So Far...SO GOOD!

I have to admit, I was actually pretty nervous about having to take this class!  For the most part, I do really well with technology because I have basically been using it my entire life, but I have to admit some of the assignments scared me.  I was extremely nervous about having to make a blog, a website, and a digital story because I never had to do anything like that before.  After Prof. Langran made it so easy, I was wondering why I had never done any of those things before.  I actually really like my blog a lot because, I can just come on whenever I want and just get my feelings and thoughts out in a very informal way.  It basically is just like a diary but, for the world to see.. so you would obviously only put things on there that you want people to look at and browse through.  Also, when I found out I had to make a website it scared me because the word website to me, comes across as very complicated.  I did not realize that I can just go through the google template and hit "create site" to set up my uncomplicated website.  I was extremely impressed with how easy something I thought was so complicated was to do.  My website will definitely help me in the future because, I will use it as my "technological resume" so to speak, and can show my future employers how technologically inclined I can be.  Same with the blog, I can show my employers that I have a blog, I know how to publish posts and create one overall, and this will help me with my students as well.  Since I would like to be a Secondary Education English teacher, I will have my students obviously writing A LOT! I think having them each create their own blog and doing reflections and assignments in them every now and then will improve their writing skills.  In a wierd way, I also think that using the word "blog" with students, emphasizes less pressure on their writing because they won't see it as an essay that they have assigned and that they need to do.  They can freely go into their blog and talk about how their feeling that day, or how their classes are going or anything along those lines.  Using the different templates will also help me to identify and get to know their individual personalities, they will get to decorate their blog however they would like and let themselves shine through.  I also really enjoy doing the digital storyboard because that assignment scared me at first, too.  I was like, "Oh no a storyboard? There is no way I can manage this"...but I did!  I can also incorporate that into my teaching as well.  I have thought about doing book reports with my students and instead of having them write an essay all the time on their book, I can switch it up every so often and have them make a storyboard to better illustrate their readings.  Another advantage I have found in being able to make my digital storyboard is that my mom was actually pretty excited!  When I came home from class after learning how to make one, she wanted me to turn all our family vacation photos into storyboards and put music with them...she was pretty happy I knew how to do it.  I also plan on teaching her how to make them, that will be a fun activity for her to be able to show all her co-workers.  :)  I really like the fact that everything we do in class, is easily accessible for us to download a free trial and then we can also buy the program if we enjoy it.  My hopes for the remainder of the semester is to keep practicing how to do the things I have learned in class so that I don't forget them.  I know very well that once you do something, that does not by any means mean that you can do it in a month from now, because your brain has to keep itself familiar with it, especially if it is something brand new to you.  At this point I really do not have any suggestions, I like what we have been doing in class and I like that we receive feedback on the assignments that we do.  I am learning a lot in this class and I know I will continue to do so for the remainder of the semester!

A Digital What?

That's right.. a Digital Goonie!  After going through all the different blogs from the Educational Technology choices the digitalgoonies.com blog caught my attention.  First and foremost, the name itself is rather catchy, and therefore is what intrigued me to look into it in the first place.  The lastest blog post in this blog is titled, "Time for a Qwiki," which I think is cleverly named in reference to talking about Wikis.  The explanation of a Wiki Page given briefly in the blog post is basically a bunch of images and a narrative story brought together in a kind of slide show story telling way.  This one inparticular was all about the Dallas Cowboys football team and the words were narrated right to you!  I have worked with a WikiPage before in my UnderGrad, but I did not know that they can be read right to you!  One other blog post in particular that caught my attention was from January and it talked about copyright and digital imaging.  This was important because that is what we are learning about right now in glass.  Did you know that you cannot just take a specific image from the internet and use it for yourself to do projects and what not?  You can't!  You have to look into seeing if these images are copyrighted or not and then, if they are not, you are more than welcome to use it but you have to make sure first.  This blog explained to teachers that they need to let their students know which images are okay to be used and which are not, and by showing the students these tools to know the difference will help them to, "not get arrested" as the article's image displays.  I liked that it talked about teachers actually being able to be fined because they are basically "stealing" these pictures from the internet without realizing that these pictures, mostly, are copyrighted.  I cannot wait to look into this digitalgoonies.com blog in the future to see what else they have blogged about and what informative information they are putting out there.

