ILP 2 Design Google Classroom

In another class I take, I've observed a third grade class and the teacher uses Google Classroom. I've never seen it or heard about it before, but it's a great resource for students. She uses it for extra study material for the students. It has so many uses though. You can create basically discussion boards and students can reply to each other. You can also assign quizzes or tests for students to take. You can organize the material by topics and attach any documents, videos, links, etc. It would be super easy for students to stay up to date if they were absent and it organizes material for them. They can also see a calendar with upcoming events to organize themselves. You can create mini study games for students as well. This is a great resource to use and it's super easy to navigate. I had no idea what it was, but it was easy create. I would definitely use this in my classroom!

Blog 10

     For Elementary aged kids, I would use surveys for getting their opinions on different activities we do. Get their feedback to see if they enjoyed it and were able to stay focused. I would use Excel spreadsheets to calculate averages on their grades and create graphs to show them. Or in lessons that deal with graphing do mini surveys on their preferences and put their answers in a spreadsheet and show them graphs of their answers compared to the class as a whole. I could use Excel to show them the different graphs and the purposes of different graphs.
     When looking at my classmate's blogs I like reading their reflections on the different assignments. It seems that a lot of us struggled on the same aspects of each project. I also learned from reading their reflections how they solved their problems. I also liked reading the first blog. The introduction blogged when each person described themselves because those were the most original and different for each person. A lot of us are in the class for similar reasons, but also what to do different levels of teaching.
   One technology I would like to learn how to use is Excel. I feel like I just know the basics and haven't really worked with it before. It will be useful in classrooms to organize test data or just splitting up kids in groups. I think it would be useful in also sharing data and portraying it in charts. I think these assignments will help expand my knowledge on how to use Excel and just doing projects or working with the program I know I'll learn more and more.

Blog 9

     A new strategy teachers are staring to use is a Flipped Classroom. This strategy is basically the opposite of the traditional classroom design. Instead of teachers giving instruction during class and assigning homework for students to do at home, they post lectures online for students to listen to and basically teach themselves while during class they work on assignments that would normally be homework.  I think this strategy as pros and cons. Some pros would being allowed to really asses students during class to see what areas they struggle in and what they've mastered. During class all you focus on is answering questions students have, it's more student centered. The negatives to a flipped classroom would be most students probably wouldn't listen or read the lessons so when they get to class they'll be lost. Then you'd have to waste class time teaching so there's no point to posting lectures. Also, some students need the guidance of a teacher to help learn lessons and a powerpoint isn't enough. Students might have trouble keeping up.
     Open Educational Resources are very beneficial for teachers. It's a way teachers can create their own teaching material but share with other teachers to use while still getting credit for their own work. Teachers can choose what parts of their work to share with others and also view other teacher's work for some extra guidance on their own lesson plans. It gives teachers tools to help create their lessons or materials they need to teach for no cost. They help other teachers by sharing their own work and also get help from other teachers when they post their work. In Merlot's blog they talk about how they created a KEEP Toolkit for the Carnegie Foundation. KEEP is a web application many teachers used to create web-based teaching and learning materials. This blog talks about the progress it's made and the impact it's had on many educators that use it. You can check out the blog here! https://blog.merlot.org/category/open-education-resource-oer/
     I've learned so much creating these past two PowerPoint assignments. At first I thought I knew how to work PowerPoint by just completing assignments in the past but these two assignments have helped me learn outside the basic features. I've learned how to hyperlink buttons to go to certain slides, I've learned how to record a presentation, and I've learned how to create a jeopardy game! It was very challenging at first learning how to create everything, but it turned out to be very helpful for future projects. I can improve on making it more geared to a certain age group and add more graphics to make in more interesting instead of just words. I can make certain things pop more and stand out.

