Why is Coding Important?

Technology integration is an important part of the classroom because it gives students the opportunity to explore different areas of learning. Technology such as robots such as the Finch and Hummingbird robots take a lot of thought and time preparation to get what you want. Coding these Hummingbirds can be effectively integrated into teaching by using them for either math or creative arts purposes. They have to figure out colors, timing, sequencing, and other details related. With theater the tech crew has to work on lighting with timing and different wiring and switches. Math you have to calculate times, how many wires are needed as well as technological pieces. Students will have to work pretty hard with these in Elementary School because even as a junior in college, we had a hard time figuring it out at first. In order to do this effectively and efficiently, I will have to give my students a lot of preparation and time for this activity.
I can help my students best succeed by showing detailed instruction under a document camera, as well as helping them hands on where they can closely see what I am doing and follow along. These technology ideas with robots will help my students by having them think a lot harder when using technology. They probably will have never seen something like this before, so they will have to get their gears turning. My goals with coding are to teach my kids something useful that they may have to use later in their education and even possibly in their future careers. We never know how technology will be integrated with other subjects, or with all types of jobs. It is my job as a teacher to prepare them for the real world that they will contribute to. I don't want any student to feel uncomfortable or scared to use technology. My main goal is to make sure they are comfortable, and confident with these forms learning and getting excited about participating.

Finch Robots

What a fun and creative introduction students using a different kind of technology in the classroom. These robots are a way to get the students engaged into the lesson, and they can have creative freedom to make their own take on the lesson. These robots can be used to teach any matter of subjects, such as science, poetry, drama, technology/computer programming, and many more. This task is not easy and even for us it took a lot of trial and error to make the Finch bots do what we wanted. This is definitely an exercise that students would need help  learning how to respect the technology, and would be used in higher grades such as 4th, 5th, and 6th. My goals for my students would be taking time on the topic and spending one day solely just learning how to use the Finch Robots, and seeing how they react with these things.
This is a more difficult activity for students because there are many steps to creating a good sequence with movement, costume, and vocals. This is an empowering tool because students will have to really think about what they are going to do. They will need to take time to make a costume to fit the robot and connect with the lesson they are working on. They will need to time and sequence the lighting and the movements. Then lastly they will add the backdrop and the vocalizing to make a finished product. Empowerment for a student is showing them that you trust them with something like this, and giving them creative freedom to make something that they can be proud to present. Something they can stamp as their own.

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Formative Assessment

The many different tools that can be used for Formative Assessment are actually quite fun to create and to use. There are dozens of different options such as Popplet, Kahoot, Timetoast, etc. There are so many to choose from and these are just a few of my favorites that I love to integrate into teaching different and assessing all different subjects. Teaching my students not to be afraid of tests and quizzes is one of my biggest goals as a teacher. I don't want them to be a scary thing so I want to teach them to use these tools and stress to them how much "fun" they are to take their tests/quizzes. Once the students are able to get comfortable with how the assessment tools are used, then it becomes habit and just regular to them and they aren't stressed.
These tools will help students later on because it will build their confidence with test taking, and also with online media and tools for when other teachers use it. More teachers are migrating to using Kahoot! that I have noticed, and students can get excited about getting competitive. I think these ways of doing Formative Assessments help the students get out of the mindset of "this is a test, I am going to be really stressed because it will be really quiet, and it will be a packet of information." Using these different options, students can have fun and interact with their classmates, and create something that is their own to be proud of. Since I started this program and thought about the kind of teacher that I want to be, and what I want to do in my classroom. I don't want to be the easy teacher, but I want to be the teacher that is willing and able to help with testing/assessment skills. I want to keep in touch with all of the newest and latest media tools to assess knowledge in a fun way, and get my students somewhat familiar with it as well.

Multiple Means of Representation

Students are going to vary in different ways they will learn. Some will learn better by lecturing and taking notes, others are going to need more of a hands on experience and physically doing the processes to see the results. Students also need to have different methods of being engaged in the classroom, and using tools that they may have never seen before. I can integrate this into my classroom by familiarizing myself with all different kinds of media, and testing certain ones in my class early on to see what my students positively respond to. Using fun lecturing tools, but also technology that the students can create something they can be proud of, and go home and tell their parents that they were excited that they got to create something. 

This will help my students be rounded in several different online and reading/textbook skills so they can be prepared for the future. These children will be able to discover what types of learning that they enjoy the most. Once students are able to identify how they can most effectively learn, they can voice how they feel to me as their teacher on what I can do. The goals I am going to make for myself is to vocalize with my students early on (depending on the grade) that it is important to me to know how they would like to learn. Then they can be open with me and I can adjust my lesson plans accordingly. I want to be the best teacher I can possibly be, and my students are very important to me even now as a student.