Comm & Tech Assignment #4

Title of Activity: Phases of the Moon
Reference section:
John, H. & Waterchief, L. (2008) Wonderville- Phases of the Moon. Retrieved September 20, 2008 from http://www.wonderville.ca/v1/activities/phases/phases.html

Grade 6
Subject: Science

Description of Activity:
Students will go to the website to help them understand the 8 phases of the moon. There is an activity in which students are asked to move the mouse to manipulate the moon to the right position for a given phase. The students are required to visualize the sun rays from the angle of the earth. They get instant feedback to their work.

General Learning Outcome: Observe, describe and interpret the movement of objects in the sky; and identify pattern and order in these movements.
Specific Learner Outcome: Recognize that the moon’s phases are regular and predictable and describe the cycle of its phases.

ICT Outcomes:
C1 2.1 -access and retrieve appropriate information from the Internet by using a specific search path or from given uniform resource locations (URLs)
C.6 - Students will use technology to investigate and/or solve problems.
C.7 - Students will use electronic research techniques to construct personal knowledge and meaning.

Rationale for computer integration:
By experimenting with the activity, students have their knowledge reinforced through a visual, hands-on approach. This is especially useful to the students who are visual, kinaesthetic learners. The students get instant feedback as they manipulate the earth and moon into position with the sun, creating the 8 different phases of the moon. This technological activity supports the teaching in the classroom, as the individual students can go through this lesson at their own pace.

My family

Just thought I'd share a bit more about my family! My four children and I have lived in Southern Alberta for the past 13 years since I became a single parent. My kids have been my inspiration, giving me the faith and love to keep on going. They have very been supportive, especially now when mom is going to University! I try share the things I learn with them, and love to here about their day as well. Children are the greatest gift, the most valuable and enjoyable gift of all!

Ken is my youngest son, and he is currently a Flight Corporal with the local Lethbridge Air Cadets. This keeps him busy a few evenings a week and he loves to belong to this great group of kids! The fun activities that Air Cadet offers him include flying in small air crafts, gliding up at Vulcan, survival camps, summer training courses in Penhold, effective speaking skills, drill... the list can go on! Ken also joined Legacy Tae Kwon Do for martial arts training. Ken is an active kid, loves to keep busy, works on a nearby farm on Saturdays and after school if necessary. He is currently 14, in Grade 9.

Brad is 16 years old. He is taking grade 11 courses through PassPlus in Coaldale, as this way he can work at the same time as he completes his education requirements. Being enrolled in this outreach school with the distance learning courses, Brad had the opportunityto enroll in construction courses at the LCC under the RAP program. He works for Artisan Homes building houses and doing all kinds of renovations. He is looking forward to this apprenticeship! Brad loves to go fishing, boating, snowboarding and hanging out with his friends- usually playing roller hockey in the small community of Diamond City, just north of Lethbridge. Shelby is Brad's black labrador.

This is a photo of my daughter Jessica, and her boyfriend William. Jessica is 17 years old, and also a student at PassPlus in Coaldale. She is currently taking grade 12 courses. Jess plans to continue with further studies in the field of Forensics. Jess also works at the Tim Hortons to be able to pay for her vehicle and keep it on the road! Eclipse is actually her kitten, which she rescued a few years ago. A friend of hers told her about this kitten that had to be put down because it was born with a hernia. Jess went to see the kitten and fell in love. By raising the necessary money through selling homemade baking, she managed to pay for the surgery. Eclipse has become part of the family as well!

Below is my oldest daughter Treena and her fiance Evert. Treena has been employed by Rancher's Supply in Claresholm for several years. She has completed her grade 12 education and recieved a position as parts person at Rancher's in Pincher Creek, but when she heard of a secretarial position open in the Claresholm branch, she applied and was accepted. Treena and Evert hope to get married on December 5, 2008... so we are busy with wedding plans and preparations! They have a home lined up in Iron Springs, on the same property of the greenhouse where Evert is the manager.

Power Point for Ed 3505

Hello there! For this assignment we had to make significant changes to an existing power point. As the original power point did not come with a title slide, that was where I started. I choose a fall background for this presentation and with Word Wrt gave this presentation an action filled title page. The Title slide words grow in size to give one an impression of the importance. I added color photos to peak the interest of the viewers. For the next three slides, I sought an element of consistency, and changed the varying fonts to an easy read. By removing the shadow, the text became more legible as well. Since I found the text to be too overbearing, I shortened it and created bullets. A good presentation should add to the instructor interacting verbally with the presentation, it should not take over the teacher role. By changing the color of the text, it also became a more appealing presentation. As not to create a glitzomanic presentation, the animations added were kept to a minimum. Also using spell check is important to present a professional presentation. I tried to organize the information under headlines appropriate to the text and photos.







This was a fun assignment!

Welcome!

Hi! So this is what a BLOG is all about... it is amazing what we have already learned by the third day of Ed! My name is Diane Howe. I am currently enrolled in the Education program at the University of Lethbridge. We began PS1 at the beginning of this week and I am totally loving the program so far! I live just outside of Lethbridge with my family. My four children are all teenagers now, so I thought now would be a good opportunity to pursue a teaching career. It has not been my lifelong dream, although I felt called to teach after being an elementary teacher assistant for seven years. Our family loves to do outdoor activities, and we immensely enjoy our pets! Shelby is our family black labrador. We also have a black cat named Eclipse, a variety of fish, both in an aquarium as well as the backyard pond, and a long-haired flop-eared rabbit.

I look forward to learning more about integrating technology into the classroom. What a fun way to begin...by setting up our own blog!