The website below has a list of many website about teacher grants. The list appears to have been complied by Sheryl Abshire the Chief Technology Officer of Calcasieu Parish Schools in Lake Charles, LA.
http://www.cpsb.org/Scripts/abshire/grants.asp
For chemistry teachers, the American Chemical Society has a grant for high school chemistry teachers called the ACS-Hach High School Chemistry Grant. It provides up to $1,500 for the purchase of materials that help "transform classroom learning, foster student development, and reveal the wonders of chemistry." The link is below:
http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_SUPERARTICLE&node_id=2245&use_sec=false&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=c8b98902-a621-4aca-8028-ccaba19b7cc7
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Reflections on Week 4 Readings, Part Two
I did not get much out of Heid's chapter Technology in Mathematics Education: Tapping into Visions of the Future because the content was focused on math education. I understand that this chapter is from a book published by NCTM so of course it will be about math only. I know it must be challenging for instructors in the STEM program to come up with relevant readings for math and science, but we do appreciate readings geared towards our content. I agree with Heid's point that technology can be very useful for assisting students with rote tasks so that there is time to explore higher levels of thinking (p. 347). In science is it useful to record data in excel and then graph it. It is much faster to graph something with excel than to do it with a pencil and graph paper. I thought the ideas about how technology will influence the day-to-day aspects of running a classroom are also interesting. The spread of information via the Internet, whether it is between students, teachers, administrators and/or districts is a very powerful thing that has not been fully utilized.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Reflections on Week 4 Readings, Part One
I thought the software Squeak described in Hug and Reese's article How Technology Integration in Math and Science Teaching Can Occur: The role of the maverick teacher was really cool. I think this is the sort of technology experience that can be very meaningful for students. First of all working with Squeak would not be the sort of drill or rote learning experience that is not a meaningful use of technology. Squeak would encourage students to be creative with computers. Students would be motivated to learn programming in order to design these cool applications. I took a computer science class in high school, and we learned some of the basics of computer programming. Compared to what is available now, what I learned is archaic. I remember thinking that programming was boring, and I never took another computer science class. I envision a school using Squeak in every grade. Students would learn to use the program in kindergarten and the build on that knowledge in subsequent years to do more complicated programming. I think there would be many real world applications to using Squeak and understanding the process of computer programming. Students who understand computer programming would become valuable employees as computers are so vital to any career.
I think the discussion about "maverick" teachers was interesting. One thing the article did not point out is that Ms. Hogan was not a teacher I would have expected to be an early adopter of technology in the classroom. Ms. Hogan was older and did not have an undergraduate degree in math or science. When I imagine an early adopter of technology I picture someone who is in their twenties or thirties who does have a STEM background. I think Ms. Hogan did have the luxury to exploring Squeak with her students because the work she did with the students was extracurricular. She did not have to worry about content standards or standardized exams. I think Ms. Hogan's fearlessness in tackling a new technology was inspiring. I hope that twenty years into teaching I will be the same.
Suzanne Alejandre's article The reality of using technology in the classroom looks like a good resource to refer back to when I am teaching. Even though the specific software and websites are for math, Alejandre's strategies for different classroom set-ups look like they would work. I am guessing that these are all the excuses she has heard from teachers as to why they cannot use technology in the classroom. It seems like she has thought of every scenario.
I think the discussion about "maverick" teachers was interesting. One thing the article did not point out is that Ms. Hogan was not a teacher I would have expected to be an early adopter of technology in the classroom. Ms. Hogan was older and did not have an undergraduate degree in math or science. When I imagine an early adopter of technology I picture someone who is in their twenties or thirties who does have a STEM background. I think Ms. Hogan did have the luxury to exploring Squeak with her students because the work she did with the students was extracurricular. She did not have to worry about content standards or standardized exams. I think Ms. Hogan's fearlessness in tackling a new technology was inspiring. I hope that twenty years into teaching I will be the same.
Suzanne Alejandre's article The reality of using technology in the classroom looks like a good resource to refer back to when I am teaching. Even though the specific software and websites are for math, Alejandre's strategies for different classroom set-ups look like they would work. I am guessing that these are all the excuses she has heard from teachers as to why they cannot use technology in the classroom. It seems like she has thought of every scenario.
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