Course Reflection

Course Reflection

I can not believe that this course is already over! It seemed to fly by. I have learned several important skills and resources that I will be taking with me as I finish this class.

a. I feel that I learned the importance of being a connected educator. Before this class I was very uninterested and very against Twitter, but as I have completed the expectations for this course and have explored Twitter I have been really intrigued and interested in using Twitter as a resource for my growth as an educator. I have enjoyed reading posts and connecting to peers via this forum. The ISTE goals that I met through this course fit into the categories Designer, Facilitator and Collaborator. I think that this course has really provided me with the avenues to design high quality content for my students using technology. This new understanding will make it so I am better able to create differentiated instruction for all of my students. I think this idea ties into the idea that I have become a more effective Facilitator of technology for my students. Having high quality digital resources makes it so that I am able to facilitate their digital learning in a more productive way. Finally, I feel that this class has helped open the door for me to become a better Collaborator with not only people in my school, but in the educational community. I have established a PLN, which I had never had before. I have thoroughly enjoyed using Twitter and especially Twitter chats. I participated in the #5thchat and I had a great time and learned so many new resources and information that I would have never had access to in the past.

b. I think that the most important tool I learned about in this class was Screencasts. I can see myself creating and using screencasts for various reasons in my classroom. Creating them will be very useful for providing tutorials and information for both students and parents. I can see myself creating them to post on my classroom website. The other tool I can see myself using quite regularly is creating classroom videos. I want to create a series of videos based on our math standards to serve as an online homework help for students and parents. One of the biggest complaints we have in our grade level is that parents can not help their kids with math homework, so providing this resource would be incredibly useful. Another piece of learning I am very excited about is the idea of an in-class flipped classroom. I think that moving the Direct instruction piece of instruction to a center will make a very large difference in how I teach and am able to help students be successful. My class this year struggles with whole group instruction, to the point that I feel like I am talking to myself. I think that creating a library of skills will also make it so that students have the ability to revisit concepts that they need help with even if you are not around. Also the implication of not losing instruction in the event of a substitute is very appealing.

c. I plan to create and incorporate multimedia in various ways in my classroom in the future. I want to create a bank of screencasts and videos that I can post on my class website as a resource for parents and students alike. I feel that taking the time to create these videos will be very beneficial to my class and help a lot of my students. I would also like to incorporate more student created multimedia. I think teaching students how to use animoto would be a very interesting outlet for their creativity and also a great way to present new content. I also want to try flipping my classroom using the in class flip model. I think that this has been an aha moment for me and solves a problem I have been grappling with for most of the last two school years.

Curriculum Video

Hello! I had a lot of fun creating this video! I had a really hard time keeping the time down and had to cut out some of my original ideas. Its amazing how quick five minutes is! This video discusses how to add fractions with unlike denominators, an important concept for fifth grade students. In the video I discuss vocabulary and the process of finding the sum of two fractions with unlike denominators. I can see myself making more of these kinds of videos in the future to post on my class website for students to reference at home and use as a tool for homework help. I thought it was interesting working with different camera angles and reading about them. I think this is something I would like to explore more in the future.

Blogging as a Teacher

Hello!

The blog Free Technology for Teachers  is a very informative blog filled with so many amazing resources! The one that popped out to me was There's a Poem for That! We are learning about writing poetry for our writing fair and this post discusses the Ted Talk series "There's a Poem for That." I can't wait to use these ted Talks in my classroom.

I would love to create a blog like this! Its always amazing when a teacher shares all the resources that they have found and use in their classroom. I could see myself creating a blog for students that has information that they could use and reference over the content that we are teaching in class. I could see making a blog by standard that has resources for them to practice at home. I feel like a blog that was relevant to their learning would also help their parents. One of the most common questions I get asked is how they can help their child when they aren't sure how to do that math or reading concepts on their own. If you had a blog with resources for parents and students to use when doing homework or reviewing skills I think parent involvement would increase. Blogs are also such an easy way to present and organize information. I could see creating a class blog where students are actually they ones who create the posts about their learning for the week and post pictures and information about what they have done in the classroom and what they have learned and taken away from the day. I would really like to incorporate a class blog into my classroom in the future.

