Electronic Portfolios

Here is one teacher portfolio that I believe is a "bad" example, in the sense that it is used to update the general public about the classroom instruction and the personal life of the teacher.  It is not necessarily the most professional site (i.e. revising and editing errors), and I would not use it as a model for my electronic portfolio as a prospective teacher.  However, it does give me a general picture of what an online teaching portfolio may look like. 

• http://www.teacherrachelle.com/

Although this "good" sample electronic portfolio is geared toward the field of business executives, it has a crisp and professional look and could be effectively used for teachers as they showcase their accomplishments and qualifications.  The left-hand links include: profile, philosophy, results, interview, resume, references, and contact. 

•   http://www.blueskyportfolios.com/executive1/

Copyright

Copyright is a touchy subject, one that has been debated for decades amongst many throughout the US.  Teachers have many rules to remember and follow regarding copyright in the classroom.  Firstly, I must ensure that I, as a future teacher, site my sources to prevent plagiarizing which I believe is akin to infringing upon copyright.  As long as I use material that is covered under the Four Standards of Fair Use, including purpose of use, nature of work, extent of the material used, and the effect on marketability, I will be safe from infringing on copyright rules.  However, those general rules are up for further interpretation. 

I was surprised that teachers technically are not allowed to show movies in their classrooms.  However, short video clips are acceptable.  Also, schools must purchase special licenses to play full length movies in large scale settings. 

When I was in high school, I observed many teachers abusing copyright rules with PowerPoint presentations.  They presented particular concepts but did not site their sources.  In addition, during my sophomore year, my class got permission from my history teacher to watch movies two to three times during our lunch period.  Outside of the school environment, I knew students who copied CDs for their friends so that the latter did not have to purchase the CDs. 

Although copyright is a difficult and often confusing area to teach, I believe it is my responsibility to address the importance of this subject with my students as the need arises.  I will teach them how to use copyright correctly by modeling to them the correct use as I instruct them.  Since copyright is related to plagiarism, copyright is definitely something that will need to be addressed in the classroom, especially for upper elementary students who are exposed to copyright violations in their everyday lives.     

Classroom Video Project Scenario

Hypothetical Classroom Video Assignment Check List:

Content Area: Language Arts; Art

Project: 1 Minute Video Teaching a "How to" Demonstration/scenario

Age Level: 4-6 grade

Preparation:

• Getting permission from the school to use approximately 10 video cameras and microphones
• Getting permission to use the computer lab (ensuring that Movie Maker 2.6 is installed on the computers)
• Knowing how to use Movie Maker 2.6 and Audacity properly and subsequently to explain the program to the students
• 5-7 parent volunteers to help supervise the students--teaching the parents how to use Movie Maker, Audacity, Royalty Free Music, and the cameras as well
• Typing a List of Rules for handling the video cameras and microphones
• Typing a List of Guidelines/Tips for filming
• Typing a paper for the students and parents explaining the video assignment requirements and its overall purpose
• Writing a Parent invitation to the culminating "Movie Day"

Into and Through:

• Dividing the students into groups of 3
• Creating You Tube accounts for each student
• Creating Royalty Free Music accounts
• Explaining how to use Movie Maker 2.6 and Audacity
• Teaching the rules of using the cameras and microphones
• Teaching good tips to follow while filming
• Brainstorming "How to" topics that could be "taught" using the camera and filmed in 1-1.5 minutes
• Examples: How to...
• Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich
• Sign your name in sign language
• Brain your hair
• Arm wrestle
• Tell a joke without laughing
• Use the Internet to find information about a research topic
• Jump rope
• Do a hand stand...
• Filming the videos under parent/teacher supervision

Beyond:

• Uploading the video to the computer and then to Movie Maker 2.6
• Designing the video, such as adding music, dialogue, captions, credits, and transitions
• Uploading the finished video to You Tube
• Scheduling a special movie day to watch the finished products, complete with drinks and popcorn

Reflecting on the Video Project

Video Project Reflection:

Overall, creating a 1.5 minute video was a good learning experience as I am not the most technologically savvy individual.  Movie Maker 2.6 was fairly simple to use.  Mallory and I were able to add subtitles, transitions, music, and our voices (dubbed) with little difficulty.  We did, however, make the video ten seconds too long and accidently used a faulty microphone.  As a result of the latter mishap, we had to dub our voices into the video which took extra time.  Also, if I could have done this differently,  I would have made sure I knew how to work the camera (i.e. rewinding and taping vs. still images) before leaving the classroom. Mallory and I spent a lot of time "tinkering" with the camera before filming our scenes.  In addition, I would have filmed the scenes from different angles and zoomed in more.  I am thankful to have learned how to use the camera and Movie Maker 2.6; it will definitely be an asset to me in my future classroom!   

Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards enhance classrooms, transforming them from the traditional "black and white" chalkboards to highly engaging and stimulating methods of instruction.  Children can interact with these boards using the multi-modal approach (i.e. visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile).  I firmly believe in the many benefits of interactive whiteboards for classroom instruction.  They can be used to show video clips (auditory and visual), play games and answer questions using the pens (tactile, kinesthetic, and visual), and to surf educational websites (visual), to name a few. 

Like every new device, one must take the time to learn how to utilize the board properly, practicing its various functions so that it will be able to enhance classroom learning effectively.  For me, the technology was not overly difficult to learn as some of the functions are similar to those on publications, such as Microsoft Word.  I really enjoyed experimenting with the board, especially moving objects around and writing using the pens.  It felt like magic; it is very addicting once one starts using the interactive whiteboard! 

