Blog Post 8

Adaptive technologies are different forms of technology used to fit students' different learning styles. Adaptive technologies can be extremely helpful for students who have learning disabilities, and need a different way to learn than other students. Honestly I don't think I have seen anyone use adaptive technologies, but I think a common one that may be used in the classroom is word processing. It's for the students who do not possess fine motor skills and cannot hold a pencil or pen and write legibly. So this technology allows them to create legible documents without having to hand-write them.

In Bloom's Taxonomy, there are six levels in the pyramid. The first level is knowledge. This is essentially recalling facts and information. So for example, if a teacher was using a PowerPoint to teach geography, she could go through the different states and countries and get the students to recall some of them and locate them. Next is comprehension. This one could be used to make sure that students understand what is being taught. So one the slide show, a teacher could have some questions integrated in to make sure students understand. The next is application. This refers to using the new material in concrete situations. So for example, if the teacher was teaching about depression and it's symptoms, in the slide show she could create a discussion, and then the students could converse with one another about the symptoms. The next is analysis. This is when you break down the lesson to make sure the students understand. So in a PowerPoint, a teacher could create a slide with a list of the breakdown of a certain lesson plan. The next is synthesis. This is basically putting back together what you pulled apart in analysis. So essentially, after you list the breakdown, you could have a slide that puts everything back together. Lastly is evaluation. This is when you judge the value of the material you just learned. So, you could make your students communicate with one another to get each other's opinions on the material and its value. PowerPoint can be used in any lesson I think. You just have to find the way that fits the lesson plan the best. If you integrate discussion questions and time for students to reflect and ask questions, and lesson plan on PowerPoint can be successful.

This website gives a list of ten tools that could be used for professional development. While some may be obvious ones, others are incredibly helpful. One that I know first hand is super helpful for teachers is Pinterest. My mom is a first grade teacher and she uses Pinterest all of the time to find ideas for her classroom. Also, it allows teachers to share their ideas and it can be so useful.