Excel Survey- FSU Football

https://fsu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_4I5vLKjJwmE1tnT

ILP "Design"- Prezi

I made a Prezi presentation about the Civil War. Check it out!

10- & it's a wrap!

I think that Data Collection tools, such as surveys, are very important to take advantage of as a teacher. They can be used not only to get feedback from your students, but to get feedback from parents as well. Even though my current declared major is elementary education, I am also interested in teaching 8^th grade algebra. Before big tests I could give surveys in my class to see what topics they need the most review on. I could give a survey about what kind of problems seem confusing for them, such as word problems, multiple choice, and fill in the blank. Surveys can help the teacher pinpoint student’s strengths and weaknesses in order to help make class time more productive and give students the help that they need. For parents I could send out a survey about how effectively I am communicating with them, and how I could improve. These are just a few examples, and the list for how to use surveys as a teacher is limitless.

The blog posts that I most enjoyed reading were about the Independent Learning Projects. It was really neat getting to see the different technology that people used and sparked interest for me to experiment with some of the tools that they used. In fact, after reading everyone’s blog posts for ILP#1, I decided that for my second ILP I wanted to make a Prezi presentation. I was very impressed with the Prezi’s that my classmates came up with and saw the potential of using Prezi as a future teacher. I also found that I could write more meaningful comments on the ILP blog posts because we weren’t all posting about the same things. I also loved seeing screenshots of the assignments on people’s blogs, like the websites we created and newsletters. It was neat getting to see my peers work and how creative they all are.

There are so many awesome technology tools out there that it can seem overwhelming. There is never ending opportunity to learn new technology-related skills and I’m excited to keep learning. One specific technology-related skill I would like to learn next is how to make videos using applications such as windows movie maker. I could make videos to show to my class, or even teach them how to make videos themselves for group projects. I have zero experience making videos or recordings. For the PowerPoint assignment we had in this class, it was my first time recording my voice and using a microphone. So making a movie seems overwhelming to me since I have no background knowledge about it. I won’t let my lack of knowledge and experience discourage me though. I look forward to playing around with movie maker applications and researching it on my own until I become comfortable using this technology-related skill.

The main way that I plan on achieving my future educational technology-related goals is by maintaining a close relationship with my school librarian and also keeping myself up to date with the latest technology and ideas. My librarian will have much more time to research technology and will be a huge asset to me as a teacher. He or she can give me ideas, teach me about new technology, and help me get access to the technology for my students. I don’t want to become an old dog that can’t learn new tricks, so as a teacher it is my responsibility to keep up with new educational technology through personal research.

9- Flipping the classroom & more!

The flipped classroom is a term used to describe learning through educational vodcasts (video casts). The reason they chose the term flipped classroom is because it basically “flips” the way that students and teachers spend classroom time. Instead of coming to class and being taught the material through lectures and then assigning practice homework, teachers are assigning the vodcasts of the lectures for homework and then the next day they spend the class time doing practice problems. I can definitely see the benefit of the flipped classroom, but I think it’s important to maintain a balance because some kids simply don’t have the motivation to sit down and really pay attention to the vodcasts. I have found through my personal education experience that the best way to implement a balanced way of flipping the classroom is to have students read the portion of the textbook that will be covered the following day. That way you still teach it the next day but the lesson can be taught faster, allowing more time for practice. I found a webpage that discusses how to make a vodcast, ways to use vodcasts in the classroom, and provides a list of links to different educational videos. Check it out: web2foryou

An interesting web-based resource that I plan on using for professional development is Lynda.com. I first learned about Lynda when completing my ILP#1, and fell in love with the site. The website itself is so easy to navigate and right away I could find all of the online courses within my field of study, education. I chose to complete a course on classroom management and I found it very informative and interesting. I sat down for two hours to complete the course and I didn’t lose my attention once. Lynda also has a wide variety of topics and courses, and I feel that having the ability to keep up with the advancements in all parts of society in one place is priceless. I’m thankful that FSU provides students to access this website for free and I highly recommend everyone check it out: Lynda

