Saturday, March 7, 2015
My Journey
This class has been extremely difficult for me, with my being a freshman and this class being my first online class. I have had a lot of struggle but I have also learned a lot. The twitter mission introduced me to the online education network, which has a variety of resources that I can use throughout my college career and my career as a teacher. I now know how to screen cast, create and edit videos, and use apps/games that will be beneficial to the learning of my future classroom. This class has helped me gain confidence in my ability to learn technological skills and how to apply those skills. Though I'm still not too tech friendly, by the end of the semester I believe I will be able to handle any challenge technology throws at me.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Twitter Mission Reflection
I had an absolutely amazing twitter mission experience. Twitter has always been my favorite personal social media website, but it works much better as a professional tool. Twitter chats allow teachers from all over the world to share ideas, opinions, resources, etc. Also, participating in twitter chats can be done anywhere with the mobile app. You could even multitask: grocery shop and tweet, walk your dog and tweet, go to a barbecue and tweet! The versatility and lack of traveling to participate is what makes twitter chats amazing and creative tools to expanding educators' horizons.
I am going to continue participating in twitter chats and I will continue to grow my professional presence online. I will try to find a high school math teacher twitter chat that does not conflict with my student schedule and participate in it weekly. Also, I will find different types of educators to follow such as special education teachers, different types of administrators. I may reach out to my previous high school math teachers and follow them, since it is a professional account. They may have their own resources and they could help me develop my presence even more.
Overall, this experience has showed me how technology is expanding and bettering educators, and I am excited to continue this twitter mission.
I am going to continue participating in twitter chats and I will continue to grow my professional presence online. I will try to find a high school math teacher twitter chat that does not conflict with my student schedule and participate in it weekly. Also, I will find different types of educators to follow such as special education teachers, different types of administrators. I may reach out to my previous high school math teachers and follow them, since it is a professional account. They may have their own resources and they could help me develop my presence even more.
Overall, this experience has showed me how technology is expanding and bettering educators, and I am excited to continue this twitter mission.
5 Professional Educators I Followed
This blog post is about 5 educators I followed and why I chose to follow them.
Jerry Blumengarten @cybraryman1
I followed Jerry Blumengarten because he is the #edchat moderator. He has a large presence on twitter, and since I followed him he has offered a lot beyond the #edchat. His website is also very detailed and has a lot of resources that will be helpful to me in the future.
Paul Zeller @PVRTechDirector
I followed Paul after seeing him tweet during one of the #edchat conversations. I looked at his twitter bio and noticed he is a director of instructional technology. I'd like to see his point of view as a director, also some of his tweets may be helpful to me since I am not very savvy in the technology department.
Jill Thompson @Edu-Thompson
I followed Jill because she is a co-creator of the #21stedchat. She is a CEO of Edulum, which I think is pretty cool. She tweeted at me after I introduced myself, which made me even more eager to participate in the chat.
Kevin Kerr @KerrEteach
Kevin actually followed me first (post #21stedchat) which I thought was neat. He enjoyed my opinions enough to follow me! Also, he is an elementary school principal. I aspire to become an administrator one day, so I am interested to see his ideas and see if he has any resources that will help me when I begin pursuing my administration career.
Mike Thayer @mthayer-nj
Mike tweeted at me during the #21sted chat, which is why I followed him. He agreed with my opinion, so we most likely have some similar teaching styles. He followed me as well.
Jerry Blumengarten @cybraryman1
I followed Jerry Blumengarten because he is the #edchat moderator. He has a large presence on twitter, and since I followed him he has offered a lot beyond the #edchat. His website is also very detailed and has a lot of resources that will be helpful to me in the future.
Paul Zeller @PVRTechDirector
I followed Paul after seeing him tweet during one of the #edchat conversations. I looked at his twitter bio and noticed he is a director of instructional technology. I'd like to see his point of view as a director, also some of his tweets may be helpful to me since I am not very savvy in the technology department.
Jill Thompson @Edu-Thompson
I followed Jill because she is a co-creator of the #21stedchat. She is a CEO of Edulum, which I think is pretty cool. She tweeted at me after I introduced myself, which made me even more eager to participate in the chat.
Kevin Kerr @KerrEteach
Kevin actually followed me first (post #21stedchat) which I thought was neat. He enjoyed my opinions enough to follow me! Also, he is an elementary school principal. I aspire to become an administrator one day, so I am interested to see his ideas and see if he has any resources that will help me when I begin pursuing my administration career.
Mike Thayer @mthayer-nj
Mike tweeted at me during the #21sted chat, which is why I followed him. He agreed with my opinion, so we most likely have some similar teaching styles. He followed me as well.
My participation in #21stedchat
This blog post is dedicated to the first twitter chat I participated in!