Blog 8

     I learned how to use Diigo in general. I've also learned how to annotate articles electronically. Diigo is great to use for group work. It's an easy way for each person to do their individual work but also being able to see what others find and their perspectives. It's an easy way to collaboratively work and share ideas. This can help classrooms by sharing different articles with the class in a quick way and being able to individually annotate the article. Team members can use this this to get others input and ideas on the same articles or each pst their own and others can get ideas from articles their teammates post. I would even use Diigo for my own individual work. Its any easy way to bookmark articles that I've annotated that I might need at a later time. This also could help me organize my work, tagging articles with different terms or just screenshooting a specific part of an article.

     I can use PowerPoint to teach students energy conservation. At the Knowledge level, I would start the PowerPoint by defining Newton's three laws of motion. I can use Smart Art to create a graphic to help them memorize all three laws. At the Comprehension level, students would be able to recite Newton's three laws in their own words. I could insert graphics to help them just describe what they see in each law. At the Application level, students would be able to calculate the kinetic energy of a projectile. I would model an example on the powerpoint and students will solve the problem to show their understanding. At the Analysis level, students would be able to differentiate between potential and kinetic energy. I could insert or creating a graphic in PowerPoint to compare the two and use the projectile to show where kinetic energy and potential energy takes place. At the Synthesis level, students would be able to create their own dynamics problem using conservation of energy. I would show them an example of a graphic and they would have to write their own equation for the problem. At the  Evaluation level, students would be able to determine if using conservation of energy is appropriate for solving a dynamics problem. I would give them a scenario on the powerpoint and they would individually evaluate the problem and support why or why not they would use conservation of energy to solve the problem. 

     Teachers and technology development can be inversely or directly related. I have teachers that know way more about technology than I do, but I also have teachers that barley know how to use Canvas. I think younger teachers have a better advantage in technology knowledge, older teachers don't really know how use technology as efficiently. It is thrown teachers to use the most up-to-date and efficient software, so they do need to be aware of up and coming technologies. Some teachers are creating new and more efficient ways to grade papers or display things in class that other teachers will be using. Teachers effect other teachers in that aspect. One website written for teachers gives practical advice on how to stay up-to-date on new arising technologies. This website shows different resources teachers can use and says to check out what the your school has available and to get support from you school. Check it out here! https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/teachers-technology-trends 

Journal 7

     Twitter has been really easy and convenient to use. I've used twitter personally before so it's very easy for me. Following educational accounts has been interesting. I've learned so many things in the educational world. Seeing some articles help me think about how I want to teach students, and seeing new results on showing how students learn have been intriguing. I've also been able to learn about events the School of Education are hosting by following the FSU account. I've also been able to see classmate's posts and interact with them. The only downside is that I really only follow a couple classmates when I should try to follow the whole class. Twitter has been very informational for me. I use Twitter more to learn about things going on globally rather than communicating with classmates, even though it could be used for both.
     Working on the web page was honestly crazy. At first I was very overwhelmed and confused. Trying to align and edit text took a little getting used to. The hardest part was figuring out how to use the website and formatting. It would've been easier if I had past experience but this was my first time. After finishing I did feel accomplished. I like how my page turned out and put a lot of effort into it. Making webpages in the future will now be a lot easier. I wish I would've realized how much time it would take so I could've planned better, but I think it turned out well. I have attached a screenshot of the home page, but you can check out the full webpage at http://eme2040ellie.weebly.com/
      The Americans with Disabilities Act basically makes it illegal to discriminate against anyone who has a disability, physical or learning, and requires everyone with a disability to be given accommodations.  Those with physical disabilities could use a joystick instead of a mouse or use brail printers to learn. Those with learning disabilities have the option to use spell checker or computer organizers to help them stay organized. My sister has grown up with special accommodations, because she has a learning disability. She's be given extra time to take tests and quizzes and it's helped her tremendously. I think the hardest challenge is finding the correct accommodation for each student because each student learns differently and needs different things.

