Introduction I was extremely apprehensive about this class. I am not know for being a technologically skilled person. My parents say I can barely work a type writing. When I learned that the last class I needed to obtain my master's degree was on Information Technology, I became extremely worried. This being said, I believe that I have done rather well in ITD 645. Rather I still consider myself a layman in terms of technological know-how (my greatest weakness) I now know that I can figure out how to use new software and tools given time (my greatest strength). This end of course post will discuss each my strengths and weakness (by project), how I demonstrate and have met my ISTE standards, and how I plan to implement these technologies in the future, Strengths and Weakness I believe that lesson planning (Project 2) is my greatest strength by far. I enjoy crafting lessons and have been told that I excel within that area. Website design (Project 11) was also one of my strongest areas. I like fiddling with aesthetics and this led to fairly thorough websites. Educational Entertainment (Project 3, Project 6, Project 7) has always been a skill of mine. All of these projects were, in my opinion, well done and demonstrated this. I also believe myself to have a fair share of weaknesses. Edupuzzle (Project 8) took me a long time to get a handle on. My rubric (Project 10) was not completed to my satisfaction. ISTE Standard: Leader This course greatly increased my leadership capabilities. Too often I have let others take the lead with group projects. For this course, this was not the case. I often initiated each project within my group. This was especially true for Project 1 and Project 2. I tried to capitalize on everyone's skills and ensured we all had our say. ISTE Standard: Learner The amount of information I have learned in this course is staggering. I went from not being able to change the speed of an internet video to creating and editing my own videos. I learned not only how to use new technologies, but how to LEARN how to use new technologies. Thanks to this course, I feel confident that if given a new software or application that I can figure out how to use it. This class taught me how to learn and for that I am thankful. ISTE Standard Citizen I have often described teaching as the ultimate humanitarian act. It is about putting the hopes and dreams of others above the hopes and dreams of yourself. It is about crafting the next generation for the betterment of society. Anything that helps me become a better teacher helps me become a better citizen. This class has introduced me to new tools which can only help me in my educational quest. With these tools I can better educate my students and in term, better society as a whole. ISTE Standard Collaborator I could not have survived this summer without collaboration with the other members of Group 5. While I have worked with groups in other long term projects before, I hate to say the group cohesion we expressed was the best i have ever experienced. We all equally shared to load for each project, offered suggestions, accepted criticism, and strove to better each other. ISTE Standard Designer As i previously mentioned, I love designing and fiddling with aesthetics. This class gave me the opportunity to do this multiple times. Project 1 allowed me to design and ideal classroom. Project 3 and Project 7 allowed me to design educational entertainment mediums. Project 2 allowed for me to design a coherent flipped classroom lesson plan. I believe that I have met and exceed this standard. ISTE Standard Facilitator A teacher's main job is to facilitate the learning of their students. I believe our group met this standard. With every planned assessment, we asked ourselves how it allowed for student expression. Teachers are the conduits for their students. Everything we do needs to be with their best intentions in mind. I believe that our projects demonstrate that we have this mindset. ISTE Standard Analyst The discussion questions for each chapter forced me to heavily analyze the text. i not only had to understand what the text was saying, but how to apply it. I believe that my responses to these discussion questions demonstrates my successful mastery of this standard. Implementation and my Future Learning Goal I was already using Kahoot and Quiziz heavily in my class before this course. This being said, I know plan on introducing Edupuzzle to my future classes. Padlet and Thinglink are also resources I hope to implement in the upcoming school year. Podcasts and self made videos also have a lot of potential that I hope to tap into. My future learning goal is to begin creating my own technological resources. My own videos, quizzes, and podcasts that I can begin using in my classes.
2 Comments
Chapter 9 Question 3: Imagine that you are a high school social science teacher. You have assigned students a ten-page research paper. How do you set-up the assignment to make it clear that plagiarism will not be tolerated, and what tools would you use to check for plagiarism? What steps would you take if a student’s paper is found to have been copied in parts from the Internet?
