Technology Observations

I noticed that the students of foothill elementary are very lucky to have vast selection of technology at their fingertips. Every class goes to the computer lab at least once a week which gives even the youngest grades experience with technology that they may not have at home. Although there didn't seem to be many classrooms with computers in them, this lab access makes up for it. I thought it was great that there is a storage room with science technology that can be checked out through the media center.

I completed #1 and #2.

Science Challege- Exploring the Different Terrains of Utah

This is different from my plans to use Stellarium, because after 2 hours of trying to figure out a glitch on the program, I gave up and created a new project on Utah 4th grade science standard 5 objectives 1-3.

Science Lesson Plan

6th Grade Standard- Moon Changes and Orbits.

CONTENT:
My challenge will be focusing on the changes in the moon and what the appearance of the moon looks like when these changes take place.

PEDAGOGY:
Student will observe and analyze changes in the moon which are called phases. This will help the student be able to identify the eight different phases of the moon and what the moon looks like in each phase.

TECHNOLOGY:
I will be using Stellarium. This is a program that allows one to look at the night sky from anywhere on the earth at any time. This will enable the students to be able to see the moon in each of the different phases.

Week 6 Wrap up!

I viewed the following Projects:
America's Music History Completed
Lit trip Through Pride and Prejudice
Major Volcanoes

There are so many upsides to implementing a google earth tour in a classroom. It is extremely interactive, which encourages a higher level of thinking on the students part. Using actual images that students can explore gives them the opportunity to really get connected to the subject matter. It gives students the rare chance to visit places they may never get the chance to actually visit. The downside of using google earth is how complicated and time consuming it can be to create these projects.

Important Civil War Battle tour in Google Earth

My Virtual Tour

Here is the final tour the I uploaded to my wiki: Civil War Battles

LOCATION	ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION	GOOGLE EARTH CONTENT
1. Fort Sumter National Monument-Fort Sumter Island, Charleston, WV	After looking at the pictures of Fort Sumter in 1861 and how it appears today, draw your own picture of the take-over of the fort by the Confederate troops on April 12, 1861. Remember that the North wore blue uniforms and the South wore gray.	Links to pictures of 1861 Fort Sumter; places and panoramio layers for of present day Sumter
2. Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee	Pretend that you are a soldier fighting or serving in the Civil War. Write a letter home to a friend or loved one. Tell how the war is affecting you and the soldiers around you.	Link to you tube video about Battle of Shiloh
3. Dunker Church, Antietam, Maryland	Complete the Emancipation Proclamation concept map given to by your teacher.	National Geographic Magazine Layer
4. Gettysburg National Military Park	Create a collage using the quotes of Abraham Lincoln	Link to you tube video of Gettysburg Address

I commented on:
1. Nina Wallace
2. Laura beth
3. Megan (messy room)
4. Marrisa
5.Colecta Moss
6.Sarah's PLE

I think the most difficult thing in implementing this assignment in an elementary classroom is teaching all of the students to use a movie making program. Most schools don't allow much computer lab time for each class, and so that will break up the momentum students have in completing their assignment. Also, teaching younger students about copywrite laws may be a challenge. They may not understand all the aspects of the assignment and that confuse may detract from the lesson objective.