ILP #3 "Design"- Prezi

For this ILP I decided to show you all a Prezi that I made about a year ago to go with a research essay I wrote about the effects of pornography. I've used Prezis a lot in the past because I really like the appealing nature of the Prezis. They are very visually stimulating and I feel that is something that is lacking with Powerpoint. In this Prezi I have pictures uploaded and videos attached to it. I hope you all enjoy this Prezi and hopefully learn something too!
Prezi- What They Don't Want You to Know About Porn

Blog Post #10

I think Excel is a really cool tool that most kids have no idea how to use. I think this is partly because it was never really integrated into our curriculum. I was taught the basics of Excel, but far to early to truly understand it. I think survey's would be a really interesting way to get feedback from students on how they're learning and developing. In the setting of an English classroom I would use the survey as a tool to see which books the kids enjoyed more, which lessons stuck more clearly to them, and which ones they would read again if they had too.

I really liked viewing other people's blogs because it really gave me the sense of what kind of teacher they will become and how they will use technology in the classroom.

I think the next technology related skill I would like to learn how to use is Photoshop, we really covered a lot of the technologies here that are important to us as teachers. I think that learning Photoshop would just be a really interesting thing and maybe I could use graphic design as a lesson plan of some sorts. I think I can probably self teach this, if not I will go and sign up for some classes and learn more about the technology.

ILP #2 "Design"- Edmodo

For this ILP I decided to try and use Edmodo to create a fictitious learning environment. I set this as if I was a first year teacher teaching AP Literature to high school seniors. There isn't much on my Edmodo page, but I did upload a syllabus, post notes, and enter in assignments. In order to view my page just go this site. Once you are at the site click "Join a group" on the right hand corner of the screen and type in this code:
vp599r
It will prompt you to login with Google or create an account and then you'll be able to view my page.

This will lead you to my Edmodo page. I have to admit, using Edmodo was pretty easy and self explanatory and I know I could have made such an amazing web page had I known more about how to properly use the tool. I like the fact that I can create a learning environment online and have a quick place for all my students to see the assignments and the syllabus. I will say that if my school doesn't have Blackboard or any other online tool, I will be using Edmodo to distribute assignments. It is so easy to use and students can actually post comments on your page or email you directly to this site. I believe students can even turn in assignments( though I confess I have no idea how to open that up to them). I think this is a really cool system that more of you should check out.

Blog Post #9

The Flipped Classroom is an interesting design. Basically, the way you think school works is flipped or reversed. So instead of hearing the lectures in class and doing homework at home the students watch the lectures at home and do their work in class. I understand how this really uses technology, but I am not a fan. At least when I student comes in without his homework, I know that he was in class paying attention. When the students are in charge of taking in the lecture information themselves, I am afraid of what will happen when they don't listen to the lecture. I'd have to give them the lecture while they're supposed to be working on their work. They really do like projects, discussions, and exercises. I'm afraid at how lost a student might feel just because they didn't listen to the lecture.
https://www.refseek.com/directory/educational_videos.html

Now Open Source is a little difficult to understand. So this pertains to the software code that is made free and available and can be modified and redistributed. A lot of the open software codes are free so this is good for people that want to make programs and such that can't regularly afford it. It's good for people who can't code that well and can use this open source as a free template of sorts. This site below gives us a good list of open source sites for various things.

http://www.datamation.com/open-source/open-source-software-list-ultimate-list-1.html

I really enjoyed the Powerpoint assignment. I had never known how to record the powerpoint like that so it's a show instead of a presentation. I really liked showing off my creativity like that. This was my little study guide for the first powerpoint assignment.

For the game it was even more fun. All I learned through that was 100% new, and I know when I become a teacher I'll be making games for my kids all the time.

If you wanna take the Lit term game, let me know. We'll test your memory of high school literature!

Blog Post #8

Hi! How was everyone's spring break?
Today I will be talking about last weeks field trip!
I really did enjoy it so much, I loved seeing the different technology used in the center. It's definitely beneficial for students with disabilities or even students who just learn differently than the traditional setting. I really liked that pen that she showed us that recorded and tracked your place on the paper. If I can I would love to look into that as an option for an educational tool.

