Bitmoji Classroom

 

Blog Post #9

     As a distance learner over COVID-19, the type of distance learning that we did was Emergency Remote Teaching. There was not much that I liked about being a distance learner, I did get to stay home and work from my bed, but that made me highly unproductive. I did like that I could do it from anywhere, I used to travel a lot after COVID so it was nice that I did not have to miss school. I did not like the fact that I was not being forced to pay attention in class and that my grades did not matter. I was constantly distracted and on my phone, I was doing anything but the lesson. Coming to college has been a big change, I am not used to this amount of rigorous work because I have not done schooling like this since before COVID. 

    Open educational resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are under public domain and they have a creative commons license. Teachers can add these works into their lesson plans with no cost. OERs can save students money and they have been shared all around the world by teachers in order to create new opportunities for students and teachers.  Here is a list of resources that can fall under OER. On this website, it shows different OERs by subject, complete courses, open access books, multimedia, large repositories and images an artwork. It has hundreds of links to websites that teachers can use for all different grade levels. 

    On the past PowerPoint assignment, I learned a lot. This project was the first time that I used PowerPoint because, in the past, I have always used Google Slides. I learned how to work all of the different tools in PowerPoint, which I have always been scared to use before. I did not like how much time it took me to learn how to use PowerPoint, I was struggling for a few hours before I could make progress on my project. Now that I know how to use Smart-Art, different layouts, and animations, I feel like the next time I make a PowerPoint, it will go much quicker. 

 

Blog Journal #8

      On assignment 3, we had to do a Web Design page, something I have never done before. I was nervous at first when I heard that we were going to do this project, as this is something I have never done before. I really liked this project because I felt like I learned so much regarding websites. I really think I will create my own web page when I become a teacher because it was so helpful having all of the classroom links and resources in one place. It was difficult at first using a new web platform, just figuring out how to design my pages and organize it, since there were so many tools. I will definitely make one for my classroom for the parents and students! Here is the link to my Web Page: https://msbarresi.weebly.com/ 

    I love Diigo! This is really an all-in-one platform. I love just being able to highlight and annotate on various websites and having them all be put in one place. I will definitely be using this in my classroom and have a classroom page where all the students can post their annotations and articles to share with each other. I also would love to recommend this to my co-workers so that we have a place to share tips and ideas with each other. This platform is also useful in my college classes when I have to do research papers and readings so that I can have all my collected information in one place. 

    I know that nowadays technology is one of the most important aspects of a classroom and finding new websites to make the classroom more efficient. I really think that all of the websites and tools that we have learned in this class is so important to incorporate into my classroom. To be a good teacher, new and creative ways to incorporate technology into the classroom to make students more willing to learn are very important. There is always something new about technology and keeping up with it is very hard. One way I have learned about new technology in the classroom is TikTok. Here, teachers have their own videos posting creative new technology for students to use. The teachers also demonstrate how to use it also!

Blog Post #7

     I went to look at my high school website to see if the teachers had to incorporate a link to their webpage, and they do! I went to a few of my favorite teacher's webpages and saw that they have links to their classes where they do a course outline and then a calendar, showing all of the due dates for the year. One of the teachers even uploads pictures of his classroom and events that he hosts throughout the year. All of the teacher webpages have information regarding their class and what they teach. An example can be found here!

    I will be using technology constantly in the classroom. To make sure that I am staying on tasks, as well as my students, I will be using a google calendar where I will post all of our assignments and when they are due. I will also be using Remind, to be able to send my students emails and texts to keep them up-to-date on when assignments are due and if there has been any changes to the class. Remind is also a great way for students to get in touch with me over text!

    I really liked using Canvas for Assignment 2 because it was nice having all of the instructions and what to do in one place. I thought using Canvas made it really convenient for the fact that we did not have to submit anything at the end. I really like how I can do quite anything on Canvas, all my classes are there, I can write my essays, email my teachers, and see my grades. I think I will want to use Canvas in my classroom when I become a teacher, because I think it keeps students more organized than Google Classroom.  

Blog Post #6

      This was my first time using Diijo and I have never used an extension like this before. I really do like how I can highlight on websites and add my annotations. I am always wanting to highlight articles that I read on the web and now I can with Diijo. It was a little confusing at the beginning because I have never used an application like this. I love that I can share an article with the group and they can see what I highlighted and thought was interesting!

    So far I have really liked blogging and being able to post my thoughts on this class to share with everyone. I think that being able to blog about this class has helped me stay focused in the class and be able to go over what I have learned and keep track of everything. The blogging process has helped me to be able to write down my feelings and thoughts of this class. The only thing that I do not like about blogging is that sometimes I feel like I am repeating myself or I do not know how to fill a paragraph with what I want to say.

    There are many interesting Web 2.0 tools that I found during this lesson. I think that one of the ones I will incorporate when I teach will be TikTok. Even though this is a social media app, I think that using TikTok in the classroom is a great way to get the students connected to each other and is a fun way to do projects. TikTok is an app that most kids use now of days and I feel like students will want to do the projects on this app because they are comfortable with it. Here is a link to TikTok!

Blog Post #5

      This is my first time using Twitter and I have found it very beneficial. I have been keeping up to date on news stories and the weather, while also finding out what is new in education. I have followed the US Department of Education and also my hometown school district. This has been very helpful, especially because of hurricane Ian, that I found out that schools were closed and the latest updates on the returning back. Twitter and all of the accounts I follow have been keeping me informed! I will definitely be using Twitter when I become a teacher because I have found so many accounts from teachers in my field that post helpful tools and hints in the classroom. 

     There is definitely a huge "digital divide" in schools and in the classroom that hinder student success. Most of my classes have all of their assignments online and some of my classmates in high school did not have access to computers or internet so they ended up failing the classes. This strongly effected their future because they did not have the resources to succeed and move onto college, due to their grades. Some causes of the digital divide is due to income, students who come from poorer families may not be able to receive the technology that others do. This will effect my teaching strategies because if I know that someone in my class does not have access to the internet or a computer, I will print them the assignment and allow them time in class and before or after school to work on the assignment, if it cannot be printed. I will allow them to have extra time, so that it does not impede their grade. 

   I would definitely like my students to use Google Classroom. I think this is the best educational software because I can post my day to day agenda for the students to make sure they are aware of everything. I will also use this platform because I can post due dates for assignments and it will remind the students and keep them aware of what is coming up. I also want to use Socrative, because I think this will be an easy way to keep track of what my students know by giving them quick little quizzes. Also, this will be a fun tool for reviews and to introduce a topic and see what they already know. I have used both of these platforms throughout school and I think they are amazing at keeping me on track and showing me what I know or need to work on. These will be very useful to my students!