Journal 6

     On the Julington Creek Elementary school website they have a home page for all of second grade, then all the teachers have links to their individual websites on the bottom of the page. On the home page they show upcoming events and field trips. They also give a supply list and different websites for students to use to help study. On a teacher's personal page, she posted upcoming events for her class and helpful homework links. She also has different pages for subject based learning for students. She has a newsletter and gives the class schedule. She also gives parents their own page to check out. She has multiple opportunities for parents to come and be involved in her classroom. She gives parents a lot of information so they are fully aware of what type of classroom their child is in daily. Here is a link to Ms. Adams awesome website! https://teachers.stjohns.k12.fl.us/adams-a/
     When I'm a teacher I plan on using my website a lot. I will use my website to post lesson plans for the parent's to help keep them informed on what is going on in the classroom on a weekly basis. I will also set up a calendar on my website. I will post all test/quiz dates, any important events coming up, and when projects are due. This will hopefully help students plan their weeks and schedules accordingly knowing what they have on the weeks ahead. I will also post daily/weekly schedules on my website to inform parents what the kids do daily so parents are aware. I will mainly use my website to help keep parent's involved in the classroom.

     The 3D printer was very interesting. I always thought that you would use that for medical purposes, but it can be used very effectively in teaching. It could helps students learn visually and give them something to hold and feel to help sensor they're learning. It gives a model of an object right in front of them. For example, if an anatomy student was learning the brain they could print a 3D model of it to really visualize and learn from a hands on perspective, not just flat out of a book. They can see and feel the whole thing all at once and put pieces together in their minds by seeing the object as a whole. Also, this could be used for visual disability students. They can print objects with brail like a periodic table so those students can learn. This would make teaching and learning easier for both the teacher and student. It would take forever to order or find a brail periodic table, but the 3D printer could make multiple in short amounts of time. Below is an example the 3D printer made of a rubber duck.

IPL Participation COE Technology Showcase

In September I went to the College of Educations' Technology Showcase to learn about all the new technology FSU is starting to implement in the classrooms. I was very interesting to see how much technology is improving and effecting how teachers teach and students learn. I was able to walk around and view many different thing. One of my favorite things was the light board. The teacher is able to stand behind the glass and solve a problem so the students can see the whole problem without the teacher getting in the way. The camera is pointed towards a glass surface which reverses the image of the problem and the instructor to the students. This lets the students view the problem as the instructor would on the other side of the glass. I also used the Sphero. It's like a sphere that kids can be rolled around or turned in different directions that will show the pattern or art you draw on the app. It can be very useful in learning precision. It helps nurture students' imaginative ideas and opens them up to learning code. Another cool thing I got to try was a 3D art pen. This lets students draw things out to learn. This could help visual learners see topics in different ways and let students bring out their creative sides. As pictured below, I used the 3D pen to write my name.

New Experiences with Technology

     This was my first time using Diigo and I thought it was pretty cool. It was very simple to learn how it works. I think it's interesting you can share websites with big groups if you'd like. It would be very helpful to use in group projects and assignments. It was very convenient that you just bookmark the page and then it'd go straight to Diigo. It could be very helpful to just save websites but also be able organize them. I really like Diigo and will use it moving forward!

     Blogging honestly hasn't been as fun as I thought. Some of the prompts haven't interested me as much so it's been a little boring sometimes, but I still enjoy writing a blog. This has given me a feel of what'd it be like to keep a personal blog, something I've thought about. I think I would really enjoy keeping my own blog since I could talk about whatever I want. It's been nice looking at others' blogs and seeing their thoughts and opinions on the same topics. It's nice to see things from others' perspectives and seeing how similar or different we are.
      One Web 2.0 tool I'm new to is Wiki. I've never heard about it before or seen anyone use it, but starting my second assignment, it seems very helpful! You can create a webpage, but invite others in so you can all collaborate. This tool is very helpful getting others' opinions and input. It shows you who also worked on the webpage and what they did. People can comment to give feedback or even edit the page themselves. This tool's purpose is to help other collaborate and work together. The best outcomes occur when multiple people work together to serve a common goal and Wiki definitely helps with that. If you are interested in checking it, out here is the link to more information on Wiki, https://www.pbworks.com/wikis.html. 

