Elizabeth Gentry's Posts - Classroom 2.02024-03-29T09:04:45ZElizabeth Gentryhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/ElizabethGentryhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1950555339?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=0icd6v81au6lx&xn_auth=noGoogle Appstag:www.classroom20.com,2012-08-24:649749:BlogPost:8675982012-08-24T02:13:28.000ZElizabeth Gentryhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/ElizabethGentry
<p>Google apps is a really neat tool that I think can help me as an educator. I can use it to have students collaborate on assignments. It is an efficient way for multiple people to work on one assignment. It eliminates checking email and attaching documents. Since it is a live application, it is automatically saved and updated so that anyone with access can view immediately. I think that the work processing and the presentation features would be the most beneficial for students to use for…</p>
<p>Google apps is a really neat tool that I think can help me as an educator. I can use it to have students collaborate on assignments. It is an efficient way for multiple people to work on one assignment. It eliminates checking email and attaching documents. Since it is a live application, it is automatically saved and updated so that anyone with access can view immediately. I think that the work processing and the presentation features would be the most beneficial for students to use for assignments. </p>
<p>I also really liked the Google forms because it is an easy way to conduct surveys or to administer short quizzes. You receive the results automatically and that could eliminate some grading or be an easy way assess student learning as a formative assessment. </p>
<p>Another great use for Google Apps is that is provides for easy communication with parents and students. Creating a website on Google Sites is easy and you can imbed all of the other Google Apps directly into the site. This provides for a great way to send forms for parent information, polls, surveys, calendars, etc. I think that using a live application like Google Apps is a great way to increase collaborative learning and communication in the classroom. I also like that students can chat live while they are working on a Google Doc together. It makes it so that it is like they are actually sitting in a room together creating a document. I also like that when sharing, the creator has the options of who to share with so that people feel more comfortable posting certain assignments, comments, reflections, etc. It also makes the apps safe to use in a classroom because outsiders are not able to see it without permission. </p>
<p>I learned quite a bit about Google that I did not know before. I had never used any of the applications except for Google Docs until now. I now know how easy it is to use and access and am likely to find myself using Google much more. It is also neat because all of my information, forms, docs, etc. are automatically saved and easy to access and share.</p>Free/Open Source Coursestag:www.classroom20.com,2012-08-19:649749:BlogPost:8639002012-08-19T05:11:47.000ZElizabeth Gentryhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/ElizabethGentry
<p> </p>
<p>I attended parts of a course titled <i>AMST 246: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner</i> from open source courses at Yale University. I thought it was a pretty neat learning experience. The course offers a complete syllabus which includes information about the professor, a description of the course, texts for the course, requirements (participation, short paper, term paper, and final exam), and the grading criteria. There is also a link where you can purchase the required books for…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I attended parts of a course titled <i>AMST 246: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner</i> from open source courses at Yale University. I thought it was a pretty neat learning experience. The course offers a complete syllabus which includes information about the professor, a description of the course, texts for the course, requirements (participation, short paper, term paper, and final exam), and the grading criteria. There is also a link where you can purchase the required books for the course. The next part of the course is divided into sessions. This particular course met two times per week and had a total of 25 lectures. All of these lectures are recorded and available to watch in full on your computer. It was pretty cool to get to watch a Yale professor talk and teach about some of the greatest American writers. I was not aware of the open source courses and love the idea. It is a great way for someone to expand their learning and find topics that interest them. It might also be a good way for a potential college student to “try out” college before making a final decision. The video was high quality and once I got into the content, I felt almost as if I were sitting in the lecture room. It does take a lot of time to actually complete and watch a whole course, so that is a downside. But for someone with the time and motivation, it is a great resource and learning opportunity.</p>
<p>While this is definitely a great online course, it is not really what I consider online learning. You do not receive any credit for the courses and are not required to do any of the work. It is simply a neat way for someone to expand their learning. It is definitely a bit different than a face to face learning environment, but with the way this course was designed, it was not all that different. What I mean is that this course is designed as a lecture course and it easy to just sit through, learn, and take notes. Of course, you are not able to interact or ask any questions along the way. I did pause the lecture once to go to the internet and look up a term I was unfamiliar with. This is similar to asking a question, you just have to answer it yourself. Overall it was a pretty neat learning experience that I recommend checking out to the scholarly type.</p>Virtual Reality in the Classroomtag:www.classroom20.com,2012-08-04:649749:BlogPost:8573542012-08-04T21:55:20.000ZElizabeth Gentryhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/ElizabethGentry
<p>Before beginning this learning topic, I was not aware of the many areas of education that virtual reality (VR) is being implemented in. I was surprised to find out how frequently it is used. When I thought about the applications of virtual reality in the classroom, I did not see many. Now I realize that there are a ton of opportunities to educate using VR. The primary application appears to be for science and math concepts and most of the research I came across looked at VR at the post…</p>
