Blog Post 7

In my opinion, I think Powerpoint is one of the most used and powerful tools involving teaching. It seems to me that mostly all of my teachers and professors have primarily used Powerpoint while doing lessons. Powerpoint is a great tool and may be used to help a student learning at each level of Blooms Taxonomy. Here are some examples-
Remember- Including lists or bullet points on slides will help the student know key words so that they can remember specific information. Having a lot of words on a slide is too overwhelming and simply putting key words will help the student refer to the main idea.
Understand- Including pictures and graphics will help students understand by seeing the information visually. For example, say the lesson is about the water cycle, it would be a great idea to put a graphic of the water cycle. This is an effective way for students to identify, locate, and recognize main ideas.
Apply-For apply, having the students talk to their peers is a great idea. For example, once you have taught them the main idea, the application process is where the students can prove that they truly have listen to the lecture and understand the material. I would split the class into groups and allow time for my students to discuss with each other what they have learned.
Analyze- For analyze, I would make my students do an experiment of some sort with the information they just have learned. For example, after teaching a science lesson, they could experiment with different variables. This allows the student to differentiate and examine the material they have just learned.
Evaluate- For evaluate, an effective way to for the students to prove to the teacher they have been listening, is to give them a pop quiz after the lesson. Not only does this allow the student to show their knowledge but also the teacher can see what they did wrong and can help them from there.
Create- Lastly, I would have my students create a group project to display what they have learned after a lesson. Whether it be a Powerpoint, a Prezi, a song, or a posterboard, creating this will allow them to formulate what they have learned into a visual presentation.

Adaptive technology are forms of technology that support students with learning disabilities. This is actually very interesting to me because my major is special education. There are many different softwares that help with these students. For example, word predication software is a program that predicts the next word the student would like to write down. In addition, there are softwares that the student can talk into a microphone and it will write down what he or she is saying. This device helps with children who physically cannot write on their own. According the podcast, there are also multiple forms of softwares that helps with students with Dyslexia. For example, their is a spell checking software. This automatically corrects any misspelled words. On a personal note, I have used a device called a Smart Pen to write my notes. This device allows you to write all of your notes but also records the lecture. It is great because you basically have the entire lecture at your hands when you go back and study. There could be many problems that arise while trying to use adaptive technology. For example, it may take a while for a student to get used to using the program.

I learned many things from doing the web page assignment. I have actually used Weebly before so I was pretty familiar with the program. On the other hand, I did learn many new things as well. For example, I learned how to hyperlink words and change the text size and font size. I really enjoyed creating this because it was all about creativity. I could design it however I wanted and that was really fun for me. One way I can improve next time is making it a little bit more organized and easily useable. At first it was a little difficult to use but as soon as I got the hang of it, I really enjoyed this assignment.


http://msraab.weebly.com

Independent Learning Project 

For my ILP, I decided to create a Prezi using the standard, SC.3.E.5. I decided to use Prezi because I have used it in the past during high school and really enjoy how creative it allows you to be. There are many different options and fun additions you can add to give you presentation a great look. It is fun and interactive and much better than listening to a teacher simply lecture. Here is the link...
https://prezi.com/-rwof8hqvbbi/earth-and-space-in-time/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy