Web Page

Just in case you all didn't notice...here's the link I already posted to my website: http://laura.voight.googlepages.com/popupvideo You should check it out :)

Flexible, Appropriate, and Fun

I just read the article "flexible, Appropriate, and Fun" by Nancy Knowlton on the SMART board technology in classrooms. It was very informative and very engaging. I thought the different software that they have for the SMART board was very cool. You can do science experiments and math equations, the thing will even take notes from the teacher's voice. Very handy (and apparently helpful since the test scores went up roughly 10%). Plus the benefits for such a wide variety of students is very nice. I like that special needs student are able to use the SMART board because they hardley ever get to have fun with technology because of their ailments. I'm glad they get to have fun, non-frustrating school too. I wish I had a SMART board in high school. Anywho... my favorite part of the article was that at the end Knowlton laid the ultimate responsibility for fun, interactive learning not at the feet of the technology or the students, but the teacher. I completely agree with her.

Assignment #1 Technology Literacy

My current technology knowledge and use consists of: electronic kitchen gadgets, cell phone, phone, computer, car, ipod, internet, and probably other stuff I can't think of. I would really like to improve my internet/computer skills. I think they will come in handy in the future and I just think it is really interesting to learn about that stuff. I don't understand how or why it works and it's fascinating. Even though I'm not going to be a traditional teacher I still see value in what the "iste" site has to offer as suggestions/requirements for teachers. I believe that the intentions, and most action, can be translated into a third-world setting.

As a missionary I believe that internet/computer technology will be beneficial to me. I will be able to quickly and cheaply keep my family, friends, church, and supporters around the world updated on my activities. It would also be a good learning tool with the people I'll work with. It would be great to teach them about computers and give them that skill. This semester I would like to work on perfecting my blogging, webpage making skills and learn how to engage children/my peers in education without the newness of a technology overwhelming them.

I believe technology should be in the "behind the scenes" life of a missionary. They can use the internet for what I already noted, keeping people updated, but it can also be used for research. New technology can be useful in education on the mission field. People maybe have different learning styles but have never been given the opportunity to maximize on those different styles. The missionary would need to be careful about what technology they would use; they don't want to overwhelm the people or have the technology be so fascinating that people forget about what they're learning, or worse, try to steal it.


As a missionary I see myself working with kids, and maybe sometimes my peers. But I just have a passion for children. I could do a lesson on hygiene using a felt board type thing that has a picture of the human body on it, with cutouts indicating dirt, bacteria, water, soap, etc. Then i can tell the kids that Charlie wa playing in the dirt and now he wants to eat lunch. What steps does he need to through before he can healthily, and sanitarily, eat? Then the kids can split in to two groups and then together come up with different steps. The team that wins can get a treat or something. Another idea would be if I wanted to teach the kids a Bible story, I could use a white board, or a felt board again, and use words to fill in blanks, and then do key idea questions afterwards. I'm not too sure about that one, I need tweak it a bit. But I would like to do something like that. Besides the Bible and hygiene, I would like to teach about ehtics, or world religions, or something like that; just to make my students more aware of their world. We could go to an internet cafe and have them work in groups of three or four and research a specific religion for a few hours, and then have them present that religion to the class. All of these ideas require money, so I'll have to trust in God to provide, but I believe they will provide a great learning experience for the kids.

School Webpages

So I'm supposed to find the website of the school I'm observing. Well, seeing as I'm not in the Ed. program I am not observing a school. So I tried to look for my high school's website, and it was ridiculously hard to find. Cathedral City High School, it shouldn't be that hard. Yet it is. I tried to search it out on a search engine, and I never got the school's main website. It was super annoying/frustrating. I finally found it. The link is: http://schools.psusd.us/cc/index.htm if you want to check it out. The website is kind of ghetto, but I always tell people that I come from the ghetto (maybe now they'll believe me).

I don't like that the site does not have a "home" button. You have to click on the mascot's head to go back to the home page. How is someone supposed to know that? Other than that I thought it was pretty good. They have a lot of information (all legal) and they even have articles from current student activites (i.e. sports). I also thought it was cool that they have the schedules online, so then if there is an altered schedule for the day the students can look it up.

Technology stubborn children

Ok, so I'm all for engaging children in education, but form all the articles that are coming out today, I get the feeling that kids are expecting, no demanding everything to engage them as much as their video games will. The article, "Engage me or Enrage Me" by M. Prensky was well researched and presented a good point: kids in school today are bored. I get that technology has changed from the 1960s, but we I don't feel we need to change every aspect of the classroom. I mean, lecture has been a style of teaching that has been around for thousands of years, and I still enjoy it. Granted, I do expect my teachers to engage me, but I think the difference is that I expect them to engage me with the voice tone and by giving me valuable information. That is good public speaking. I think these kids are demanding to "have fun" and learn at the same time. They want the value of their knowledge to come from the form in which they receive it, rather than the information itself. I guess my one question is: How do we get kids in schools more interested in what they should be learning without turning the classroom into a video arcade?

Why I want to become a teacher...

This is a very interesting question for me. You see, I created this blog for a class (Technology in Education) that is a class for education majors, but I'm a mission major. Conflict? I think not.

I want to educate people, children, but not in the traditional sense. I want to teach them about Jesus (kind of a duh thought), health, power, and many other subjects. I want to educate because education is power; many people around the world are powerless because they are denied an education. It's how their corrupt governments stay wealthy and in power.

I would love to teach children because I love kids, but I think I would also enjoy teaching my peers and those older than me. To give them the power that they have been denied for a lifetime. I think that could be the greatest gift ever. However, that is a daunting task. There is a lot of responsibility for educating others and a lot of pressure, especialy if the student is your elder.

The subject... I think I've touched on that. Specifically I'd like to teach the Bible and basic health care to start. Perhaps after I have taught for a while I would expand my subjects, but considering that I'm still in school I'd say that I have more than enough on my plate.