Watts,+Lauren

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This is a link to my digital story about my first trip to Disney World: media type="youtube" key="mSY_--zPaVU" height="279" width="448" align="center"

This is my article reflection about integrating technology into the classroom:

This is my annotated website list:

__My Reaction to Assistive Technology in Education:__ After visiting the websites and watching the videos I learned a lot about how assistive technology helps disabled individuals succeed in life. The first video demonstrated how Ellen was able to communicate with others, and control certain things in her environment with her communication device. Without that device Ellen would not be able to communicate with the rest of the world. Also, she used her electric wheel chair to get around, without that chair she would not be able to get around on her own. Assistive technology does amazing things for people who have disabilities. It allows them to interact with and move around their environments just like those without disabilities. On the first website with the products I really liked the special scissors that were available. They are spring loaded and do not require as much muscle use as regular scissors. This allows students with disabilities to cut without struggling with a normal pair of scissors. When I have my own classroom I would definitely have a few pairs available for students who made need them. Assistive Technology provides students with disabilities to be just as successful as those who do not. Having students learn how to use these technologies when they are younger gets them used to using them and then when they become older they will be able to focus on content and research. Having assistive technology available for students with disabilities allows them to go onto college and do great and important things with their lives. It even allows students to do things they never dreamed of. For example, Lucas was able to play an instrument because of a special small box with joysticks that he could manipulate to help him play the instrument because he fingers could not. I have had a lot of experience working with students with disabilities. Over the summer I work in a special needs summer school program and I work with a great deal of students that have physical disabilities. They use communication devices where they can push buttons and levers, and some even just have to nod their head to click a button and answer a question. Without these things available the students would not be able to communicate and be as successful as they are. From this assignment I will definitely keep in mind all of the resources that are out there for students with disabilities. I will do all that I can to provide my students with things to make their educational experience the best that it can be.

__ My thoughts about virtual fieldtrips and museums in education: __ I think that the idea of virtual field trips and museums is a great way to expose students to new experiences and places without having to leave the classroom. It provides an interactive way for students to explore new places without actually having to be there. Field trips can be expensive and require a lot of travel time depending on where the destination is. Being able to have a similar experience in the classroom saves time and money. The students still get to see different places and learn just in a new way. The websites that I visited were all interactive and had many different things for students to explore. There was written text, and you could listen to it as well. The whaling website had the sounds of different things that you would hear if you were visiting such as: the sounds of whales, the sounds of the town, and what it would sound like to be on the boat on a voyage. Virtual field trips are a great inexpensive way to expose students to new places and new ideas. However, they are not always perfect. When I was looking though the different websites sometimes I found it confusing and I could not find all of the information that I needed. But overall, I think it is a great way to help children learn and experience new places without leaving the classroom. The museum website was really great because you could view the museum like you were walking through it. It was being there without ever leaving the classroom. The idea of virtual field trips is a great resource for teachers to use in the classroom.

__My Reaction to the CAST website:__

The Learning Styles survey concluded that I am the tactile and kinesthetic learner. I agree with this conclusion because I have always found that I learn best when there are hands on activities or visual aids to go along with a lesson. I do not do well when a teacher or professor just sits at the front of the class and lectures. I can not focus or retain the information. I need either a visual to look at or an activity to do to help me understand the material. As a teacher it is important to incorporate all different learning styles into your lessons so that no student is left behind. It is easy to modify lessons to include visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and all types of learning styles so that all students have a way of retaining the information. I know how frustrating it can be as a student to not be able to focus, so when I become a teacher my goal is to make sure that all learning styles are addressed and all students will be able to learn to the best of their ability.I really liked the CAST website, I thought it had a lot of really useful information to help teachers find new ways to help their students learn as well how to assess them more effectively. I found out some interesting information about how there are three brain networks and they all work together even when you are doing a simple task. The brain works in different ways when it is asked to do different things. All students are different and unique and it is important for teachers to realize that and find ways to help all students learn. I really liked the activities that I participated in I found them very informative. In one activity I saw how the three brain networks really worked together when looking at a simple picture. The questions they asked had you focus on different aspects, and really made you think. I love the approach to developing differentiated instruction. I think it is a fabulous idea. Not all students learn the same way and it is important to learn more about the brain and figure out ways to help all students learn effectively. The same goes for differentiated assessment. Not all students are great test takers so it is important to be aware of other ways that students can be assessed that may better suite their learning style. It is important to mix things up to help students learn, and this website gives a great deal of information about how to approach it and learn more about it. I look forward to doing more research and learning more about CAST and all it has to offer.