Technology!

     At first i was very confused on how twitter for this class would work, but I've enjoyed it. I like seeing the updates from EME2040 and FSU Education, because they've informed me on interesting events going on in the Education building and reminded me of assignments we've done in class. Following other educational accounts has also informed me on what's going on in the education field nationally and some articles they've shared have been very informative. I normally don't watch the news or stay updated in politics so going on twitter has helped me get informed. Twitter also lets you interact globally for free, so you can see what's happening worldwide and interact with others from another country. This could be very helpful in my career to connect with other teachers worldwide and compare our standards and teaching techniques.
     Statistics have shown that digital divide is part of reason for some student's success over others. Students with more access to technology outside of the classroom and have grown up using technology have a greater advantage in being prepared for the workforce and assignments teachers assign with technology. The more technology a student is comfortable around the more confident they are in completely technology based assignments resulting in a higher pass rate. Digital divide could be caused by the lack of income people have. Some families can't afford internet access or computers so they have less experience with technology. It also depends on where you live, if you can get public access to computers and internet easily or not. As a teacher, I know I will have students with more access to technology than others. To try and help the problem I could use teaching time to do technology based learning assignments so each child is up to date on technology use and processing skills. This will also boost students confidence in their technological skills, especially the ones with little to no internet access. Another thing I could do to try and avoid digital divide is not assign homework or assignments that requires technology to complete.
     In my classroom I would teach my students how to use Office 365. Using Office 365 students will be able to learn how to create word documents, powerpoint  slides, and excel spread sheets. They can complete writing assignments using Word, presentations using PowerPoint, and graphs and spreadsheets using Excel. This software is used all throughout one's career and worldwide so teaching students how to use it and becoming familiar with it will be very beneficial for them. This could help them become more familiar with technology and more confident in completing assignments that involve technology. Another technology I would use is Kahoot! I used it a lot throughout middle and high school for test prep. It made learning fun and competitive. My peers and I wanted to be involved in Kahoot and learned our mistakes from it. It was something different we didn't get to do all the time, but always enjoyed when we did. I would use it for test and quiz prep with my students. They'll learn what they need to study while also having some fun. I would use it to give them a break from the regular book studying.

Standards and Resources

     Of the ELA technology standards for third graders, I feel most prepared to teach LAFS.3.SL.1.2 which is, "Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally." and LAFS.3.SL.2.5 which states, "Demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace, adding visual displays and engaging audio recordings when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details." Both of these standards include using online presentation tools and recording devices which I have experience with. Even just for fun, I've played around with iMovie and made silly presentations with audio so I'm fairly familiar with the tools. I would need to learn more about bookmarking sites information organizers to teach LAFS.3.W.3.8 because I don't have experience with any of the technology examples used.
     One of the tools in the CPALMS Educator Toolkit that I would use would be the Curriculum Planner. This tool basically does part of the teaching job for you. It helps recommend lesson plans and courses based on what curriculum you teach, while being aligned with your academic calendar. It follows state standards snd recommends resources from peers and experts. It makes the planning part of being a teacher a lot easier. It's more convenient, with just a few clicks you can have a whole lesson planned. Your lesson plans can be easily edited, and it can be exported through Microsoft Word. I would use this to help take some stress off. This tool will help recommend ideas that I could use and it would help me stay organized.
     I learned how to use a lot of new tools making my newsletter. I learned how to use shading and insert working hyperlinks which was super cool. I also learned how to get the body of my text to separate into columns and that was interesting to me. I really liked this assignment and would love to make more. This assignment made me look forward to being a teacher so I can make newsletters to send home to parents. I definitely need to work on my spacing and trying to not have a lot of white space. I was struggling with that a little, but tried to take up most white space. Whenever I become a teacher I will definitely send home newsletters to inform parents what's happening in the classroom.

