When looking at different school websites I came across Jackson Elementary School’s website which contains a list of links to multiple teacher pages and information about each of their classes. The school’s website has a Google login screen as well as a Teacher Portal that most likely gives access to more private information about students and teachers One that I came across was Mrs. Andrew’s teacher page for her 4th grade class. Some of the information that is shared publicly on this class website is the school bell schedule, classroom supply list, and a link to an external website called Jupiter Ed which is most likely used by the teachers to show grades online so parents can access them. Mrs. Andrew’s website also goes into more detail on information in regards to her class specifically. She goes over the curriculum and what each subject learning entails for her 4th grade class. She also goes over her expectations for her students in regards to what to bring to class each day, projects, and keeping up with homework assignments. Lastly, she has her grading and late work policy posted for her students to refer to.
Through my experience and learning with this class, I believe I progress with each of my blog posts. In the beginning I was quite unfamiliar with blogging and how I should present information in each post. I believe this is because I am used to a more formal way of writing because I have been writing essays and research papers for many years now. I enjoy blogging because it is less formal and more focused on my opinion and point of view on the different things we are learning. I also believe it is enjoyable for me because I have a passion about education which is what this class and my blog revolves around. One thing I do not like about blogging is sometimes I don’t know how to start or how to finish a blog post, because there is nothing definitive that you have to do for a blog like you do for a discussion post or a research paper. During this blogging process, I have learned how to freely write and not follow a basic structure to everything, but still make it all coherent and easy to read.
Through the Web Evaluation assignment we completed last week, I was able to acquire some new skills when it comes to searching the Internet for reliable sources. For example, I was able to see all the different ways in which a website can be looked at and evaluated. Through my past years of using websites as a resource for different things for academics, I was able to learn how to successfully find a useful and credible source through experience. I feel that a Web evaluation checklist is a helpful tool for those new to learning how to evaluate web sources. I like the idea of this assignment because I believe it is an important skill that students should have to make sure the information they gather can be used and is credible. Although, with web evaluations there can be many different aspects to look at depending on what type of information is being gathered. If I were to do this assignment again, I would probably pick a different topic/project to base the web evaluation off of, because mine was a little difficult to do.
Technology in the classroom has become an important part of advancements in education. Academic software for students makes learning easier and more interactive. One software tool I would like to implement in my future classroom is Kahoot. It is an interactive game that students can play to quiz themselves on their knowledge of different subjects. I would use this tool because it helps the students interact with the lesson which will help them retain the information better. Kahoot also allows students to make their own quiz in order to study by testing themselves. Another software tool I would like to implement is called Google Classroom. Google already has a lot of tools that allow for student and teachers to better organize, collaborate, and communicate as a class. Google Classroom combines all of these tools into one software that allows for students to keep information organized and easy to access. This tool allows for classroom discussion, feedbacks and comments, and parents and guardians to manage and view work all while keeping lesson materials and resources organized and easy to access. I would use this tool often because it allows for students to access all aspects of the classroom in one software, making it easier for them to find information and collaborate with other students.
I have very much enjoyed using Twitter as a tool for this class. Before this course, I did not realize how many educators use this tool to communicate and share information. I have been interacting with our fsu2040 hashtag as well as following some famous educators in order to absorb some of their knowledge about educational technology. Twitter is a very popular social media platform among high school and college students. I have seen many teachers use twitter to interact with their students in a funny yet educational way. I think using this platform in my future career might allow me to connect with students in a different way, and possibly help share my experiences of education with others.
Check out my comments on Bailey's and Kathryn's Blog Post #5!
The English Language Arts standards require students to learn to read, write, speak, listen, and use language effectively in a variety of content areas. More specifically, the technology standards prepare students of the 21st century by using more technology tools in education. I am interested in teaching 2nd grade, and a lot of the technology standards have to do with making things like books, posters, and comic strips through website creator tools. I have had a lot of practice with different applications and websites that help you build these types of things. I also have existing knowledge on teaching tools such as the Smart Board from when I was in elementary school. Something in the technology standards that I would require more learning from is an effective way to teach students to create a blog.