This particular question is extremely easy for me as I am a high school science teacher. The first step with ensuring original work is communication of your expectations with your students. I tell them that I want the paper to be in their own words. I ensure that they know what plagiarism is and what it constitutes. I use Grammarly to detect plagiarism. It not only gives a "percentage plagiarized score" but also highlights grammatical errors. This greatly assists me with grading. If I determine that a student is plagiarizing text, I follow my school's guidelines. In HHS that means the student receives a referral for cheating and a zero in the grade book. Chapter 10 Question 3: Consider your level of educational technology literacy as you complete this course. How competent do you believe you are to teach in a technology-rich environment? What other opportunities would you search for to become even more proficient in using technology in the classroom? I certainly consider myself more technologically competent now than I was at the start of the course. The best thing that this course has done, is expose me to more resources. Things like puzzle and Padlet are already slatted to appear in my classroom in the upcoming school year. I feel confident in my ability to teach in a technologically advanced world. That does not mean that I should stop learning however. I need to keep striving to perfect my craft. I can do this by attending seminars and professional development sessions about new technology and their uses. Project 11 Reflection
Project 11 proved to be extremely stressful. It was difficult to create a full course site. I don't know if the difficulty came from the actual project or fatigue. This course has been surprisingly challenging but at last we are almost finished. Our course site turned out very well. I handled the comment and questions section along with the course materials section. We chose to use Weebly for our website as it was what we all had the most experience with. While it would have been beneficial for us to experiment with something outside of our comfort zones, time constrictions forced us to use this option. I can absolutely see the benefits of having a course site for your classes. It presents all related and necessary information in one place. Nearly every modern student has access to a computer. By having a course site, they now have access to your course materials. I plan on implementing a course site for the upcoming school year. Rather than have an individual website per block, I think I will create one website with a page for every class. I honestly enjoy making websites. This project has given me tips and tricks to make even better ones in the future. Project 9 & 10 Reflection
I found this week's projects of particular interest. I enjoy learning about new resources that I can directly interject into my classroom. I had never heard of Padlet before but after using it for project 9, I can easily see it's utility in a general education setting. Having a Padlet for students to access for test review or even just a general one for your class is a great resource to promote healthy study habits. I teach a state tested area. I am constantly looking for new and easy ways to get my students collaborating with study materials. Padlet is like an answer to my prayers. I can not believe that I had never heard of it before. With project 10, I found the rubric generator extremely helpful. It was shockingly easy to use and provided a very professional rubric upon completion. For the quiz section of this project, I used Quiziz. I have used this platform previously in my Biology I classes, and I cannot sing its praises enough. Not only does it allow for a fun quiz taking experience, but it also provides the instructor with assessment data upon completion. Both of these projects will be attached below. Reflection Questions
Q: Select the five distance-learning technologies that you would prefer to use if you were teaching a distance education or blended course. Reflect on your teaching style and your student's learning styles and how each of the selected technologies would be received, depending on the students’ learning styles. I would definitely take advantage of Schoology for distance learning. It allows for students to access course material, see updates, and complete assignments anywhere they have internet access. This can be difficult for some students to use. Instructors need to be sure that all students are familiar with this application before use. Zoom would be excellent for meetings. It has tools that can be used by visual, auditory, kinetic, and reading based learners. Google Drive provides free substitutes for Microsoft products. Additionally, they can be used jointly with reading software, dyslexia text software, and various font software to help students' complete assignments. Edpuzzle is a great way to deliver prerecorded lectures. It incorporates questions to ensure comprehension. The last technology I would use in this scenario is GroupMe. I would create a discussion board for students to communicate with one another and complete group-based assignments. Project 6,7,8 Reflection I can honestly say that i enjoyed these assignments. Many of my coworkers have used Edpuzzle within their classrooms and I was always curious to its function. I fully plan to incorporate its use in my class for the upcoming school year. I also really enjoyed the video editing process. I have dabbled with YouTube videos in the past and have struggle with the editing process. Using the windows editor was surprisingly easy. I can absolutely see how I can use this in my class. Having a series of self made videos can not only help my distance learners, but also supplemental my general education students. I really enjoyed this batch of projects. Chapter 7 Question 3: What would you do if you saw one of your students sharing personal information about themselves or posting detrimental comments about others on the Web? What is the limit of your responsibility under those circumstances?
