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Blog 9 – End of Semester

This course has given me a lot of insight as to the importance of technology in a classroom. It truly is an incredible resource and can benefit students of all kinds. Software such as Photoshop, SMART technology, and more allow teachers to reach out their students in ways they previously could not. For example, creating a lesson using SmartBoard technology and software can create an environment that engages the students and gives them a reason to enjoy school. It is important to get the students out of their seats and moving so that they remain engaged.

Blogs, social bookmarking sites, and Twitter are also key components for teachers to implement in the classroom. These allow teachers to reach out to other teachers, educators, and administrators for new ideas, tips, techniques, and resources. Teachers are able to share their work with others and post pieces created by the students.

Technology has come a long way and it is not slowing down. It is important for teachers to be on top of the newest and up-to-date devices and programs to ensure that they are able to connect with the students and be as helpful and beneficial as possible. Children are going to continue having the latest technology in their reach or even in their posession. Therefore, teachers must be able to accomodate these devices in assignments and activites.

I definitely have taken a lot away from this class and I intend on incorporating technology into my classroom as much as I possibly can.

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Reflection to Peers’ Personal Interest Projects

Hanna’s PIP seems very organized and well put together. However, there is not much input from her and Logan. The site seems to be primarily links to a bunch of articles with a short one-sentence insight as to what the articles cover. I would like to see more information from Hanna and Logan as to what podcasts are, their use in the classroom, and possibly how they are beneficial to students. It would be nice to be provided that overview before having to go to each article to find out.

Emma’s PIP is a Prezi presentation. It has graphics and colors that grabbed my attention right away. The movement of the screen kept me interested. Also, Emma gave just the perfect amount of information and followed up with links to articles and videos that went into more detail. It was not difficult to understand and also presented me with the information in a way that did not require too much time and effort on my part.

Nicole and I created our PIP together.

Vincent did not post his PIP yet.

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Seventh Twitter Chat

Today I participated in the the #specialedchat, or Special Education, chat. The theme of the chat was on how to make reluctant writers more willing. Tes Special Needs, the moderator of the chat, asked for everyone to contribute ideas on how to inspire a reluctant writer. Mark Unwin wrote that they changed the curriculum two years ago to focus on the students’ and teachers’ interests and it made a huge difference. Cid and Mo agrees that reluctant writers aren’t so reluctant if they are given a topic of interest to focus on. Stages Learning wrote that they ask parents to send in a picture of what they did that weekend and the students use those pictures to help with writing ideas. Kelvin Daley posted that trips, visitors, food-tasting, school events, and role play can all help to facilitate new writing ideas.

Joanna Grace posted a link to an article that explains how sensory stories can boost learning and communication skills for all students, not just those with special learning needs. This page can be reached at http://bit.ly/1886kqR. Another great website that was posted in the chat is http://bit.ly/L2Nt9V. It is a site called the Literacy Shed. There are all different kinds of children’s videos with teaching suggestions below them. The site offers ideas how a teacher could make a writing assignment after watching a specific video.

The six people I chose to follow are:

1) tes Special Needs – They are the moderator of #specialedchat and their goal is sharing the best of their special needs teaching resources, lesson plans, worksheets, teaching ideas and interactive whiteboard tools.

2) Mark Unwin He is a deputy headteacher doing NPQH & class teacher, a Dad and a Muswell Hill resident.

3) Stages Learning – This is a profile that shares real-photo based apps and traditional classroom products professionally designed to engage children with Autism or Speech-Language Delay.

4) Yoga Brum – This person loves teaching children yoga (and awesomeness). He/she holds kids classes in Moseley and Aldridge.

5) Nichola – She is a teacher of kids with severe and complex needs, a wife, a mum to 1, and a singer in a local ladies choir.

6) Joanna Grace – She’s seeking to contribute to a world where people are understood in spite of difference. She also is a special needs and disabilities consultant and author.

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Social Bookmarking with Diigo

My diigo library can be viewed with the following link: https://www.diigo.com/user/Brittanyscott001. This project on PLNs gave me insight on how useful social bookmarking can be to an educator. I came across some amazing websites that I think would be extremely helpful to a new or even old teacher. There are 23 listed bookmarks due to the fact that I included three sites that we covered in class. I thought they were extraordinarily good sites for educators so I felt the need to include them in my project. I hope other educators will find these bookmarks useful.

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Edtech video project

Our video was about the difficulties of parking at Albright College. Filming the video was a little difficult in the area of filming video that could be cut down to a minute and a half. Another difficulty was in trying to put different video clips together. Some clips were hard to merge together. The process as a whole seemed to be much easier than I previously assumed it would be. Video can be used in the classroom as an alternative way to teach or review a lesson. They could even be used as an option for a student group project. Here are five ideas how video can be incorporated into my future classroom:

1) students could be given an assignment to create a video on how to complete a chemistry experiment
2) a video could be shown at the beginning of class which reviews the material covered the previous day
3) teachers could create an instructional video on how to properly write a lab report
4) teachers could take multiple news video clips and combine the important parts into a video they could show the class
5) a video could be created which encompasses the necessary topics of the material that should be studied for an exam

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Blog 7 – Sixth Twitter Chat

Tonight I participated in the #satchatOC, or Saturday Ed. Chat, Oceania Time, chat from 7 – 8 pm. Andrea Stringer was the moderator of this chat and the theme started out focusing on blogging. According to Melanie Spencer and Rhoni McFarlane, teachers look for new ideas, challenges, personal growth and reflections, and personal growth when reading blogs. Greg Miller looks for people who support what he believes and offer new opinions so that he can stretch his thinking. Rachel Frydlewicz uses blogs to see how other teachers maximize learning objectives through infusing technology into their lessons.

