My 21st Century Classroom


Welcome
Hi
I'm Nicole, a student at Edinboro University majoring in Early Childhood/Special Ed. I have dreams of teaching 2nd grade at a local Elementary school in the suburbs ideally with a 16:1 student teacher ratio.  The reason I want to teach in such a school is because I want students who are more likely to have a support team at home to push them to learn and go even further than we can cover in the classroom, making them more likely to succeed .I want to teach kids using different methods, mostly those that include new forms of technology. Technology is a great benefit to students as described in the article found here.

Setting       
My classroom would look something like this

First and foremost is the reading corner. I think reading is one of the most important aspects of learning. No matter how young or old, no matter your economic status or your interests, books provide knowledge that lasts forever.
To make it inviting I have a carpet rug, plenty of comfortable seating and bookshelves that will be stacked high with as many book as I can get my hands on.

Computers are a must and what would be cooler than for each student to have an ipad right at their work stations.

The desk/student seating would be stations that multiple students will sit at together to collaborate on projects. They can also be pushed apart in order to afford student more privacy and quiet during independent studies.

The room would also include a Smart board.






One other feature that would be included in my classroom would be a refrigerator that would hold drinks and snacks for the students. Keeping in mind the many food allergies that plague so many students, many items would be brought from home to make sure each child's need were met. Nutrition is a very important part of helping student to learn and be at their best and I would accommodate this.
Fruit Vegetables and Milk
Instructional Glimpse

I found this video and thing that the tips it mentions are a great guideline for helping one to get technology into the classroom. When doing a lesson I will be sure to use these tips as a base.

I would be teaching a 2nd grade class using an interactive vocabulary and story building activity.

In four groups of four students, create a story using the tool Story Jumper that includes five vocabulary words in proper context. Share these stories with the classroom via the Smart board. Each group will be assigned different vocabulary words to use and the classmates will be instructed to figure out what the words mean based on how well they are used in the story. There will be a handout included in order to write in the definitions as the learn them through the stories.
   This exercise will build a knowledge of the 20 vocabulary words for all students. As a cross training activity the students would need to learn to put their words creatively into a story while teaching the remaining students the meaning of those words.
    It would also require guessing and deductive reasoning skills from the students hearing the words and stories for the first time.
   The Smart board is incorporated as a tool to help the students present their stories to the entire class. The program Story Jumper would be used to help them have fun and be creative while creating stories and also to help them explore that certain area of technology software.


Feedback


Annotated Bibliography
The following site was helpful in giving me information about the differences in students attending schools in urban vs. suburban areas.
Dillon, Sam. "Large Urban-Suburban Gap Seen in Graduation Rates - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. The New York TImes Company, 15 Dec. 2011. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/education/22dropout.html.

This article and study was done on the benefits of technology in the classroom. It gave information about studies done showing the effects technology had on the students as well as the teachers.
Singh, Ram. "Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students." U.S. Department of Education. SRI International. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html.

Classroom Architect was the site I used to help design my future classroom.
Classroom Architect. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. http://classroom.4teachers.org/.

This site is where I found an ipad picture to use in my blog.
http://www.appolicious.com/overview/games

This site is where I found a graphic representation of a Smart board.
http://alphaplustechtuesdays.pbworks.com/w/page/38532561/Interactive%20whiteboards%20-%20SMART%20Board%20and%20Netbook%20software%20in%20action

From the following schools website I grabbed a picture of some fruit and veggies.
http://www.auburn.wednet.edu/ChildNutrition/Brkfst_Lunch_Info.html

This is where I found a really great video on YouTube to explain the top ten tips to introducing technology into the classroom. It actually reminded me A LOT of the approach Mr. Smith took with us in SEDU 183.
Picardo, Jose. "Top Ten Tips for Using Technology in the Classroom - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 7 Aug. 2008. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiisteObuhk.

Story Jumper is the site that I would have my students use to create their stories including the vocab words.
www.storyjumper.com

Picture of a classroom with a Smart Board.
http://minnov8.com/2009/12/07/classroom-of-the-future/