Samantha+Gacke

EDU 240 Samantha G. - FINAL ** 1.    As **//COGNITIVE MEDIATOR//**, the educator helps students to become independent learners who construct meaning by combining new information with their own background knowledge.
 * TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION
 * Discuss two assignments that you completed using a South Dakota State Standards topic in your major area of study. Describe each program and then tell how you could use that program with your students to enhance their technology skills when you start teaching.

A. One program that I used was Powerpoint. I created a Powerpoint about Life in the 13 Colonies compared to now. Powerpoint is a great program that can include information, pictures, graphics, hyperlinks, along with simple things like Fonts, Colors and Backgrounds. Teachers can use this program for lessons or to show intresting things, and they can also link the powerpoint to an outside internet site for a little extra learning. Another great thing about Powerpoint is that almost any student can use it. I've seen 2nd grade students use it easily, which is something that teachers can utilize. They can have students create powerpoints about pretty much anything. The students then can even present this information to the class.

B. Another program that we used was the Crossword Maker on the internet. You typed in the clues and answers, and then the Crossword Maker made a crossword for you. It was a very simple project, but it created a great tool to help students learn. Teachers can easily use this to help their students review. Students can also use this for the same reason. They can create their very own crossword, and then do the crossword themself, or exchange with other students. It is a good way for any student to test their knowledge before taking a test to see what they need to work on.

**  2.     As **//RESEARCHER//**, the educator seeks to improve educational practices within the school setting, using an inquiry approach to serve students more effectively. **How has completing research in this class (reading the textbook, researching sites on the Internet, creating a presentation for class) helped you to become a better teacher candidate?**

**-By doing all of the research things, I’ve learned how to do a lot of skills that teachers need. One of those skills is to learn how to read and summarize material. Teachers do this all of the time, because it’s boring to just read all of the book material out loud. Teachers instead learn what they need to teach their students, and summarize the material.** **When researching website, I learned how to evaluate all of the websites to find which ones are better than others. We were able to search through a lot of websites to find out which ones have the best materials, and whichs ones would be best to help students learn. There were also many sites that teachers can use in their classrooms, like SmartBoard ones. Our presentation was also great to see what a teacher does, because not only did we have to go and find out what the subject of the presentation did, but then we had to present that information in another way. My presentation was on Google Earth, so I had to go and find out everything that Google Earth did, through actually using Google Earth, but also finding information on the web about the program. Then, my patner and I had to go and create a powerpoint on Google Earth, as well as a brochure. We had to take the information we learned about and put it down on paper to teach others. The presentation was a great way to prepare students on becoming a teacher, because this is something a teacher does on a regular basis.** 3.    As **//COMMUNICATOR//**, the educator is skilled in modes of communication that will enable effective communication and collaboration with other educators, parents, and families.
 * Discuss one Internet site and one technology program that will help you to communicate to your students and their parents when you become a teacher? Describe how you could use each one to communicate to either students or parents when you are teaching.

A. One great way to communicate to students as well as their parents is by using Blogger. Student can summarize things that they have learned in lessons or in books and the parents can go and see what their child is learning about. Teachers can use the blog to give information on what the class is working on and fun activities that the class will be doing, and then the parents can be updated on a regular basis.

B. Another great way for teachers to communicate with students and parents is by using the Newsletter maker in Microsoft Publisher. We used the Newsletter with our state standards, but this is something that can be used for many other things. I think on way is for the teacher to create articles, or even let the students create articles about what the class has been doing, and then they can put pictures with the text. After the newsletter is complete, the teacher can send it out to the parents through e-mail or the regular mail. **  4.     As **//EVALUATOR//**, the educator maximizes students’ learning by using a full range of formal and informal information-gathering processes in order to respond appropriately to student individual differences.
 * Discuss one web site and one technology program that you used and evaluated this semester? Why did you find each one useful and how might you use them in the classroom when you start teaching?

A. Well one technology program that would be useful to anyone would be SmartBoard. We didn't use it very much, but what we did with it showed how amazing of a program it can be for the teacher as well as the students to use. SmartBoard can be useful in any class, whether it's math, science, geography or music. SmartBoard allows the teachers and students to do so much more in their class with it's pictures, activities or different tools. The possibilites with SmartBoard are pretty much endless.

B. One website that would be useful for teachers to use in the classroom would be SlideShare. This is a website that we didn't use too much, but it would be a great tool for teachers who need help with a lesson plan. This is a great place for teachers to come and find presentations that others have done on different topics. Another website that is also good for teachers to find presentations is TeacherTube. This is an educational site that allows teachers to upload and share what they are doing in the classroom and how they are teaching students certain information. If a teacher doesn't know how to explain or show something, they can come to one of these sites for a little extra help. **