SUMMARY & REFLECTION

1. How did the use of technology help my students to learn this subject matter in a way that is more effective than or would not be possible otherwise?
  I believe that technology had an amazing impact on my students all around, including many lessons that would not have been possible without the use of technology.   First and foremost, the technology truly engaged the students and they love to work on the computers.  This motivation to learn definitely increased the effectiveness of the lessons.  Students also got to experience opportunities that would not have been there if not for technology.  The internet allowed the students to view movie clips, pictures, and tables related to rocks and minerals that they would not have seen otherwise.  They read about the different properties of minerals and different type of rocks, but being able to see them and the processes the information in that fashion allows them to retain the information better.  Many students are visual learners, so this experience brought out their best work and dedication. 

   This unit based on technology also allowed them to learn material that would not have been available otherwise.  For instance, in the second web quest they learned about Michigan's mining past through interactive websites.  While there is some information about this in our school library, it would have been difficult to integrate this information into regular lessons because of a lack of materials.  Not only did the websites provide ample materials, but also extended this with photographs, maps, and charts related to this topic.  It also introduced topics that the students never learned about before, so these lessons brought about awareness to the rock and mineral world they have around them.  

 2. What worked and didn't work in the lesson you planned?
   I felt that the majority of the lessons went extremely well and as planned, but there were a few glitches that I would try to plan better for in future lessons.  For example, I had originally planned for the students to take their own digital pictures of their rocks during the Pet Rock Project.  Several of the students tried to take pictures, but because the rocks are so small and had to be zoomed in relatively far that it became impossible for students to do this alone.  The pictures were turning out very blurry, and even I had to take repeated pictures at times to get one that was not blurry.  I do not know if it would have been better to use a standard camera rather than a digital one, so this is an option for the future.  Many of the students also had trouble importing their own pictures in KidPix, simply because it is slightly unfriendly when it comes to that task.  In the future I would either try a different program for that type of task or possibly teach a tutorial about this task beforehand.  Unfortunately with the time crunch I had less time to teach technology skills that would have better prepared the students for the lessons.  The good part is that the rest of the lessons and other parts of those lessons went extremely well, and I was happy with my planning overall.

3. What would you change to improve the lesson in the future?
   There are several things I would change in the future, and will keep in mind as I get my own classroom.  The time issue is ever-present whether you are teaching with technology or regular lessons within the classroom; however, I do think because students are still learning the skills needed to utilize technology, these lessons do take a little longer than planned.  I would be better prepared for the time issues in the future, especially when some students complete the assignment earlier than expected while others are taking much longer.

   I also noticed that many of my students had trouble finding information on a webpage because they were not used to having to scroll down to read further.  Basically there was a belief that what they saw when they pulled up the page was all that existed, which surprised me coming from a 5th grade class.  In the future I would take the time to teach lessons on using the internet, navigating webpages, and other tools that they might use with technology lessons.  As I said above, they also had trouble importing pictures in KidPix, so having several lessons based on teaching how to use technology is something I will keep in mind for the future.  I might also make templates that the students fill in for lessons such as the Rock Cycle Web and Mineral Book Page because students initially had trouble with designing their own.  While they turned out nicely, I believe a lot of time was lost spent just thinking of how to format their pages.

4. How has teaching this lesson changed the way you think about integrating technology into teaching?
   I have always wanted to integrate technology in the classroom, and was very excited to work on this portfolio from the very beginning.  This unit has encouraged me even more to integrate technology into my lessons because I feel that I am definitely more capable that I initially thought I was.  This project was challenging at times, but I learned how to find the necessary resources to make technology effective in the classroom.  I also expanded my knowledge of the programs that were used for this project, including Microsoft FrontPage and my digital camera software.  In addition, I feel that integrating technology might not be a weekly or monthly inclusion into my plans as I had thought before, but instead an almost daily activity because I now know of more resources and methods to include it.  Even if it is something as simple as having it be a center within the class that the students visit, I know it will enhance their learning so I will try to incorporate it as much as possible.

5. As a result of this experience, what learning (both formal professional development and informal self-teaching) do you think you need to continue your professional growth?
   While I feel confident in my abilities with technology, I will still try to learn as much more information about it that I possibly can.  I would like to take a class that teaches me all the capabilities of programs such as Kidspirations and KidPix so that I might use them for different types of lessons.   I know how to use all of the programs very well, so just learning different ideas and methods to use them would help me tremendously.  At the in-services that I attended while student teaching, I often learned wonderful ideas to use in my own classroom, so I am hoping to find similar presentations based on technology so that I learn different methods for using the technology that I know within the classroom.  I would also like to be introduced to other types of technology that enhance learning within the classroom. 

Cassandra Golembiewski
Student Teaching

University of Michigan- Dearborn
Garfield Elementary School
Wyandotte, Michigan
5th Grade Science
Unit Topic: Rocks and Minerals