I used a template for the PowerPoint Interaction assignment in order to save time, however I feel like I would have gotten a lot more out of it if I would have created it all myself without using a template. I still learned a lot about how games, like Jeopardy, are made. Throughout high school I have played numerous Jeopardy games for reviews and I always wondered how they were made, so it was neat getting to learn the mechanics behind it. Next time I feel like I could improve this assignment by creating my own game from a blank slate, without using a template. Everything that I learned in this lesson is very applicable to my future career because these interactive PowerPoint’s are a great tool to engage students and help them review material. I still have some formatting things that I need to finish but here is a screenshot of my PowerPoint Interaction:

8- gamification, digital divide, & PowerPoint

I believe that gamification holds the biggest promise for education. Gamification is a term used to describe added game elements to instructional content to make content interactive, and increase motivation in order to reach the goal of a deeper understanding of the content. Examples of gamification include manipulatives, video-style games, role-playing games, smart toys and many more. Today kids spend so much time playing games. If the children have access to any kind of technology, games are bombarding them 24/7 through apps on smart phones, computer games, Xbox, and PlayStation games. When I think about how much time a child spends playing games in just one day, it seems like a whole lot of wasted time. If kids replaced the time they spent playing angry birds on their phone with time studying for school, they would be much more productive. But what kid is going to put their phone down to read a textbook? Kids play video games instead of studying because video games are FUN, and studying is not. Gamification is a way to make studying and learning just as fun as all of the video games that kids have access to. Technology isn’t going away any time soon, so I believe it is vital for teachers to incorporate technology such as gamification in order to keep kids interested in their education.

The term digital divide can be defined as the gap between the people who do have access to technology and the people who do not. This is a problem that can be easily overlooked for people who have always been fortunate enough to have access to technology, but the digital divide does greatly affect the US and is not just a problem found in developing countries. Typically people use the phrase digital divide in reference to the educational and societal impact that unequal access to technology has. These impacts include knowledge and skills and show that the digital divide is a problem that goes much deeper than just access to technology. One societal impact that the digital divide has is that the kids who do have access to technology will be more prepared once entering the workforce, and will have more confidence when it comes time to work with technology in their careers.

How does the digital divide impact education? Students that have access to technology at home are believed to be at an advantage and are more likely to succeed throughout their education. In a bigger scale, schools that have more access to technology will be more effective than the schools that do not. The digital divide is important for teachers to be aware of because it isn’t fair for some students to have an advantage over others based on their access of technology. Teachers obviously can’t go around buying computers and iPads for every student to make things fair, so what can teachers do about this issue? The main thing that teachers need to do is be aware of the digital divide and show sensitivity towards the subject.  If you know that some of your students do not have access to technology at home, then don’t assign homework that requires technology or could favor the students that do have access. It is also important to strive to facilitate technology based learning during school hours to teach technology skills to the students who do not have the ability to practice or use technology at home on their own.

Personally, I have been lucky enough to grow up on the side of the divide with access to technology. The schools that I have attended have all had access to technology, and starting in middle school, I took numerous technology classes. At home I had access to a computer, laptop, cell phones, Ipod’s, Ipad’s, printer, scanner/copy machine, PlayStation, and even a Nintendo DS (yes I know I’m old). I feel fortunate to have grown up with access to technology and once I become a teacher I will need to be sensitive to the issue of the digital divide. I hope that I will get the opportunity to teach at a school that caters to middle class or wealthier community, and then the digital divide will affect my future classroom less, if even at all. However there is no telling what kind of school I will be teaching at and what socioeconomic class my students will be coming from. If the digital divide is evident in my classroom I will handle it with sensitivity and using some of the things that I mentioned earlier in this post.

