Photoshop

     We used Photoshop in class this week, and I sent my dog to Washington! I'm clearly obsessed with her because I've been using her for all of my photo manipulation projects. I used two pictures to create the final product - the original of my dog from my previous post, and a picture of the Capitol Building that I took during a trip to D.C. in 2009. This was quite a complicated program to use, but after we get used to it, I don't think it will be that hard. Time consuming, but it turned out to be really fun. And I had always wanted to learn how to use Photoshop - check that off my bucket list!

     When I think of how this program could be used with my future special ed. students, I immediately think of fine motor skills. Using this program takes a lot of concentration and precision to use, especially when cutting an image out of one photo to use in another or blending colors together. This may be difficult for students with special needs who struggle with these motor skills, but a program like this could definitely strengthen these skills.

Tableau Vivant

     Last week in class, we participated in the making of a "Tableau Vivant," or living picture. Basically, it is a way of telling a story through one or more pictures. Our group had the fable of the grasshopper and the ant. The ant toils all year to collect food while the grasshopper doesn't worry about the future. The ant tries to talk some sense into the grasshopper, but he ignores the ant's advice. When the winter comes, surprise surprise - the ant is happy and full while the grasshopper is starving because he had not prepared for the cold months.

     I thought that this was a fun way of learning a story and could definitely be beneficial to a classroom environment. By getting students more involved with a story and giving them some control over a related project will likely make them take more away from the story than they would otherwise. It was also cool to be creative and think about ways to describe the different scenes from the story. It didn't just have to be about playing an ant and a grasshopper, there are many ways to show someone working hard and the other being lazy - that's what makes this a fun activity.

Picnik Photos

I edited this picture of my dog in Picnik, on the left is before and the right is after. Not much editing done, but she's so pretty that she doesn't need it! :)

Teaching Standards

     I will be using the Special Education standard as a target of focus this semester. I am studying to be a Special Education teacher, so focusing on this standard of teaching will benefit me by allowing me to focus on how I can use this new information I am learning to assist my future students in their own learning.

     I think that being a Special Education teacher means that I will have to be in tune to the different ways that my students learn (visual, auditory, etc.) even more than other teachers. When students have difficulties learning, teachers are responsible for accommodating them and modifying their work, not necessarily to make learning easy, but to make it more accessible. Many typical students have preferred ways of learning that they benefit from the most, but these preferred learning styles are not necessary for learning to take place. For students with disabilities, they may be limited in the ways that they take in information and process it into memory, and it is my responsibility to make these learning styles available to them.


     Assistive technology is great for Special Education teachers and students because it provides activities and resources for accommodating different learning styles. For example, iPads and SmartBoards allow for both visual and auditory learning because it presents information in both ways. Students can see what they are learning about, and audio is also available for reinforced learning. These examples are also a great way for students to interact with the lesson because both are very user friendly and easy to activate. Even students who are very low functioning can benefit from this type of technology.


     Overall, I believe that the teaching standards for Special Education teachers requires rather than allows for the accommodation of different learning styles, because our students may be limited to these ways of learning. Fortunately, there are many resources currently available to us that enable us to assist our students in the most beneficial ways possible.

Teddy Bears Go Blogging

     I enjoyed the "Teddy Bears Go Blogging" article and believe that the idea behind the project can be very beneficial to students and educators involved. Not only does the project give students the ability to communicate with new people from other parts of the world and learn about new cultures, but it also teaches them how to use new means of communication that they may possibly want to continue using in the future. Blogging is easy to use, but still a great tool to understand and now about for future learning. This project might spark some creative abilities in students who may decide to continue writing and realize that they really enjoy it. Let's not forget that this is still a school project, and any new idea that gets students excited about learning and being in school should be encouraged!

     I liked the fact that students were given the opportunity to use the blogging project independently and also in small groups together. The teacher had the ability to monitor what the students were writing and the option to post or reject their comments, but very indirectly. Students were writing the posts and comments by themselves, sharing their own ideas with each other without the pressure of pleasing the teacher. This also allows students to be more honest in their posts and have the opportunity to come up with and stick to their own original ideas, rather than what their teachers may have hinted at them or what they think their teachers want to hear.

