Welcome to the Class!

Welcome to Mrs. Bennett's Classroom. Here is a link to our classroom website. This blog will be used to inform parents of upcoming events and showcase work that the students will be completing in class. Each student will bring home a permission slip for their parent or guardian to sign, giving permission for their photos and art work to be displayed on the website and blog. I will also be posting information relevant to the Early Childhood/ Special Education field as well as articles or websites that parents might enjoy. I look forward to meeting everyone and beginning our school year!

Interesting Tidbits I Learned at CEC

This past weekend I attended the 2010 CEC Convention and Expo (Council for Exceptional Children). Aside from the intriguing assistive technology devices, I learned how one group of teachers used technology to reach their special needs preschool students. I attended the "Visual Strategies and Assistive Technology to Support Students with Autism and Developmental Delays" lecture presented by Jennifer Simonaitis and Jen Bartelli. In this lecture they discussed various visual strategies that work well with children with autism or developmental delays. One of the proven interventions is the use of social stories to teach children how to play with toys or prepare for a special event. While these stories have been proven valid by research, the children were not paying attention to them, so they were not learning from them. Because the children are so TV, video game, and computer immersed, or brainwashed, they did not know how to listen to a book being read to them. The teachers decided to take photographs of the pages of the books, record their voices reading the text, and complied them into a video using Windows Movie Maker. The children immediately took to the videos. The children responded to the videos so well that they have began making videos for everything that they do, and even make videos for the parents if the child will be experience something new at home. These teachers recognized that a proven strategy was not working for their students and used technology to make it more meaningful and beneficial to them. This is not only a trait of a great special education teacher, but also a teacher that is capable of integrating technolgy into the classroom.

Tips and Ideas for Teachers

I discovered a wonderful resource for teachers called Teachers Helping Teachers. This website has been operating since 1995 and contains tips and ideas that cover all spans of teaching, such as classroom management, science, math, and special education. Teachers can use any of the material on the site for their classroom and are encouraged to contribute their ideas and lesson plans. The website is updated weekly during the school year.

In addition to lesson plan ideas, the website also has lists of education resources for teachers divided into content section. Each week the website has a new topic by the creator (Dr. Scott Mandel), a poem of the week, book review submitted by a contributor, and stress relievers for teachers.

I think this website will be very useful to me in the future and I wish I had found it when we were doing our wiki projects!

Effects of Technology

I found this interesting article from the National Institute of Early Education Research. This article discusses the benefits throughout the years from technology use with young children, as well as some concerns about how preschoolers today are immersed in technology almost from birth. The article states that research discovered "that children who were exposed to television in the 1950's and 1960's had the same or slightly higher test scores than those who did not have a television. Positive results were more pronounced where the household was nonwhite, English was a second language, or the mother had less than a high school education."

The article also pointed out concerns about the educational quality of the technology that is typically being presented to preschool children in their homes- such as video games.

Like Buckleitner, Traylor is pro-technology when it comes to education applications. Yet he is suspicious of bombarding 3- and 4-year-olds with technology when the educational merits of the products are not known. His rule of thumb: "I try to think, 'What would Mr. Rogers do?'"

Sharapan also recognizes the limitations of the technology. "My child development background says to me that there's something very different about building with blocks that are three-dimensional, that I can touch and that I'm balancing in my hand, than manipulating something onscreen. We need children to have real experiences with objects and then the virtual experiences can give them another level of understanding," she says. Or as Fred Rogers was fond of saying, "A computer can help you know how to spell hug, but it can't help you get those feelings."

Once again, the usage of technology with very young children is still slightly controversial and needs to be researched further to uncover the best way to use these resources in an educational and developmentally appropriate way.

Profile of a Technology Literate Kid

I found this information from FamilyEducation.com interesting. According to the International Society for Technology in Education, prior to completion of second grade, your child should be able to:

• Demonstrate proficient mouse skills.

• Start up and shut down a computer system.

• Use instructional software in various content areas.

• Recognize and use basic computer vocabulary.

• Operate commonly used media devices (e.g., puzzles, logical-thinking programs, writing tools, digital cameras, drawing tools).

• Use input devices to navigate the graphic interface on multimedia learning resources.

• Use printers to produce hard copy of student products.

Majority of the items on this list I believe that children who are in second grade should be able to do, such as operate a mouse and print a document. If taught properly, these children should also be able to shut down a computer the correct way, not just by pushing the buttons. In this time period it is reasonable to assume that children will know basic computer terminology and how to use certain software programs by age 7.

