Last class, we spent alot of time reviewing for the spreadsheet project. After completing this assignment I have found that excel is a very useful tool to use in the class room. It cuts done on the use of paper and allows you to quickly do math with the click of a button. I also like how you can create charts, if I deleated the names under each bar, I would be able to share the average to the class. This would just provide a visual to show the students where everyone is in the class and why we must review or continue on. The spreadsheet also provides me with a structured, orginzed view of all the students grades. It makes comparison easier on the teacher and helps them decide what areas need to be reteached or approaced in various other ways. I believe i will use excel in my classroom and hopefully be able to teach my students the different things that can be accomplished with this program.

In my previous blog I mentioned the different web 2.o programs that I have explored and how useful they can be to myself and others. I still find that my protopage is very useful in condensing the many website i use daily into one area. I also helps me organize my life (work, test, birthday etc.) and do research. One new thing i discoved is that you are able to import different widgets from other sites. Widgets are applications or tools that can be placed on websites and blogs that is marked by a specific code. Examples include clocks, calenders, weather and pictures. They are very similar to adding an application on an ipod/iphone.

At the end of the last class, we explored in groups the different National Educational Technology Standrads for teachers and students. These standards incorporate positive was to include technology in the classroom and encourage digital learning. Each standard has varioud componets that better describe what is include in the main standard. For example, the teacher standard #3 is Model Digital-Age Work and Learning. Underneath this standard are the detaits- "Teachers exibit knowledge, skills and work processes representitive of an innovative professional in a global and digital society." It then list bullet points of what teachers a spefically to do. I think these standards hold the student and teacher accountable for understanding and using technology to increase learning. It gives them some structure and instruction on where to start and what is expected of them.

Web 2.0 and Google Earth

After reviewing several of the web 2.0 programs on the various websites provided in the powerpoint, i've discovered a new way to use the internet that makes my experiences easier. One program that i now use as my home page is www.protopage.com, this website organizes the websites i use, allows me to make to-do lists, shows my inbox of my mail, lets me personalize it and provides me with the weather for philadelphia. Its awesome! You are also able to use tabs that show you news from all different websites, comics and websites. I believe that this website is not so useful in the classroom, but can be intoduced as a easy way to organize an individuals life.
Another Web 2.0 program that i looked into was Bubbl.us, which its alot like the program inspiration that we use in class. Teachers can use this to brainstorm ideas with their class and/or students can make their own webs to brainstorm for projects and papers. I think that bubbl is a little bit easier to use than inspiration because you don't have to hit the lightening bolt before and after every thought. Another cool feature is that you can change the colors of the ballons to coordinate specific bubbles together.
I also explored other web 2.0 programs, such as, spelling city, photoshop, 30 boxes, flickr tools and voki. Spelling city is a good tool to use for younger children to help them learn and test themselves for their weekly spelling tests. Photoshop, which usually needs to be purchased, is a free application online that allows people to edit and personalize photos. 30 boxes is an online calender that keeps track of birthdays, events and allows others to view your calender. This can help students keep track of their homework, projects, sports and personal activites outside of school. Flickr tools is some what similar to photoshop but includes many different applications to edit pictures, create calenders and cards with them and other projects. The last website i explored was voki, which i think is one of the coolest web 2.0 programs. Teachers and students can create characters and add audio to make them talk. This can be helpful to teach students in a fun way and/or act out plays/stories.
Before a couple of days ago, i had never heard of google earth. The only experience i had with such a program is google street view which takes a part in google earth. After downloading the program i immediatly began to explore the world. I went to the house i live in off of temple's campus and traveled down Cecil B. Moore past the 3-D version of the Edge, and arrived on campus. I changed the settings to include weather and it showed the snow and clouds above. I also included streets and traffic which made the experience even more real. Next i went to my house in Willow Grove, Pa. I clicked on street view and was able to view my house. I saw my car and cat sitting outside. Also in the backyard was the pool we had years back. The difference between viewing my house and the house i live at in school is the date of when the pictures were taken. The view of my house in Willow Grove was out of date (we no longer have that pool in the backyard) but the view of my Temple house was from over the summer when we just moved in, the reason i noticed this was because of the Philles banner that is hanging in my housemates window. Similar to my house in Willow Grove, Alter Hall was not present in the street view of campus. After exploring the areas in the United States, i traveled to other parts of the world i always wanted to see.
It was a cool experience because i was able to see exactly what the different cities looked like with out traveling there. I explored Dublin, Ireland, Thailand, Oslo, Norway, Madrid, Spain, Malaysia and the United Arab Emrites. Teaching geography to students can become a virtual experience. This program allows you to explore the ocean, go back in time and much more. Its amazing!

After reading about formative and summative assessments, I have concluded that formative assessments should be used more often than summative. Formative assessments allow teachers and students to see their own progress and understand what they need to keep working on until their fluent in the content area. Since there are so many different types of formative assessments (e.g. paper and pencil tests, observations, questioning, profolios etc.) it is important to have student envolvement and prompt feedback. The best part about formative assessments is that allows teachers/students to change their methods if the ones they were using were ineffective and it provides practice. It is not important to grade these assessments but to use the infomation gathered to prepare for summative assessments.

Summative assessments are used at different times throught out the school year, they are usually given in the beginning, the end and spaced out through out the year. A good thing about summative assessments is that as a teacher you can give one at the beginning of the year to have a better understanding of where each of your new students stands in the academic proccess (perdictive test). Teachers can learn what students need to know before teaching the new material for the year and what areas just need to be reviewed breifly. When using a summative assessment in this way i believe that the test should not be graded. Other ways to use summative assessments include state-wide assessments, ditrict benchmarks, end of the chapter/unit teats, end of the semester exams and scores for ayp/report cards. So, after administering many formative assessments, a summative assessment takes place and the results show what students have learned compared to the content standards at the particular time.

As a future teacher i like the idea of using formative assessments in my classroom and smaller summative ones spairingly. I know that many students are not good test takers and become nervous before exams, and feel that if you give formative assessments before hand the teacher and the student are more comfortable when the summative test comes around. Formative assessments are a great way to learn about each students learning process and can help a teacher solve problems such as "why is my student proforming below average on summative assessments but doing well with everything up to it?"

In class, we also discussed benchmark tests, particually those used in the philadelphia school district. I like the idea of benchmark tests because it makes teachers, students, parents and administrator accountable for their work. Also i like it because a lot of formative assessments are used and when a a sumative test is given, the same one is used through out the district. This shows what teachers are doing a better job at getting material across, and those that need help can maybe go and ask another teacher how they taught their kids a certain lesson. Benchmark tests also give teachers time to look and the results of the tests and reteach the material to students that did not do so well and provide enrichment for those who did outstanding. This type of testing can help students on standardized tests and identify their strengths/weaknesses.

One of the last topics we touched on in class was the controversial subject of accountability. Personally, I believe that holding a teacher accountable for student learning is an awesome idea. There are many teachers out there that still use the "old" teaching system of lecturing and tests. Since we are trying to prepare kids for the future, this type of teaching is unexceptable. When teachers know that their pay depends on how well they teach their students it can create postive atmospheres, better teachers, school pride and raise the bar for everyone in the school. Although i think teacher accountability is a good idea, i believe that parents also need to be accountable for what their students learn. They need to enforce homework, reading and learning in general in their childs life.