are visually impaired.

Classroom Activities

One particular activity is utilize for my class to teach them sequence and ordering skills. To do this, I have the students cut out squares of paper with words printed on them. The words have the steps of the water cycle on it. The students are tasked with then pasting each step onto a poster board in the correct order, as well as creating illustrations to depict what is occurring in each step. This type of an activity allows them to try and recall information that we learned from our previous lesson on the water cycle, as well as helping them understand the importance of sequencing and planning, since they have to use the space on their poster boards wisely so that they can fit all the required information on it.

Post 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMi13DoDBAM

Technology in education and the classroom

eLearning

There are many emerging technologies in the education scene, such as eLearning (i.e: K12). E-learning is a wonderful tool for both students and teachers that are unable to attend/teach in a traditional school setting on campus. Students can access the course work at their own pace, sometimes even finishing quicker than a traditional course because of their diligence in getting their work done. Through e-learning, students can also access their material in a more comfortable environment, such as from the comfort of their own homes. It also works excellently for students who work, and cannot attend regular class hours. With e-learning, they can go online and access their coursework during any time of the day. In essence, a huge plus of eLearning is that students get to work at their own pace. In a formal classroom some students may fall behind and need extra time with the lessons, while others may be bored because they work faster than the other students. This allows each student to work at their own pace causing them to better understand the material.

Web 2.0 Technology

Web 2.0 technologies are useful tools for the classroom environment today because they provide students with a realistic view of the modern technological world we live in. Some examples of that are podcasts, wikis, blogs, or even social networking websites such as Facebook or Twitter. In the content area of, for example, a science class, these web 2.0 technologies can be extremely useful in immersing the students in an environment or in an experience that they otherwise might not have been able to visualize properly. For example, with virtual realty environments, we can take students on virtual tours of different ecosystems. In regards to blogs, we can have students read environmental blogs from ecologists located in mangy different parts of the world. Photo sharing websites are especially useful for the students in order to get a picture of what plants, animals, and environments they read about in their textbooks actually look like. 

Devices

All of these technologies can be used or displayed on multiple devices, which should all be utalized in a modern classroom.

• computers
• laptops
• tablets
• projectors
• smart boards

How Should Technology be Evaluated in the Classroom

Technology should be evaluated based on its effectiveness and results in the classroom. One way this can be done is by using a software logistical evaluation framework.

This framework allows for both teachers and administrators to decide whether or not spending school funds on certain technologies actually reap any benefits and to answer three simple questions: “What works?”, “What doesn’t?” and “Why?”

Teachers need to make sure that they are integrating the technology and devices into the course curriculum, making sure to attach them to specific learning outcomes while using them purposefully. Be sure to not use applications or devices without making clear to students why they are using them and what they should get out of using them.