I guess one of the parts that kinda caught me off guard is knowing how to operate a digital camera. Are we talking just point, click, and view the picture, or do they mean actually be able to adjust the settings, upload the image, crop it, etc? I have issues using my camera sometimes, I can't imagine 7 and 8 year-olds being able to operate more than a basic digital camera. Also, I am glad I am choosing to teach preschoolers, because I needed a translation on what "Use input devices to navigate the graphic interface on multimedia learning resources" means! (Once my husband explained it as basically operating a video game I understood it better.)

Throughout this course I have learned that children are capable of more technological feats than I could ever imagine. Because of the new developments in technology and the increasing amount of technology savvy preschoolers and elementary students, I realize that I need to step it up as a teacher and learn creative ways to integrate technology into my preschool classroom so my students are prepared for what the future holds.

Digital Movie

This week our assignment was to create a digital story. I chose to focus my digital story on the flower project my partner and I did last Spring with the children from UT's Early Learning Center. Once my teacher pointed me in the right direction of how to re-size images on my home computer, it was fairly easy to get all of the images together and in the correct format. I also found it was easy to use Windows Movie Maker to create the video once I got it started. While arranging and editing the images was time consuming, it was fairly easy to do. The part of the assignment that I found difficult was trying to format the document to save it to the specific requirements. I also had several issues trying to get the video to upload to my blog. I really wish the department would have an option to read instructions for a Mac or for a PC. Some of the Mac instructions followed closely to how the PC's programs worked, but others are very different. It's really frustrating going between the two systems, especially when you are having technical difficulties.

Technology with Young Preschoolers- A Useful Tool or a Curse?

Today I came across this article by Lorrie Jackson from Education World. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech215.shtml This article discusses the role technology plays in preschoolers' lives and how we as educators and parents should use technology with these young children.

The article states that, according to the National Education Technology Plan, 90% of children ages 5-7 use computers, 97% of kindergartners have computers at home and/or at school, and 72% of first graders use a home computer during the summer. These statistics are beginning to surprise me less and less as I learn more about technology use with young children. However, this article does address my main concern with using technology with young children- that children are being babysat by technology tools and are not experiencing the natural world.


Toddlers and preschoolers learn by doing -- playing in the mud, dressing up, playing house, and participating in other hands-on activities. The National Association for the Education of Young Children advises, therefore, that "computers supplement, and do not replace, highly valued early childhood activities and materials, such as art, blocks, sand, water, books, exploration with writing materials, and dramatic play."

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under the age of 2 years old not be permitted to watch TV and children over the age of 2 years be limited to one to two hours of screen time a day. This recommendation is often translated to include computer usage as well. The first two years of your child’s life are especially important in the growth and development of her brain. During this time, children need positive interaction with other children and adults. This is especially true at younger ages, when learning to talk and play with others is so important.

All too often I have encountered children who could operate my cell phone better than I can or beat me in every computer game that we played, but look completely dumbfound when you try to get them to play outside or use materials such as blocks and cars to play instead of TV and video games. This generation of children is being raised immersed in technology which definitely has its perks. However, are the benefits worth it at the expense of children knowing the feeling of sand under their feet, paint all over their hands, or the joy of dressing up in Mom's old clothes and jewelry?

Spreadsheet

This week in class we learned how to use spreadsheets to create interactive quizzes. While I am not sure how I would use this tool with preschool children, I do think it would be a useful tool to use with early elementary students. One interesting aspect of the tool is the immediate feedback the students receive when they enter their answer. If the answer is correct they receive a "Good" and ten points are given and totaled at the bottom. If the student does not answer correctly, then they receive an "Uh-Oh" and no points are given. The student is then able to enter other possible answers until they get the correct answer. This feature would be great to use with special needs learners because they receive immediate feedback and are able to change their answers until they get it correct. This tool can even help the students improve their spelling and typing skills because the answer has to be spelled correct or no points will be given. This type of tool would be great for vocabulary practice or a review of a topic.

Diagrams

This week our assignment was to create a web diagram using Inspiration or Kidspiration. I had never used either of these programs before, so I was not sure what to expect. I chose to use Inspiration to create my document and was surprised when I realized how easy it was to use. I loved the search feature on the symbols because it offered on average 3 to 4 more pages of a particular image than the one or two images listed in the libraries section. I also enjoyed being able to re-size the images and freely move the images where I wanted to place them. Both Kidspiration and Inspiration would be excellent tools to use in classrooms of all ages. Students can create story plots, math diagrams, cycle of life diagrams, creative outlines, and so much more!

