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Scavenger Hunt

The best part of doing the digital scavenger hunt was thinking of creative ways to find the ABC's. We had to think of items that elementary age students would easily recognize within the University of Tennessee's campus. I think that this would be a really fun activity for students to do. It allows creative thinking and a way for students to interact with one another.

I think that one of the challenges that would arise with this activity would be the supply of cameras. Some schools may not have the supplies that are necessary. Also, when using cameras you have to be careful not to drop them. I think that with younger students it would be smart to have adults accompany the students and take the pictures that the students choose.

All-in-all this activity was very fun and I would love to use it in my classroom. It was like a field trip without leaving the school, and what kid doesn't love a field trip?

ABC Scavenger Hunt

Using Images in the Classroom

We used Picasa this week, which is like a photo album on the web. It is a good way for teachers to share their classroom activities with parents and other teachers. Picasa allows you to edit and share pictures. The most difficult part of this assignment was resizing the pictures to fit. Other than that, it was fun. This is not something I would expect my elementary aged students to be able to do, because I had difficulty with it. It does seem like a fun project for high school students to collect pictures that represent themselves or a subject they are learning about. In my classroom, I would take pictures of the students on field trips, fall festivals, or during assemblies. This would allow the parents to see all the fun activities their children are participating in. I think Picasa is great for the classroom for teachers or students to use. It is also fun to share your pictures with family members and friends so they can see all the fun that you, as a teacher, are having in your classroom.

A digital collection of flowers

Lesson Plans!

We have started our first lesson plan! My dad started teaching 3 years ago and talked about creating lesson plans and how much work they are for beginning teachers. I was confused because I thought, "How hard can it be to decide what you what to teach your students?" I was so wrong.

When creating your lesson plan, there are Tennessee State standards that must be followed. On the Tennessee standards website there are standards listed for each grade level and each subject within that grade level. In addition to the state standards, there are also standards for using technology. On this website it lists the different criteria for the grade levels also.

When beginning my lesson plan, I decided what grade I could be teaching and what subject. I chose second grade science and will be teaching the seasons. Next, I filled in Tennessee and NETS standards. The rest of the lesson plan consists of tools that will be used as well as step-by-step instructions for the teacher and students. By writing down the detailed instructions, I will be able to look back at this lesson plan one year later and know exactly what I need to do to get ready for this lesson. I also created a worksheet for students to fill out. Students will be using the internet and a book to find out information about the seasons across the United States.

I assumed that creating this lesson plan would simply be putting a worksheet together and giving it to the kids. One of the challenging parts in lesson planning is figuring out the best way for children to learn. I want to be able to provide my students with informative, fun lessons but still meet all of the necessary guidelines. I am excited about creating more lesson plans in the future and look forward to the time when I can just look back at lesson plans from the year before and know exactly what I need to do.