Borror

Kelly Borror's page
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**Learning Styles Inventory** The learning style inventory indicated that I had a balance of all the different learning styles. I agree with the results of the survey because I do benefit from all the learning styles, but I use different ones for varying subjects. In most of my science classes I need to go to lecture and listen to the professor talk and then go back later and write the powerpoint information and any notes I took in my notebook; however I benefit the most from doing kinesthetic activities in my biology classes where I can work with the organisms I learn about in lecture. For exams I usually have to rewrite my notes in a shorter way and think over them in my head so I can reinforce the material, focusing on seeing and hearing the main points I need to know. When taking a test I can often visualize the notes in my head, which helps me do well on exams.

**CAST website reflection** I thought the CAST website was great and generally well organized. It contained many UDL resources pertinent to teachers and students. The website itself was available to be read in a multitude of ways and included pictures for visual learners. When reading “Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age” I found useful information on how the brain works and how to use this information to help all students learn the information required. It gave specific examples of how the three brain networks are integrated and used in learning. After returning to the main page of the website, I participated in an activity that let you get to know yourself in terms of UDL and an activity on the three brain networks. These activities were not incredibly insightful to me since I am very aware of how I learn and how to apply information in a classroom, but I can see how the activities would be very beneficial to students who do not know how to learn effectively with their individual strengths. The site has been a great introduction to differentiated instruction. From what I participated in, CAST does a great job of showing educators how to individualize instruction towards a student's needs. This is a great introduction to UDL for me to be thinking about before I enter teaching. But, want to explore more about how to reach specific students that learn better visually or kinesthetically. I would also like to explore lesson plans on the website to help me see how UDL is implemented in a classroom and possibly see real life examples of UDL in a real classroom. I would also want to spend more time on the website just to familiarize myself with all the resources that are truly available for students and teachers in terms of UDL.

**Assistive Technology reflection**

There is a variety of ways to teach a student with special needs. I also learned that there is a multitude of resources for teachers to explore to find the best technology to support individual student learning; however, these resources are overwhelming at first, especially for not having any experience teaching students. It is important to keep researching developing technologies to see how they can benefit any of your students.
 * 1.) From visiting the websites and viewing the videos in Part I of the assignment, what information did you learn about assistive technology for disabled individuals?**

The most useful site was the ATTO site because it was very easy to navigate. It had many examples of current assistive technology that students use in the classroom and gave me a better understanding of how the technology can be integrated into a classroom.
 * 2.) Were there any sites, products, or resources that particularly impressed you and that you want to remember as you prepare to become a classroom teacher?**

Technology can be used to fill in gaps in achievement by students with diverse learning needs. Each student can use a different technology to learn the same information and therefore provides access to the information for all students.
 * 3.) What promises/potentials does technology provide for students with diverse learning needs?**

4.) **Have you ever had a personal experience with a student or other person who has used some form of assistive technology to help them function in learning or everyday life? If so, describe what you observed from that experience in terms of meeting the special needs of those individuals.** I have not had any experience with a student or other person who uses assistive technology or who has special needs.

Since I have no experience with students with special needs, all the information available on the sites is very helpful for the future. The sites give many examples and tips on how to help students with diverse needs.
 * 5.) From this assignment, what will you carry with you as you prepare to become a teacher – one that will, most likely, face the challenge of meeting the needs of special education students along with non-disabled learners?**

**Virtual Field trip reflection**

The virtual field trip is a great tool to use in a classroom. The activity enables students to use various technologies and multimedia to explore subjects. Often in schools, fieldtrips that relate to a subject are not feasible, so a virtual field trip is the next best thing. Having a variety of video clips, short paragraphs of information and interactive activities keep the students engaged, where a traditional classroom setting may not. We did this in high school when we learned about pedigrees and family inheritance. An entire class period was devoted to exploring a website with many links and videos about Nicholas II of Russia and how hemophilia was inherited throughout his royal family. I learned more from that activity than I would have writing notes; it also sparked my interest in genetics and teaching. I would use the Natural History museum virtual tour and the eskeleton.org websites in my teaching. Both websites can be used to illustrate the concepts of evolution, since the museum is in order of evolution and the skeleton website lets students compare human and other primate bones. This would make the ideas and evidence more concrete for students.

**Albert Bandura Glog** media type="custom" key="11247866"

Here is the LINKmy digital story of mitosis.
 * Digital Story **

Technology is a great asset to have in any classroom. It augments and supports student learning and appeals to almost all learners. Students are able to explore concepts and ideas more freely on their own, which is a great way to learn, in my opinion. I learned the most information when I was allowed to explore and read on my own and decide for myself what the important and interesting parts of the lesson were. Not all students learn the same and having technology available with animations, sounds, and interactive games will greatly support diversifying lessons to make them effective for all students. Technology enables us, as educators, to bring the lesson to life and help the students see what they are learning applied to real life. That is what really motivates students. I know I always asked "why do we need to know this?" Technology can be used to facilitate students in discovering the answer. I also believe technology is great for staff development.There are a lot of technological resources available to educators. There are websites and applications that are great for developing and sharing lessons. Using technology, these ideas and improvements in teaching can be spread rapidly to as many educators as possible.
 * Final Reflection **


 * I am still at the same spot I was at the beginning of the semester. I think technology is great for enhancing lessons, but I do not think that teachers should completely rely on technology for delivering lessons. There are times where technology does not work and if a lesson is completely dependent upon technology, what will you do? Teaching in a classroom is about how effective you are at conveying information, not about how flashy your lessons are. I went through school using technology sparingly, and it is those teachers that inspired me to teach; they knew so much information about everything and did not need flashy videos to show it-those are the teachers I remember. With that said, ****<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">I enjoyed the semester learning and expanding my knowledge of technology use in the classroom. The podcast and the digital story would be great projects to assign students when I begin teaching-the assignments made you think about how to explain and best represent and idea. **