Blog Journal 6

   I stumbled upon Parkway County Schools website and explored the 5th grade classes at Bellerive Elementary School. Each page had relatively the same information, homework, newsletters. What I found interesting was that teachers in a specific grade level, 5th grade in this case, would share a page with the overall view of the things happening in 5th grade and then linked their individual classrooms to the same page. These pages were each individualized to each teacher and provided more in depth explanations of the daily activities taking place in that specific classroom. The website was easy to navigate and extremely informative, especially since no login was required.

   Class Dojo is a tool I will definitely be working into my future classroom. Thanks to my Independent Learning Project, I was able to really move around it and assess every tool. It has many resources for outside of the class interaction, such as messages or inviting the parents to see what their students are working on. I think it is imperative to include one of these sources into our classrooms because in this day and age everything is fast pacing, and it can be easy to fall behind. Its best to stay out ahead of the game and adopt some of these free tools designed to make your life easier as a teacher. I would use Class Dojo to update our class story and show parents what we are doing daily without having to send home a newsletter that may or may not reach the parents. Class Dojo would also allow me to talk directly to parents or students without needing to set a formal meeting or wait till class the next day. This kind of fast communication allows for efficiency because it saves time and eliminates the need for so many questions, that could be answered through the classroom website. :)

   When we visited the Tech Sandbox it was really cool to me how some of these different types of technology can be used for educational purposes. For instance, the virtual reality tech, personally I would only think to use that video games or some sort of alter reality world, but when Esra and Juliet began to discuss the many ways it can be used in the classroom, it definitely made me think twice. I feel like virtual reality can be used and should be used to really bring students into the realm of the lesson. So if you're a history teacher, you can put your students into a clip from the Civil War and allow them to step into the past, or vice versa and allow them to walk into the future.
   I think the Tech Sandbox was really cool and its even more amazing that all of this is free to Florida State students. I will definitely be up there again practicing on those cool gadgets because to be honest they maybe in the classrooms a lot sooner than we think.

ILP "Design"- Class Dojo

Voice Thread, Class Dojo



I apologize for my extremely cringy voice, hope you enjoy :)

Blog Journal 5

   Diigo is a great resource that I wish I could have utilized earlier in my educational career. My initial thought about it was that it was very unnecessary, because I thought it was just a app that added to the things we could already do. For example, if I find an article I can print it or screenshot it and just annotate or highlight things on it myself, by hand. But the extra element that Diigo adds, is the ability to share those annotations or comments with others. I think this is extremely beneficial because if you're on a time constraint and you need a reliable resource that you may not have the time to read about, then Diigo can offer some that your peers in the same area or field have annotated and given tips about. Diigo minimizes the amount of time spent on an article because we can now get the main ideas and examples from those who previously read them.

   When it comes to blogging, I really did not care to do it because I am not someone who resorts to writing or always reflecting on things that going on throughout my day, so it was a slight adjustment. It is growing on me because it does serve as a way for you to evaluate things in your own time and on a deeper level that you wouldn't have time for in a classroom. It is helpful in learning because now we are forced to not only pay attention in class but to apply it to the blog and give your opinion, which fosters more thinking. I like that the blog is very open, everyone is sharing their ideas and because I am not a very extroverted person it offers a middle ground for talking or interacting with people I would not normally interact with.
   Through blogging I have learned, for one, how to use and set up a blog, as I've said I have never done this before and it is very new to me. I've learned how to respect other people's want to remain anonymous online, in our class some blogs do not have names and so we really do not know whose blog is it. At first I was confused as to why it mattered but I've grown to respect their privacy and it is kind of fun not knowing who everyone is online.

   In my future classroom I plan on incorporating a lot of resources that allow students to get at home help, especially if they came to class and did not understand the material. I would specifically incorporate the use of Instagram live. Instagram is a social networking app where users can post photos and videos about their lives, family, or anything they desire. There is this great feature called Instagram Live, where one can stream a live video for their followers to view in real time, the viewers can comment and interact with the subject. There is then an option for the feed to be saved and played back later. I would incorporate this during the day to record my lectures or lessons and to allow my students who may be at home or traveling to easily access the information. Since this is an app that can be downloaded on virtually every device from cellphones, to tablets and computers, accessibility should not be too big of a deal. I feel like Instagram is so widely used that it will be easy to navigate and access.

