1st day of field placement

This morning I went to Pattengill Middle School for my first day of field placement in conjunction with my CEP 451, (law of special ed.) The school is very nice, it's only about 4 years old and it is massive. They utilize a lot of technology in the classroom. In one of the resource rooms I observed today the teacher (Ms. Buckner) used a microphone that hung around her neck. While the class was reading (4 kids total) she used the projector to show the book onto the screen. I thought that these were great ways to use technology in the classroom, especially if a student has hearing or sight problems. These aids could really benefit them.

I also spent time in a different resource room, this teacher was very excited about the technology in her classroom. She showed me a website that she uses for spelling tests that is all online. the site is spellingcity.com You can create lists in seconds and print off worksheets, have students play games, and students can take a test on it. The website puts the words into sentences, says the words and the sentences and keeps track of what ones they get right and wrong. I think it is a really cool site, and allows you to create spelling lists for multiple students at a variety of levels. The only thing is you need a lot of computers for the students to do this, many schools may not be able to use a site like this as easily as Pattengill can.

10 Common Teaching Mistakes

I stumbled across a good blog yesterday and found this http://k6educators.about.com/od/helpfornewteachers/tp/mistakes_new.htm. It is about 10 common mistakes for teachers to avoid.

Some useful tips I got out of it were to not just try and be friends with your students. This is important because it can compromise classroom management. It is better to have your students respect you than to be best friends. I also liked the one about making sure you involve parents as much as possible, because they are a great resource to help in the classroom and also with behavior plans.

These were just a couple points in the article, I thought it was very good. The blog I got it from is from Beth Lewis at http://k6educators.about.com/b/.

Blogging in Education

Blogging is a very useful tool at our disposal as educators. It is a great way to expose students to technology and it increases their computer skills. It would be great for journal assignments and students wouldn't have to buy or keep track of a notebook. Kids can also change the design of their blog to make it their own, and they may be more willing to write in this format. Blogging also makes it easier on teachers, they can keep track of all their students work right from their laptop. I will definitely try to incorporate blogging in my future as an educator.

1st Post

Hello, I'm Ben Nykerk and I am a senior at Michigan State University. My major is Special Education Learning Disabilities. I'm very excited about this semester because I am going to be spending a lot of time in elementary schools for my classes.

I am also taking an online class about teaching with technology. One of our assignments is to create a blog so here I am, I'm new to it but I think it will be pretty fun. I'm hoping to learn how to incorporate technology in the classroom wherever possible. Technology is becoming a bigger part of our lives every day, and I don't see that trend dropping off anytime soon. Therefore it is important to expose children to technology as early and as much as possible.

I like to think I have a pretty strong technology background. My family has had a computer since I was in elementary school. In high school I took a few computer classes and learned the basics of PowerPoint, Excel, and keyboarding. I also worked with imovie in sophomore year of high school when we all made a music video. Usually whenever a new program or technology comes around I can tinker with it and gain a pretty good understanding of what it's about.

I am very excited about this year. I will be spending a lot of time with students and new technologies that I will hopefully be able to incorporate into my teaching.