Microsoft Word and Teaching!

     Microsoft Word is used worldwide. Growing up, it was probably the most used Microsoft Office software used by students. I would use Microsoft Word for any writing assignment I had starting back in Elementary school. I would use it t create tables, charts, and even practice quizzes. Teachers use MS Word to create their syllabus every semester. They use it to create rubrics, assignments, and their assessments.

     When completing projects and assignments copyright is always a major problem. Citing wrong could cause a copyright issue or using pictures in presentations that I just got from the internet would be a problem. To help my students, I would first teach them about copyright laws at least the basics depending on their age. I would make sure I have legal access to the materials I use to teach my students and maybe even create my own documents and assignments for my students to avoid the problem all together. I will set guidelines on their assignments to help them avoid copywriting and teach them how to properly cite outside resources they use.

     To solve copywriting in my classroom I will only use sources given to me that I know have been released to the school. I will make my own material for the kids and teach them about copyright issues. On given projects I will limit the resources they can use that I know are allowed. I will try to create my own documents for the to use as well. I will help my students be honest in their works by teaching them how to properly cite works. I will show them how to use websites that check for plagiarism and make them submit all their essays through the plagiarism processor first. Cyberbullying will be hard to control since technology is used to much in class. The best way to go about it would be to take time in class to teach students how to use it honestly and safely. Let students know that cyberbullying is not allowed and there will be consequences if they chose to bully other students. Encouraging kids to be nice to each other by showing them love would help. 

Technology in Classrooms

     Technology is used daily by Americans today. Even in classroom settings students and teachers are using technology as a was of learning and teaching. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has created a set of standards they think would be beneficial for educators and students to know globally. They have set standards for students, teachers, educational leaders, technology coaches, and computer science educators. Being a student, the ISTE Standard for Students is the most meaningful to me right now. The standards teach me new ways to receive information. I want new ways to learn that interest m. It also connects we with the rest of the world, not just within the United States. I can communicate internationally through technology in an instant. Also, technology is the future. Technology will help me prepare for the future. If there was one standard that seems outside my knowledge it would be the ISTE Standard for Computer Science Educators.mI'm not tech savy and still have a lot to learn about technology. The standard for Computer Science Educators is all content based and knowing how to use technology on a expert level. That is outside my skill set as of now so I wouldn't feel comfortable trying to teach it.
      I think today's youth is very much digitally native. The younger generation even more so as technology advances and becomes a bigger part of everyone's lives. Youth are digitally native because they grew up using technology and computers from a young age so they are comfortable with it and use it all the time. They depend on technology everyday for something whether it be educational purposes, social media, or contacting others. In multiple classes teachers will make comments about how they don't know how to work something on their computer or how they didn't use or have technology like we do back when they were in school. Having teachers like that I think tests the students on their teaching abilities to help the teacher or even tech them how to use technology. At the same time, it could also slow the students down when their teacher doesn't know how to set up a lecture or post assignments. I think in the coming future technology differences will continue, but not to the extent of what it is now. Technology is changing and improving but I think my generation and the generation after will be closer in knowledge of technology because when new technology comes out the majority of my generation will want to learn how to use it.

First Blog!

Hello! Welcome to my blog.

      I'm a freshman at Florida State University majoring in elementary education. I'm from Jacksonville, Florida and attended Creekside High School. I'm very athletic and enjoy playing basketball and volleyball. I just recently joined a sorority on campus and hope to get involved in more campus activities!
      I worked with basic technology in middle school. I took a class on Microsoft Office and learned the basics about Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. I never took a technology class in high school, but my school used Microsoft Windows. I used Word and PowerPoint throughout high school to complete multiple assignments.
      I'm very excited to start using blogger more and creating a blog. I have a few friends that write blogs and I love reading their posts. I'm also looking forward to learning these programs from a teaching perspective rather than a student. This will help me with in the future when I'm hopefully a teacher teaching students how to use these programs.