12/4/14
RIP3 Reflection
Remember
When we were first assigned our final project I have to admit I was a little nervous. I had no idea what I was going to choose for the topic of my project. I immediately began researching different technologies that I could potentially use. I searched various websites, mostly compiled lists of popular websites/technologies for teaching. One that was extremely helpful was www.ala.org/aasl/standards-guidelines/best-websites/2014. This was where I came across the technology that I used for this project, Powtoon. I read through the Powtoon website and thought it seemed like a great tool. Powtoon is a free presentational software that allows you to create animated video "explainers". What ultimately cemented my decision to use Powtoon was me actually physically using it. I started clicking around and eventually made an entire video without really even realizing it, it was a lot of fun! For this specific project I chose to create a sample book report over the best novel ever, "To Kill a Mockingbird", using a Powtoon video explainer/video. I thought doing a book report would be the perfect use of powtoon software because It allows your students to create something more visual and entertaining; things I don't believe you really get when you use a standard powerpoint.
Identify the Important Part
The most important part of this project was learning not only about my own technology but other classmates' technology as well. Before this class I would have described myself as totally out of touch with technology. I don't even have Microsoft word on my laptop or powerpoint! The last time I made a powerpoint was for a group project freshman year of college. But after this class and this project specifically I feel up to date with the technology that's out there. Now I know about wordle, story bird, edmodo, near pod the list goes on and on! Before this class I was barely familiar with prezi. I also feel more confident in my ability to use that technology and incorporate it into a lesson. I was able to make an animated book report video, the old me would be extremely shocked to hear this!
Put it Together
This project connected with a lot of other things we did this semester, like our app reviews and other articles we read. By doing this project were able to envision using this certain technology in our own classrooms and basing a lesson,unit etc. around it. This has been the entire theme of this class, it is called teaching and learning in a digital environment :) This project also reminds me of anytime I tried something new. Like a different food or meeting a new person. It's nerve wrecking at first but once your comfortable it can be a really rewarding and positive experience.
Pick it Apart
Through this experience I learned technology doesn't have to be this ominous intimidating thing. I can not only use technology but incorporate it into my classroom successfully. This course as a whole has given me so much more confidence in regards to my ability to use technology. I am no longer scared to try different technology tools, I am actually eager to use them in the future! I also learned that not every iPad app or technology tool is going to work well for your classroom. What may work for one teacher may not work for you. Or may not work for your particular group of students. It is all about testing it out and determining what works for your specific situation.
Plan to Use
I plan to use the things I learned in this class in the future; I will do my best to incorporate technology in the classroom. One of the main determiners if I do this or not is the school district that I will be teaching in. I just finished my first practicum with Omaha public schools at North high school, since it is a technology magnet you would think that they would have an abundance of technology resources for every classroom.... this is not true (we all know public schools are under funded unfortunately) The English classroom I was in had one outdated computer and that was all. So using some of these technology tools would be next to impossible in this specific classroom in this specific district. In other districts like district 66 where every student is provided with their own mac laptop, these technology tools would be more realistic to use. All I can say is that I will do my best to incorporate technology into my classroom but I really won't know to what extent until I get my first teaching job and see what situation I'm working with.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Thursday, December 4, 2014
12/6/14 Readings
The first readings I wanted to touch on for this week is "Why Gamification" and "Students Respect the Badge" from the metawriting blog of Deanna Mascle.
Reading these articles got me thinking about a class I am in this semester. Some of you may have taken it before, "Composition Theory and Pedagogy" with Dr. Adams. He uses contract grading in his class. Basically we as a class develop a contract for a grade A, B or a C. As a class we determine what needs to be done in order to achieve that grade in the class. Does this sound familiar?
