My 21st Century Classroom

WELCOME!!!
Hello my name is Sarah Irwin. I am a student at Edinboro University and am doing this project for my teaching with technology class. I love working with young children and have had experience with coaching them as well. I can't wait for my teaching career to start and hope to use my opportunity to inspire students as some of my previous teachers have inspired me.

 MY CLASSROOM:
Introduction
The school that I have chosen to teach in is a small rural school with about 15 to 20 students per class. I am teaching a 7th grade science classroom where each student that I have is different from the next. I have 16 students of which have a male to female ratio of 10 to 6. I have a student that suffers from cerebral palsy and has to be in a wheel chair. I have a student that suffers from seizure and therefore has a special needs dog to monitor his progress. I also have two students that suffer from ADHD. Although my classroom has an extreme spectrum of diversity I try to keep the lessons upbeat and create a unity of a homelike atmosphere in my classroom. There are a set of classroom guidelines of which the students know that they are to abide by and apart from the occasional outbreak the students follow their role flawlessly. Some of my students require more attention than others in which I may set the accelerated students off on a harder problem to keep them entertained and busy while I catch up the students that need additional help. The atmosphere in my classroom is light and enthusiastic in order to try to create a comfortable learning environment.
Setting

This is a graphic representation of what I would like my classroom to look like. I used a great online site called Floorplanner of which you can go on and make 2d and 3d representation of buildings. I have a classroom that is set up with hexagonal table used for desks in which I have two students per table. In my own experience I have found that tables with more than one student tend to be more of a distraction because there is more going on around you. However, I still wanted to have the students able to easily adjust seats if group work was presented. I have a group discussion area where students can go to discuss group work or even study for tests in more of a comfortable laid back setting. I have placed my desk in an area where I can very easily supervise the group discussion area while still being able to keep an eye on the rest of the classroom as well. I have provided adequate spacing between tables and tried to avoid having "back" seating. I have various technologies including an IPAD station, various science material, as well as TV and Smartboard. For an educational environment I have provided a fish tank as well as a hamster and shrubbery in order to make the student feel like they are surrounded by science and life.

Integration There are many integration techniques that I have chosen to place in my classroom. The first one would be the smart board and ipad. The smart board is interactive and helps to connect students and teachers using activities that the students can take part of. The technology that I am going to connect students outside of the classroom and to publish students work and homework is a professional blog page for my classroom. As we have learned and discussed in class a professional blog page helps not only teachers but also students and parents and is an easier way to keep up to date with classroom activities and homework.The third technology I also would use is the Ipads in class to give the students a chance to publish their own work online so that their parents can access it as well. As another technology I would use skype to communicate with others schools and professionals about what they are learning around the world and advice. The last technology that I would use is online power point technology like for example Prezi and have the students present to the class using the smart board. 

Assistive Technology 

This is my student with special needs, her name is Jasmine. Jasmine has cerebral palsy and has trouble writing in my classroom. Unlike most students that suffer from cerebral palsy Jasmine has no trouble speaking in class. She has to travel in a wheel chair because of the limited flexibility of her joints as well. In order for her to be able to do homework and write I use a variety of techniques. Jasmine has a special adaptive laptop in which there are applications that adapt keys, such as “sticky keys” which enable input using a single finger, “slow keys” that do not register unless they are held down for a certain amount of time, “mouse keys” that perform the functions of a mouse and “bounce keys” that prevent unintentional keystrokes. Other useful software applications include word prediction programs that type a full word based on a single letter or number, electronic organizers, and digitized books for those who cannot turn pages.Hardware adaptations include miniature keyboards, adaptable trackballs and mice and input devices that can be used with a stylus. A video camera or specialized switches can translate small movements and operate a computer in response. Touch screens and symbol boards make it easier to operate the computer without using the mouse or keyboard.There is also a recording device on the laptop that helps Jasmine to record my lessons so that she can finish project at home or even study for a test. 

FEEDBACK




ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

LIEBRECHT, DEIA. "West Area Gets Smart With Technology." TheLedger.com. N.p., 27 Nov. 2012.     Web. 09 Dec. 2012.<http://www.theledger.com/article/20071127/NEWS14/711270453/1229/CAMPUS40>.

Grant, Susan M. "Use of a Laptop Computer for Children With Cerebral Palsy." EHow. Demand Media, 11 Nov. 2009. Web. 09 Dec. 2012. <http://www.ehow.com/way_5638158_use-computer-children-cerebral-palsy.html>.

Gavigan, Kristina. "Classroom Adaptations for Students with Cerebral Palsy." Yahoo! Contributor Network. N.p., Apr. 2009. Web. 09 Dec. 2012. <http://voices.yahoo.com/classroom-adaptations-students-cerebral-palsy-3173780.html>.

SELF-REFLECTION

The gains that I have made in technology in this project and throughout this semester have been immense. I found out what a blog was and how to even create one as well as so many other projects. In this blog the biggest risk that I took was in the what I believe video. I found it very difficult to record myself for a video where I am speaking the whole time. I also don't like to hear myself being recorded so it was definitely a challenging experience for me. What I have gained in this experience is the experience of putting all of the information together. We have worked on many of these small projects throughout the semester but this project takes all that we have learned and puts it together. I like the project because overall I think that it has given me an idea of how to set up a professional blog for a class that I may have in the future. I feel that after this class I will be very well prepared for technology and teaching.