Internship+II+Planning+and+Designing+Learning+Environments+and+Experiences

**TF II Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences**

 * TF II.A Design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support diverse needs of learners.**
 * March 2010**

A site I learned about at TCEA was [|www.vocaroo.com]. One can create a recording then post or send the link. In our music classes, we work in pairs to research a musician. To present our musicians, each group created an audiocast from their research. The links were posted on the class wiki, michaudmusic.wikispaces.com. My special needs students even created a vocaroo audiocast as a summary from our lessons.Students summarized the visual and audio examples of the musicians. Families were able to access the class wiki to hear the audiocasts. This is a modified class presentation, because while the child was recording, no one else was listening. The allowed for shyer students to speak more clearly. The only written work was to help them in taking notes about the musician. Students who did not write, remembered their facts. After all the audiocasts were recorded, the class listened to them, individually and learned about each musician by watching video examples, hearing audio example and going to various websites. Students took key notes while listening to the recording.

Vocaroo is not editable, so if there is a mistake, it either stays or you re-record. This posed a problem for students who didn't like they way they sounded, for extraneous noises in the recording, and other issues. Because it was being posted on the internet, ergo subject to disctrict publishing rules, no student names could be mentioned. One group had to re-record over five times because students, in their innocence, were congratulating each other, but saying students names.

I did not give specific instructions regarding the type of data I wanted in the audio cast and I did not provide and example previously. This meant that there really was no measure to live up to. As a biography, most of the audiocasts are rather poor; my fault for not requiring more research. As an audiocast, they did well!

This task met our learning needs, researching musicians, and allowed for learner-centered instruction while also giving the students awareness to a site to use at home and another mode of communication. In the future for class, I would use an editable sound program, even Audacity, but I am glad that my students were able to experience this. The students that recorded something outside of class and sent in emails to their families and friends, truly took hold of the new skill.


 * TF II.B Apply current research on teaching and learning with technology when planning learning environments and experiences.**
 * September 2010**

Students use ten teacher-selected music websites to reinforce musical learning. A few of the sites are created by orchestras and symphonies ([|Dallas Symphony Orchestra], [|San Francisco Symphony],[|New York Philharmonic]) and some are music companies or industries ([|www.classics4kids.com] and [|www.creatingmusic.com]). The most widely used site for us is [|www.musictechteacher.com] which consists of over 100 musicals games, quizzes, worksheets and activities. For certain days I limit the student use to one type of content, instrument identification, for example. I let them peruse all the sites and suggest activities to them based on their needs and interest, playing a flash piano online or shooting characters in an asteroids format. Students are reinforcing material without having to complete a worksheet and are excited to be learning as they play.

Mark Prensky speaks intensively about the postive uses of gaming in //List//en //to the Natives// (Prensky 2005) and other works. In reading Prensky, I felt attacked as if I weren't a good teacher because I didn't teach with gaming. Then I realized that I did use gaming to teach. I don't think all learning should go towards gaming, but I have certainly seen its effectiveness in my students learning and motivation to learn. There are no grumbles when I pass out the laptops, like there would be if I passed out worksheets - and they are still learning.

Prensky, Mark. 2005 Listen to the Natives. //Educational Leadership 63(4) 8-13.//

May 2010**
 * TF II.C Identify and locate tehcnology resources and evaluate them for accuracy and suitability.

Duing the TCEA conference, I had the privilege of lodging with two my of Vidor ISD's technology queens. Following the conference, Jana Cash delivered an Interwrite Pad for me to play around with. The Interwrite pad is a wireless pad to operate the computer within the classroom. It acts as a mouse, includes access to a keyboard and text writing/highlighting features as well as creative tools. Using the pad, students and I can interact with the images from the projected screen without having to be at the computer. Two of my classes include the Life Skills class, many of whom do not read. Using the Interwrite in the music classroom provided us the oppotunity to illustrate the music score. In other situations, I would have made or had the students make visual aids for learning the words. Using the interwrite, those graphic clues were on screen, drawn by the students. The principal and PE Instructor visited with me to learn more about the use of the Interwrite. The PE instructor would be working with larger groups of students and using the Interwrite meant that she could move around the group more during presentations.

One humorous use of the Interwrite occurred during our gaming time. I use online games to reinforce some musical learning. Remotely and unknown to the student at the host computer, I was "playing" the game along with the student. I kept moving his character around. I was far enough away from the student that he did not make the connection that I was handling his computer at the time. With my giggles, the students around me did catch on. Half the class was laughing before the student figured out what was happening with his game.

The interwrite serves as remote access within the classroom, to my computer and files. Students also like using the Interwrite for their presentations. At this 5th and 6th grade level, I am teaching skills that serve as foundations for their future learning. As I follow current young college students, I am surprised at the technology tools they use for their course studies. I believe that the tools I introduce and use in class will propel my students learning and their engagement in learning.

For more information on the benefits of gaming for learning, see Mark Prensky's site, [|www.MarkPrensky.com].


 * TF II.D Provide teachers with options for the management of technology resources within the context of learning activities.**
 * February 2010**

Mrs. Parker says she is not tech savvy. She asks for help setting up equipment, but she generally will use new technologies, when she understand //how// they help. Mrs. Parker's A/V equipment was quite a tangle and inefficient for whole classroom use. She was given a new speaker, but didn't know how to use it. The new speaker seemingly created duplicity, but actually enabled efficiency. In rearranging her equipment, giving her directions and suggesting adjustments, she can now teach with great efficiency.

Mrs. Parker's computer, DVD/VCR, external speak, projector and Document Camera all attach together for better teaching, the TV and cart (visual block due to size)) were eliminated. She was given instruction on how to switch between the various components and their functionality. Mrs. Parker called me down to her room a couple of times when she experienced forgetfulness in transitioning between equipment, but after getting some cheat notes, she has been successful.

One thing I am really excited about is Mrs. Parker using her a playlist on her iTouch for the program music in her upcoming Choir Concert. We also created a monitor speaker on stage for during the performance. This Monday we will work on the mic set up and other sound for the program.

This process allowed me to evaluate how well she and I both handle our equipment for our classrooms. Previously there technology was not used or used in a limited way, for Mrs. Parker. For me, there was lost time when I had to move cables and wires for various components. Managing the hardware of our resources allows for greater ease and flexibility with the software of our resources, making our classrooms more effective.