About Jennifer Sherouse
Contact Info:
Clyattville Elementary
jsherouse@lowndes.k12.ga.us
559-7062 241-1770
Blog: http://www.lowndes.k12.ga.us/alrowell
Website: http://www.lowndes.k12.ga.us/alrowell
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/locotech
About Me:
I began teaching at Lomax Pinevale in 1996 and moved to CES in 1999. I have taught 2nd grade thoughout this time (shhh- don't tell:) ) In 2005 I got my masters in Instuctional Technology but have yet to really do much with that degree.
A Positive Experience with Instructional Technology:
I have to admit that I have not incorporated technology nearly enough with my students! We utilize it throughout the day everyday but it is mostly teacher directed. I have had my students work on creating PowerPoint Presentations and that was beneficial but somewhat stressful. I learned from that experience to start really slow with small steps. I am looking forward to integrating technology with student directed activities more this year.
Interests:
My Teach 21 Project
Overview:
For my Teach 21 project, my students will become pen pals with other second grade classes in the US. We will communicate with our pen pals throughout the school year. Our communication will take place mostly through email but may include other forms of communication also. By completing these writing activities my students will be developing communication and writing skills. In addition to personal communication, we will conduct and share research about our home state. The research conducted will focus on geography and history standards which are part of our social studies GPS standards. Upon completion of the project the students will work collaboratively to create a digital presentation documenting information learned with the rest of the class and possibly their pen pals also. In order to complete the digital presentation, I would like to make available for my students technological tools such as microphones for audio recording, a scanner to scan hard copy images to the digital form, digital cameras for recording and documenting, and external storage devices for saving works in progress. This project, I feel, will push me as a teacher to incorporate and my students to utilize lower and higher order thinking skills. I hope to challenge my students to move to the creating level of HOTS by planning, designing, and producing their digital presentations. However, I hope and believe that in order to work at the creating level they will also incorporate analysis and evaluation in addition to other lower order thinking skills.
NETS Goals:
1. Illustrate and communicate original ideas and stories using digital tools and media-rich resources.
3. Engage in learning activities with learners from multiple cultures through e-mail and other electronic means.
4. In a collaborative work group, use a variety of technologies to produce a digital presentation or product in a curriculum area.
GPS Standards
SS2G1 The student will locate major topographical features of Georgia and will describe how these features define Georgia’s surface.
a. Locate all the geographic regions of Georgia: Blue Ridge Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plain, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau.
b. Locate the major rivers: Ocmulgee, Oconee, Altamaha, Savannah, St. Mary’s, Chattahoochee, and Flint.
SS2H1 The student will read about and describe the lives of historical figures in Georgia history.
a. Identify the contributions made by these historic figures: James Oglethorpe, Tomochichi, and Mary Musgrove (founding of Georgia); Sequoyah (development of a Cherokee alphabet); Jackie Robinson (sports); Martin Luther King, Jr. (civil rights); Jimmy Carter (leadership and human rights).
b. Describe how everyday life of these historical figures is similar to and different from everyday life in the present (food, clothing, homes, transportation, communication, recreation, rights, and freedoms).
ELA2W1 The student begins to demonstrate competency in the writing process. The student
a. Writes text of a length appropriate to address a topic and tell the story.
b. Uses traditional organizational patterns for conveying information (e.g., chronological order, similarity and difference, answering questions).
e. Begins to use appropriate formatting conventions for letter writing (e.g., date, salutation, body, closing).
Necessary Tools:
Computers with Internet connection
email accounts
microphones
flip camera
flash drives
scanner
Comments (1)
locotech said
at 11:26 pm on Jul 22, 2009
Sounds good, but challenge will be for your students' projects to be more than "re-packaging" information they find about the state. Trick is going to be developing questions that will lead them to think and to use the information they find to answer those key questions.
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