Create. Evaluate. Analyze. Apply. Understand. Remember.
Bloom's Taxonomy breaks learning down into simple, achievable ways.
I think Powerpoint would be very beneficial if we can break it down into levels.
Create:  This might be one of the easiest to achieve. With Powerpoint students can get information they need for classes onto slides and figure out how to organize the information in creative ways.
Evaluate: Once the slides are done the students can figure out which parts are more essential with the others. They can use various colors to highlight different things that could be more beneficial to them.
Analyze: In Powerpoint there is a section where you can jot down notes under the actual slides that won't show in the presentation. This is where students can break down the information, add any fun facts they feel are prevalent, and even pose questions that they feel they have  no answers to.
Apply: Now we take the presentation and we try and apply it to what we're doing. Make a presentation and see if there is any way you can apply the lesson to you in real life. Are there any key points that will apply to you or a situation? Is this Powerpoint tool something you can apply to other academic areas?
Understand: Now we play through the presentation and try and not look at the Powerpoint. Read the title of each slide and then see if you can remember the information without looking.
Remember: Well if you can't...don't worry. That's the beauty of Powerpoint! Just go through the presentation as many times as needed.

One of my classmates found this site today during our Diigo activity and I actually think that it is really relevant to this!

http://www.gettingsmart.com/

This website is important because it really has amazingly interesting articles I think teachers would enjoy!

Blog Post #7

I believe adaptive technology has really come a long way and really benefits people will all types of disabilities. For example there is software that will read aloud what someone wrote and will read aloud other things a student cannot really read. There is amazing technology for students suffering from color blindness,like inverted colors. I have never personally known anyone with a disability that would have required them to have this technology. I,  however, went to school in a district that had a school that was mixed students; half deaf and half not. When I went to see a musical at this school it was interesting that they had a monitor that would act out the musical in American sign language. The students also had various technologies in the classroom that helped them with their disability. A challenge I see in having adaptive technology in my classroom is that I can see other students being distracted by it.

I really liked using Wix for my assignment, however I did have some issues with it. I did not like that sometimes it would take a long time to save my progress and that sometimes it would not automatically save at all. I really like this website, but I don't think it would make a good website for teachers. I think it just isn't smooth enough and cohesive enough to really be a full time academic website. I think next time I can just add pdf links for some things like supplies, calendars, etc just to make it easier on the students to find information.

https://ia16b3.wixsite.com/website

I really liked Diigo! I have actually been using it for my research paper this semester. I believe it is a hassle to download and everything, but once you have it it is super convenient! I think in the classroom it would be fun to have all the kids on the same article, annotating it together!

Website!

Hey guys my website is up and running after a few technical problems!


https://ia16b3.wixsite.com/website

Go check it out!

Blog Post #6

The website I was able to find is from Miss Aimee Mullins from Redwater High School. She teaches 11th grade English. There was a lot of useful information on her school page(which is located in the schools website). She includes her daily schedule so students know when she's in class, when she has conferences, and when she's free for tutoring. She has three syllabus in place: one for each of her classes. She includes links to lists of supplies that the students will need for SAT/ACT and for her class. She gives the course descriptions and has links to assignments that will be due in class. Overall, it is a good website, but I find that there is a lack of creativity.

I envision myself using technology in my classroom in a really fun way! Since I do want to teach high school English, my students do need to have a very clear understanding of how Microsoft Word works! I think I'll also use Diigo in my classroom, just because it has been super beneficial to me so far writing my research paper! I think as a teacher I'll have a really nice balance of fun technological activities and serious activities. Kahoot! for fun times and Diigo for when they're on the grind. 

I'll say it again the tech sandbox was just so much fun! I think I'll definitely use the Smartboard or Promethean board(depending which one my school district provides) daily in the classroom! I can have students correct sentences on the board when teaching grammar. Or I can have students give presentations and find a way to incorporate the board. For high school students thats the only technology that I can see being used efficiently in the classroom.

ILP "Participation"-Tech Sandbox

For my first ILP I will be discussing our classes trip to the Tech Sandbox last Tuesday.

First of all, it was so much fun! In all honesty I had never heard of the Tech Sandbox till that day. It was so interesting when we got walked through all the fun technology they have in their office. My highlight would be the 3D pen, just because it has always astounded me that something as ordinary as a pen could make a 3D figure. We got to experience the Promethean board and the Smart board. I think if I were wanting to teach younger students I would go for the Promethean board, just because it prevents little kids from coming and touching the board. Since I plan on teaching high school I think I'm indifferent to the two. Although, it was super cool when he could rotate the anatomy of an ear on the boards! 

I didn't get to use the Oculus or the Google glasses, I look forward to that in the future. I also think its interesting how the Sandbox also has products that went through testing to be mass produced, but just never got launched, like the Google glasses and the 3D TV.

I definitely look forward to spending some more time in the Sandbox and making my very own 3D printed dragon! Hope you guys enjoy the pictures that I captured!

Blog Post #5

First off, I understand why Web 2.0 devices aren't optional. The Web 2.0 is so much more advanced and interactive than the original 'World Wide Web". I think one of my favorite Web 2.0 tools is Twitter. Just because I have never had such a great experience with it in the classroom. I can definitely see many students getting into suing Twitter as an educational tool.I think the Web 2.0 I might like least is Wikipedia. I say that just because any one can make an account and edit pages. Which sometimes is great, but if you're writing a research paper it wouldn't be the best source to use. 