Digital Images

Tonight in class we created Power Points featuring digital images from various sources: an original photo, clip art, scanned image, screen capture, and a picture from an Internet source. While retrieving images and photographs from various sources is nothing new to me, I had never resized images to fit certain criteria. That process was a little frustrating because it appeared that my images were the correct DPI and size, however, when I uploaded them into Picasa they were either too large or extremely tiny. Once I fixed those issues I was able to load the images in the Google docs Presentation fairly easily. I was also able to embed the presentation into my blog, but the original size was too big and only 3/4 of the presentation was visible. With help from my teacher I was able to fix that issue and the presentation is a normal, viewable size now. While it was frustrating learning to use these new to me tools, I believe that they will be beneficial to me as I finish my degree at UTK and in my classroom as I try to integrate technology into the curriculum.

iPhone Apps for Preschoolers

To the shock and amazement of their parents, many preschoolers today are able to operate iPhones and other pieces of technology with seemingly little effort. These children can easily unlock the devices, search and download apps, and switch from app to app. Some even know how to operate the device better than their parents!

Since children today are capable of using various pieces of technology, it is important for parents and teachers to provide them with age-appropriate and educational games and activities. Parenting magazine published an online article that lists 25 iPhone apps designed for children (http://www.parenting.com/gear-gallery/Gear/25-iPhone-Apps-for-Kids/1/). The list includes the typical games such as Memory, Mad Libs, Checkers, Word Search, and Tic-Tac-Toe. One of the unique apps is "The Pianist", which is an app that features a digital piano with the keys labeled in the different chords. With this app children are able to make music and record their songs to play back."iSign Alphabet" is an app that lists the ASL alphabet along with image accompaniment to demonstrate how to correctly form the signs. Another interesting app is "Scribble", which is a Paint app designed for preschool children.

Some apps are more age specific, such as "Airport Mania", that is designed for children 6 and up. In this game children design and run their own interactive airport. I was surprised and excited to see several apps on the list that are specifically designed for toddlers. "iPlayPhone" is an app that features a brightly colored numeric keypad that toddlers can safely play with and dial with abandon without moms and dads worrying about them calling Tokyo. Another app that is designed for toddlers is "iTot Toddler Flashcards". These flashcards feature familiar animals, foods, and other objects. What is unique about this app is that in addition to the picture of the item and the English label, the item is also labeled in French and Spanish. "Toddler Teasers: Shapes" is another fun, interactive app designed for toddlers and preschoolers. In the app children are quizzed on shapes and receive a virtual sticker each time they get four correct in a row.

These are just a few of the educational and age-appropriate apps available to children. I have also seen an app that read classic books to children, such as The Cat In The Hat. Also, majority of the apps listed in the article are free or under $1.

Preschoolers and Technology

I continue to be amazed by the ease preschoolers today use technology with seemingly little instruction. Over Spring Break my husband and I visited his family in Louisiana. While having a family dinner his four-year-old cousin began playing with her mother's iPhone. She showed me how to check the calendar, write memos, take and view pictures, and sort through the various apps. She can even search for and download apps by herself!

There are several You Tube videos available that feature toddlers and preschoolers using iPhones and other pieces of "high tech" equipment, such as this video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Are3FxkhtoU.

Because children are using more complex technology at younger ages now, I wonder when I will find it necessary to include a "No cell phones allowed in the classroom" rule in my list of class rules for a preschool classroom. I feel that day will be coming sooner than we think.

Frustrations In Technology

This week I had first hand experience with frustrations with technology. In our society we often become attached or dependent to a piece of technology, be it a cell phone, laptop, iPhone, or Smart Board. When these devices crash or malfunction our whole routine is set off kilter. Well this week my laptop decided it wanted to die and decided to give me a "blue screen of death" right as I was completing the final paragraph in a six page paper due in class the next day. Naturally I freaked out and panicked because I have forgotten the number one rule- always back up documents. Luckily for me my husband's friend was able to retrieve my document by extracting my hard drive and routing it to his computer.

As a pre-service teacher I can only imagine how catastrophic this would have been if I had lesson plans, children's portfolio information, or curriculum standards on my laptop. I now recognize the importance of utilizing other technological devices and services to backup all of my files, such as an external hard drive or uploading documents to Google Documents.

Does anyone else have any frustrating technology stories or ideas for backing up documents?