<p>Before beginning this learning topic, I was not aware of the many areas of education that virtual reality (VR) is being implemented in. I was surprised to find out how frequently it is used. When I thought about the applications of virtual reality in the classroom, I did not see many. Now I realize that there are a ton of opportunities to educate using VR. The primary application appears to be for science and math concepts and most of the research I came across looked at VR at the post secondary level. I now believe that VR can be a great resource for teachers to differentiate instruction and provide students with a plethora of learning experiences. </p>
<p>I do feel that right now students see virtual reality simulations as a game and not an educational lesson. The couple of times I have used VR simulations, my students thought it was fun but didn’t necessarily focus on the learning objective. Perhaps the only way to change this is to expose students to it more and more in an educational setting. Right now, they play video games during their free time and this is probably their only exposure to virtual reality; it is no wonder they see these simulations as a game when done at school. On the flip side, the fact that they view VR simulations as a game and actually enjoy completing them could make them highly motivating as an educational tool. I think that it will take more exposure and a teacher who clearly explains the learning objective before completing the simulation. There also needs to be some sort of student product that comes out of the experience that the teacher can provide feedback on to make it a valuable learning experience, not just a game.</p>
<p>Overall, I am excited about what I learned about virtual reality and to begin implementing it where it is educationally beneficial for my students. In the end though, like all technology, virtual reality needs to be used in moderation and can never replace the real life, hands-on experiences traditional education provides.</p>Social Networking in the Classroomtag:www.classroom20.com,2012-07-28:649749:BlogPost:8553882012-07-28T00:02:01.000ZElizabeth Gentryhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/ElizabethGentry
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>After researching various social networks, I feel more comfortable about the possibility of using them in my classroom. I was not aware that there were so many options for educators to choose from. The educational blogs and sites are really user-friendly and secure. Knowing this, alleviates my fears about getting students involved in online chats. I like that most of the education networks give the teacher access and control over student accounts. </p>
<p>I think that prior…</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>After researching various social networks, I feel more comfortable about the possibility of using them in my classroom. I was not aware that there were so many options for educators to choose from. The educational blogs and sites are really user-friendly and secure. Knowing this, alleviates my fears about getting students involved in online chats. I like that most of the education networks give the teacher access and control over student accounts. </p>
<p>I think that prior to this learning topic, I had a negative impression of social networking and thought it was only used for gossip, comments, and opinions. Now I see that there are so many other valuable, educational uses. Communicating with classrooms from around the world is an amazing experience for kids and they could learn so much from other cultures. Before social networking and the internet, this was virtually impossible and now it is so easy. I would like to investigate how teachers get connected with other classrooms that are relevant to their curriculum. I think I will talk to the teacher from my school who I know recently did this and see what the experience was like.</p>
<p>When talking with my colleagues next year, I want to bring up digital citizenship and see if they are comfortable creating a document, similar to the wiki we created in this class, that can be distributed to students. I like that it is written in a language 6<sup>th</sup> graders can understand and relate to. I also think that it is important for students to understand how valuable technology is as a learning tool and that there are appropriate and inappropriate uses of technology in school. Unfortunately, in the past I feel that our school has focused quite a bit on the inappropriate uses and students feel that they have to be sneaky about having a cell phone. When we don’t allow the technology they have to be a part of their learning, we are encouraging them to use it behind our backs and in ways we don’t like. This has been a topic of conversation with our staff over the past few years and most teachers vote that cell phones or any personal device is absolutely not allowed in classrooms. I have recently seen a slight change in this attitude since the administrators have been hiring younger teachers. Technology is such a valuable learning tool that I hate to see it portrayed the way it is in our school.</p>
<p>Overall, I am excited to try some new technology in my classroom. I think the perfect avenue for this will be to experiment with various networks through my GT homeroom class. Once we work out problems and kinks in that class, I will be happy to implement them in my language arts classes. Many of the GT kids have technology goals and it is neat to see their expertise come out; I always learn so much from them.</p>
<p>My views of social networking have gone from negative to excited and hopeful!</p>Acceptable Uses Policytag:www.classroom20.com,2012-07-18:649749:BlogPost:8522602012-07-18T22:26:10.000ZElizabeth Gentryhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/ElizabethGentry
<p>After reviewing the student AUP for Poudre School District, I noticed a few things in regards to the recommended key elements. First, it is not called an AUP, but rather <i>Students Use of District Computers, E-mail, and Internet Access.</i> </p>
<ul>
<li>The preamble section is somewhat there, but not clearly labeled or very detailed. The terminology is not very kid friendly and uses legal terminology. It does, however, state that the student code of conduct applies to student online…</li>
</ul>
<p>After reviewing the student AUP for Poudre School District, I noticed a few things in regards to the recommended key elements. First, it is not called an AUP, but rather <i>Students Use of District Computers, E-mail, and Internet Access.</i> </p>
<ul>
<li>The preamble section is somewhat there, but not clearly labeled or very detailed. The terminology is not very kid friendly and uses legal terminology. It does, however, state that the student code of conduct applies to student online activity as well, so this is good.</li>
<li>There is not a definition section at all and technology related words are simply inserted into the document, making the assumption that students understand and know what they mean. This is not a fair assumption, and is this is the district policy that all students see and receive, it definitely should have a definition section so that it is assured students will understand the policies and what is expected of them.</li>
<li>Again, there is a policy statement, but it is not clearly labeled and written in very technical terms. The AUP does clearly define which computer services are covered by the AUP, but could benefit from being in more user-friendly words. </li>
<li>The district’s AUP certainly does have an acceptable uses section that clearly states that students may only use district computers, email, and internet for educational purposes only, but “educational purposes” is not clearly defined. It is discussed a bit later and one can infer what this means, but the AUP could benefit from a clear definition again at this point.</li>
<li>Lastly, there is also a clearly labeled section for unacceptable uses. In this section, it is bulleted and easier to read (more kid-friendly) so it is clear they want students to be aware of the unacceptable uses. There are 15 bullet points with detailed explanation about what is not acceptable. In this section, the district provided a thorough, concise list. </li>
<li>The violations section of the AUP states, “Students found to be in violation of this policy shall be subject to consequences that may include the suspension or revocation of use privileges, detention, and suspension or expulsion from school.” This is rather vague, but makes it clear that there will be consequences and they can be extreme. According to the key elements, this is all a good AUP needs to contain about violations.</li>
</ul>
<p>Overall, the district has a well-written AUP that touches on all of the key elements except clearly defining terms. There are some lay-out issues and language issues that I would personally change to direct the document toward students. After all, that is who it is written for…</p>
<p>Elizabeth</p>Blogging About Marzano and Bloomtag:www.classroom20.com,2012-07-14:649749:BlogPost:8515302012-07-14T22:04:15.000ZElizabeth Gentryhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/ElizabethGentry
<p> Both Bloom and Marzano clearly have had a huge effect on the way teachers teach and the way students learn. Research shows that when implementing these strategies, student achievement increases, and of course this is the ultimate goal of every teacher. My ever increasing knowledge about Bloom’s taxonomy and Marzano’s research affect my lesson planning daily. My increased knowledge and understanding helps me create rich, powerful lessons that students learn from and gain knowledge. …</p>
<p> Both Bloom and Marzano clearly have had a huge effect on the way teachers teach and the way students learn. Research shows that when implementing these strategies, student achievement increases, and of course this is the ultimate goal of every teacher. My ever increasing knowledge about Bloom’s taxonomy and Marzano’s research affect my lesson planning daily. My increased knowledge and understanding helps me create rich, powerful lessons that students learn from and gain knowledge. I have been exposed to Bloom and Marzano since starting my undergrad in 2002, but it always surprises me how much I continue to learn and grow as I revisit these strategies over and over (what was that about needing to practice a skill 24 times before mastery occurs?). I am currently taking two courses at Regis (the other one is a leadership course) where we are reviewing Marzano’s instructional strategies which tells me how relevant and important it must be. I think that after this summer, I will have spent so much time with these strategies, that I will think about them before every lesson I plan next year. I want to do a better job than I did last year at increasing student achievement and I think that Bloom and Marzano can help.</p>
<p> As I stated before, I am definitely currently implementing many of these concepts, but I think, scratch that…I know that I can do an even better job. After reviewing Marzano’s nine instructional strategies, I realized that I use more of them than I would have guessed and that there are some I am stronger at and some that I still need work implementing. I did find out that I am pretty good at using nonlinguistic representations in my classroom; I do this regularly and will continue to do so now that I am aware of the research behind it. One thing I need to work on is homework and practice as well as timely feedback. I think that with the integration of technology and the comment feature, some forms of feedback will become quicker and easier. Something else I worked on this past year was cooperation. I created an atmosphere where cooperation was a part of everyday learning. However, this was new to me and I found some strategies that worked really well and some days I really struggled with making this type of learning meaningful. I am going to continue to try next year and learn from mistakes I made this year so that the cooperative learning taking place is even more valuable to the students. The last thing I need to work on is integrating technology. I am becoming aware of the power of wikis and blogs and am now feeling open and ready to implement them into my classroom. This will immerse my students in the technology that they have grown up with, make things easy and efficient, and address the 21<sup>st</sup> Century skills that are so important today.</p>
<p> I am starting on a new teaching team next year and am excited to share my knowledge with my colleagues. We meet on a daily basis for RTI, best practices, and planning so this is a perfect time to discuss Marzano and Bloom. I plan on implementing these strategies and concepts in my classroom and reporting to my teammates what works really well and hopefully having suggestions for things they are struggling with or just give ideas on how to integrate technology better. I am also attending a couple of technology trainings before the school year starts, so I hope to become more knowledgeable about the technology available to me through the school district and sharing back to my colleagues. We are a very collaborative bunch of teachers, and I think there will be no problem sharing ideas. I can hardly wait!</p>