A Web 2.0 tool that I use and love is Kahoot! The link for you guys too see Kahoot! will be at the end of the post. I really like this because it allows students to make up fun games to test themselves or their classmates on confusing subjects. It is very interactive. All you do is just make a quiz and have everyone use their phones or computers to sign in with your personalized code. They will have access to the quiz and it even keeps tabs of who's scoring the best, games with a competitive edge are my favorite.

The technological advancement that I think holds the greatest promise is learner analytics. Its crazy and a bit creepy that things like Amazon and Netflix can learn about you and give you suggestions suited for you best. I think if this were used from a more educational standpoint the results would be ground breaking. I think if there could be a way electronically to track the way a student learns it could open the door for a really personalized approach in learning. One thing that is scary about this thought though is that if the computer is doing all the teaching then what will the teacher do? I would love to hear comments on this idea. Is it too out there?

Blog Post #4

Hi guys!

In this post I'll be discussing my previous interactions with Twitter. I'd like to think that I grew up in the prime age of Twitter, when it was really starting to become popular. My first twitter account was filled with followers that went to my school and I primarily followed my friends and celebrity accounts. I would rarely tweet and just repost funny things I saw. Now I use Twitter in class and I find it a lot more helpful than when I was younger. I like interacting with my classmates and my instructor in this way. It makes things fun, but educational. I think later in life I can use Twitter as a platform to help and inform students as well as other potential teachers. I also want to pursue writing in my career so I feel that Twitter will help get my book out.

The digital divide describes the gap between peoples' use of technology. I believe the digital divide affects students success in schools because I believe that it makes it seem as though the students' with more technology have a greater chance for success, but not everyone has the easy ability to pick up technological concepts. Some people for example grow up to be so good with technology, while some people(like me) don't really catch on quickly. Additionally not every student is fortunate enough to have the same access to technology. Some causes of the digital dive are age. For example I can say that I have seen one of my teachers struggle to maximize a Youtube video, even though we kept telling her where to click. I think almost every student can attest to a period of time when they tried helping their teacher with technology in the classroom. It makes sense it is in no way the teachers' fault. Another divide, sadly, is a families financial situation.They didn't grow up like we did with technology everywhere. I think in my classroom I might experience students from different areas and different financial spectrums I think this might affect my teaching strategy because I may be extra careful when stressing that in now way are those students with easy access to technology at a greater educational level. I think the chances of success depend on the student.

When I graduate I hope to teach High School level English Literature. I think the types of educational tools I would use would be fun grammar games that the students could really get into. As an English Education major I am not ashamed to admit that grammar can be tedious and difficult at times. I thin putting this into a game of sorts will have the kids learning with enthusiasm. I don't think I'll use any tools like Excel because I don't see how that would pertain to a Literature class. Hopefully I would frame my classroom in a way that we would have technology days and reading days. So half the time we'll be dissecting literature and doing grammar work and the other half would be spent with technology, trying to show the students how to find proper sources and how to cite things properly.

That will be all for today! Can't wait to see you guys next week.
Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

Blog Post #3

Hey guys,
Finally after three terrible weeks of feeling sick I'm finally cured. Yay!

I am going to start of the post by talking about which ELA technology standards I feel most comfortable as of now teaching. I feel most comfortable with "multimedia" literature, specifically how to connect text of a story to an oral and visual presentation. I feel best with this skill because I enjoy being creative while making presentations. I like talking context from a story or a play and creating a visual presentation which makes the subject easier to learn. One of the ELA standards I feel I need more work on before I feel comfortable teaching it is "multimedia" science and technical subjects. I am not very good making graphs, charts, diagrams, or tables. I feel like most of these need Excel to make and be successful at. I feel my weakest Microsoft program is Excel.

Based on chapter nine I feel like the technology application/software I would use with my students would be maybe a literature blog. My overall goal is to teach English Lit on the high school level. I believe that creating a blog site for my students will help them learn more about technology while giving analysis about their reading. I may steer away from social networks depending on how my students act. I feel like setting up a class twitter, like this class, will help my students learn how to use technology is a safe creative way, but I can see how some students might abuse that social media assignment. I also don't know if a high school teacher is technically allowed to set up a twitter for their students.
Due to the age range of the students I want to teach( 14-18) I feel like the most important digital citizenship guideline would be to "communicate clearly and precisely without rudeness and inappropriate interaction". I believe in this new age of technology some people use social media to spread hate. I want my students to learn not to spread hate. I want them to learn how to have a light hearted debate and keep it civil. I believe technology should be used for the purpose of spreading information and positive thinking; not hate.

