Simplyvic's Blog

Technology Philosophy

simplyvic — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:38:37 +0000

I have posted my philosophy on technology, take a look on the left to read it or click here Technology Philosophy Statement

simplyvic — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:53:15 +0000

Literacy Centers is a great place to add techology to literacy with laptops used for literature, tape recorders used for listening centers, camera used to take pictures of items for vowel sounds. The scanner is also used to scan pages to use with the Pancakes for breakfast book.

simplyvic — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:31:12 +0000

Wow I love the enchated Learning website, you can use it as a reference dictionary in the classroom to explain and expound on topics in the classroom. Check the link on the left.

Epiphany

simplyvic — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:01:01 +0000

I had an epiphany as to where all the excitement and push for students in the classroom has gone. In the 60’s we saw in the classrooms in America the big push for physical fitness, science and space exploration. That was during the new break-through in the United States of the space program. Students were given the thought, idea, the spark, that they too some day would be walking on the moon, building the spaceship or calculating the fuel consumption of a spaceship.

In today’s classroom students are focused on technology. Students have computers at home, ipods, different music applications and they even blog in applications such as facebook. Ask students how many of you have a facebook page? As a child of the space revolution I was not introduced to blogging until this year. Instead of building a robot for a science project students are now building their own whiteboards. The free application can be downloaded from Jerry Chung Lee’s website. Today’s focus in education needs to focus on technology. Technology is the future of the United States. When Horace Mann first introduced public education in 1865 the goal was for every student to have the same education. With the cost of technology the gap for education for the have and have not’s is widening. It is impossible for the tax base to provide equal technology for both types of students. Parents of the haves are providing technology exposure outside of the classroom to their students and have nots are not able to provide the same technology for their students, so they are not exposed to changing technology. The gap seems to be widening for students.

Webquest

simplyvic — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:03:49 +0000

I have added a webquest abou preserving the earth by recycling, reusing, planting and conservation, it is listed under my pages.

Bad Lands

simplyvic — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:36:40 +0000

In sharp contrast to the scenic mountains the bad lands are stark.

Mountains in the Bad Lands

Bad Lands

South Dakota

simplyvic — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:30:41 +0000

While working on my blog for class, I also took a trip to South Dakota over fall break. The mountains are beautiful.

South Dakota Mountains south of Rapid City

Evolution of Technology and Teaching

simplyvic — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:15:06 +0000

While looking for technology for my blog, I found this utube video that expounds on the changes in technology. Just incase the link doesn’t work the address is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suWzpLmRH0g&feature=player_embedded

Overhead projector and Tablet PC

simplyvic — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:31:53 +0000

This utube video shows the benefits of having an overhead projector and a tablet personal computer together. The elementary school I work at has an overhead projector in every classroom. The expression used in the video the overhead projector and the old fashioned projector is like going from a black and white tv to a color tv. Students are so excited about this type of learning some of them are even downloading it to their ipods.

Smart Table

simplyvic — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:07:27 +0000

The smart table is a tool students can use in groups or independently to learn. A great tool for students who learn visually and by doing. Look at the excitement in these students faces as they use the smart table, it really creates a desire to learn. The students are also developing their social skills as the interact with the each other.