One of the resources in the CPALMS Educator Toolkits are lesson plans for each specific subject. In each Toolkit there are interactive lesson plan suggestions that are appropriate for a particular age level and informative on a specific subject. This resource allows teachers to experiment with different lesson plans to see what works best with their student. They are also unique and most are interactive which allows for fun yet informative activities that will help students relate what their learning to a certain task. I would use this tool for my classroom because it would allow me to get more creative with my teaching. I like that these lessons aren’t just cut and dry, but incorporate educational subjects such as math and science with everyday things such as gardening, sports, and even grocery shopping.
While working on the Newsletter Design assignment, I was able to practice incorporating a lot of the tools we have learned to use on Microsoft Word. I also enjoy putting my own style and color coordination on things, and this assignment allowed me to find what worked best for me with Word. I am typically not very creative, but I enjoy organizing things and making it look visually appealing. Something I did not life about the assignment was figuring out how to place everything in word so it fit properly and didn’t overlap. Something I would improve was the fact that my newsletter did not save how I wanted it to with the spacing and fonts even though I saved it as a PDF. I actually learned through this assignment how useful a newsletter for parents and students could be for my class, and will definitely be something that I will utilize in the future. The images attached below is my Newsletter Design assignment.
Check out my comments on Amanda's and Sierra's Blog Post #4!
As we learned in our podcast for this week’s lesson, open
education is all about making education material easily accessible to a wide
audience. An example that was discussed was making course materials and
lectures from a university to be accessed by anyone over the Internet for free.
This open learning experience offers the opportunity for a motivated connected
learner to learn just about anything on their own time and typically without
cost. When I find myself struggling with a certain lesson of topic, I often use
the open education source, MIT OpenCourseWare which is a tool that offers a
variety of free courses and video lessons. There are many other colleges such
as Yale, Harvard, and UC Berkeley that offer free online educational material, not
only is there study help for students but open content for teachers too. Open content allows for teachers to reuse,
revise, remix, or redistribute educational material for their teaching. Access
to these materials allows for students to obtain higher quality and up to date
materials, allowing for a better future for our advancing society.
Open educational resources (OER) are materials meant for teaching or learning that are either available to the public without cost or have been released under a license that allows them to be freely used, changed, and shared with others.An article from Education Week gives an overview about how OER is different from other online materials, how it relates to the federal education law, and how it is used. It also talks about how the majority use of OER by teachers is to provide additional practice and sources for an existing lesson. On the other hand, these resources can also be used for those who do not have access to education and wish to expand their learning, which makes open educational resources a beneficial tool for today's youth.
Check out my comments on Kathryn's and Alexis's Blog Post #3!
I started learning how to use Microsoft Word in my computer education class in middle school. We learned the basics of it to do things like writing book reports or creating a poster. As I advanced into high school, we were taught how to use the layouts to write research papers and build our resume. Throughout my time of being a student, I have seen my teachers use Microsoft Word to create study guides by inserting graphs, pictures, and links to outside sources pertaining to the course material. Microsoft Word allows for educators and students to quickly organize information and allows for many different ways to format and present it.
Some examples of copyright and fair use of materials in an educational environment can include sighting academic articles for a research paper, using educational readings in a lesson, or inserting images and videos in presentations. As stated in the podcast regarding this topic, fair use guidelines allow for educators to utilize copy right materials for educational purposes depending on how the material is used, how much is used, and what impact it had by being used. As a teacher, if I was using material as examples for my own lessons and teaching I would make sure to always give cite or give credit to the material as well as do research in order to make sure the specific material was being used properly. I would also make sure my students understood the importance of respecting other educator’s as well as their peers work by always citing and giving credit when it is due.
In regards to copyright, I would emphasize the importance of citing other people’s work in students’ essays and presentations by teaching how to properly cite another person’s material in its own lesson. I would also establish that there will be no tolerance for plagiarism which will ultimately result in failure of the assignment. Similarly, academic honesty will be held at the same standard as the copy right issue. It will be established in the beginning of the course that cheating on or copying another student’s work will not be tolerated and also will result in failure of the assignment, and possibly further consequences. Whether or not technology is being used in the classroom or not, it is important that the issue of cyberbullying is discussed. I would not only implement a lesson based on right and wrong ways of using the Internet, but I would encourage students to speak up if they ever witness or experience cyberbullying from another person.