Even though I have lots of past experience using PowerPoint, I still acquired some new skills from working on the PowerPoint for Information Dissemination assignment. I have never had to use a microphone, or record my voice for an automated PowerPoint presentation. Every presentation that I have made in the past, I had to present myself, so there was no need to create an automated recording. The thing that I didn’t particularly like about the assignment is that creating an automated recording leaves no room for class participation. Any effective lesson plan incorporates class participation so I feel that having an automated voice recording is not the most effective tool to use in classroom lesson plans. I wouldn’t be effectively teaching my students if I just got up and showed a looped PowerPoint presentation, especially since I am interested in teaching first, second, or third grade and a majority of younger children just can’t learn that way. Despite my concerns, it is always good to practice using PowerPoint and all of the tools it has to offer because I know it will be used many, many times in my future career as a teacher. Even though I don’t like the use of voice recorded presentations when teaching a lesson plan to a class, it will be a useful tool when giving presentations to other teachers if the opportunity presents itself.

7- "swans a swimming"

The categories for Bloom’s Taxonomy include remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. PowerPoint can be a useful tool to use because it can support learning at each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. For the category of remembering a useful tool on PowerPoint would be making a story map, or concept map to recall and restate information. In order for students to meet the understanding level, students should be able to interpret what they have learned. I would show a slide on PowerPoint restating the events of a story and ask them to get in groups and discuss what the main ideas are. To apply the information students need to use the information in a new situation. I could have the students go on computers individually and make a storybook of an alternative ending of the story on PowerPoint. To analyze the students can compare and contrast the characters in the story by creating a Venn diagram on PowerPoint. To evaluate the story students can use PowerPoint to make a “rule book” of rules that the characters should have followed in the story. This gives them the chance to evaluate and judge the characters actions. The last level is creating which involves students creating new and original work. Students can use PowerPoint to plan a TV show based off of the story. I have just listed a handful examples about how PowerPoint can be used to meet each learning level stated in Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Adaptive technologies are used to support learners. Adaptive technologies help people with disabilities more effectively used technology equipment. In most cases using computers and technology is more difficult for people with disabilities, so accommodations need to be made. If a student cannot use a computer due to their disabilities, then they can use alternative input and output devices to assist them. Just one example of an input tool is using voice recognition software instead of typing on a keyboard. An example of an output tool is a magnified screen monitor so that the student can read the information on the computer more easily. There is a wide range of productivity tools that can be used to help students with disabilities. After matching a good tool to fit a particular student’s needs, it’s your job as the teacher to gain access of that tool. I haven’t known anyone who has used adaptive technologies so I learned a lot from the podcast and textbook. I think that my biggest challenge that I will have using adaptive technologies in my classroom, is my lack of knowledge. I need to keep learning about the different adaptive technologies out there in order to be able to accommodate my students with disabilities.

The Web Page Design assignment is my favorite assignment yet! I loved getting the chance to be creative and make my class page exactly how I wanted it to be. Weebly was so easy to navigate and some of the tools were just too cool not to include on my website. I found myself just running with this assignment. I wasn’t satisfied with just meeting the general assignment requirements, and added even more links, and tools like a survey. Because of the skills that I learned through completing this assignment, I feel prepared to make a class website when I become a teacher. Once I am actually a teacher I can improve my website by adding more pages and expand the amount of events on the calendar. 

Visit my website!

ILP "Participation"- Classroom Management Fundamentals course on Lynda.com

I thoroughly enjoyed the course that I completed on Lynda. Before this assignment, I had never heard of Lynda and had no previous experience with it. After completing this course I am a huge fan of Lynda and I plan on taking advantage of this amazing resource. I chose to complete this particular course because ever since my observations in the classroom setting last semester, I have been particularly interested in classroom management. One teacher that I observed had such good control of the students and it made me wonder how she developed her classroom management.

Here are the notes I took during the course (you might want to skim through them because I typed a total of 4 pages of notes):

Introduction:

•   a well-managed classroom is a high-preforming classroom
•  not silent and obedient but focused on interaction and high-functioning

1. Traits of effective classroom managers:

·       Using a strong teacher voice (confident, strong, projected, steady)

o   have a consistent tone is most difficult thing (not including emotions such as frustration)

·       Being consistently proactive

o   having same practices and expectations day to day

o   something will disrupt the flow of your lesson (plan for that)

o   a proactive teacher is a consistent teacher

o   thought through everything and how to deal with problems

·       being grounded in what we can/can’t control

o   every students situation is unique (different home lives)

o   assume that these disruptions will happen and plan ahead: put student achievement first

o   have a repertoire of management ideasà practice them with your studentsà implement them when unforeseen events occur

