Farb

Amber Farb's page CAST; When I took the learning style survey I learned that I'm a tactile/kinesthetic leaner. I learn best when I am physically engaged in a "hands on" or physical activity. I learn better when there is a lab or where I can manipulate and use objects. I agree with the survey results, I find myself getting upset when I have to sit and listen for a long period of time and cannot move my hands. I believe that I understand more if I am doing something while I am listening and learning. I like that it was easy to find information in the on-line textbook, regardless where you are. For example, I was flying to my grandparents’ house in Minnesota and instead of having to carry a lot of materials I just carried one item, my laptop computer. This will save children’s backs from hurting and take some weight off their shoulders. Furthermore, they will not forget their textbook in their locker. The activities helped us to understand how our student’s minds are working and visually see how we can control how the students learn. For example, the telephone activity helped me visually see the connections and see how we can fix the connection with a modifier. Differentiated instruction is a good teaching method that we all should use in our classroom because we are going to have 16 to 20 students and we will want all the students to succeed. Therefore, you need to teach to all the needs of all students and not just some students’ needs and hope the other students change. I would like to know if there is a website like CAST that has children books and helps children practice reading. It would be helpful if it helped students practice reading and practice responding/recalling after they read.

ASSISTIVE TEACHING 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? I did not know that we had so many different aids to help students learn. We truly are becoming the technology age. I found it interesting that the young girl with speech difficulties could carry on a conversation with us simply by moving the pointer over the right icon and having the computer speak for her. She moved the pointer with the sensors in her head pad making her completely independent to say whatever is on her mind. Personally, I have not had an experience with a student that uses assistive technology. This was fun and interesting to see how we can use technology to help students be more independent. I previously thought they were still researching and experimenting with this assistive technology. Actually seeing students using such technology has convinced me otherwise. I’m truly impressed with what technology can bring to us and how it can help students. The web sites promise that they are continuing to research and develop assistive technologies to help students with learning disabilities. I am excited about this as a reader because I have a learning disability. I’ll be able to connect with students and watch them use equipment that I never got to use. I hope I get to work with students using assistive technology. I want to open my own early development-learning center and include special needs students too. I’m glad we got this assignment. I have saved the assignment to my desktop, so when I open my learning center I will able to reference these sites. Thank you for adding to my prior knowledge.

Virtual Field Trips Virtual field trips are very interesting and easy to us e. They can help visual learners interact with the computer like a human tour guide. Seeing visual images and hearing the sounds of what they are reading will help students connect to the information that they are learning. Those extra connection s will help the students understand and process the information much quicker. The Smithsonian site had details that I couldn't believe. For example, the "formation of a rock" website was very creative. It was like I was actually there taking a tour. They had det ai ls that students need to grab their attention and feel like they are actually there. This could help the students with special needs more th a n an actual field trip because the students can enlarge the screen and zoom in on text boxes to read them. Sound tracks im bedded in the website allow the computer to talk to the viewers in different tones and speeds to insure that they hear and understand the information being said. If you actually went to the museum you wouldn't be able to change the font size or modify the site for the different needs of the viewer like the computer can. A virtual field trip adapts to the students' needs and gives them a fun experience without the feeling of being left out. [|Amber's voki]

[|Amber's digital story] I chose these pictures for my digital story because I wanted to make are snow day crashes and stunts in to a moving picture. Remembering the order of the pictures was the hardest part for me. Since it is a moving picture you need the pictures to match up with the story. I'm glad I got to do this project because I learn a new and easier way of making slide shows with my pictures when we have family gathering.

Amber Farb

Reflection

How are you going to reply to the principal’s query? What will you say about your beliefs in the importance of teaching with technology?

I think it’s important to have technology in our classroom and imbedded within our lessons to help our student become familiar with technology that they will need to know how to use or that they will see in more advance classes or in everyday life. By having technology in our lesson and in the classroom environment will help students get use to having technology and using technology. They need to understand the basics of technology because they are the growing up in a more advance technology world and by giving them experience with technology they will be more prepared for the real world. Giving them the background knowledge and developing their schemes will help them keep afloat in this world filled of technology or it will give our students extra knowledge that will put them ahead of their competitors. I want to prepare my students with knowledge that will help them in the long run and developing their technology schemes will only help them.