Inquiry-Based Learning

After reading about Inquiry-Based Learning, I realized that the emphasis about this particular subject ties in very well with my concentration in English.  I am interning now at a Charter School and I am realizing that through observing other teachers, mainly English teachers, they are really using inquiry learning more so than traditional learning.  They really want their students to ask questions and figure out understanding and meaning, not just learn something and repeat it back to them verbatim.  Especially with a focus in English, I have come to see that when reading texts with the students, they come up with a variety of different meanings and interpretations and all feed off of what each other can interpret.  I have definitely used inquiry based learning when I substitute at the Charter School and do reading exercises with the students.  I like to read a passage with them and see what they think, and when they ask, "Ms. T what do you think," usually I tell them that I know what the text is about but I want to see what they can squeeze out of it.  I am a firm believer that depending on the individual, all texts can be interpreted a million different ways.  When you use prior knowledge and have a connection to certain texts it is even more different than if you did not know about it prior to reading it.  As far as how will it be intergrated in my own classroom, I want to create an enviorment for my students to not be scared, nervous, or embarrassed to ask a question or to put their opinion out there.  I was told all through school that it was not about the answer, it is how you got to the answer.  I can have th same answer as twenty of my classmates, but there is also twenty different ways of getting to it, and that is the important part.  I want to be able to have my students construct their own meanings and understandings of the information that is provided to them and put it to good use.  Memorizing something over and over and repeating it back is not going to give students a chance to learn, they need to come up with their own meanings and put the data to use and that way they can think about what they have learned and how it applies to them as an individual.

Diana's Education Page

Diana's Education Page

UDL Concept Map

My concept map outlines the "what, how, and why" of learning and explains what each of those individually mean.  The sun in the middle of my map is showing the UDL learning is geared towards all types of learning and capabilities.  The rainbows of the concept map show what individuals bring to the table and show that they are all given equal opportunites to learn. 

Students Excited to Learn!

The PhotoShopped image that I made is a little boy excited about seeing Egyptian Pyramids.  I wanted to use this image because, when I become a teacher I want my students excited about exploring and learning about new things.  I believe that this will be useful in the classroom because, it is not just a picture of a child with a book reading and trying to comprehend what is going on, but instead it is a child that is exploring the world and other cultures.  It is opening up new doors and actually bringing students and different cultures together and having them see that it is fun to explore.

CT Standard- English:Grades 9-12

After going through each of the websites, I came across the CT.org one and enjoyed it the most.  I was able to click on my exact content area of focus and grade level and could read all the standards expected of students presently.  Two standards really stuck out to me, one being Content Standard #4, which briefly states that, "students will use language arts to explore and respond to texts."  I like this one a lot simply because, it is important for the students of specific grade levels to know what their expectations are when it comes to discussing contemporary texts.  The other standard that caught my eye was Content Standard #3.  This one is about applying English language conventions and the simplicity of being able to communicate properly and effectively.  I believe that Content Standard #3 is simply starting to become under developed because, technology is moving along so quickly and the simple language skills are being forgotten.  I believe that in choosing Content Standard #3 I can chose activities that demonstrate the basic skills of using punctuation and capitalization correctly and effectively.  I could use activites simply as writing stories and possibly publishing a book by students that demonstrates the simple skills that they should already have inbedded in their minds.  I could come up with fun games that show "sentence starters" that have misspelled words and the children's minds can already pick up the non-sensical ways that a sentence or paragraphs do not make sense.  Some students may have trouble picking up on certain content standards because of their learning styles but, I think that doing activites that are just as interesting and creative for all students, such as making up a story in groups can be effective for all.