     Finally, as the article points out, the project focuses on communication rather than technology. Students are given the opportunity to communicate with new friends that they would have otherwise never meet (probably), and also improve their writing and communication skills. However, this project is also giving them a lesson in technology and providing them skills that they can use in the future.

Recommended Blogs

     The blog I chose to read from the recommended list was "The Innovative Educator" by Lisa Nielsen. Lisa is an advocate of new and innovative ways to teach and learn, including using the latest technology that may not be widely accepted among the average classrooms. Her moves and opinions are risky and controversial, but her innovations will probably be used often in classrooms within the next couple of years. For example, Lisa encourages the use of cell phones between students and educators, and even adds her students as friends on Facebook. For those of us who currently work in schools, we might think that these practices are completely inappropriate, but who knows, we will probably adapt to these practices ourselves before we know it. When I was in high school, parents and teachers did not even communicate via email, and now both would be lost without it.

     I thought it was fun and interesting that Lisa allows guest posts on her blog, and frequently references other blogs or articles to agree or disagree with. One particular guest post caught my interest. The blogger was a mother of four who home-schools her children. She was responding to an article written by a teacher who wants parents to stop hovering over their children's school careers and admit that their children are capable of making mistakes. He frequently interacts with parents who do not believe him or take offense to anything other than praise he is willing to give their children, or parents who believe that their child is an excellent student based on his or her grades (implying that some teachers only give good grades so they will be left alone). The blogger responded with outrage that someone would dare expect her to not take her child's side or think him or her capable of poor behavior.

     My response to this blog post does not have much to do with technology as it does to my beliefs about home-schooling, but I promise to make a connection. I do not believe that home-schooling allows children to reach their full academic or social potentials, especially when the educator is the parents themselves. I do not believe that a parent is capable of having an objective opinion of his or her child's school work the way that a regular teacher would, thus risking the validity of the child's grades and the amount of knowledge that they are really obtaining. Home-schooled students also cannot thrive in the social environment that schools provide and will likely have a lot of trouble later in life when they are no longer sheltered by the walls of their kitchens during the day.

     In terms of technology, schools, which receive funding from the state or from student tuition, have the ability to provide students with types of technology that they would likely never be able to benefit from at home. Let's face it, iPads are expensive enough, can a family afford to install a SmartBoard in their home? Also, certain programs that students use on computers in school are not available for individual purchase, you have to be affiliated with a school or company to buy it. Overall, students are exposed to and learn how to operate certain technology in schools that their parents would not be able to provide. The technology in schools helps students to learn in new and innovative ways that stray from the traditional pencil and paper methods and improve the learning experience.

Response to USA Today Article

     While reading this article about using MP3s for educational purposes, I immediately thought how great it would have been if some of my previous professors had suggested or encouraged this type of learning. As a college student, one is generally assigned more reading than seems feasible. It takes great amounts of time out of a person's day to simply complete the readings for a class, nevermind the papers or assignments that usually accompany them. Using MP3s to listen to readings can allow a person to multitask while completing assignments. Of course, you have to be engaged enough to actually comprehend what you are listening to, but you might be able to grocery shop, exercise, or do the dishes or laundry at the same time.

     I also thought of how this type of learning would benefit young readers. Children who have no yet mastered fluent reading can still gain the same understanding from a story as the child who has mastered this skill. As mentioned in the article, reading outloud and hearing the words boosts literacy.

     Overall, I believe that the use of MP3s as an educational tool is just another example of our rapidly changing world and the advance of technology to benefit our everyday lives. Some are very against this change and feel that we are relying too much on electronics and things that do a lot of the work for us. I believe that this change should be embraced, for these changes are truly revolutionary and do in most cases strengthen or quality of life.

     If we simply compare the way classrooms operated when we were in elementary school with the way they operate now, we can see the obvious differences. Many more classrooms are equipped with computers, many have smartboards, and these change the way that students learn. I believe that exposing them to technology and teaching them how to use and benefit from it is preparing them for their lives in the real world. We are expected to know how to use technology in many job fields, and by the time our students are in the work force, these expectations will only be stronger. Technology is our future, no matter if we like it or not, and I believe that any kind of technology that is available to us and can make learning easier or more enjoyable should be embraced.