Blog 6

Hi Everyone! Happy half-way point!

There are a lot of cool academic software tools. I will definitely continue to use microsoft word because I think it's so diverse and there are so many things you can do with it. From making charts, to taking notes, to writing papers, to creating resumes, I think word can do it all. I'll encourage my students to explore all of the things they can do with word. I'll also use TopHat. I got introduced to TopHat in college. It's an app that can be used on a phone or computer that runs during the class and has students answer questions on the lesson the teacher has created. I think it's a great way to make sure students are engaged in learning and aren't drifting off.

I love twitter! I've been talking to so many of my classmates and follow a lot of cool education twitter accounts. I've been updated on current events in the education world as well as current events in this class! I think twitter could be used in a classroom to remind students of due dates, or quickly share a message with your whole class. Since social media is so relevant, I really think it'd be cool as a teacher to use twitter as a means of communication.

Check out my comments on Katelyn & Bailey's blogs!

Blog 5

HAPPY WEEK 5!

I played around a lot on the ELA standards and technology website and looked at various different grade levels but paid most attention to grades 9-10 because I want to teach highschool. There was A LOT of reference to technology, the digital world, and multimedia in the 9-10 grade standards. I think I grasp a lot of the concepts and would be able to teach them, but am afraid I would run into some technical difficulties as of now (thank gosh i'm in this class I guess)! I feel ready to teach vocabulary, word linkage, word meanings, relationships, organizing ideas, topics, etc. I have a lot of practice on connecting ideas well with transitions, specific vocabulary, and creating a good flow in writing. However, there were a lot of standards (as I mentioned) using the internet and digital media with some programs i've never heard of before, so I'd need to learn more about that.

Once again, when looking at the CPALMS toolkits, I looked at the highschool focused resources/tools. One tool I thought was cool and so useful was "Be careful with your comma's!" interactive tutorial. This one grabbed my attention because i'm sure by highschool kids are confident that they know when and where to use a a comma, but yet they frequently misplace them. I would use this resource in my classroom because it's not just a boring video with corny jokes, it's interactive and actually tests if the students are using the comma's correctly. It's not too long and split up into a bunch of modules, where a student can choose to skip if they know that module. In between modules there are practices. Then at the end there are final practices to make sure you can combine all the different ways and rules they taught the student about comma's. You fill in blanks, hit links, etc. and it doesn't leave the student bored!

Lastly for this blog, I attached my newsletter assignment. I actually really liked this assignment because it was such a real life example, it was really like I was creating a newsletter for my future classroom. I learned how to keep the content in two columns even with a header, clipart, and photos. At first everything was misaligned, but I learned how to fix it properly. I think next time I should try to make the second page as aesthetically pleasing as the first. It'll help keep the attention of the person reading the newsletter. I liked the assignment, it tested my knowledge but wasn't too difficult. Have a great week class! Check out my comments on Sierra & Courtney's blog! 

Blog 4

ALL OUT IN THE OPEN! 

Open terms & Open educational resources 

Let me start by saying I enjoyed the podcast because it quickly and easily laid out three terms that are important for this module: open education, open content, and open source. 

https://opensource.com/resources/what-open-education  kind of touches on concepts in the podcast and expands. Generally, all of these terms support the philosophy on how people can and should produce, share, and build on knowledge all together. Money, geography, etc. can limit someone's access to knowledge and we should want to break that barrier. We have open sources because we want others to be able to enhance that source and make it even better. This article also talks about online courses that are available to anyone, that simply exist just to help expand the knowledge of those who want to. I think that's really cool, life is about learning. 

https://lumenlearning.com/about/whats-oer/ OER'S! OER'S! OER'S! All about Open Educational Resources.“Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and repurposing by others. OER include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge.” Is how the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation defines OER's. In simpler terms, free resources that can make us more knowledgable! 
OER's legally allow students, teachers, and learners to engage in the 5 R's: retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute. These are all ways we can alter or process information we find. OER's save money, are quick, efficient, and the possibilities are endless. 

Check out my comments on Minnie & Karla's blog. They're both great! 

Blog 3

Microsoft Word 

Personally, i've seen Microsoft word being used more than any other computer program in the classroom. From flyers, to note writing, essays, etc. My teachers and I have both used Microsoft word a lot. I know there are a lot of really advanced features on Microsoft word but I haven't had much exposure to that yet. 

Copyright and plagiarism can be a confusing thing for students. I've had several experiences in school where my fellow students have been accused of copyright and they didn't even realize they were doing it. There's a fine line between plagiarism and summarizing and it's important for students to learn that. I think as a teacher i'd frequently do exercises or presentations on copyright. Students can get harshly punished for this offense and i'd never want a student to get in trouble because I didn't teach them the facts. 

Copyright- To avoid copyright being an issue in my classroom i'd do monthly exercises with my students on copyright. I'd provide the students with a few articles and tell them to write a paper on it without copyrighting. I'd ask them to include summaries and direct quotations (so they learn to cite and give credibility) and then make sure they complete the assignment without copyrighting. This practice will make sure they don't do it on a bigger, more important assignment that's not practice.

Academic Honesty- I think academic honesty comes down to the morale of the student him/herself, but to avoid it being an issue I would let the students know of the consequences regularly and enforce them if there was any dishonesty. First offense would be zero on an assignment and second offense they would deal with a higher power than myself, such as the dean.  

Cyberbullying- To avoid cyberbullying I would deal with it similarly to academic honesty where students know there will be harsh punishments but I also would have the students read articles on cyberbullying that are emotional and include stories on how students have felt after being cyberbullied, so they know how serious it is. 

CHECK OUT MY COMMENTS ON AMANDA AND KAYLA'S BLOG.