Lesson Plan for TPACK Integration Reflection

    Learning the alphabet is an important part of learning for young students. Most first graders know their alphabet and are able to spell words. The ones learning are first grade students who will soon have a better grasp on spelling and putting letters in alphabetical order. This should be the end result of any particularly given activity in the classroom. I will know if students are learning anything by quizzes given out at the end of each week and by also documenting their progress through the online game involving alphabetical order. I will track how students are doing throughout the week by how well they do with the fun online game.

    Each spelling lesson will begin with students repeating the spelling words as they read aloud. Students will spell each word until they no longer need to look at the spelling sheet. I will then go over with students what alphabetical order is and how it is important to use it. Students will learn that just as the letter "A" comes first in the alphabet, that any word beginning with the letter "A" also comes before any other word not beginning with "A". Students will be given exercise sheets where they will have to put letters in alphabetical order and then also words. Once completing these worksheets, each student will come up to the smart board and write the answer. We will write which letters come first in whichever particular group was given. For example, students will be given the group J,S,D and will have to put them in alphabetical order. The answer: D, J and S. Students will be given a word list and will have to put these words in order as well. Such as the words mouse, cat, zebra, and giraffe. The answer: cat, giraffe, mouse and zebra. By integrating the smart board, students can feel like they are participating and can demonstrate their own great abilities.
   
    After each spelling lesson we will visit the ixl website and click on their language arts button. Here there are two online game activities where students can put letters and words into alphabetical order. This will be a fun activity to keep the kids involved and also to see if they are succeeding with the content being taught. Students can also access this website on their own during centers time or at home. Parents can also be encouraged to help their children access this site at home and document how well their child does. As an incentive to keep learning fun, first grade students can do these online activities and receive a treasure chest award at the end of the week. This will all depend on the progress they are making by doing the games at home, while having their parents supervise their success.

   The use of this technology will support my teaching by keeping kids involved and excited by the content. Anything dealing with the alphabet, spelling and words can be hard on some students. By keeping it fun and offering incentives to do educational activities at home, students will be learning even more without knowing it. Some students retain more when they feel comfortable in their own home environment. I know I do and I know I understand more when I am relaxed. By using technology and online educational gaming, students will better understand the content and will retain more. They will be excited because they feel confidant in what they have learned. They will know how to not only put the letters and the words in alphabetical order, but will also learn how to spell the words as they go. The online games are accessible from the smart board and computers in school. They work from computers at home and on any mobile device as well. This is an activity students can do anywhere and can learn just about anywhere. At the end of the week students should be able to put the letters and words in order, while also knowing how to spell each word.

3D Printing Reflection

    I enjoyed the time we had to select and print our own 3D models! It was so much fun to watch the printer create something out of almost nothing. I created a C3PO head and it looks to cool. I now see how 3D printing can be used in more important ways and how it could benefit many people.

   I like the article which provided research over 3D printing in education. it really is a trial an error process if one is new to the technology. In order to be able to help students learn about this new technology, teachers needed to be educated earlier on the topic. I think this is important not only in this research process, but also with any other topic being taught. Educators need to know what they are talking about before instructing others. This type of technology helped students with thinking and reasoning. It helped them understand their subject better and retain more knowledge. Several students even made their own designs instead of using templates, which is really awesome.
   
    The use of 3D printing helps open doors to new ways of learning and teaching. Educators need to be open minded to these new tools for teaching. Most students would be happy to use this technology in their classroom. 3D printing is beneficial for physics, science and math classes. There is a lot to back up how great this technology is in the classroom. This type of printing has been changing the world in not only education, but also in the medical field as well. It is changing everything just as technology always has. I believe 3D printing is great in the classroom and could really help students learn more. It is also a great tool for teachers to helps broaden their curriculum with technology as well.

Reflection No. 2 TPACK

    After reading about what TPACK is and also reading the peer review paper, I have a better understanding as to what we are covering in class. TPACK stands for technology, pedagogical and content knowledge. Many of the papers we read were about understanding this subject and how it is used in the classroom. The basic framework of the subject was also mentioned as well.
 
    Today, many teachers struggle with the basic use of technology in their classroom. The purpose of TPACK, is to create a well rounded teacher. There are several educators who are strong in their knowledge of technology, but lack in their content knowledge. Others, however, may be a bit old school and are still using the same teaching habits. These are the teachers who have been teaching for twenty years and have never incorporated technology in their classroom. Either they do not want to or they do not know how. A common problem for educators, is their simply does not have to funding to provide proper technology in classes. This could put a bind on the success of each student's education. Classrooms need technology to continue to flow with an ever evolving technological society.

    Some teachers understand the content knowledge, but not technology and sometimes do not ask how they would take into consideration the knowledge of the students. Teachers need to remember to ask the students how much they know about technology and how they wish to incorporate it into the classroom if possible. By asking the students, educators could see the benefits of technology pedagogy. Everyone has to be able to understand technology, the subject content and then ask how they can use all of this together as one. Thus creating a well rounded teacher.

    By understanding and using technology in the classroom, I fully believe it could benefit not only the students, but also the teachers. We live in a fast paced world where technology is advancing every part of our lives on a daily basis. To keep up, we need to start with the education of our children and helping them to succeed. Our teachers and students need to be better equipped with the knowledge and resources of technology in the classroom. I think my generation of educators really has it easier when it comes to TPACK. It is the older generation who may have some catching up to do.

First Reflection Response

 For the past several years, the human race has seen a huge rise in the use of technology. There are many pros and cons to the use of technology. Despite this, we continue to use this to our advantage. More people are using cell phones, computers and tablets for every day use, relaxing the need for paper products. However, in the surveys we were to read, the statistics showed a rather small difference between the use. In fact, the surveys showed a higher percentage of paper users rather than tablet users. This is a very interesting fact to ponder.
    When it comes to education and the classroom, technology can be a very helpful tool. Products such as Smart Boards and the Elmo help educators keep students involved with the teaching. In the PBS article, over two thirds of teachers voiced their need for more technology in the classroom and this percentage was vastly higher for those in low income school districts. More teachers are asking for grant money just so they can supplies their classrooms with more technology.
    The world needs technology to keep advancing in a highly competitive market. Advances in medicine and science in general have a a big part to pay towards the ever changing use of technology. Without technology, we would not have all of those Vine videos of people on their hover boards. That is, if their hover boards have not spontaneously blown up and burst into flames.
    Many would approve of the use of technology, but what about the few who dare to ask questions? Are we becoming too dependent on technology and turning into rather lazy excuses for humans? Will we be able to control our use of technology in a healthy and beneficial manner? Are we all about to end up in self helping chairs like those characters in the Pixar film Wall-E?  ...Maybe Amazon needs to fly a drone to my house with a free hover board instead.