My response to this situation would be two-fold. Firstly, most importantly, I would follow my school's stated procedure for this situation. I would notify the student's counselor and administration about the events that transpired so they might handle it accordingly. My secondary action would be to discuss the incident with the student themselves. They need to understand the dangers and wrongness of their actions so they would not do them again. It is my experience that if an educator provides rationale for their actions, students are mor likely to comply with them. This week has been another trying one. I have been working on finishing my comps for my program as well as working on my ITD assignments. Our group divided the projects among ourselves. I worked on project 2 which asked for a lesson plan to be used in a flipped classroom. I believe it came out fairly well. I have always been skeptical of using a flipped classroom model. Because of this I was a little unsure on how to approach this project but, in the end, it turned out very well.
We all worked on Project 3 independently. I recorded my podcast on the seven characteristics of life. This is the first topic all Biology I students are taught and is of extreme importance. I had some trouble with the sound quality, but I believe that I worked out the kinks and produced a good product. We as a group also revised project 1. I adjusted the demographics to fit the criteria as well as adjusted the lesson to promote more teamwork among the students. We were not very happy with a grade but agreed it was well earned. We are extremely grateful that we have the opportunity to revise it and better our future projects. I shall attach the new projects to this post as soon as they are made available to me. This week has been trying to say the least. Our group began working on Project 1, which required us to describe our own ideal 21st century classroom setting. I believe that as a group we worked fairly well. Our strategy was to divide and conquer. I handled the lesson plan portion of the assignment while Andrea handled the budget and items, and Carianne created the classroom map.
Working on the lesson plan was enjoyable. It revolved around students creating a 3D model of a cell using google sketch-up. It was surprisingly easy to create a lesson using the resources chosen for our classroom. We designed it primarily with a science class in mind as the majority of us had scientific backgrounds. Group collaboration went very well. We were all on board and more than happy to share the workload. All in all, I consider the project a success. It introduced many ideas that I wish to incorporate into the future. It also showed me the correct measures needed to successfully apply for a grant. What made it difficult was external matters not related to the assignment. On top of this and work for my other classes, I began taking my comprehensive examinations for graduation this week. It was a struggle to prepare for comps, do my normal classwork, and juggle the project but I believe that in the end it all turned out well. I am excited to see how we did and ready for some feedback. The project is attached below. Chapter 4 Question 3: Give two examples of technologies that were used when you were in middle school (it could even be as simple as the chalkboard). How have those technologies been transformed and what replaced them today? If you could choose only one of today’s technologies for your classroom, which one would it be? Why?