Let me begin by saying I enjoyed this experience thoroughly. I felt apart of a community; I stated my opinions and had educators/students comment on them, and vice versa. My ideas mattered to others, and their ideas opened my eyes as well. I was retweeted, and I retweeted others whom I agreed with. Twitter chats are still a little hard to follow, as there are so many participants to share with and listen to. I chose this twitter chat because it is relevant to the changes happening to the current world of education. This is very important, as the new implements in education will affect me as a teacher. It's important to stay updated, and I'm sure most teachers will agree. Below I will post a series of screen caps that document my #21stedchat experience.
Let me begin by saying I enjoyed this experience thoroughly. I felt apart of a community; I stated my opinions and had educators/students comment on them, and vice versa. My ideas mattered to others, and their ideas opened my eyes as well. I was retweeted, and I retweeted others whom I agreed with. Twitter chats are still a little hard to follow, as there are so many participants to share with and listen to. I chose this twitter chat because it is relevant to the changes happening to the current world of education. This is very important, as the new implements in education will affect me as a teacher. It's important to stay updated, and I'm sure most teachers will agree. Below I will post a series of screen caps that document my #21stedchat experience.
#whatisschool
This blog post is dedicated to the two weeks I spent observing the #whatisschool chat.
Week one- Craig Kemp was one of the professionals I decided to follow on twitter, and when he tweeted at me (screen cap #1) I thought that was very thoughtful. Doing things like that creates a positive and exciting environment for the twitter chat. I found myself wanting to join in the discussion! The next screen cap was informative to me as a newer observer, and the reminder of the chat format helped me follow the discussion clearly. I agree with the A1 tweet, leaders should be positive and encouraging; that is the type of leader I strive to be. The Q4/A4 screen cap was the most important takeaway for me, because it reflects the kind of classroom environment I aspire to have. I want my students to be open with each other for collaborative learning. Risk-taking, challenging assignments are important for effective learning to occur. A positive learning environment encourages students to speak and makes learning more enjoyable.
Week two- This chat was a little different than the other ones. This chat provides a link to the topic that is going to be discussed. I thought this was a clever and convenient way to start a twitter chat. The topic of this week was empathy. I enjoyed question four a lot because it explores how the concept of empathy applies to not only your classroom, but the entire school and how to do that. Also, I liked the comment about workshops helping teachers to develop those skills. I found myself thinking that a workshop on empathy should be mandatory for all teachers, since empathy is so important to have as an educator.
Week one- Craig Kemp was one of the professionals I decided to follow on twitter, and when he tweeted at me (screen cap #1) I thought that was very thoughtful. Doing things like that creates a positive and exciting environment for the twitter chat. I found myself wanting to join in the discussion! The next screen cap was informative to me as a newer observer, and the reminder of the chat format helped me follow the discussion clearly. I agree with the A1 tweet, leaders should be positive and encouraging; that is the type of leader I strive to be. The Q4/A4 screen cap was the most important takeaway for me, because it reflects the kind of classroom environment I aspire to have. I want my students to be open with each other for collaborative learning. Risk-taking, challenging assignments are important for effective learning to occur. A positive learning environment encourages students to speak and makes learning more enjoyable.
Week two- This chat was a little different than the other ones. This chat provides a link to the topic that is going to be discussed. I thought this was a clever and convenient way to start a twitter chat. The topic of this week was empathy. I enjoyed question four a lot because it explores how the concept of empathy applies to not only your classroom, but the entire school and how to do that. Also, I liked the comment about workshops helping teachers to develop those skills. I found myself thinking that a workshop on empathy should be mandatory for all teachers, since empathy is so important to have as an educator.
#ntchat
This blog post is dedicated to the two weeks I spent observing the #ntchat.
Week one- This was the second twitter chat I observed, so I was still a bit confused following it. The two screen caps below left the biggest impression on me out of the whole chat. The topic was about building rapport with students. I thought the answer about looking for clues about what interests students was interesting; students will feel genuinely important if you notice interests rather than blatantly asking them. I loved how the second screen cap mentions teachers "may be the most stable thing" in the students' lives, because that is going to be reality for some of my future students.
Week two- This week I included the format in my screen caps; I had not understood the variety of formats the previous week, and since it sets up how the chat will function, I thought it was important to note. The first question was interesting to me because I always thought that literacy had one definition. Therefore the variety of answers to this question was a learning experience. However, the last screen cap reflects how I would have answered. Literacy is simply being able to read.
Week one- This was the second twitter chat I observed, so I was still a bit confused following it. The two screen caps below left the biggest impression on me out of the whole chat. The topic was about building rapport with students. I thought the answer about looking for clues about what interests students was interesting; students will feel genuinely important if you notice interests rather than blatantly asking them. I loved how the second screen cap mentions teachers "may be the most stable thing" in the students' lives, because that is going to be reality for some of my future students.
