TPCK Chapter 8

TPCK
Chapter 8
Kim Fuller
2/23/08

This chapter was interesting and engaging to read. I have observed my students in their arts classes and see how motivated and engaged they are when learning through the arts. Students gain unique perspectives and learn skills that can be easily incorporated into all the content areas. It was exciting to read about technology and it seems that given the appropriate tools, the ways to use technology in the arts is limitless.
As a classroom teacher, I like many of the ideas presented in this chapter. It presented the use of technology as a way for teachers who are not as versed in the arts to learn and utilize the software available to help their students. I can see using some of the suggested ideas in all the content areas.
I found the ideas for visual arts helpful, particularly the idea of teaching my students about different cultures through the use of visual arts. I have worked on curriculum to help students learn about Maine Native Americans and their rich culture. This book suggested that by using web sites from state and national museums students will get information that is less biased and more historically accurate and from the perspective of the Native Americans. This is so important for teachers and students because otherwise we tend to perpetuate stereotypes and don’t even realize we are doing so. I definitely intend to utilize the web sites from The National Museum of the American Indian and The Smithsonian. I have utilized the web sites from the Abbe Museum and the Hudson Museum in Maine and in doing so have learned a tremendous amount of information I can share with my students and teaching lessons and unit ideas to use in the classroom.
The section on music education and technology was enlightening. This is the class my unit partner teaches. I can see how technology can allow students to explore many facets of music from research to composition. Again, through the use of technology, as a classroom teacher, I can access so much from the Internet in regards to music. I can access free downloads, musical performances, artists blogs/web sites, and archives of cultural music. My students can utilize software such as Garage Band to explore composition, create music to accompany a piece of writing, etc. I like the statement made at the end of this section about music being a universal language. Through technology, students can hear music from around the world as well as share their music with the world.
Dance and drama have always been a huge motivation for students but some teachers can be intimidated by the thought of using in their classroom. However, with the use of technology, students and teachers can be creative and incorporate these arts into the content areas. The Internet has endless ideas on performance ideas, production, research, playwriting, oral histories, monologues and role-playing. Power Point offers a great way for students to share their learning.
Media production offers such a global opportunity for sharing. I liked the ideas presented in this section about using iMovie as a way to communicate with Pen Pals,
the recording of field trips and creating a school news cast. I can see this as very engaging and motivating for students to share their work and learning via iMovie. My class had a wonderful experience creating a move based on a problem solving tool kit that was created for our school. Each student took on the role of a tool and wrote a script about how the tool could help a child solve a conflict. The “Tool Box” also took on a personality. The video was shared with our entire student body and my students felt great pride in their work.
The use of technology in the arts allows accessibility for students with needs to participate and learn through the use of a variety of software. These allow the students to participate and produce products they may not otherwise be able to do. Technology is certain opening up the door for more students and teachers to be creative and learn an interesting way.

Chapter 6 Reflection

TPACK Reflection 3
EDU 583
Kim Fuller
2/10/09

I found the statements regarding social studies as lacking clear academic or disciplinary structure interesting. It made sense to me when thinking in terms of scholars constructing new forms of knowledge and verifying that knowledge. I agree Social studies is a collection of disciplines and is adapted for teaching purposes. I also see how social studies is constantly changing and is based on various perspectives thus the adaptation of the many disciplines can be done in many ways.
Technology adds another facet to the teaching of social studies and involves the use of resources and the adaptation of those resources. As a fourth grade teacher, I have begun to look a online sources to use for social studies units. Some sources are for my personal research on a topic so I have a good understanding topic. I also look for sources my students can access be it images and videos, text or interactive cites. Our district has offered some professional opportunities so teachers can learn to critique cites and resources. Our media specialists also provide teachers in our district with many links and cites to investigate. My challenge is finding the time to visit the cites and thoroughly go through each one. I have made use of the Portaportal tool in my classroom so students can quickly access specific cites I have reviewed and found to be the most useful. This is a great tool because it eliminates confusion and makes our time with the computers more productive. Teachers can share their Portaportals with each other. This helps in getting new cites reviewed. However, my Portaportal, is limited to the cites I have selected within the time I have available to update my page.
I find it necessary yet again difficult to go through the critical media skills with my students. Partly because I am stilling learning these skills myself, and the fact we have laptops for limited time throughout the week. I find myself wanting to get right into the project so we can make the best use of our time with the laptops. I need to incorporate these skills right into our activities. The non-linear aspect to computers is something which I am slowly getting used to, but I feel children are more comfortable with this concept and are more willing to explore a cites options. But I do see children “surfing” and not slowing down to really investigate some information. Again, teaching the skills is necessary to help students use technology effectively.
The aspects of technology within the context of social studies that are more difficult for me to utilize and teach my students are the communication and social networking.
I see the ways it can be done but I am having difficulty putting them into practice. I teach my students how to use email. We have created videos and shared them with our student body. We have created digital books and slide shows. But, I have yet to create a place where students can communicate with other students on topics or share work on a regular basis. I hope to learn how to do this effectively. However, outside of school many students are networking and it will be an easy transition to utilize these skills at school.
Other aspect of technology I find fascinating, are all the geographic tools that are now available. Again, these tools can provide perspectives and images that are current and student can have instant access to them. It in another area I need to learn more about.
Finally, the children in my classroom have a different way of seeing the world and see technology as an integral part of their world. I have to learn from them and for them.