Chris Crouch posted a link to an article about grading in school. The article discusses the debate as to whether or not grades do more harm than good in a classroom. This link can be found at http://huff.to/1iBjpxF. All of the other links that were posted during the chat were personal blogs that the different teachers have made.

The five people I chose to follow are:

1) Melanie Spencer – She is an acting Principal. She values life-long learning and initiatives to remove the disconnect between life & school.

2) Rhoni McFarlane – She has a passion for innovation, learning and trying new things. She is from Adelaide, Australia.

3) Chris Crouch – He is an educator who is always looking for some way to remake the world into a better place.

4) Brad Currie – He is a school administrator in Chester, NJ and the co-founder of #Satchat.

5) Andrea Stringer – She is a passionate teacher with experience in USA and Australia. She also is a team member of #satchatoc.

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Blog 6 – Twitter Chat

Thursday night from 9-10 pm I participated in the #byotchat, also known as Bring Your Own Technology, chat. The moderator of the chat was Jon Samuelson, despite the fact that he did not seem to be present. The primary theme to the chat was centered around teachers using different forms of technology in the classroom. From this chat I learned many interesting ways to involve technology into lessons and activities. Lisa Lund mentioned a few different forms of technology that she uses in her classrooms: Instagrok and TodaysMeet for Silent Socrative Seminar. Jeff Herb believes that the students should use technology to show their creativity and ability to demonstrate their leaning. Also, Alex Podchaski posts students’ work online without their names so his students can view each other’s work. He also makes the work online available to the parents.

Lisa Lund posted a link to her own webpage, http://bit.ly/VXwkQD, which is Lund Tech Integration. This page holds all of the resources that she uses and finds helpful. Her page holds teacher resources for the classroom, SMART resources, and even just helpful tools and pieces of information for teachers. Tim Clark posted a link to a page that gives the “6 Tips To Get Your Kids Excited About Coding.” The link can be reached at http://bit.ly/16D1TUv. This article is from The Journal and is geared toward sparking a child’s interest in programming inside and outside the classroom.

The 5 people I chose to follow are:

1) Lisa Lund – This mother is a director of technology who is building a bridge between technology and PD.

2) Tim Clark, Ed.D. – He is a man with the goal of transforming schools and classrooms into learning communities with personalized technology tools.

3) Alex Podchaski – He is a director of technology for a K-12 school with a love for technology and learning.

4) Simon Miller – He is a husband, dad, teacher-turned-tech coordinator, unapologetic Star Wars geek, runner, cyclist, wanna-be blogger, and tech geek.

5) Lisa Butler – She enjoys teaching Social Studies/Spanish, baking, and reading. She also is a EdTech Adventurer and likes trying something new everyday.

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Blog 5 – Twitter Chat

Monday night I participated in the #collabed, also known as All Things Collaboration, chat. The moderator of the chat was Two TeacherZ. The theme to the chat was “Fostering Student Leadership in the Classroom & in School”. From this chat I learned many interesting ways to involve students in being leaders in the classroom both towards their peers and also in being a strong figure in the classroom who is not afraid to speak up. Two TeacherZ feels strongly about encouraging the students to stand up. Jaime Armin tweeted a list of clubs that the students could participate in which would all enable them to demonstrate leadership. Also, Robert Dodd, along with other teachers, proposed that peer-to-peer teaching is a very successful way of getting students up and acting as leaders in the classroom.

There was only one helpful link posted during this conversation. Charlie Wierzbicki posted a link witch can be found at http://bit.ly/1dbPkEg. The link shares with teachers a list of research questions designed by a group of students. It covers a basic search, the depth of knowledge, the big picture, and why the research is important.

The 5 people I chose to follow are:

1) Two TeacherZ – Two TeacherZ is made up of a First Grade Teacher with a counseling degree, and an Eighth Grade U.S. History Teacher. They are from Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

2) Jaime Murray Armin – She is a woman who loves to travel to California with her childres and is the Co-moderator for the #CollabEd chat.

3) Robert Dodd – He is the principal for New Lexington High School, a Former technology education teacher, and is a strong follower of student-lead learning. He is from New Lexington, OH.

4) Keith Howell is a husband, father, elementary principal, and educational leader.

5) Sparky Teaching – This page is ran by a person who loves inspiring classroom creativity, teaching messages that matter, valuing character, making students go Hmmm and thinking extraordinarily about ordinary things. He/She is from the United Kingdom.