Blog Journal #10

I think that I will use the Excel tools with grading, especially if my school doesn't have some sort of automated system. As for data collection surveys, I've previously mentioned using surveys at the beginning of the year to find out about technology availability for students. To be specific about my subject matter is a bit harder, I can't really think of anything history specific reasoning for needing to use Excel tools, there's very little if any at all math or numbers in history (besides dates). So besides generic teaching functions, I can't quite name a subject specific task.

I think what was most interesting from my classmates' blogs is the different resources we've mentioned and used. For example, Nick's Google Classroom for ILP#1 was my very first interaction with that platform, and the layout seemed so user- friendly that I decided to make a Google Classroom for my ILP#2. I think it's interesting how we've all used such different platforms and websites that are similar to each other, especially when so many of us went to schools within the same state. I think it's really cool to see the variety that we've learned before coming here. 

A technology related skill I would really like to learn is how to use 3D pens and printers. I think they're so so so cool, and I had a great time messing around with them in the Tech Sandbox. I think there's also a lot of great potential for history lessons with 3D printers, we could make amazing models of historical places like the Globe theatre, or show what early inventions looked like in a life size model. I hope that University of South Florida has an environment like the FSU Tech Sandbox so that I can continue my path of learning about these items.

ILP #2 Design! Google Classroom

https://voicethread.com/share/12397211/

I created a google classroom for an AP American History course. I created multiple assignments, and added a course calendar!

Qualtrics Survey!

Here's my survey!


I love history, and want to know how you guys feel about it!

Blog Journal #9

The flipped classroom is sort of like learning on your own, and then having having class be more of a study hall/ practice time. It's when the teacher tasks the student with learning the material on their own, usually with the help of an online guided lesson, and then when they come into class they have more time for discussion and practice of the learned material. It gives room to allow more fluid development of some skills, but it doesn't work for every student type. Personally, I'm not a fan of flipped classrooms, but it depends on the subject. For stem related courses, I was never comfortable with them because it's hard to develop a full understanding with a guiding hand. However, for history classes I think it's a bit different. It's somewhat needed for students to do their own researching and learning for certain topics, especially if you're in a current events class, that way the discussions can be uninterrupted and have as many different voices as possible. 

Open educational resources are a teachers best friend. They're, usually, websites that have resources for teachers to use, free of charge and with the availability of editing and personalizing. They're a commons for coursework, and a lot of it is teachers helping teachers. HelpTeaching is an OER I found online, however I'm not 100% sure if it's totally an OER because there is a small fee.   * edit - HelpTeaching is actually free, both membership wise and material wise, I just misread it. It offers educators many, many different things, such as tests, lesson plans, activity sheets. This includes a "test maker" and a way to actually test your students online.

I loved doing the powerpoint assignments. Well, more specifically I loved the second one, I had a lot of trouble with the first. I never knew any of the stuff we learned for assignment 5, I think it was super cool. Being able to make powerpoints a bit more interactive is definitely something I plan on doing as a teacher. Many of my past teachers had made Jeopardy style games, like the one I did, and I'm glad I've learned just how much hard work goes into them. I originally wanted to make an "Oregon Trail" style game, but I felt like it wouldn't have been original enough. The main thing I disliked about these two projects was that I can't do them on my laptop, because it's a Chromebook. I had to spend hours borrowing the laptops from the library, and I felt like it wasn't completely reliable. 

Blog Journal #8

I've learned a lot using Diigo this semester. I went from having never heard of it, to using it with some ease. I've learned about what social bookmarking is, how to keep different bookmarks together by type/ subject, and a way to remind myself why exactly I bookmarked a page. Diigo could be useful in the future in my classroom, especially as a way to keep me organized. I think Diigo would also be helpful in meetings, because it's like an online note reminder.

You could use powerpoint to support student learning in each level of Bloom's Taxonomy pretty easily.I don't quite understand this question, but I'll try my best to answer. For remember, you set up a list of vocabulary words on the first page, then sprinkle them in through out the lesson. For understand, you could have the definitions to the vocab words appear after they click on a certain thing, to see if they were right. For apply, a matching game could be set up, similar to the choose your own adventure game from class this morning. For analyze, a compare and contrast venn diagram could be set. I'm actually not sure how you could for evaluate, but for create you could assign the student to create their lesson powerpoint for the subject. 

A lot of teacher professional development is done using technology, especially in urban areas with a lot of wealthy families. EdTech is a magazine / website that focuses on technology and problems surrounding it and how it affects teachers and the education system. It's updated frequently, and is a trust worthy source of information for educators. 

Blog Journal #7

My experience with Twitter so far has been very banal. I see the appeal for some teachers, especially for those that want to have a more online presence within their classrooms but for myself personally I do not see myself using it professionally. I can never quite figure out what tone is appropriate, or if what I'm tweeting is even worth tweeting. Overall the social media website just gives me feelings of dread and anxiety. 

Working on the Web Design assignment was super fun! I never realized it was so easy to create a website, I can definitely see myself using Weebly in the future. There honestly wasn't much I disliked about the process, it felt really clear and direct with me. I'm afraid my website personally is a bit bland in terms of designs, but I hope to use the revision token to spice it up, this time around I had some personal issues that kept me from truly utilizing the resource. Link to my website here! 

Assistive and adaptive technologies are some of the best technological advances we've had. It's really cool that we have so many ways to be inclusive in our modern classrooms, I just wish that they were more cost-friendly. A lot of the newer, and nicer, examples we have are out of budget for the average school. An example of an assistive technology I've gotten to use is a VRS (video relay service) that I learned how to use in my high school ASL class. 

Blog Journal #6

None of my teachers at my previous schools had websites, and I had a lot of trouble finding ones that were pertinent to my planned career path as a history teacher. However I did find one, Mr.R's Classroom. His website includes overviews of the class, different sections of their lectures, class syllabi, and grading breakdown. I think his website is nicely set up, it doesn't make my eyes hurt to view. It is from Baldwin High School and is for 9th and 10th grade. 

I'll probably have my own classroom website, because I love being organized and the less paper we use the better! I can't say for certain what types or amounts of technology I'll be able to use in my classroom, because I would prefer to work in a rural area and those areas are usually less funded and have less access to the types of technologies that more affluent schools would. 

The VR devices in the Tech Sandbox were so cool! They were also the one technology I could clearly see myself using in my classroom if I were given the opportunity. It would be a really cool way to let students experience areas of major historical significance, like the Colosseum or Tower of London. I'm sure there are programs that someone has/ or will made that will also enable people to do walkthroughs of major historical events/ places that are no longer accessible, such as the Titanic.