Post #9

An interesting web based resource I have found was the owl.english.purdue website. This site has everything you need to know about the MLA (Modern Language Association) formatting you would ever need to know. I know earlier in the class we had talked about how we as teachers would need to inform our students about how to properly cite other peoples work as well as finding legite information to use in research papers. This site allows you to format your paper properly as well as give you links to how to fix other aspects of your paper to make sure it is correct.

The cite has everything you need to know about how to properly cite movies, articles, interviews and etc for a paper. They also have a place to help you with your creative writing techniques as well as teaching writing and tutor writing. There is also a link about grammar and mechanics that helps you with the little things that add that little extra bit to your paper. Another link that is helpful for literary based classes. Many literary based classes require writings about a story that you have read and require you to analyze the story. This site can help you with your papers needed for college and upper level high school students. The site is wonderful and can help you to accomplish those stubborn papers easier without feeling such a huge burden and wondering if you did your paper right or not. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

There are so many different ways teachers can use excel to help make their classroom run smoother as well as teach students. A few ways that teachers can use it to help things in their class run smoother is by using it to print things like hall passes, and teacher- parent contact forms as well as lesson plans and calendar templates. Excel can also be used to teach the students as well as help them out. Comparison spreadsheets can be made to teach students in science at the elementary level. A comparison chart can be made to show students their different weights for different planets because of the different gravitational forces. Because excel has different calculations that can be entered, these simple caculations can be adjusted simply with the click of a button. As for using this in science it can be tricky to find different scientific things to put in but for the math, excel is excellet. Math for first and second graders can be made simple with the use of excel from a teacher. Addition and subtraction sheets as well as multiplication charts can be made easily through the use of calculations on excel and then can be printed and distributed to students with ease.

My final course project has a few challenges. I know one challenege before the project began was trying to figure oput exactly how all of the components from the semester would be incorporated but with a little planning, it was not too dificult to figure out how everything would fall into place. The plan is to have a set budget for our project which is budgeting for microscopes for elementary and middle school aged kids to get more aquainted with science and to get a more hands on learning experience in the classroom.

Post #8

The powerpoint 2 assignment was interesting. It was probably the only only assignment so far I had issues with because of the linking slides and such. I think it was nice to learn how to do some of the extra things that aren;t addressed in your average cgs classroom. I think in the classroom using non audio visuals would be a challenge because that is something I have been around my entire life except for elementary school. I know somethiongs that are good in the classroom is hand on learning and such for students to actual 3d visualize what they are learning about as well as seeing it in actual size, just like learning about animals and such, it is nice to see a cat or dog up close if they have only ever seen them on the computer or in books. I always got more out of my classes were hands on learning was in addition to the class because I could relate and I had actual ideas about it as well.

Some of the skills I have learned in the past 2 weeks are about linking slides. I think it will be really helpful in going back to certain slides that cover other slides I am teaching off of. Other than the linking slides, I have learned a lot already about the new powerpoint in my cgs class and I have not aquired many new skills this past week that I actually didn;t already know.