Screencast

Hello! This entry is going to discuss using screencasts in the classroom. I had never made a screen cast before this assignment and am excited about making more to use in my classroom in the future. Screencasts can be used in many different ways including tutorials for parents and students, presenting or reviewing material in the class and also student project creation. I have attached a tutorial on this blog for how to login and use Khan Academy at home. I can see myself using screencasts in the future to make tutorials for parents to reference so they can see how to use the programs we use in class. I could also see myself making some tutorials on how to work out different types of math problems in my classroom so parents can reference them when helping their children on homework. I could also see the benefit of creating a screencast to cover information that is presented in class so students who are absent, or need extra review can access them from home. Another way I could see using screen-casting in the classroom is to have students create screencasts on how to use various programs or create projects. This would show that a student has a deep understanding of the content because they are able to present about it, but would also make it so other students have the ability to learn from their peers.

Adobe Spark

I was incredibly impressed with the simplicity of Adobe Spark. I could see using this tool as an introduction project for my students. It is incredibly simple to use and produces high quality images. Students could make posters or review images using this resource. The only real issue I could see with using this resource is the need for student accounts. Creating these accounts would be really tricky if students do not have an e-mail. You would need to create a class account for students to access. I believe with the simple platform you could use this with elementary aged students through high school aged students and across content areas.The best use I could see for this app is to create posters or review material for students to access. For anyone wanting to try it in the future, it is as easy to use in the web browser as it is to use on the app. In fact, I think the app is a little simpler to use. 

Animoto

Animoto would be a powerful tool to use in the classroom. Students will be able to make amazing presentations using a platform that is simple and engaging to use. Animoto has a wide range of applications in the classroom, from teacher to student use. Teachers can use it to create engaging introductions to content that is going to be studies, or review videos that they can place on a website for students to reference. Students could make presentations to illustrate their understanding of content across subject levels. Another benefit of Animoto is the wide range of stock images and video that make it ideal for elementary students. They can simply look up content using key words and place it in their video with their typed content. I am definitely going to be incorporating this resource in my class for student projects, and also to enhance my own instructional delivery. I plan to use this Animoto video at the beginning of the school year for two main reasons: to give them a preview of the content we will be studying in class, and also to give them an example of one of our projects for the year.


 

Article Review

Article Review 

The article I am reviewing is called “infusing classrooms with web 2.0 technologies” by Richard Carlos Velasco. 

The article is looking to provide teachers with research-based proof describing the effectiveness of incorporating Web 2.0 technologies in the classroom. 

The article focused on two Web 2.0 technologies: Blogs and Wikis. 

Both blogs and wikis promote student collaboration, cooperation and expressive and technical writing. 

Research has shown that blogging in the classroom actually led to higher academic performance in writing and science. 

They also both provide students with immediate feedback from peers and teachers. Both also have the added bonus of enhancing text-based communication, especially grammar and technical writing. 

The use of Blog and Wikis also leads to increased student engagement and also makes it easier for typically shy students to participate. 

This article highlights many important reasons for teachers to embrace the use of both Blogs and Wikis. In my own classroom, I could see incorporating both of these elements in various ways across all content areas. Students could use blogs as routine writing or classroom discussion on texts that have been read in class. I could also see students using a blog or wiki to respond and collaborate on math challenges.  

I agree with the research provided throughout this article and can see the relevance of its application in my own classroom. I think that the use of blogs and wikis will help students prepare for modern day challenges. 

In summary this article discusses the many benefits of blogs and wikis on student learning. 

More information on the benefits and various uses of blogs in the classroom can be found in the following articles: 

            

Why Blogging is so Valuable in the Elementary Classroom 

            

5 Reasons to use Blogging in the Classroom 

                        

Velasco, R. C. (2018). Infusing Classrooms with Web 2.0 technologies. Technology and Engineering Teacher,36-39. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from http://content.ebscohost.com/ContentServer.asp?T=P&P=AN&K=128057740&S=R&D=ehh&EbscoContent=dGJyMNHX8kSep7Q4y9fwOLCmr1Gep7dSsaa4SbKWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMO7b8I3x6rmF39/sU Pa8QAA