Blog #10 

PowerPoint Interaction Assignment

My Bitmoji, I named "Teacher Lisa", represents me reacting to chaos happening all around me and me maintaining a cool head. As long as I have my sweet tea, I'm good. However, my cool head was tested during this assignment. 

The assignment was a little challenging. I have utilized PowerPoint for many years. However, making it come alive and interactive in the form of a game was new for me. Learning how to use the navigation buttons and the linear navigation buttons made the whole presentation so much more fun than just the same old slide presentation. What was tricky was the order in which to use the proper buttons. I wanted the Jeopardy game to look just like it does on television. I made up the questions very easily. My husband and I tune in every weeknight to test our knowledge. He usually wins in categories that I have no idea how he knows such information. 

Classmate Blogs

Reviewing my classmates' blogs, I saw several themes. Most of the students are very familiar with most of the technologies that are used in the classroom today. PowerPoint seems to be the one that most students enjoy using the most. Several students really poured their hearts out in their blogs about their journeys up towards college. The blogs seem to be therapeutic for some students who are managing their new realities away from home. They seem to have very positive attitudes and seem to be enjoying and learning lots of new skills in EME 2040. 

What I'd like to learn next

I would like to learn more about ways that Oculus can be utilized in the classroom. I enjoyed the demonstration that our class had last week in the tech sandbox. It is an amazing invention and appears to have endless potential for many different applications. I can see the future classrooms in which the entire lesson is taught with all the students and teacher(s) wearing this headset. It would be amazing to study the Civil War and be inside the war live and on the battleground for the North or the South in real-time. Just a short time ago, all we had were books to read from and our imaginations to envision the history. Today, we can be a part of the history with this type of technology. I hope I have this at my fingertips at my new teaching school.

 Blog # 9

My Experiences in EME 2040
I enjoy being in the classroom. I enjoy the interaction with my fellow classmates. I take advantage of the opportunity to hear from their recent experiences from high school and college. It has been a challenge learning the new technology. I have embraced it and it is still a work in progress for me. In order to be a lifelong learner, it is essential that teachers stay up to date. To improve the classroom experience, I will have an orderly, clean, decorated classroom to show off my teaching style and personality. 

Open Educational Resources (OER)

As technology is rapidly changing, traditional textbooks can sometimes become outdated before they are even printed. The cost associated with textbooks has skyrocketed. The solution to this problem is a new concept called Open Educational Resources. This is a win-win for everyone as costs are eliminated, everyone has access if they have a computer at a minimum and teachers do not have to spend time on developing new lessons. They simply look for ideas and can retain, redistribute, reuse, revise and remix. They can spend more time on teaching instead of creating the lesson. 'Open' meaning the intellectual property rights of the creator. Resources that are open to anyone to use for teaching or research purposes. The owners grant permission to use them free of charge. We utilize www.oercommons.org or https://commons.m.wikimedia.org. 

On-Line Article

Top 5 Trends in Education 

 1. Artificial Intelligence will reshape world including our educational system. Virtual Assistants can  provide personalized learning along with tutoring for students and help them manage their time. 

2. Remote on-line, hybrid learning can help remote and isolated students obtain educational instruction. It is estimated that 270 million children could benefit from this type of learning. 

3. Employers are not looking for just college graduates anymore. They are looking for vocational and technical trained individuals. These trainings provide a more diverse skill set that employers are looking for. Subject-base training may be the new drivers of economic growth that is currently in need.

4. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are the new ways to step back in time or see close and inside the heart functions. It is an actual experience in which the user is immersed in the subject matter. It involves superimposing computer-generated images onto what the user is actually seeing. The advantage is that it provides real-time information to the user. For example, if the user is conducting a scientific experiment, it can alert the user to when they approach a critical point in the experiment that could cause bodily harm. Essentially, it provides the alarm before an accident occurs. 