Pros:

• Gives students visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile ways of learning
• Software comes with ready-to-use teaching tools (thousands of graphics and interactives for each subject area)
• Provides turorials to learn how to use it
• Allows children to interact with the lesson
• Teachers have free access to download the software on their personal computers for use at home
• Engages children in learning and experiencing the content apart from direct instruction or the "talking head"

Cons:

• Can be time-consuming to learn how to use
• Takes time to create the lessons
• At times, may get stuck or experience minor glitches--one who uses the board needs to understand the details to aviod these

There are two lessons that I have taught in the past with which I could have incorporated the interactive whiteboard. 

1. Introducing 3D Figures: Sphere and Cube (3rd grade)

• I might have used the board to allow the children to classify 2D and 3D shapes and objects in order to assess the students' understanding of these geometric concepts at the start of the lesson.
• We might then compare 2D and 3D objects using a Venn Diagram on which the children would write their comparisons and observations. 

2. Introduction to Harriet Tubman (4th or 5th grade)

• An interactive whiteboard could be used to show pictures of Harriet Tubman, a map of where she was born and where she traveled to when helping dozens of slaves escape to freedom.  This might be a way to review the states along the east coast.  The students would circle key states and trace Tubman's escape routes!
• Also, a documentary video clip of her may be played on the whiteboard for the students. 

Software Skills

Although I, like the vast majority of my college peers, have used Microsoft Office since junior high (and before), there are tools and buttons that did not know existed.  Furthermore, I had never even used Publisher up until a week ago.  It was vitally beneficial to learn these software skills and how they apply to the classroom setting as well as beyond. 

I am the most familiar with Microsoft Word but still cultivated the following skills: selecting and formatting more than 1 item at a time; inserting and designing tables; and inserting SmartArt.  I especially enjoyed drawing shapes with various border widths, styles, and colors.  As an aspiring teacher, I will use tables in Word specifically when I need to create tests, quizzes, and homework assignments.  The tables allow the various informational pieces and questions to be lined up systematically for easy grading.  I will also use tables when creating assessment rubrics, sign-up sheets, and lists. 

In addition, Microsoft Publisher is filled with blank or already formatted templates, ranging from newsletters and banners to birthday cards and flyers.  The templates are convenient to use and are easily customized to suite one's needs.  I love browsing through the already-existing templates and reformatting them according to my desired layout and designs.  Publisher is much easier to use than starting from scratch as one must in Word.  I will use Publisher to create an engaging and stimulating weekly newsletter for parents, flyers and banners for special events, get-well cards for sick students, and awards certificates to honor student achievements.  The better acquainted I become with Publisher, the more readily I shall use it in my future classroom. 

Microsoft Office includes important tools that may facilitate children as they learn and interact at school.  These tools will just as significantly help me to become better organized and more efficient as an elementary teacher. 

Inspiration and Web Resources

Inspiration is a software that allows teachers (and students) to organize and classify information in various forms (i.e. outline, tree, web) for easy comprehension, visibility, and readability.  I believe it would be worth the investment as there is no other comparable software on the market for the price. 

Here are ways that Inspiration can be used as productivity and instructional tools in the classroom:

1. Graphic organizer for students and teachers
2. Planning and constructing device for teachers when writing lesson plans and whole units
3. Content poster created by enlarging a concept map
4. Individual concept maps for the students to help them understand relationships between the words/phrases 
5. Introduction of a new concept
6. KWL chart used at beginning of a lesson/unit and at the end to show what the students have learned
7. Assessment (i.e. test or quiz): Give each student a concept map with some words/phrases included and others left blank to evaluate how much the students have learned about the interrationships between concepts
8. Group project: students creating their own concept maps using Inspiration to show what they have learned from a particular unit and the subsequent relationships between concepts
9. Study guide for students
10. Picture concept maps for special needs children
11. Tool of comparison between lessons/units
12. A sampling of specific elementary grades content-related examples that can be created with Inspiration:
• Food chain
• Digestive process
• Process of bill becoming a law
• Structures of government
• Water cycle

The uses of inspiration for teachers and students are endless!

Among my favorite web resources, I believe United Streaming; Ethemes; and Rubistar to be the most effective for my future classroom (although I will probably use all the web resources introduced in class at various intervals in my future classroom).  However, I want to focus primarily on these three.   

1. United Streaming:  This site is clearly massive in its content and resources that it provides for teachers to utilize in the classroom.  Apart from the thousands of educational videos/clips for all subject areas, many videos are also coupled with extensive instructional strategies, lesson plans, and worksheets.  I will use this site on a weekly basis (at the very minimum) to introduce lessons/units and to use as supplemental material as this type of technology will easily engage and motivate my students.  In addition, one can save and download clips as well as use the calendar to incorportate current holidays and historical events.  
2. Ethemes.missouri.edu: This is a resource site in which teachers can search alphabetically based on grade level.  As there are hundreds of themes and concepts listed under each grade level, this site will be beneficial to use in order to discover educational sites/resources pertaining to specific subjects.  For example, if I were teaching first graders about mammals and need information about Koalas, I may scroll to first grade; click on "Koalas;" and use the resources listed (i.e. Australia Koala Foundation, Kidsplanet, National Geographic, jigsaw puzzle, Koala Lou book, etc.).  This is a wonderful site to use when planning units as the resources are educational and engaging to use when teaching the content.  
3. Rubistar:  Lastly, although Rubistar is antiquated, it is worth utilizing to create assessment rubrics.  One can create one from scratch or use existing ones.  I have already created rubrics using Rubistar for my science and social studies units and will continue to do so on a daily/weekly basis when I begin teaching.