Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Sweet Taste of the Fruits GE 555 !

This week a went on a job interview at Essex County Community College for a Science Teaching position during the summer at their Summer Youth Program. As in every job interview the normal chat chat goes on about your past job experiences and what are my interests, what can I bring to their program that other might not. Imagine my surprise when the lady interviewing says and I quote" I love your use of the computer and technology in your classes, it it very obvious you have great computer skills and are up to date with technology in the classroom" ! I was puzzled since I had made no mention of computer or technology skills for that matter, so I asked her "what do you mean?" to which see responded, we saw your classroom web page and well organized and updated it is, how everything from classroom rules, to home works , notes and important dates are posted for students to see. We also were curious about the web quest assignment and open it.! As it turns out I had placed my classroom web page on my resume and they actually went ahead and check it out! Using her own words again " it is a great idea to have a web page, I wish more teachers had one and include them in their resumes, it gives those of us an insight of the kind of teacher you are, also the different types of assessment you use.

WOW! DR. Luongo , it seems like all the things we learned in class and that I created and started using has more value and use than the classroom and students. Never in a million years would I have thought it was a way to let others from a distance to come inside my classroom to see what I do. You should be very proud of the knowledge you are sharing.

That's all I wanted to share, just thought I pass this one to all of you!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

My Final Thoughts !

I know we are under no obligation to post our final thoughts on our blog, but I want the whole world to read how I feel about this course, Dr. Luongo and those who actively participated in making our collective learning so much fun!

I have so much to say that I have no idea where to start! But here it goes...I said it before and will repeat it again, when I found out I had to take an online class I was not a happy camper, for my experiences in the past taking an online course from Columbia University left a very sour taste in my mouth and left me learning much about nothing I did not know before, with no support from either classmates or teacher. What a difference a person such as Dr.
Luongo can make in a class ! Dr. Luongo not only presented us with a variety of lessons, but they were always challenging and interesting. Her total knowledge of "Computers in the Curriculum" is very evident as it is also her love for teaching, this is very evident with the patience, daily support and availability she showed us daily, when we felt overwhelmed and lost, she made sure we got back in track and engaged. I would sign up for any class Dr. Luongo has to offered whether I was required or not, for I am pretty sure I would learn plenty from her.

Some of the subjects I was not so into them but then Dr.
Luongo made me realized that not all of us in the class were graduate students, and that we came from different backgrounds and subject matters. While some of us are in the 9-12 grades teaching science , we had Social Studies, Math teachers and the all so blessed with patience the primary elementary teachers, not to mention those who are not even in the education field, or have yet to set foot in a classroom as a teacher. I will say this, I learned a lot not just from Dr Luongo, but from each and everyone of you who on a regular basis posted on your blog pages, also from those who read my postings and gave me honest feedback. In my heart it was this combination of you guys and Dr. Luongo that made this class so much fun to learn.

The only thing I am still wondering is - Why did I had to spend so much money on a textbook I honestly did not need? All my readings was done online! Maybe I will find a use for it in a near future when I least expect it !


For all of you who chose to be in the background and I did not get the opportunity to know for your lack of blogging , you missed out on a great part of this course, maybe the next time!


And for the rest of you who I got to know
thru our writings I look forward to run into you in another class, whether it is online or on campus, if you spot me please say hello and identify yourself so we can chat some more. I am very sad to see our blogging come to an end ...and again there is always "Facebook"! or e-mail ( which you can find mine on my profile).

Good Luck to all of you in your classes and dreams, if the effort and patience you showed in this course is an indication of your determination you will be great teachers for the generations to come.


I WILL MISS YOU ALL!!

Friday, May 1, 2009

Enhanced Technology Lesson Plan !

When I first saw this assignment like a fool I over reacted, I just could not keep things simple and see it for what it was. It turned out that Dr Luongo was asking for me to do something I have done for a while! I said to myself, " I don't want to just give her the usual,why not try to be creative and include things I learned in her class!" Sure enough, I took and old project I have been using for a couple of years when I taught physical science and turned it into a Web Quest! This Web Quest is a series of a total of different lessons / activities involving the same project and it takes an average of 2 weeks in the computer lab to do , but it is lots of fum and brings out the competitiveness of the students out in the open, if you work in a small school or the math & social studies teachers of your school and you share the same students it could turn into an activity to be done in less time but by all three teachers and students get credit in all three and believe me they will love that! It also shows them that what you learn in one subject is needed in other areas of life.
I did not realized until Dr Luongo asked me to choose which lesson I wanted to be graded on , that I got carried away with my assignment! But using technology and information from the Internet such as real time data could turn a every day lesson into an adventure! Lesson Planning gives me the opportunity to think not about the lesson itself, but how am I going to present it to my classroom in the most effective , challenging and interesting way so we both enjoy the lesson.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