5. Soft Skills are communication skills, teamworking skills, relationship management and conflict resolution. These are highly sought after skills that employers are wanting from their recruits. They are harder to assess than technical skills. These are human skills that cannot be replicated with by a machine.                                                                         

https://rb.gy/k1sg

www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2023/02/17/the-top-5-education-trends-in-2023/?sh=709a1784d399

Analysis of Assignment #4 PowerPoint for Information Dissemination

 

I had no difficulty in creating the PowerPoint presentation. However, I learned that it is difficult to start talking and adding your own words. It is sometimes intimidating. Hearing your own voice you may feel that you sound silly or ridiculous. You have to practice your speaking and I did this with the use of index cards for each slide. Once I got the hang of it after practicing a few times, it was rather fun. 

I tend to spend too much time on the aesthetics and how the presentation looks. The looks are important but not as important as the content. That is what we are here for. We are to teach not to just look pretty. I love to be creative, but it can take over my time and I end up with lots of fun graphics and not enough content. I need to start with the content and then incorporate the fun creative layout second. 

I have a history teacher that I mimicked her tone and pace that I thought was a great idea. It worked out great and I did not have the anxiety that I thought I would end up with. I actually enjoyed watching it after I was finished. 

Blog #8 

Website Construction

I will be honest, I had a difficult time with designing a website and thus, the assignment was submitted late. I did my best to utilize the CRAP principles. Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity. I made sure that my background and my writing had contrast on the home page. I made sure that I utilized the same size font on each page. I made sure that the page was overdone and flowed easily from one page to the next. I made sure that pictures that were inserted were the same size as the others. 

My problem is that I need to study the terminology more so that I can fully comprehend what I am doing. If I do not know what a 'header' is, then it's difficult to complete the assignment. This requires more time and effort on my part. I enjoyed the creative aspect of the assignment. It was a lot of fun choosing colors, backgrounds, links, themes. I need to practice more and become more familiar with this and not shy away from it. The templates make it easier than if I had to do it from scratch. 

my website is: https://beausmama.weebly.com

Diigo

This is a great way to bookmark resources. I had no idea how I was going to keep all my electronic resources sorted and organized. It's a quick way to share important information. You eliminate having to make copies of articles, webpages etc. I enjoy it also because you can see who viewed the links. Sharing on-line resources is definitely a great way to learn, teach and share with others. It is very economical way of teaching. All the student needs are a computer which is becoming more and more accessible in our schools today. 

Technology and Teacher Development

It is critical that teachers whether they are fresh out of college or if they have been teaching for ten years, be on top of the ever-evolving technology. You simply cannot sit back and rest on your laurels. What you knew yesterday and years ago is already outdated. If you want to stay relevant and be the most effective teacher, learning never ends. Continuing education courses, teacher seminars, district-wide teacher training is vital. Our students deserve the most educated teachers in order to be successful citizens when they graduate from high school and college. 

One site I can utilize to stay informed and up-to-date on requirements is the Florida state regulatory body for educators:

Florida’s Coordinated System of Professional Development (fldoe.org)

The state's recognition of the importance of a systemic process for enabling professional learning is evident. To support this key component of quality school improvement, Florida has several linked elements:

• State standards for high-quality professional learning
• District professional learning systems
• District professional learning catalogs
• Professional learning review protocol materials and site visits for evaluation of district professional learning systems

I will become more familiar with their website and links to professional learning systems and professional development. 

Blog # 7

 

School Website

I chose to review Amos P. Godby High School located right here in Tallahassee, Florida since I am a 1984 alumni. There was no school webpage when I attended high school as this technology was about 10 years away. The manner in which teachers connected with students and parents was either by U.S. mail or papers were sent home via the student.  

