Wii Bowling

Whats more fun? Adding ten and seven or is it more fun to bowl a strike and see what happens when you bowl a seven? Definitely the later. I did Wii Bowling with my fiance, Sergio. I took a bowling class a few years ago so I already knew the logistics behind bowling but I was able to help him understand the scoring of bowling by the program. I feel like this would definitely help a student learn things like simple addition and subtraction, it would also help them practice what if scenario. You could even do things like practice mean, median and mode with an older group of students. Just like I finished my last post, the possibilities are endless.

Learning is fun!

This past week I attended a class on educational pedagogy. A portion of the class was spent on how to help kids like learning and simply put children like to learn when education is fun. Obviously as a teacher it is our job to make the more boring things fun but technology has already provided a way to make some things fun with new video gaming systems. There are endless ways that you can take systems like the Kinnect, WII, and IPod games and use them into the education. First of all, it can be used as an incentive for completing a large goal. Besides that a game such as Wii Fit or the Kinnect could be used to learn about math by teaching data collecting and charting. You could use the Kinnect to teach about science talking about aero dynamics or velocity. The things there are so many games that you could think of hundreds away to apply a game.

Just last week, I used an iPhone app in the summer school program I was teaching in. I didn't have a dice, so instead of finding one I just downloaded an app for a dice. The kids were much more excited to play the game because they were able to use technology instead of a regular dice. There are games on iPhones/pads/touches that are able to teach about math like Farkle or games to teach about English such as Boggle or Words with friends. There possibilities are endless. All you need is technology and a little bit of imagination to make learning fun!

Microsoft Word Jigsaw Activity

Here is an example of how to use the Jigsaw teaching method to teach about Microsoft Word

Organize Kids into 5 groups making sure there were strong personality children in the groups with children who are more timid.

Each students needs to be in charge of mastering one part of Microsoft word by organizing a newsletter about the importance of recycling for submission.

Have the students work together in a group gathering research and information about the process and benefits of recycling. Together the group will plan the basic outline and content of their newsletter.

Student 1 needs to learn about page formatting—this person will type up the document, set indents, paragraph spacing, line spacing, font size, font, color

Student 2 needs to add three graphics that support their research, this students also adds borders

Student 3 Designs a header for the newsletter

Student 4 needs to add a chart supporting their research

Student 5 needs to edit the document

After completion of the document students need to collaborate together to explain how they used Microsoft Word to complete their portion of the assignment.

The advantage of this method would be that students not only learn about word processing, despite the limited amount of computers, but they would practice communicating and working together as a team. Students would increase their depth of learning and understanding because they would have to know something well enough to teach it. They would also each practice being a team leader.

Disadvantages to this method is that uncooperating students would create tension with other students in the class as well as prevent them from learning about the portion of word that the student was in charge of. 

The Age of Technology

These video segments were a prediction of what education would be like in thirty year. Well thirty years have passed and we have achieved parts of what they predicted education would be like. Today we have access to so much information and all we have to do is hop on to google.com. In the video the student accessed information for his report through the internet but the biggest difference between now and their prediction is that as a general population we do not use voice activation to research for a project all though there are great advances being made in voice activation.

One thing that was a big part of the segment was their use of video chat. Skype is something that is becoming evermore popular. It has not really entered the elementary education world but online classes where people can view their teacher lecturing and can participate vocally are now available. More and more I'm sure that people will switch to online education in order to utilize and manage their time from home. I feel that the methods of technology used in this segment have all been achieved but not all are being accessed by everyone but I feel that in time things will continue to advance towards that.

Heart Rate Spread Sheet Activity

This activity was used to show the relationship between exercise and your heart rate comparing aneorbic activities with aerobic activities to show which is better for helping you have a healthy heart. The activity was great because not only did it get the kids doing exercising and really doing hands on activities but it helped teach the children use and learn many different aspects of spread sheet programs. After completing the activity the students taught their results to others.

This activity is excellent for 6th graders because its so hands-on oriented, and helps the students to learn in many different areas, science, English, communication, technology and most importantly encourages health. One thing that is especially applicable to this age group is that they were to share with others in their school their results motivating them to really research and take time with their projects.

How it all started

Education is something that I have grown up around and but was really interested in until I became one. You see, there is a great number of teachers in my family but all I ever really considered was the long days, the early hours, and the cranky parents, but then three years ago I decided to serve a mission for my church. I was assigned the responsibility to teacher religious principles every day for a year in a half in the language of Spanish. It was an incredible experience and I learned more than I could have ever imagined. Most importantly, I gained a love for teaching. 

Teaching to me is more than explaining a new thing to someone. Rather, teaching is taking responsibility for the education progression of that person, which requires an establishment of trust between student and teacher. Once I realized that I wanted to be a teacher, what should I teach? I had taught piano lessons a few years back and considered that but then realized I did not have that the dedication to practicing that would be needed to gain a degree in music. I considered teaching Spanish but decided that really students do not take too much out of Spanish class with them on their way to becoming fluent. I really wanted to help people. A thought occurred to me. I could teach English to students that come from other countries. This was perfect, combining all the elements of my goal to be an educator and really making a difference in that students life. 

I researched different programs and different pathways to gain a degree in teaching to English Language Learners and discovered one that would work great with what I was wanting to do. Boise State University offers a program called Bilingual Education. Being fluent in Spanish this definitely appealed to me. When I graduate I will not only have the ELL endorsement but I will also be certified to teach Elementary Education in both Spanish and English. The State of Idaho provides funding for the education of ELL teachers, but requires volunteer work as a recompense. Right now I help out at a refugee school in Boise where there are students attending from all over the world. In fact, in the school there are 26 different languages. I love the children I work with and they motivate me to continue my educational pursuits and be able to teach them full time.