I learned a lot of new things from doing the Newsletter assignment. Now nobody laugh okay, but Taehyeong taught me how to double click on my Mac. I know it's not an amazing skill, but it is something I never knew how to do before. Another skill I learned was how to set up the two column set up on Word. I learned how to adjust the text and shapes through "wrap text" key. I really enjoyed how creative I got to be for this assignment. I definitely think there are a lot of techniques in this assignment that I can improve at. Like the column alignment and how to make everything fit perfectly on the page. I definitely think that this assignment will come in handy for my future career. I am excited to see how I can use these skills in my own classroom. Below you will find my newsletter, I made it a permission slip for an expedition day! Its not the best, but I am proud of my work.
Till Tuesday,
Bella Alvarez

Blog Post #2

Hi everyone! 

Today I'll start off by writing about how I've used MS Word as a student and how I've seen my teachers use it. As a writer, I have personally used MS Word my entire life. As an English Education major, it is very important for me to understand MS Word, because the majority of my classes are essay based. My teachers in high school used MS Word as a tool to layout how to do our assignments. They also used it to write out their syllabus at the beginning of the year, this is how must of my college professors also use MS Word. 

I don't have many experience using copyright. I have if works cited counts as copyright use. 

the CSMI describes fair use as the "right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances". The text describes this as flexible, I guess because in order to properly educate you should be allowed to quote and use texts to teach. I think as a teacher I'd be careful with how I use material in class. I'd make sure that fair use is in place and that I wouldn't violate any copyright laws. I'd educate my students about copyright and how to put into use fair use, because I know it will come in handy to them as they progress in their educational career. 

I think the implementation issues in Chapter 11 are very valid. I do think the implementation of technology comes with many challenges. Three issues I would try and pose solutions for would be copyright, cyberbullying, and privacy issues. Pertaining copyright, I would try and teach my students how to use other's information for their presentations while giving the correct people credit. I'd show them that it's never okay to steal other people's words. I do not and will never condone cyberbullying. I would hope that I could teach my kids how to be compassionate and kind. I would not tolerate any action like this and would speak out if I saw any child being bullied. I think privacy is very important. With all the social media today I wouldn't tell my kids not to use it, because that's unrealistic. I would tell them to keep each other and themselves safe. Make sure that you are not talking or reaching out to strangers. Make sure that your accounts are protected. I think these would me solutions for these three implementation issues.

Have a nice week, hopefully I'll see you all next week!

Bella Alvarez

Twitter info!

Here's my twitter for all you lovely people !
@ia16b 

Blog Post #1

Some things that influence teachers to use technology is the growing impact that technology is having in our society. In order to provide the best education to students teachers need to be able to communicate lessons in different ways. The same goes for students. Nowadays technology is a common daily thing in young peoples lives. They need to learn how to grow with technology and not let it hinder their education.

One ISTE standard that I like for students is the digital citizenship. It means that students learn how to use their technology responsibly. Students learn that it is important to consider the legal practices that follow technology. One ISTE standard that is outside my current skill set it research and information fluency because my skills when it comes to doing research are not too good.

A digital native is a person that was raised during the rise of technology and has learned how to use it at a very young age. I think this label is very accurate. I do believe that there is nothing wrong with children being comfortable with technology at an early age, as long as it does not hinder their social development. I find that some teachers, who we'll call digital immigrants for now, have a harder time using technology than digital natives. I also find that digital natives know how to navigate technology with ease while to some digital immigrants it might take a bit. I anticipate that when I am a teacher I will be very comfortable with technology, but of course my students will probably have a better understanding of the latest technological break through than I will.

Blog Post #0

Hi!
In this first blog post I'm going to talk a little on my previous experience with technology. My previous experience with technology is very slim. I've always struggled with Excel and I say the most I know about technology is how to upload my music from my computer to my Iphone. I've owned a Mac for many years and in my opinion it is one of the simpler computers out there. I only ever use it to write essays for class, watch netflix, play tetris, etc.
I think I will learn a lot from this class. Hopefully, I will become proficient in Excel, Word, and Powerpoint. I don't know much technological terminology, but I think this class will also help me figure that out!
When I took the Learning Style Questionnaire these were my results:

The first row shows that I learn better when I am allowed to think about the material and that I usually prefer to learn alone.
The second row shows that I like learning more conceptual ideas rather than hard facts and data. I can see why this is true. I do have a passion for literature which would translate to me enjoying theories and ideas.
The third row shows that I definitely retain information better when it is explained to me and when it is written. Like I said I do read a lot more than I watch T.V so this seems pretty accurate.
The final row shows that I like to learn things step by step. I don't really like to learn bits and pieces at a time, or jumping around from beginning to end. I like to see how things evolve and how it works in a nice process.