Godby is the home of the Cougars and is located at 1717 West Tharpe Street. It was established in 1966. The website has a lot going on and is very busy. It has rotating pictures near the top, drop down menus that seem logical however, you have to look at a lot of different pages to get to some basic information. It needs a better design as it does not flow very easily for the viewer. I had a difficult time navigating to search teacher names. The alignment was off on a few teacher listing pages. Godby High / Homepage (leonschools.net) 

My Vision For Using Technology

I envision utilizing the teaching technology that is already available through the school at least in the beginning. I have to admit, I'm a little apprehensive about using their technology at least for the first year of teaching. I do have a comfort level with several tools such as Diigo, Twitter, and Blogging. I have used CANVA during several of my projects while at F.S.U. I have this nightmare that I will try to use something that I am not really comfortable with and I fail miserably at it. I am a "paper person" and enjoy making lists and making things look really cute and aesthetically pleasing. I have to take that aspect of my creativity and put my trust in a digital technology tool that is also functional. The most important aspect is the efficiency and ease of the technology once the comfort level evens out.

Twitter Days of the Week Challenge

I had a lot of fun with this challenge. I did two challenges. I participated in the Meme Monday and attached a clip of the 1982 classic high school memory of Fast Times at Ridgemont High of the character, Spiccoli (actor Sean Penn) having a pizza delivered to him during his history class. Mr. Hand, his teacher was not amused. This is a very irreverent yet accurate depiction of what high school was like during my era. 

I did the Throwback Thursday challenge and showed a picture of a boombox and mentioned that this was what EarPods looked like when I was in high school. The boxes were enormous, and you could barely lift them on your shoulders. Comparing this to today's EarPods, you have the same result with less to carry around. 

This challenge allows you to have some fun and gets you eager to see what the next day's challenge is. The challenge could be a fun challenge or a competitive challenge for the students. You could have a question from the day's class and see how many students get the correct answer and give them a prize the next day. I would definitely do these types of challenges on my teacher Twitter page. 

 Blog #6

Diigo

I enjoyed learning about Diigo. It was a little intimidating at first however, as I began to use it more and more, it became a lot easier. I like the ability to share digital links with my class in one easy to manage location. This is a game changer for me as I am about to embark on my new teaching journey. The old way of doing this very thing was to print, make massive copies and hand out the article in class for the students to read. The massive amount of paper that would be used would eventually be discarded and left in the garbage. Less paper and more efficiency is a win for everyone and the environment. The only thing that stumped me was I was not able to utilize the annotation feature. 

Blogging Experiences

I enjoy journaling on paper and making a scrapbook of the theme. This is essentially the same thing; however, it is sharing my thoughts digitally. One issue I know I need to be cognizant of is the issue of "oversharing". I start to write, and I wear my heart on my sleeve. I need to have a succinct purpose, keep it to the point and hit "publish". I can easily get off topic or ramble. This is a self-control issue. I guess this is tied to my age. 

Web 2.0 Tool

I have discovered a great resource that I think will align well with my future teaching methods. I have discovered Bamboozle.com. This is a game application that has a lot of versatility. It has over 19,000 reviews, been on-line since 2015, and has over 1 million games to select from.  This site allows for fierce competition between students to reinforce concepts learned in class. It is endorsed by several prominent education related entities: DC.gov, Chicago Public Schools, New York City Department of Education. The most interesting feature is that it does not require every student to have a device. 

https://www.baamboozle.com/

 Blog Journal #5

Twitter 

I am very new to using Twitter.  My cat has his own Twitter page therefore, I am hiding behind his page. I have had a lot of fun posting on my cat Beau's behalf. It is really funny how much people love their pets and the time that they commit to their Twitter pages.  

I hadn't really thought about using it for my own personal use. However, I have navigated around Twitter pages and am following several celebrities and teachers. I am becoming more comfortable with Twitter. I had previously thought it wasn't for my age group. I was wrong. There are a lot of ways people can use this platform. You can share recipes, travel postings, FSU sports mania and so much more.  I am going to use it for more than one purpose and will be setting up a few more accounts. 

Digital Divide 

It is crucial that all of our students in and outside of the classroom have access to technology in today's world. If the students of today do not have the resources they need to compete in our ever-changing technological world, they will be left behind and will struggle as adults. They will not be able to compete for jobs if they do not have the technological background to navigate and keep up with their tech savvy counterparts.  Students have no control over the financial resources, or lack thereof, that their families have. It is not logical to ask a 15 year to get a job in order to help the family with meeting their financial obligations. Young people have one job, to get the best education that they can. Our schools, districts and the states need to allocate the resources so that every child begins on the same footing as the other. 