·       having a well-prepared lesson plan

o   goal is to create management plans that allow for learning that’s exploratory, project-based, and student-directed

o   take note about student behavior and management strategies (which group to stand by…)

Being a leader:

·       how you present yourself to your students

·       how you speak to your students

2. Setting Students up for success

Procedures and routines

• 20 minutes of off-task behavior each day= 60 hours of lost instruction per year (2 full weeks of school)
• creating procedures and routines will help make sure time is not wasted
• match the needs of your students with your classroom routines and procedures (think about what takes time away from instruction during class)
• share best practices and learn from teachers around you ( a lot of time establishing procedures is easier when they are unified throughout the school)
• practice procedure with class, enforce every day

Reduce distractions

• create simple indicators that students can use instead of raising hand… (don’t want to waste class time by calling on someone to answer a question only for them to ask to get water) (pencil in air to sharpen and a nod from teacher or if student movement is too distracting, place a sharpener on their desk)

Create clearly defined class rules

• keep it simple (no more than 10 class rules, cover communication, work time, and procedures)
• make the rules visible (refer to them when students misbehave to create accountability in the classroom)
• involve students in creating classroom rules
• communicate that they are there to help them be successful

Time everything

• motivates students to get the work completed (vs saying you have til the end of class)
• time everything, keep students and yourself on track

3. Managing your classroom

Give clear instructions

• ensure that students heard you
• clearly state what actions to do and how to do them
• explain why students should be following instructions
• “3 m’s” motion, mouth, and motivation
• reduce misbehavior during movement
• use an attention-getting signal to let students know instructions are about to be given (younger classes clapping or movement is effective) (older students use counting method)
• practice the attention getting signal with students

Check for understanding, not just for content

• nick what’s the first thing we are going to do, sally what’s the second instruction……
• ask them to repeat critical steps in instructions

Behavior narration

• allows students to hear instructions, take cues from classmates, and help keep a positive class tone even if a student needs to be corrected (gives students the chance to self-correct their actions)
• narrate the positive behaviors that correspond to directions given
• steps: give clear instructionsà redirect students that are still not following instructions
• once an off-task student redirects behavior, narrate the positive behavior (keeps them from getting frustrated and shutting down)
• keep narrations about observation, not positive or negative attribution (following directions is the norm and not something to be rewarded)

Proxemic control

• position in classroom has a huge impact on management
• move yourself closer to the disruption

Intervening and redirecting

• best done in a positive and future driven way
• simply saying you aren’t following directions doesn’t give the student insight as to what they need to do to fix the problem
• give them the benefit of the doubt to keep a positive class environment
•  “waiting for three students, waiting for two…” this creates peer accountability AND prevents having to single out one student

Rule of three

• make sure you have three positive narrations or affirmations for each redirection that you give

Scaffolded consequences

• help them understand that making mistakes is ok but that we need to learn from our mistakes
• create tiered (scaffolded) consequences
• warning (opportunity for self-correction)àconversation with youà reflection letter, detention, reach out to guardians (removing student from class is very last resort)

Escalated problems

• stay calm
• never engage a student in an argument (you’re the adult and in control)
• lower your voiceà emphasize lost learning timeà redirect students focus on current learning

4. Building a positive classroom culture

Why is classroom culture important?

• classroom culture starts with the teacher
• classroom culture will guide expectations

Management starts day one and minute one

• set the tone for your classroom on day one
• establish a culture of success and leadership every single day
• whole idea of teachers being more strict at beginning then get more relaxed
• be consistent even when you have a sub

Make student learning the center of all

• classroom rules are there to benefit them, important that the students understand that
• goal directed language

Accountability means consistency

• set the barà what are the goals our students are working toward?
• map their pathà how are students going to achieve our goals?
• be consistent by reinforcing expectations
• for students below expectations ask three objective questions:

o   ask the student what they are doing

o   ask the student to restate the expectation

o   ask the student what the consequence is for being below expectations