When I was in middle school, the majority of instruction was done via overhead projector. We did not have smart boards/promethean boards yet so we would learn with clear sheets place on the projector showing notes and problems. Of course, we still had whiteboards which was used for lecturing. I find it interesting that both of these technologies seem to have been replaced by smart boards. They show case notes and allow for writing and transcription. If I had to pick one technology from my classroom I could not survive without, it would be the student chrome books. I teach at a low-income school and many of my students don't even have paper or pencils to write with. Having student chrome books lets them participate and learn in class. Chapter 5 Question 1: Of all the types of teacher task software, which do you feel are the most essential for you to have to help you manage your classroom? Explain how each would benefit your teaching. The two most essential pieces of software I use in my classroom are Schoology and Kami. Schoology lets me post assignments, create tests and quizzes, give notes, and monitor progress. All of my course work is posted through schoology. This was extremely helpful during the pandemic as I would have some students physically present whil others were virtual. It helped me keep everyone on the same page. It also keeps me from having to give out make up work as students have all assignments available to them. Kami is an add on for Schoology. It allows the students to draw and write on PDFs. It keeps them from editing the original worksheet so they can't change questions. It also has a variety of tools they can use such as markers, highlighters, zoom functions, and much more. It lets y students engage with the work instead of just completing it. Chapter 6 Question 2: Learning content within the framework of a language that is not your native language can be challenging. Consider how you would respond to this challenge. What technologies would help you if you were facing learning new content in another language? I have actually taught several English Language Learners. We had translation software that helped them not only communicate but would translate their work into their native language so they could complete it. It was extremally helpful for giving notes and worksheets, but it still raised issues during lectures and direct instruction. Often, I would give them more detailed notes to make up for the lack of verbal instruction. It is definitely a challenge but modern technology certainly helps to ease the process. Chapter 1 Question 3:
Project ten years into the future. You have now been a classroom teacher for the past ten years. Technology has probably changed significantly between the time you completed your student teaching and now. Standards have expanded the integration of technology. What options have you considered – and perhaps taken – to stay current in technology to meet national and content area standards? This is a very fascinating situation to think about. Technology is marching ever onwards and between teaching, lesson plans, and grading, it can be hard for front line educators to keep up. Yet keep up we must for the sake of our students. Currently, there are a multitude of professional development opportunities geared towards helping teachers integrate technology into the classroom. Enrolling in such programs is the easiest way to stay up to date with the latest tech. Collaborating with peers and fellow educators about technology will help not only you stay up to date, but your coworkers as well. Inquiring with your workplace about online workshops, digital lessons, and interactive tutorials on how to use the latest technology will not only allow for you to learn what is out there, but also show your administration that year care about staying in the know. Chapter 2 Question 1 Identify a favorite teacher in elementary or secondary school. Describe three teaching or learning strategies that this teacher employed to meet your own learning needs that were significant in helping you learn. Why do you think they were effective for you? My favorite teacher in high school was my band director Wade Bouchard. He not only taught me how to live my life but also helped inspire me to enter the world of education. He did this in three distinct ways. The first, was in his willingness to admit he did not know something. Many teachers will act like they know the answer to everything and give a false answer rather than admit they don't know something. This was not the case for Mr. B. If he was confronted with something he did not know he would be right their alongside you, trying to figure out the answer. A second method of his was his outstanding classroom management. A band is very different than a general education environment, but Mr. Bouchard always treated it like one. He set clear rules and made sure we all knew them. Our procedures were set in stone and the same every day. He created a routine for us that helped us learn more easily and allowed for us to always know what was going on. A third trick of his was to always refer to a student as Mr.______ or Mrs. _______. This is something I have adapted into my own classroom. It made us feel big, feel like we were important to him. It made us feel almost like his equal, and that made us strive even harder to impress him with our work. Chapter 3 Question 2 Think back on a classroom environment in which you were not as successful as you might have wanted to be. What were the factors that you encountered from the teacher and/or other students that may have hindered your learning? How will you mitigate such factors in your own classroom? Algebra I was the most miserable I have ever been in my academic career. It was not because of the content, I am actually rather gifted with math, it was because of the environment. I was a very socially awkward teenager and heavily bullied. In this class, we all sat in groups and were required to work together for every assignment. When we finished, she would average our groups grades together and that is what we would receive. Not only did I have difficulty working in a group, I was also tasked with the bulk of the work as I was a gifted student. I now understand the importance of group work, yet I do not do such socialist grading in my classroom. I also allow any student who wishes to work alone a chance to do so and so far, this has worked well. |
AuthorCory Ethan Williamson B.S. Blogrollcopyright (c) Cory Williamson
Last Updated on 7/28/2022 |