Software 

Twitter.com is a free social networking site where it's users broadcast short posts known as "tweets". I like the fact that there are more ways to utilize Twitter than just for fun and games. I believe that teachers can use this to teach their students about digital citizenship, freedom of expression and the art of respect. Each student could have their own Twitter account and the teacher could grade the activities that the student engages in. This is a way that I could monitor their "fun account" and still give them a grade on their engagement activities. 

I am also looking at Flip.com as an additional tool to utilize with my students. This tool is a social learning app that uses short-form videos to make learning a little more fun. It allows students to share their opinions and be creative while connecting with their classmates. For my high school students, we can use daily video journals, daily learning reflections, peer reviews, persuasive debating, project presentations as a primary use. This would be my "teacher page" and would be used solely for our classroom course work. 

 

Blog Journal 4 

ELA Technology Standards

I select SS.912. S.7.2, Subject Area: Social Studies, Strand: Sociology, Grades: 9-12

This standard is social problems and how we can analyze a range of the problems in our society today.

One reason I believe I can teach this standard is as a result of having recently taken a Sociology class at F.S.U. which covered a multitude of social topics. This standard will allow the students to analyze their world and take an honest look around them to identify issues that concern them. Issues such as race discrimination, crime and poverty have been in the news media a lot lately. Since I am from Generation “X”, I have lived during times in which issues such as LGBTQ were literally left in the closet. Today, our society has embraced a new attitude towards those that are different. I believe I could teach this standard and incorporate the effects of the different time periods into the lesson with honest and open conversations and dialogs as a jumping on point.

 Educator Toolkit

I would have a lesson on Civil Rights Movement for my 12-grade high school class. We would discuss “The Tallahassee Ten.”

In June 1961 Interfaith Freedom Riders challenged segregated interstate buses by traveling from Washington, D.C. to Tallahassee, Florida. After successfully completing the Freedom Ride they had planned to fly home but first decided to test whether or not the group would be served in the segregated airport restaurant. As a result, 10 Freedom Riders, later known as the Tallahassee Ten, were arrested for unlawful assembly. They were released on bond following their conviction and sentence later that same month which was followed by about 3 years of legal appeals. The 10 original riders later returned to Tallahassee to serve brief jail terms in August 1964 and were released after serving 4 days of their 60-day sentences.

I would utilize YouTube videos, from the internet, and ask the students how they feel when they view videos of civil rights demonstrations from the 1960’s. Next, I would show them videos of civil rights demonstrations for George Floyd, Brianna Taylor which are more recent. I would ask the students if they felt any different when they viewed the videos from the 1960’s compared to the recent ones and if they felt different, why?  Next, I would show black and white photographs which was all that was available at the time utilizing the LCD Projector of the June 1961 Interfaith Freedom Riders and ask them the same question. Did the videos make more of an impact on how you felt compared to just looking at photographs of a similar event?

The point of the differences in the technology used, I would ask the students if they felt more removed from a situation due to the stillness of the photographs. Did it mean less to them or were the videos more impactful.

This was a local, historical event over 62 years ago and it made the headlines.

                                                           Tallahassee Democrat June 1961

Internet Searching

As an educator, it is important to be able to utilize many different resources. It’s just as important to be able to teach students how to properly utilize those resources as well. You must be careful where you obtain your information from. As a teacher we can teach students to look up information however, we need to be mindful of the validity of the information. Learning to recognize what is truth, fiction and nonsense is a skill that is learned after learning the do’s and don’ts of internet searching.

I did not realize that you can do advance searches and reverse searches to aid you in your research. Searching by an actual image is a great resource and I will try this out. This is a helpful tool because on occasion, you will find a picture but don’t know anything about it. Utilizing the search image tool, we can find information on it’s origin.