Word Clouds

I found this activity to be very easy and fun. I was aware of Wordle before, but never had the chance to experiment with it. I chose to do a word cloud in my field first because I thought it would be more fun. I chose to do the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln. I feel that this is one of the greatest speeches of all time, so why not have a word cloud to describe it? Here is my Gettysburg Address Wordle.

 

I found this activity to be very easy because there really is not much that you have to do outside of the program. You just type in a bunch of words and they do the rest for you. It was a lot of fun going through the random images and choosing the one I liked the best.

When viewing the NETS T standards, there is some difference between what the standards were in 2000 versus what they were in 2008. In the NETS standards 2000, one can see the main focus is on technology and teachers using that technology for student learning. I think this was the beginning of having lots of technology to use in the classroom, so NETS T standards were built around teachers starting to use different things in their classroom. When comparing the 2000 standards to the NETS standards 2008 one can see there is a change. The 2008 standards are more focused on the student learning how to use digital resources in their classroom. Technology is now an assumed part of a classroom and the focus has to be on using that technology to help in the learning process. It also seems that the NETS standards are promoting more of a student led learning than a teacher led learning. I feel like they are trying to put more responsibility on the students for their learning.

This activity relates to the NETS standards of facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity. Students can play around with this software and create word clouds that relate to classroom topics. Second, teachers are designing and developing digital age learning experiences. This tool would be great to use when learning about wars or cultures of different civilizations. Students could easily pick up on the most important information because of its size and the attention the words draw. Third, if teachers do the word clouds themselves, they are showing students that they are willing to use this type of technology as well. There are many benefits to using Wordle and I am going to start using it as a project for my next chapter.

Change Will Happen

After viewing the webinar on technology, I am both intrigued with the idea of using technology and also worried that it could possibly take teachers completely out of the picture. When looking at the Carpe Diem style of learning, the students are all self-driven to complete their work. Teachers may or may not be needed while they are working in their cubicles on different assignments. I cannot see how that is a beneficial atmosphere for students to thrive in, but as the professor pointed out, test scores are rising for those students. On the other hand, at St. Mary's, they are participating in learning by doing. I feel this is a much better opportunity for students to learn and be successful. As a teacher, I feel much more prepared to engage in a St. Mary's style learning school than a Carpe Diem style learning school. At my school, we do not have adequate technology to create a Carpe Diem style learning environment. Even if we did, I feel that style of learning takes a specific kind of student. Not everyone would be suited to sitting in front of a computer for half a day. I do try and do many hands on learning experiences for my students. We take virtual tours to places that we cannot visit. I create these tours using Microsoft Powerpoint and also by using videos downloaded off the internet. We only have access to computers in our school. With the SOL schedule that is put in place, I find I have a hard time getting my students into a lab to work on projects. It feels like we constantly have to rush to get our work done on time. There seems to be little time to spend on other fun activities.
I would recommend that my school purchase IPads for each department. This way not one department has control over them and there are many sets that would be accessible for students to use. Students would be able to take advantage of some of the history review apps that I have found over the last couple of years. This would also break up the monotony of doing the same thing over and over again. When looking into the future, I am not sure how I would handle this combination of learning. I feel like we, as teachers, are being pulled farther and farther away from what we are actually supposed to be doing with our students. I would love to see more time devoted to hands on learning and students being actively engaged in their learning. I would like to not see a Carpe Diem style learning environment in my school because I do not see how that style of learning benefits anyone, especially high school students who are way to social!
The NETS standards portrayed in this activity are teachers modeling digital citizenship and facilitating student learning and creativity. Teachers would be showing students how to engage the world they will enter after high school or college. Students need to be aware of what technology is out there and also to not be afraid of it. Second, if students are provided more learn by doing experiences, they will be more creative with their learning and possibly take a more active role.

Excel 2

Column1
Mean	216.8470093
Standard Error	1.003809319
Median	217.6995421
Mode	#N/A
Standard Deviation	7.238571944
Sample Variance	52.39692379
Kurtosis	1.19597502
Skewness	-0.601237063
Range	40.39407077
Minimum	193.5975693
Maximum	233.9916401
Sum	11276.04449
Count	52

Column2
Mean	-7.24326109
Standard Error	0.275208873
Median	-6.992761948
Mode	#N/A
Standard Deviation	1.984559403
Sample Variance	3.938476024
Kurtosis	1.033376246
Skewness	-0.835208051
Range	9.957366625
Minimum	-13.99571467
Maximum	-4.038348042
Sum	-376.6495767
Count	52

t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variances
	Variable 1	Variable 2
Mean	216.847	224.0902704
Variance	52.39692	42.3109447
Observations	52	52
Pooled Variance	47.35393
Hypothesized Mean Difference	0
df	102
t Stat	-5.36714
P(T<=t) one-tail	2.52E-07
t Critical one-tail	1.65993
P(T<=t) two-tail	5.03E-07
t Critical two-tail	1.983495

Above are the results from the NAEP 4th grade scores. The top chart is the males and the middle chart is the femails. The third chart is the t-test results. My results show that the t-test results are greater than .05, so therefore, I cannot reject the null hypothesis. This activity was a little confusing. I am not very good at reading charts from Excel so I am not completely sure about what I have discovered. I believe I rejected the null hypothesis, but I am not really sure what that means. I looked over the data, but I need to become more familiar with this in order to completely appreciate what I have discovered.

In my class, students can research the various reasons for the beginning of World War I. There are many different aspects to look at and students coulds show what they are most interested in and why. My groups can be the causes of the war including, militarism, alliances, nationalism, and imperialism. I could examine the students research on an individual issue and then compare them to the other student's ideas.

I am still unsure of how I would use this in my classroom setting. I don't completely understand Excel and am not sure this would benefit me until I figured out how to use the program successfully. Until then, I think the numbers would not mean anything to me.