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=Jessica Carney's Teaching Wiki= ====I want to use this wiki to exchange ideas about teaching and technology. I am a senior at Michigan State University and I will be interning in a resource room in the fall and a 3rd grade classroom in the spring at Marble Elementary School. I am nervous and excited to start this experience, but any advice about lesson plans, technology, or classroom management would be greatly appreciated.====

=Information= ====My name is Jessica and I attend Michigan State University. I graduate in May with a bachelors degree in elementary education and special education. I have volunteered at many schools throughout my college carrer learning from experienced teachers and gaining knowledge about lesson plans, fun activities, and classroom management techniques. I am currently placed at Lewton elementary school in Mrs. Beasley's kindergarten classroom. I have been learning about how to work with young students and this experience has been very beneficial for me. In the summers I am a camp counselor at Sherman Lake YMCA Outdoor Center. I am responsible for working with a group of ten children that range in age from 5 to 8 years old. I lead activities like, swimming, archery, arts and crafts, fire building, the climbing wall, games at the field, and many more. I am looking forward to my internship year and appreciate any advice you may have.====

=Technology=

**Mobile Technology:** As cell phone usage in schools increases teachers need to start thinking about how they can integrate cell phone technology into the classroom. This may seem outrageous to some, but more and more students are bringing cell phones to school. According to Pew Research 66% of twelve to thirteen year olds and 80% of fourteen to seventeen year olds own cellphones. The students who do not own a cell phone will have access to a cell phone through a parent, sibling, or friend. It would be a shame for students to have access to many mobile technologies and not be using them in the classroom. In fact students are using cell phones in the classroom without their teacher's knowledge. According to Pew Research 58% of teens from schools that don't allow cell phones use them anyways. Instead of discouraging students to use this beneficial technology in the classroom teachers should be encouraging the use of this wonderful technology.

For more statistics on Teens and Cell Phones visit: @http://www.cellphonesinlearning.com/

**Using Mobile Technology in the Classroom:** Here are some different mobile technologies that can be integrated into the classroom: http://jott.com: Jott can be used in the classroom because it allows students to speak into their cell phone and it creates written text. This technology is a lot like speech-to-text on the computer and can be used for taking notes, sending e-mails or text messages, and staying organized by recording homework assignments.

http://www.talkshoe.com: Talkshoe is a website that allows you to create audio-blogs, listen or join live interactive discussion, or listen to podcasts all using your cellphone. Teachers would have to monitor or control what topics students were engaging in, but I like talkshoe because they does not allow inappropriate materials on their website. There are thousands of different topics to chose from or students can create topics that they are interested in. This is a great websites for students to use because they can get their opinion out there and get feed back from a live audience. If this is too intimidating students can post audio blogs that subscribers can belong to. This is a free service to students over the age of thirteen.

http://www.polleverywhere.com: This technology can poll students even when they are not it class. This system is very easy, the teacher can ask a question like, 'What is your favorite food?' and then list three answers like, "pizza, hamburgers, or other." The students then text back their answer to a number given out by the website. This technology has similar benefits to clickers or audience response systems, but is much cheaper. This technology can be used to poll students, keep track of attendance, or see what students know and understand. This technology is free for classes under thirty students and $15 dollars a month for classes under fifty students.

http://www.wattpad.com: A free e-book website to read and publish written work. This website is an easy way to publish and read original works. You need a computer to publish the written work, but you can use the free online application or phone application to download the books. You can read the books on your phone and there are many different genres and lengths.

http://www.chacha.com: This is a service that allows students to text a question to 242-242. The student then gets an answer back quickly and some answers even have websites that have more information about that specific topic. This service is useful for students who have a lot of questions and instead of interrupting the teacher they could find out from another source. Standard text messaging fees apply

[|http://www.textthemob.com] : This is another service that teachers can use to poll the class or find out there opinion on a subject. I like this polling service because there are a lot that teachers can do with it. Teachers can set up a poll with an unlimited number of answers and have the students respond by texting a number given by the site. I liked this site a lot because teachers can ask a question and students can send back a response via text message. Other possibilities for this website are to have the audience pick the winner of a contest, collect questions for a panel, or create message boards. All of these results can be seen immediately. This service is free, but standard text messaging fees apply.