Also, I'm not sure if I want to wipe my laptop and install Windows 7 or just buy a new laptop all together? Any ideas?

WebQuests and Preschoolers

When I first heard about webquests, I thought they sounded like a fun educational activity for older children but I was not so sure about using them with young preschool aged children. Through my TPTE 486 class at UT I have discovered that preschoolers are capable of more technological activities than I originally thought possible, but I was still skeptical about using something as complex as a webquest with two-year-olds. I could not imagine a young preschooler searching the web and typing in answers to questions.

Once I began researching preschool webquests I discovered that there are ways to adapt a webquest to make it developmentally appropriate for preschool children. One site I found, http://www.literacy.uconn.edu/pkwebqu.htm, listed links to four quality preschool webquests. One webquest I found on the site, "Take Time to Sing & Rhyme", listed activities such as select a nursery rhyme to print and color, read favorite nursery rhyme to your child/student, and practice labeling body parts while singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." The evaluation section is a fill in the blank print off that lists three popular nursery rhymes. This webquest is designed for a parent or teacher to do along with the child and the activities are developmentally appropriate for preschoolers. Another interesting webquest is "On The Farm." This webquest has pictures of various farm animals for children to click on to hear the sound that animals makes as well as pictures of tractors and other farm equipment. The evaluation for this wequest is to print and color a farm picture. Older preschool students will be able to complete this webquest on their own and younger students can with minimal teacher assistance.

After reviewing these and other webquests, I believe that webquests can be a useful educational tool in a preschool classroom. Teachers can use webquests as a way to teach children about Internet usage and other computer functions. Preschool children can learn about new topics in a fun and interactive way. Webquests can be an excellent educational tool for all ages if designed with developmentally appropriate practices in mind.

"Cool School"

I know majority of us thought our high school was pretty lame when we were growing up- I sure did. The coolest thing my high school had was the new computer lab with the latest Dell desktops and this was in 2004! Recently Warren County High School was featured on a local news series called "Cool Schools." When I first heard about the feature I laughed. My old high school cool???? Never in a million years! But I decided to watch the special online and boy was I blown away with the changes the school has made.

The students now at Warren Co. can take a class where they design, construct, and test underwater ROV's, or remove operated vehicles. They also have a distance learning lab where students can take virtual field trips, learn more about career options, or take classes with others across the country! The school has also added a forensic science class where the students get to experiment with facial reconstruction technology and other forensic science tools.

For myself, being a preschool teacher and all, I loved seeing the interactive board in the Pioneer Preschool. That class is the reason I decided to major in Early Childhood Education and seeing the technological advances they have made in these past few years is amazing. I would have never imagined my preschoolers could talk to Mrs. Claus about the weather at the North Pole!

After watching the special I realized how rapidly technology is changing education today. I'm glad to know that my hometown high school is striving to bring some of the latest technology to its students, even the future students in the preschool lab! Too bad they had to go "cool" after I left!

http://www.wsmv.com/video/21816443/index.html

Integration of Technology Into the Preschool Classroom

My first thoughts about using technology with young preschool children is the risks involved with young children and expensive pieces of equipment. How many people would willingly hand their laptop or iPod to a two-year-old? Deborah Stewart (http://www.deborahjstewart.com/2010/01/books-and-technology-in-the-preschool-classroom/), mentions the same concerns about using technology in her preschool classroom in her blog. While I am nervous about using expensive equipment with young children, I do believe that it is vitally important for young children to learn how to properly use different pieces of equipment. The trick will be finding what types of technology is developmentally appropriate to use with the age group I will be working with and how to incorporate it into my lesson plans.

ECresources also has a blog post devoted to technology use with young children (http://early-childhood-resources.blogspot.com/search/label/SCITEC). In her blog, Carly mentions the use of Tag Reading systems, Wii games, and iPhone games designed for preschool children. These forms of technology all have components or games that have been adapted so young children can operate and enjoy the systems. While I believe giving a child a computer game is not a substitution for teacher instruction, it can be used as a lesson enhancement or a tool to use with special needs learners. From reading different blogs and my own person experience in the classroom, I believe that technology has a place in the classroom and can be beneficial to young children. As a teacher, I must evaluate potential technology gadgets to make sure that my students will be interested in the system and that they will be able to operate it with their current skill level. Now I look forward to experimenting with different types of technology with preschoolers. The BeeBots mentioned in Carly's blog sounds like they would be fun to use!

Test

This is a test. Thanks!