Week two- This week I included the format in my screen caps; I had not understood the variety of formats the previous week, and since it sets up how the chat will function, I thought it was important to note. The first question was interesting to me because I always thought that literacy had one definition. Therefore the variety of answers to this question was a learning experience. However, the last screen cap reflects how I would have answered. Literacy is simply being able to read.
#edchat
This blog post is dedicated to the two weeks I spent observing the #edchat.
Week one- This was the first experience I had with a professional twitter chat, and the professional twitter world in general. I thought it was interesting to see educators keep adding their input in the multiple conversations. It was a little confusing to follow, since there are several comments and opinions to read. An interesting thing I learned was what a PLN is. A PLN is personal learning network in which you add other educators to discuss and learn strategies, ideologies, etc inside and outside of the classroom (but always about the classroom). Here are a couple screen caps from the chat:
Week one- This was the first experience I had with a professional twitter chat, and the professional twitter world in general. I thought it was interesting to see educators keep adding their input in the multiple conversations. It was a little confusing to follow, since there are several comments and opinions to read. An interesting thing I learned was what a PLN is. A PLN is personal learning network in which you add other educators to discuss and learn strategies, ideologies, etc inside and outside of the classroom (but always about the classroom). Here are a couple screen caps from the chat:
Week two- This week I had a much better grip of how to follow a twitter chat considering I had observed three different chat the previous week. I thought the most important part of this chat was the topic of having all voices heard. When I am a teacher, I will strive very hard to ensure all voices are heard. The comments below really resonated with me, regarding making changes after hearing concerns and how some teachers don't like making changes. If changes are what's best, they should be made, and changes should always be considered.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
The Radix Endeavor- Game Blog Post
The game that caught my attention is called the Radix Endeavor, which was developed at MIT. This MMO not only covers my area of study, but a wide range. It covers the topics biology, algebra, geometry, probability, and statistics through the quests your character completes.
In this game, the goal is to defeat this evil ruler, who is keeping science away from the people in the game. Your character is apart of a team dedicated to achieve this goal.
In a classroom setting, I would use this game either as an extra credit opportunity or as some sort of game day to reward students for their hard work.
http://education.mit.edu/projects/radix-endeavor
In this game, the goal is to defeat this evil ruler, who is keeping science away from the people in the game. Your character is apart of a team dedicated to achieve this goal.
In a classroom setting, I would use this game either as an extra credit opportunity or as some sort of game day to reward students for their hard work.
http://education.mit.edu/projects/radix-endeavor
My Professional Twitter Account
When I set up my twitter account, I took various aspects into careful consideration. First, my profile picture; it's a simple, posed picture of me smiling. I thought that there should be a face to my name, which brings me to my name on twitter. It is just my first and last name. This shows professionalism because it is straight to the point. I'm not trying to be funny or cute because it is not my personal account, so my first and last name are all that is necessary. For my bio, I wrote, "Learning about the integration of technology and education. My opinions are my own." The first part of my bio is my mission; I want to learn more about how technology functions in the classroom, the pros and cons, the different types of technology, etc. The second part shows that I am in no way representing anyone other than me, so that only I am held accountable for my tweets. That is important for a professional twitter, otherwise my thoughts could be linked to the university I attend or the future school I teach at. Lastly, my header contains a mathematical joke. This is a good way to attract an appropriate audience to my account because of it's subtle humor and relevance to my Integrated Mathematics major.
My Beliefs as an Educator
After I have my bachelor's degree in Integrated Mathematics and I begin my journey as a teacher, it will be important to have firm beliefs that will contribute to improving student learning. In terms of technology, I believe the role of a teacher is to help their students enjoy learning and grow into their own person. By using blogs and computer games, I believe that learning math will become a more enjoyable activity for the students who struggle and the students who excel. I believe that students enjoy using technology to propel learning, and that they are excited to use technology during a lesson rather than simply taking notes on a lecture, I believe members and parents expect technology to be used in every content area, considering the Technology Age that we live in, so that their children will be successful after their education is complete. I believe that knowledge is greatly expanded in the minds of students who have access to technology and can properly use technology to further their learning. I believe that using technology in the classroom is a necessity in the world we live in today.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
All Things Google
Reading Blog Post Week 1
In the assigned reading, Digital Natives, I thought it was interesting how age and education does not necessarily contribute to technological skill. Before reading this article, I assumed that my being a young adult and growing up as a part of the Net Generation gave me a one-up when it came to technological skill. However, this research shows it has more to do with privilege.
In Chapter 2 of our class textbook, I found the section regarding TeacherTube to be the most interesting. I definitely will visit the website to help with my classes as a student and teacher.
In Chapter 2 of our class textbook, I found the section regarding TeacherTube to be the most interesting. I definitely will visit the website to help with my classes as a student and teacher.
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