Digital Blog Post l- Chapter 12

For this chapter, I found topics that I both knew and didn't know.   The first was the Adoption Stage in technology that teachers have.  I can relate to this, as I use technology in class with my students, but I don't use it all of the time as I am still not comfortable with it.  I am slowly working on the idea of facilitating it more throughout lessons, but I am still old-fashioned I feel.

My next topic is the One-to-One Laptop Computing.  I wish this were something that funds could go to for my students.  They would benefit so much from being able to have the technology with them each day to access whenever they wanted and look for more information when it benefited them.

The last topic I chose that I enjoyed was the BYOD Programs.  My school has recently implemented this into classrooms, and while I enjoy the idea as I do the One-to-One Laptop Computing, I also feel that it can be distracting as students attempt to do more than just the assignment given by the teacher.

Below I created a Canva, which I am now considering to use to help make my brother's senior invitations.  It  had a lot of neat features that I can't wait to use for other things.

References

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Blog Post K- Chapter 6

Chapter 6 was interesting in that as a class we were going back to different ways in which to use the Internet.  The first one I read about that peaked my interest was virtual field trips.  I love this idea!!! First off, any student could partake in something like this.  What is also great is a teacher could make a lesson out of something like this and use it for students to find information and enjoy doing it at the same time.  Just putting the words 'field trip' into the day's lesson would have students so excited to work on something like this.

The next topic that caught my attention was skills practice websites.  I recently found one of these for my students that is for math, and they love it.  Funbrain is the website, and I used to do this when I was in school.  My children love it as they practice math skills and can do them anytime, anywhere.

The last topic that I truly enjoyed reading about was the exploration and discovery websites.  I think in a way this correlates with the virtual field trips.  For example, in science I can use National Geographic as a website to better facilitate that day.  Yet, it is an exploration for the students to find facts about animals or a certain group of people.

References

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Blog Post J-Chapter 11

When I was reading this chapter, I did not realize how important assessment was as a teacher.  I recently just had my first assessment as a paraprofessional, where I had to write observations of the teachers I worked with and discuss what I would implement and what I wouldn't.  It was a great experience because I could reflect on my first year and start keeping notes on how I want to be as a future teacher.  It also seems beneficial in my college career presently.

My digital teaching portfolio has just recently been started because I had my first evaluation.  I have also been saving all of my certificates and different topics my students have covered and lessons I have helped with when working with the teachers.

The last topic I found interesting was reflection.  Many of the classes that I took through the school board talk about reflection and discuss how to reflect on the decisions we have made in the classroom.  I am learning that reflection is key in being a great teacher!  And I like to pride myself in being someone who reflects on life and works hard to be better as a teacher.

Below is my PowerPoint on these topics as PowerPoint is virtually the best invention ever created for people who hate technology (like myself) :) .

References

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Blog Post I-Chapter 4

In Chapter 4, what I took away most from it was the different kinds of assessments students receive throughout the year by either their teacher or by the state.  Children at school are constantly bombarded with different versions of tests, and all of them offer a different perspective.  The first kind was the Norm-referenced tests, which compares students to other students.  I personally do not like norm-referenced tests as I feel many students, especially mine, are mentally not on the same level as others and these do not accurately reflect what they know or what they have learned.

The second is criterion-referenced tests which I like slightly better because they are based on certain objectives, and students aren't compared to other students.  It's strictly based on what they know as a a student!

The last one is standards-based assessments.  These are in the middle for me, as while they depict what a student knows, not all students can go through all of the objectives that are needed, and end up not doing well on a test because they do not know it all.  For me, no test is perfect, and quite frankly I would prefer not constantly testing children.

Below is my link to my first emaze I've ever done!!! I think I like it more than PowerPoint!!

http://app.emaze.com/@AOTWTRQT/presentation-name#1



References

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Blog Post H-Chapter 9

 Chapter 9 discusses multimedia in the classroom, and includes talking about visual and text representations.  I created a Powerpoint that covers all of the topics I enjoyed from this chapter, and will explain each in more detail below.

PowerPoint for me is a past-time that I remember using in many of my courses throughout the years.  It was easy, there were always templates that you could create from, and you just had to insert your information and pictures.  It was good for organizing and gave the group you were presenting to the most important information,

Graphic design is something that I am constantly using, not just in technology but even throughout the day.  My students respond well to visual and text that is organized and can be legible.  They love to use this as a way to remember information for future use.

Next-generation presentation tools are things that I am already starting to use.  For example, Animoto and Prezi are two that I have been practicing with to  better use throughout my time as a teacher.  They will be great for me in the future when I am a full-time teacher who wants to present information in a new way.

Resources:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Blog Post G-Chapter 10

Chapter 10 discusses a topic I had never heard of before.  Universal design for learning states that the design of the curriculum should be based on accomodating all students' needs.  This includes having multiple means of representation, multiple means of expression, and multiple means of engagement.  I found this idea to be interesting because I feel like it would be hard to find a way to engage all students.  Yet, this will be a task that I must complete when I become a teacher.

The next topic was accomodations and modifications.  These topics are ones that I am familiar with as my students have both modifications and accomodations throughout school each day.  My students have modifications when they test or complete work in class.  My students have accomodations such as preferred seating in class, having two times the amount on a test, and being able to ask for directions read to them on an assignment.  

The last topic that I found interesting was the interactive electronic stroybooks.  I wish I could read every single book that I own and be able to have graphic animations, sound effects, and user interactions to make the book come to life.  For my students, I would absolutely love this to let my kids enjoy reading and have fun with it.  They would enjoy reading stories so much more if they could have the interaction necessary to keep their brains engaged in what they were reading.

Below is a Prezi that I created to go along with the topics discussed in this blog.  I absolutely love Prezi!  It is fantastic and so engaging.


http://prezi.com/kcw3aagdkeus/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share


Resources

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Pepitone, Morgan (2015).  Copy of Chapter Ten.  Found on: http://prezi.com/kcw3aagdkeus/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Digital Blog Post F- Chapter 8

Created by Me on Wordle

After reading Chapter 8, much of the chapter talked about using electronic communication between teachers and students.  One of the first ideas I liked reading about was textspeak or digitalk.  This was interesting as I am an avid texter, but I do not know many of the collection of symbols and letters that are used during texting.  My reason being is that the phone I have spell checks what I text, and it also is hard to go between letters and numbers, preventing me from using the shorthand version of certain words.

In the book it also discussed Wikis, which wouldn't you know it is what we created as a group this week!  I liked some of the ideas that book suggested to use a Wiki for, and as a teacher I would like to use them in my classroom.  Literature circles would be a fun way for students to read a book and then post about it.  It would get them discussing different components of the content they are reading.  

The last topic I found was an interesting term to use for when teachers create websites, and that was homegrown.  It was a great word to use for what great teachers like to do, and that is make something from scratch and let it become something that is familiar and understandable.  Homegrown is an old term that refers to the integration of new with old.  I absolutely loved this term from this chapter.

References

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.