More teaching strategies

This website had alot of great information and articles on teaching and learning strategies. It even had specific strategies for special needs children with many articles to go along with them. Here is the link if you want to check it out.
http://www.newhorizons.org/index.html

Hope Machine?

In the team hoyt video clip there is a communiction device that the boy with cerebral palsy uses to communicate with on the video, they call it a hope machine. I tried to google it but I could not find anything about it. If anyone knows about this machine or finds out anything about it will you please let me know. This machine that he uses looks amazing. It helped him to be able to graduate from college and communicate with others.

Team Hoyt

This story is very inspirational I love it! You can go to youtube and search team hoyt or click on the link below . It is definately worth watching!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flRvsO8m_KI

Teaching stategies for autism

I found some great websites about some teaching strategies that may help with autistic children. There were so many great tips out there on the internet some that i had never even thought about before. One strategy that I really found interesting and i had never thought about as being a teaching strategy is a schedule. It said that autistic children generally need a very structured work environment. One other srtategy i liked was the idea of having work stations. http://members.aol.com/Room5/strat.html

Internet Safety

I am actually really glads we were asssigned this assignment. I loved elder Ballards talk about the media. My favorite quote in his talk was when he said: "The choices we make in media can be symbolic of the choices we make in life." I think that is so true, we need to fill our minds as well as our students' minds with good uplifting things. There are so many great websites out there to help educate us about internet safety such as : isafe.org and netzsmarts. I like that quote on the LDS web site about the internet and internet safety it says: " The Internet is a wonderful tool and resource for families, but caution must be exercised in order to protect families and individuals from the potential dangers that are present online." I agree with this statement completly, the internet can be a great tool if used with coution. We as educators and parents must be knowledgable about these things so that we can teach others.

Technology for the Deaf and Blind

I loved the presentation last week on the different technologies for the deaf and blind. I was amazed at how many different technologies were available to them. There were so many necessary technologies that I had never thought about before like the braille watch, that was so simple yet so amazing. Some other technologies that I found vey intriguing were the screenreaders and screen enlargement programs. These different softwares would be very helpful to a student with poor vision.

Josh's Story

This story was truely inspiring. I love that the teacher found out what things were motivating for josh and used that to help him improve his communication skills. She started out small with the super talker, this helped release some of josh's frustration with not being able to communicate. After he felt more comfortable and confident using the super talker she found a technology called wordworm which opened up a whole new world for josh and his ability to communicate. After using this helpful technology josh began to say words, and phrases along with the device, this eventually turned into josh being able to read stories to his friends and family.

Voice Thread

Voice Thread is a collaborative slide show that can hold images, documents and videos. It allows you to leave comments and ideas in many different ways. You can leave comments using voice, text, audio file, or video. These different ways of leaving comments would be great for students with special needs. If you had a student who was unable to write they would be able to record their comments using a microphone. If you had a student who was unable to speak they could participate by drawing a picture, or typing there comments. There are many possibilites for our special needs students with this technology.

Reflection #3

What do I want to learn? That is a good question. I think for the most part I just want to learn the basics of technology. I want to be able to feel comfortable with all types of technology. I feel like I am on my way to accomplishing this goal already. I have already learned so many things that I did not know about before like Wiki and google reader.

Reflection #2

I'm really glad that we talked about TPCK in class the other day. It helped me to better understand the concepts. I really liked the analogy that one of the girls used in class comparing TPCK to a teepee. It helped me put the goals and concepts of TPCK into perspective.

Reflection #1

TPCK was ver difficult for me to understand. Maybe that is because I am terrible with technology. I hope after this class I can become more comfortable with it. At this point I am a little overwhelmed.

Assignment #1 TPCK Reading

1. The Tpck framework model is very complex activity that draws on many kinds of knowledge. There are two main categories when looking at teacher Knowledge, pedegogical and content knowledge. CK is knowledge abouth the actual subject matter. PK is deep knowledge about the process and methods of tesching and learning. TK is knowledge about standard technologies like books, chalk and blackboard. PCK is knowing what teaching approaches fit the content. TPK is Knowledge of existence, components and capabilities of different technologies being used in teaching and learning settings, as well as knowing how teaching may change as a result of these technologies. TCK is knowlede about the manner in which technology and content are reciprocally related. TPCKis the basis of good teaching with technology. It requires an understanding of the representation of concepts using technologies.

2. I think theey mean that they ate all interrelated and you can't have one with out the other two. these components exist in a "dynamic equilibrium."

3. TPCK requires an understanding of the representation of concepts using technologies.

4. Teachers simply need to be trained on how to use different technologies.

5. Technology is rapidly changing, Inappropriate design of software (most software is made for the businesss world not for educational purposes) Situated nature of learning, and an emphasis on what not how.

6. Learning by doing. It is much easier to learn something when you have the opportunity to practice it.

7. I agree with Shulmans statement that TPCK ought to be a goal of teacher education because the more resources we as teachers are aware of and understand the easier it is to find the proper teaching technique that will help our student's succeed.