CLRN & LESSON PLANS

This CRLN is just amazing, the amount lessons, ideas and resources is amazing. I spent on the weekend several hours just going through them and the ideas and resources are very useful. It is like Alice in wonderland where you can find new ideas and how to implement them. Those involved in the every day updating of this website must have many years of experience and the desire of sharing such knowledge and experience with the rest of us.

Lesson Plans:

I am a strong believer in lesson plans, it makes my life more secure, teaching the young man of today is not an easy task.When preparing my lesson plans I also think and over plan a bit that way I don't find myself in deep waters, because when we are not prepared in class the students have this amazing ability to pick up on it very quick and you lose control of the class.

As for me, it is also very important that I carefully prepare a lesson that not only delivers the lesson at hand in a n accurate manner , but that it is deliver in a new , interesting and challenging way, There is where the lesson planning becomes so useful

Monday, April 13, 2009

Are You a Techno-Constructivist?

This article is very interesting and it made me take a long look at myself and teaching style. If I had a choice and with the choice the ability and availability to all the resources needed to accomplish this I would be 100% a Techno Constructivist! So as I evaluate where I stand by looking at the steps provided, I find myself between steps 3 & 4 , and that I believe has a lot to do with the limitations in terms of technology, do not take me wrong the school I work at is very technology oriented, but our computers to a point are not up to a par with today's scientific virtual labs and software, besides that the availability of use to all students even pretty good still is not enough for us as teachers to become total technology based in the classroom.

As any science teacher knows , we need periods during the day just to set up our labs and equipment to have good lab assignments, this period is on top of the so much need "prep" period that regular teachers have to get their lessons plans put together. If I was to have a complete approach to a techno-constructivist lesson I would also need additional time to research and prepare such virtual, constructivist and innovative lesson plans and the resources to make them a reality. As the budgets cuts keep reaching everyday our classrooms I can't see us expanding the needs any time soon, and this is not only a shame but frustrating, because we go and get all these professional development so we can improve in the quantity and quality of what we do in the classroom so we can encourage critical thinking, research and open forum, but we are sent back to the classroom empty handed in terms of support and resources.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Social Networking

Social Networking like anything else is a blade with 2 sharp sides. If not use in a safe manner it could be very dangerous, it could also become obsessive replacing the personal human touch so much needed , isolation for teens in trouble or with low self esteem can bring about horrific consequences. So we as teachers and parents must make sure we never stop re-enforcing the message of the dangers locked inside the computer. Used properly and in moderation can open the doors to the world to us and allow us to reach out anywhere in the world without leaving our own homes. As for teenagers it also allows them to "hang out" with each other from their homes giving us the parents a bit sense of comfort knowing where our child is, that is if we properly supervise our children's Internet activity. I liked the videos a lot, like some of the teens said having the computer on the living room where parents can over see, others even gave their parents their password, so it brings us back to how we teach and raise our children and the sense of trust and open dialogue we should always have with them so they can trust us back when they might believe to be in trouble.
I started social networking on Facebook about 2 yrs ago when friends back home introduced it to me and it made it possible for me to stay in touch with friends and family from Puerto Rico without the high expense of a large phone bill. It also lets me share family moments , photos and other news almost instantly bringing us closer. Of course nothing can ever replace the personal touch.
In term of using social networking with students with special needs I believe is great and Kudos to this young remarkable teacher that has turn these kids lives around with the use of the Internet.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The Book Videos!

Oh My God! This was so funny and so real it makes you wonder how stupid we can sometimes be in spite of how smart we are. Sound like an oxymoron! This video made me remember the many time we would buy some kind of game, bicycle, stereo you name it, and we get it out of the box and want to be able to have it working in no time just so hours will pass before we will say...where are the instructions? As a science teacher I see this happening a lot with lab activities, students will just stare at the materials and want to go ahead and answer all the questions by just looking for the answers in the book somehow. I ask them did you read the instructions for the lab? Did you do the lab? No, ... and No ! Thats when I say you must do the activity first in order to get the answer, but that is too much work ! hehehehe