Inspiration software is Inspiring

My goal is to become a special education teacher. I will go to school and get a certificate and hope for a good job. I will not have the luxury to pick my grade level or ability level. All I can do is prepare for anything. After reading the article, “Inspiring Students with Special Needs” by Barbara F. Green, about a software program that allows students to organize their thoughts in a way that works for them I see the endless opportunities with technology. The students who are not able to grasp concept theory have a hard time visualizing the relationship between linking ideas and “colors, shapes, fonts, patterns to group and classify words, ideas, and concepts” (Green, 2008, p. 38). The option of using Inspiration software to simplify students’ thoughts allows for creativity and thoughtfulness without worry.

I checked out the inspiration website to see how user friendly it is and found the free trial to be helpful. It ranges in cost on level and how many computers needed the software from about $60 for 1 computer to $640 for 20 computers. It is pricey but with grants and possible school funding it seemed to be a piece of technology that was fun for students and useful to teachers. The use of Inspiration will cover Nets for creativity and innovation, research and information fluency, and critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making.

No matter what you intend on teaching you will have students with learning disabilities at some point. It is helpful to your teaching if all students can work at a level field. With the use of Inspiration software the hard part of organizing students’ creative ideas is taken care of. With the use of technology tools our teaching styles will adapt and get better.

http://www.inspiration.com/

Check it out, Alison

Green, B. F. (2008, November). Learning and Leading with Technology. In Inspiring Students with

          Special Needs. Retrieved March 21, 2012, from Iste.

looking at common core state standards

I am not a teacher. However, I attend 4 general education 7^th grade classes every day for my job. I am an instructional aid for the special education kids but work with any student who has that confused look on their face. I’m thrilled to hear that there will be standards that encourage more enriched mastery for learning. It’s exciting that there will be 40 states with the same standards in math and English. These standards will achieve a consistent learning across the country and this video clip has made me feel like it is a positive step for future students. My question is why hasn’t this happened already? I’m glad I’m getting into teaching now. A common word in curriculum is for the students to persevere.

After watching the YouTube clip, “Common Core State Standards: Middle School and High School” I felt really positive about where our education system is going. Most kids are so confused in math class they attempt to do their homework and pass tests but some concepts just don’t get absorbed. With implementing common core the kids will ask each other questions and teach each other which is proven to be the best way for students to learn. It will not be so teacher directed which is a great way for me to start thinking about teaching. Common core standards will be teaching the math you use on most jobs and in real life like sports statistics and GPA; teaching things that the students like, that they know about (Common Core State Standards, 2012). Previous standards were covering too many topics. Common core cuts down the curriculum so the students think more about the tasks and are better prepared for college and careers. English teachers will have the same mastery techniques with fewer topics. There will be a crossover to read science articles and text and an understanding of World knowledge along with public speaking. One High school English teacher said that teaching to the standards is getting deep into the learning for far greater depth of mastery.

Being in a class, I feel so sad for the students who just can’t keep up with all the curriculum. I was one of those students who did not understand what was going on in math class but somehow I did good enough to pass but learned nothing. With the current standards there is just too much material for the students to learn. The common core state standards will teach math and English that can be learned and used in the future.  In most careers writing is used for expository and persuasive purposes so this is what will be taught. The emphasis is speaking, listening and sharing ideas so that every student is able to persevere. I feel like these new standards are much more positive than what we currently use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC4OG11zOC8&feature=youtu.be

Computational Thinking

Our public school system needs to find a way to connect computer technology in the real world with preparing students in school. After reading “Bringing Computational Thinking to K-12: What is Involved and What is the Role of the Computer Science Education Community” by Valerie Barr and Chris Stevenson, I agree the main objective is to teach kids to problem solve and ask questions to why things don’t work. “They use a set of concepts, such as abstraction, recursion, and iteration, to process and analyze data, and to create real and virtual artifacts. CT is a problem solving methodology that can be automated and transferred and applied across subjects.” (Barr & Stephenson, p. 51) Today’s generation of students are used to being given everything immediately and have very little ability to figure things out on their own.

            Computing has made possible the innovation and imagination of students as it facilitates our efforts to solve problems and to further understand our relationship with the world around us (p. 49). As future educators we can join in to embrace teaching our students what they need, to develop maturity, problem solving skills, and the ability to prepare for a career in the real world. Learning needs to connect to computational thinking because that is where the future is.

Barr, David, John Harrison, and Leslie Conery. (2011). Computational Thinking: A Digital Age 
           Skill for Everyone. Learning and Leading with Technology.