Alice Learning Experience

Using Alice I have a whole new appreciation for computer and animated games. I found out how difficult it is to code just a few seconds, and mine did not look anywhere close to games that are out there today. I worked for probably four and a half to five hours for my twenty second video. Since I am not very tech savvy, I found it fairly difficult to use. I found myself sticking to the basics when I couldn't figure out how to make the game do what I wanted it to do. I did, however, enjoy trying to make my game come together.
I honestly would probably not use this in my classroom for a few reasons. The first reason I would not want to use Alice with my students is because my first graders would struggle with the system and figuring out how it works. This wouldn't be as big of a problem if I was able to help students by walking them through it and providing assistance to them when they were struggling, but I would not be able to do this since I don't even understand how to use it very well. The third reason I don't think I would use this in my early education class is because it is so time consuming and there would not be time for us to get much done on it. Ideally, it would be great to let students use this and experiment with Alice, but realistically there is just not time to do it.

Feedback: Oral vs. Written

After sharing my ZooBurst book with a partner and being able to discuss it with them, I realized I would much rather sit down and discuss feedback one on one with them, rather than just getting a piece of paper that has a few comments on it. Sitting down and having a conversation with someone about the work I have done allows me to ask as many questions as I want/need and lets me really understand where they are coming from and what their concerns are. The same thing goes the other way; I would rather sit down with someone to discuss their work as well because it is often much easier for me to talk about what I'm thinking, rather than trying to type it up and make it sound professional and have to worry about grammar and punctuation. This also allows me to ask them questions about their work that I may not understand or I may not have seen where they were coming from. Yes, it is nice to have a written form that you can look at when you go back to make changes and corrections on your work, but it is just as easy to make a few notes to yourself during or after the meeting. This way, you know specifically what you need to change and how to do it, rather than just guessing what they were trying to change.

Multiple Intelligences

After taking the Multiple Intelligences quiz I found it very interesting that my highest score was Naturalist. I enjoy nature, but I wouldn't say that is the best way that I learn. The rest of my results, however, I thought were quite accurate. The next highest score on my list was a tie between Interpersonal and Intrapersonal, which sounds a lot like me. I enjoy being around people, but I also sometimes need to be alone and regroup with some quiet time. I sometimes work better by myself in a quiet area, but other times I like to work on group projects that allow me to collaborate with my peers and feed off of their ideas.
The activity we did today by comparing our results of the quiz was interesting because no two people have the same numbers and no two people learn the exact same way. This brings me to ask the question of why we try to teach children all the same thing in the same way when you're probably leaving a lot of students behind? I think it would be a good idea to allow children at the beginning of the year to explore freely with activities that you have designed and set up that exhibit the areas of Multiple Intelligence. This way you can see how the students learn best and you will know for the rest of the year how to foster to each child's needs.

Scavenger Hunt Expanded

In this scavenger hunt activity, I could give less specific instructions so that the kids would have to be more independent to figure out how to find the answers themselves. This helps them practice problem solving and thinking for themselves. After the lesson was completed and after we went over their answers to make sure they found what they were supposed to find, I could have another activity ready for them. The scavenger hunt could be an introduction into a new topic and the answers they found would be helpful knowledge they could use as I start teaching the new subject. The scavenger hunt activity would help them retain the information they found better than if I were to just stand up in front of the classroom and teach it to them because they found it themselves and could put it to use.

Blogging in the Classroom

The first blog I created was about two years ago when my English professor offered extra credit to the class if we created a blog. However, I only posted a few times in mine and we didn't make a very big deal out of it, so I really didn't get a good idea of how it all works.

In future classrooms, technology will be much more present and students will be expected to know how to use all different types at a young age. This forces us potential teachers to brainstorm ways to incorporate technology in everyday activities.

If I were to make a blog for my elementary level class, I would probably make it a private group so parents wouldn't be concerned about the privacy of their children if I ever had them post. Once all the students were a part of the blog, there are many ways we could use it for school. One activity I could do with the students if we had a computer lab could be a scavenger hunt. I would post the items I wanted them to find, perhaps in a certain order, and students could keep a Word document open to write down the material as they went along. When the students finished, there are a few different options I could have them do, but the best way would probably be to just to sit on the floor, rather than posting their answers on the blog (then the other students would be able to see what the answers are). I think an internet scavenger hunt is a good way to help students become more tech savvy and learn how to use different forms of technology. Doing it by themselves and figuring it out will also help them remember in the future how to use the different types as well. Once everyone has completed the scavenger hunt, we would go over their findings to see if they got to where I wanted them to be and see if they figured out how to use the different sources. By hearing their answers, I would be able to see if they grasped what I wanted them to get from the lesson or not.