Using SmartBoard in the Classroom

I used the Smart Board in my classroom to teach the concept of angles. It was a really cool experience. I was supposed to teach the concept of right angles, acute angles, obtuse angles and perpendicular lines. So I created a PowerPoint to teach the definitions. Also in the PowerPoint I included pictures of things that the students can relate to: a playground, the Ball that drops during New Years Eve in Times Square, and a picture of the Disneyland castle. On the SmartBoard students would trace the angles they could find in the pictures. This turned out great because the students were creating the angles themselves and so their understanding became concrete. I also loved using the SmartBoard because the students were excited about it and it was really interactive. Almost all of the students wanted to participate and wanted to write on the SmartBoard.
The only problem with the lesson was that the students that were not writing on the SmartBoard at that particular moment had a hard time concentrating. Only one person could write on the SmartBoard at one time and so some students started to loose interest. Other than that, I felt like the technology really enhanced their understanding of the concept!

Technology in the classroom.

At my school they have a Smart Board. So I could teach the Utah 3rd grade core curriculum using the Smart Board: In math, stardard 3, Objective 2, a is states: Demonstrate the effect of reflection, translation, or rotation using objects. On the smart board I could have examples of shapes we have been learning about in class. Then I could physically show the students what you must do to these shapes for them to be rotated, reflected or translated. Then student can come up one at a time and show the rest of the class that they understnad these concepts. we can compare and contrast these concepts on the board.

Classroom Technology Inventory

Well, it was good to learn more about the technology in my school so that I can know what resources I have to teach. I really like the microphone speaker system my school has. Each classroom is wired so that the teachers can use a microphone to teach. This is nice because then the students can hear better and there is no excuse of "I couldn't hear you" coming from the students. It is nice to know that I can sign my class up for computer lab time at any time. This is useful if you want your students to learn how to do research on the internet, or if you want the students to "publish" their writing. They can type up their stories, poems, etc. on the computers in the computer lab.
Now that I know the technology available in my school and classroom, I can plan a lesson using the technology that is available. I think I may need to look into what software is available in the computer labs a little bit better! It is amazing to me that the school has so much technology, but I just don't see it being used very much.
One other thing I discovered from the technology inventory, is that the 3rd grade shares a lot of the technology among the three 3rd grade classrooms. So if I want to use one of the technologies I will need to schedule it ahead of time.

Virtual Tour through California!

Check out my virtual tour by looking at my link list!

TPACK for Virtual Tour

Content knowledge: Our virtual tour will be based on the 3rd grade core curriculum for Social studies. Standard 1, Obj. 3, a: Identify ways people use the physical environment (agriculture, recreation, energy, and industry). As this as the basis for the lesson students will see examples of these four ways people use the environment in California. The agriculture example is the Napa, CA vineyards because this is where grapes are grown and wine is produced. The Recreation example is Yosemite because there is opportunities for hiking, fishing, backpacking, camping, and swimming. The energy example is the Folsom dam in California because it is where a lot of the energy in California is produced. The industry example is the Hershey's factory where chocolate is produced.
The pedagogy knowledge is research based. The students will be doing many activities that encourage research about the four ways we use the environment to our advantage. This fits very well with the content because then students will better understand these ways and will be encouraged to come up with other examples they have seen of agriculture, recreation, energy, and industry.
Technology knowledge: In our virtual tour we will be using Google Earth. We will look at four different places in California using Google Earth. We will use the technology to put an image overlay on one of the four places. At each destination in the virtual tour there will be links to activities that the students can go to to learn more about the place and how it relates to the content knowledge.