Blog Journal 4

   Prior to this class I was already familiar with twitter and used it in my free time. I have always viewed it as a social media tool, in the sense that it could only be used to communicate about social events or to share memes. It wasn't until this class that I was exposed to the world where twitter could be used as an informal professional tool to connect with other people within your field or specialty. I have been interacting with the other students in our class on twitter and some students in other sections. It has been interesting to see how similar and different our point or views are on the same topic.
   Although I have never viewed twitter in this particular outlet, I will use it in my future career because it is an easy way to exchange ideas with other professionals in the educational field. It is a great way to talk with those who may not be in our immediate area or are hard to get into contact with. I would also like to use it for my students to collaborate and discuss classroom related topics, much like we do in our class. I like that twitter is a very informal platform that opens the door for many people to be involved in a conversation and with use of hashtags or the @ symbol, the conversation can open up to even more people and the people they know. Twitter and maybe other social media platforms may be more useful than this generation can see.

   With the incorporation of technology into the classroom comes the over arching issue of the digital divide. It is important to acknowledge that many students may not have access to the technologies you want to use. Those who have access to these technologies and programs that can aid them in the classroom will have more of an advantage, not only in the classroom but in life as well. Our world is constantly changing and adapting with the use of technology, it is important to know how to use because it is more than likely that it will be utilized. Students who have technology readily available to them will be more familiar and comfortable with using it in their future careers.
   Sometimes the digital divide is not because of financial problems but because of lack of access. This could mean lack of access to a library, computer lab at school or even lack of a good internet connection. These factors will more than likely be present in my classroom and in order to stray away from the implications of it, I would try to bring the technology needed into the classroom for all the students to use while there. I would also make sure that if there are some circumstances out of my control then maybe that particular type of technology should not be incorporated in the classroom.

   There are many great, useful educational softwares out there for teachers and students to use. One that we use very often is MicroSoft office, it incorporates MS Word, MS Excell, MS PowerPoint and many more. It is extremely helpful in not only providing students with the proper tools to complete their assignments to the best of their abilities, but to also ensure proper and uniform formatting when their work is submitted. Students will also be able to use and become familiar with the same software that is used by many jobs and companies in the work environment.
   Besides MS Office, there is also a great too that I used all throughout high school called Khan Academy. It is a site that basically offers extra help in the core subjects with videos and practice problems. I would definitely use this with my future students because they will be growing up in a fast paced society and with that means an even faster paced education system to help them keep up with society's demand. Students will fall behind and unfortunately their isn't always time to help them catch up or to provide them with the extra help they need. Khan Academy offers extra help at home and allows students to work at their own pace.

Blog Journal 3

   Based on the ELA standards for technology in a seventh grade class, I feel most comfortable with teaching my students how to use an online dictionary or thesaurus for their writing. I use this already and so passing on some tips and tricks would be easy to do and I have a lot of confidence in using these tools. However, I do not feel comfortable with the standard to create online posters or graphics. I have never needed to create a poster or photo online, and I would not even know where to begin. But this is something I want to learn so I can teach my students to be better than I am at it. Especially in our day and age where everything is now digital or done on a computer, it is an extremely important skill to have, it also minimizes the amount of work needed to create a nice looking poster. I am sure there are many programs and systems that can be used to make these graphics or posters.

   The CPALMS website is an amazing tool that has endless resources and tools to aid a teacher in the classroom. I would like to be either a science or math teacher for seventh graders and looking through this website I was able to see somethings that I may use in my future career. I love the many tools they have for math because I feel like math is the one subject in school that no one loves and it is always students worst class or subject. No one comes into a math class excited to do math problems besides the teacher.
   CPALMS offers a great tool called 7th grade Math Element Cards, where they have it listed out on how an instructor can support students as they are teaching a lesson and even after when they are practicing. The Math Element Cards also offer some practice or activities for the students and walks the teacher through it to scaffold the students. This source can be beneficial for me because there are some concepts in math that I understand very well but cannot put it into words for others to understand. I think these element cards account for the teacher and allows them to teach the students in a way that is more effective than just practice problems.

   Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the newsletter assignment at all. It was very broad and there were too many ways to go about it, which I guess is good, but for me felt a little upsetting because I spent more time trying to figure out what I wanted the topic to be than actually putting it together. I did however enjoy using some of the skills learned in class about word, I've never worked on a project like so before and it was interesting that, although it was not the best newsletter, I think it came out pretty good for a beginner. Next time, I would like to use a template just to give me more of a guided thought process in deciding what to do.
   I did not see myself using this in my future career as a teacher, but I can see now that a nice fun newsletter for the parents would be nice. It can be helpful to keep the parents in the know and to have them be active participants in their child's education. Newsletters are also a great way to get your point across in an appealing and short way. Often times long paragraphs will turn the readers away and they will not want to read whatever it is you want them to read.
Here is my newsletter :)