Blog #7

The first thing I noticed after viewing the Chiles High school website was that not many teachers have a class page. I went through several departments clicking on each website I saw listed next to the teacher. Most of them were outdated or did not contain much more information outside of a short introduction paragraph. Still, there were a few that I enjoyed. One had sections including a mission statement, introduction, what instructional model the class uses. The other one I liked was more of a resource site with study material and class notes. 

Chiles High School: https://www.leonschools.net/site/Default.aspx?PageID=36283

Class site 1: https://www.leonschools.net//site/Default.aspx?PageID=21646

Class site 2: http://carpenterc.weebly.com/

There are so many options for teachers to use technology to accomplish their professional responsibilities more efficiently and effectively. For example, Diigo would be great to share resources with other teachers. I would Canva to make more creative and personalized presentations. Lastly, technology offers great sources for keeping to-do lists and upcoming events or appointments in order. 

I used Weebly for my Web Design assignment. At first, it was difficult for me to figure out how to do the things I was aiming for. It got easier as I played around with it. I learned how to create a Google Calendar and embed it on the website. It is so much easier than it sounds! I would love to create a real class website for my future students. I like the idea of having everything in one place. Check out my website here.

Blog #6

     In my opinion, Diigo seems slightly outdated. I think it could use an update to make it more “modern” and visually appealing. I find it easy to use and read through postings. I can see how this would be a useful tool in my future teaching positions. It would give teachers one space to share things such as articles about new teaching techniques and highlight/comment on what we found important or interesting. 

     I enjoy these blogging assignments a lot more than I thought I would at the beginning of the semester. Honestly, I thought it would be just another assignment on my plate of things to do. However, I have realized I like having the opportunity to reflect on what I am learning in class and share my opinions. For one of my portfolio items, I actually annotated a website talking about the benefits of having students blog.

     One Web 2.0 tool that I might use when teaching is Quizlet. This is a website that allows you to make digital flashcards and practice material in several different ways, including games and practice tests. You can either make your own sets or find sets the other users have previously made. As a teacher, I would make study sets for my students and give them all access to study them! You can check out the website here.

Blog #5

       Unlike most people I talk to, I am not a huge fan of Twitter. I downloaded in high school once to follow an artist that was coming out with a new album and only posted his updates there. Now, I briefly scroll through my new account created for this class. I only see posts from the three education related accounts I follow and suggested/similar posts. I think some of the tweets are interesting to read more into or think about for my future class/students. 

      The digital divide can have a huge impact on student success in schools. In the past, the digital divide was simply the difference in access to digital devices and internet between the rich and poor. With higher availability today, there is a higher concern surrounding the skills and literacy with such devices. As a teacher, there is a possibility that I have students who do not have access to computers or internet at home and maybe using these things for the first time in my class. I have to be prepared to make sure those students are just as successful as the other students. This may mean providing alternative assignments/directions, spending additional time with that student, and teaching my class about different technologies. 

    I thought Assignment 2 was pretty easy. At first, it was all new to me so considerably confusing. After listening and watching the teacher’s instruction, it was a breeze. Everything was straightforward and easy to access/edit/upload. I did not think this was a project that was easy to split up into parts for each person as everything kind of went together. I could use Canvas with my future K-12 students to provide supplemental resources and reading related to our lessons or give updates. This would be a good place to upload monthly newsletters, too!

Blog #4

     I am going to discuss one of the standards found on the Florida Computer Science Standards for grades K-2. Standard 6 is called Human – Computer interactions and Artificial Intelligence. The benchmark for this standard is to identify different tasks that computers make easier to complete. Based on my current skill set, I feel that I am prepared to implement this standard. From my own experiences, I have seen what computers have made easier and I can help my students recognize this as well. I have also taken several courses that have given me more knowledge that I can relay to students. 

     Next, I will talk about resources provided on the CPALMS website for grade 2 English Language Arts. The standard I chose to look into is ELA.2.C.1.1, which is to demonstrate the student can write legibly in print. The only resource provided for this standard was a lesson plan about a patriotic holiday. The students would be required to use the internet or books to write an essay about the importance of the holiday they chose. I can use this resource in my own teaching by assigning this to my students. However, I would change the prompt to something more enticing and engaging for the students to complete, yet still meet multiple benchmarks. For example, I can assign them a short story with a logical flow of events, transitions, and an ending. This would show me met standards of 1.1 and 1.2.

     As a teacher, there are several reasons that make being a proficient Internet searcher important. One reason is that is can help teachers find information quickly. It can also help provide material for the teacher to use in lessons. Having these skills mastered can also help teachers teach their students how to become a proficient Internet searcher to find reliable sources quickly. One of the Internet searching skills that were introduced this week that I found interesting was that you can search phrases or quotes with missing words by using an asterisk. The skills I think I will use the most moving forward are searching for exact matches using quotation marks and combining searches using “OR.” 

Blog #3

     Copyright is an automatic protection of original work that requires others to legally purchase or get permission from the owner to use and/or distribute. A few examples of what is protected under copyright are movies, songs, and books. Fair use can only be determined by a judge and there are four factors that are considered: purpose, nature, amount, and effect on market value. For example, it might be fair use to download a graphic for a slideshow. As a teacher, I would make sure to use resources that provide non-copyrighted materials such as the Creative Commons website and give credit. To ensure my students create their own works, I will teach them about these concepts and point them to helpful resources to avoid problems.

     Technology implementation issues include academic dishonesty, cyberbullying, decreased productivity, lack of funding, and student privacy. Some of these issues may be harder to tackle than the others. To solve academic dishonesty, I would implement a rule in my classroom that each student can revise their work for a better grade. This takes the pressure away from trying to get it perfect the first time and hopefully steers them away from academic dishonesty. I would also use a plagiarism checker on assignments they turn in. If a large portion of their work is plagiarized, they cannot revise the assignment and do not receive credit. To help solve cyberbullying, I will promote positive positivity in my classroom and educate my students on how to work word filters, block bullies, and report any bullying or harassment. 

     I learned several new skills from working on the Newsletter Design assignment. I learned how to utilize the column function, create hyperlinks and email links, and how to create a banner. I could improve my newsletter by using better graphics and making it a little less “busy.” I feel I could also improve the general flow of my newsletter. I can use all of this new information in my future career to do exactly what this assignment required – creating newsletters for my class’s students and parents! I feel I have also learned skills that would help create engaging PowerPoints and assignments for the students to complete.

Newsletter: assignment1.pdf