**__Other Cell Phone Uses__**: Students can use their cell phone for other academic purposes, like a: -Calculator -Digital Camera -Video Camera -Internet Access -Dictionary -Thesaurus

**How to use Mobile Technology in Schools:** There are many considerations that teachers need to think about when using mobile technology: **Positives:**

> > **Negatives:**
 * Mobile technology uses a device that most students have and incorporates it into academics.
 * Replaces the need for a every classroom to have a set of expensive lap tops.
 * Teachers can assign homework on the internet and students that don't have access to a computer can still do their homework via cell phone.
 * Using mobile technology would help personalize education and allow students to work at different rates and at different levels.
 * Mobile technology can be used in all subjects for various assignments.
 * This technology can expose students to different technologies, like audio-blogging, that they may not have had access to because not all computers have microphones.
 * Sending and receiving text message or phone calls during class.
 * Sending or receiving messages with the answers to test questions.
 * Bullying or harassment through text messages.
 * Taking and distributing inappropriate photos.
 * Students who not have cell phones may feel isolated and left out.

**Mobile Technology and Socioeconomic Status:** Mobile technology can be used in any school, but may be most beneficial for schools that have limited resources. Schools that have limited resources can use this technology without having access to a set of computers. Even if a student does not have a cell phone to bring to school they will have access to a cell phone at home from a family member or friend.

=Lesson Plans=
 * **Daily Lesson Plan**

Your Name: __Jessica Carney__ ___ Grade Level: ___ 3rd Grade ___ Date: ___ March 4, 2011 **//Overall lesson topic/title://** Google Earth and Michigan Geography **__Grade Level Content Expectation(s):__** **3 – G1.01**: Use thematic maps to identify and describe the physical and human characteristics of Michigan. **3-5.CI.1:** Produce a media-rich digital project aligned to state curriculum standards. **3-5.CC.1**: Use digital communication tools and online resources for group learning projects.

Objectives
o **__Performance__** : For this project the learner is expected to be able to use Google earth to find 10 different geographical points in Michigan. The student will then take or find a picture of the landform or landmark and make a short digital story about Michigan geography. o **__Conditions__** **:** This project will be done in pairs and will happen during social studies, more specifically when the class is learning about Michigan. This project will help familiarize the students with the different forms of geography in Michigan. o **__Criterion__** : The end product will be to have a digital stories that shoes the audience at least ten different landforms or significant landmarks in Michigan. **//Materials & supplies needed://** Go to the computer lab and have the students explore Google earth and digital story telling technology. The students will have 10 minutes to explore and learn how to use on Google earth. The students will then have twenty minutes to create a very short digital story to learn how to create a digital story. The students will make a digital story about themselves. This digital story can include: basic information about the student, what the student likes to do, information about the student’s family, etc. The students would turn in this digital story to the teacher so she could see what the students understood and what they were struggling with. If the students are struggling with making a digital story the teacher will need to have the students practice with digital story technology before she introduces the project. (__30__ minutes) **//__During Lesson__//** **//__:__//** As a class we will review the landforms and landmarks that the students will be expected to find and discuss in the their digital story. These landforms include: -2 Lakes -2 Rivers -1 Waterfall -1 Mountain -1 Orchard // -Lansing State Capital // // -2 Landmarks in Michigan // // (__15__ minutes) //
 * 15 laptops computers
 * 30 desktop computers ||
 * **//__Introduction to the lesson__//**

// The teacher will put the students into pairs and explain the assignment. The teacher will explain the students are to find 10 images on Google earth and take a screen shot and save it to the computer or download the image. The students are two research and find: // // -2 Lakes // // -2 Rivers // // -1 Waterfall // // -1 Mountain // // -1 Orchard // -Lansing State Capital -2 Landmarks in Michigan The students will not be assigned particular landforms or landmarks because I want there to be a variety in the digital stories. The students will also be informed that there must be at least a sentence on each panel which explains the landform or landmark. (___1___ hour) **//__Bringing closure__//** The students will present their digital stories to the class. (___45___ minutes) ||
 * __After Lesson__** **__:__**
 * **//Post-Assessment://**

The class will discuss the different forms of geographies that their classmates presented and talk about how many different forms of geography the class found. (___20___ minutes) ||