"Actually, I don’t do anything with the badges. I hand that responsibility off to the class." We generated a list of badges and criteria as a class"
Then once we have the contracts written up each student decides which grade they would like to contract for and then signs that contract. Agreeing to complete all of the following to get that grade. It is something I knew nothing about before having this class. I am not sure if it is something I would use in my future classroom. Kind of like this badge idea. Both the contract grading and badges seem to be trying to break away from traditional grading perimeters but I don't know if I am completely sold on this whole idea of badges. Are these badges an alternative to grading? An addition to grading? I'm a little confused. Can anyone shed some light on this for me?
I do like that badges give some positive reinforcement to students especially to those students who may be introverted and not very confident in whatever skill that a lesson may be on.. Badges become a way for them to get some of that confidence back. Which I think is fabulous. As an educator you need to do whatever you can to build your students up and if badges is a way to do that for some teachers all the more power to them. I was shocked to hear that all of Mascle's students embraced the idea of badges," What surprised me is how much consensus I saw. There were almost no outliers when it came to badge awards" Usually you have at least a couple of students who may for lack of a better word "poo poo" on certain ideas you have.
One thing Mascle touched on in her piece that I whole heartedly agree with is her stance on peer response.
"student writing should have an audience, but it is important to remember that the audience does not have to be you"
I am a strong proponent for peer response. Peer response is a way to get you students comfortable with giving and receiving criticism; something young writers often struggle with. It also builds a community within the classroom making your students feel safe and welcome to share with their peers. Getting and giving feedback in a small group allows student writers to enlarge their readership and fine tune their revision process as well as develop relationships in the classroom. Prior to using peer response a student may write thinking that their only reader is their teacher. Peer response allows them to hear the comments from a variety of readers with diverse backgrounds and varying opinions. As a whole the process heightens a student’s engagement not only with the materials of the course but also with their peers.
Lastly I wanted to end my blog post with a question for all of you. Do you agree or disagree with Mascel's statement about the use of blogs in her classroom. "blog posts are not busy work – they are real writing for a real audience". How do you guys feel about this statement now that we have all completed our own blog posts for this class?
The first readings I wanted to touch on for this week is "Why Gamification" and "Students Respect the Badge" from the metawriting blog of Deanna Mascle.
After reading "Why Gamification" I was still a little puzzled as to what gamification was exactly. In her blog Mascle states that gamification is "the use of game-design elements for a non-game purpose". Hmmm after reading this I was still a little lost. Emily mentioned in her blog a great article by top hat entitled "4 Ways to Bring Gamification of Education To Your Classroom" this article helped to get me to fully grasp this whole gamification concept. The top hat blog provided a really awesome example of gamification being used that stuck with me, "completing our Subway punch card to win a free sandwich". This is a real life example of game design and mechanics being used in a non game context. Ok now I'm starting to get it!
I like the idea of gamification in the classroom. I believe students respond well to games and friendly competition; they seem to engage with the material more. But I would like to physically see it used in a classroom before attempting to do it on my own. I am still not totally confident with my knowledge on the topic so I would need some example to reference back to. Some modeling would really help me.
Reading these articles got me thinking about a class I am in this semester. Some of you may have taken it before, "Composition Theory and Pedagogy" with Dr. Adams. He uses contract grading in his class. Basically we as a class develop a contract for a grade A, B or a C. As a class we determine what needs to be done in order to achieve that grade in the class. Does this sound familiar?
"Actually, I don’t do anything with the badges. I hand that responsibility off to the class." We generated a list of badges and criteria as a class"
Then once we have the contracts written up each student decides which grade they would like to contract for and then signs that contract. Agreeing to complete all of the following to get that grade. It is something I knew nothing about before having this class. I am not sure if it is something I would use in my future classroom. Kind of like this badge idea. Both the contract grading and badges seem to be trying to break away from traditional grading perimeters but I don't know if I am completely sold on this whole idea of badges. Are these badges an alternative to grading? An addition to grading? I'm a little confused. Can anyone shed some light on this for me?
I do like that badges give some positive reinforcement to students especially to those students who may be introverted and not very confident in whatever skill that a lesson may be on.. Badges become a way for them to get some of that confidence back. Which I think is fabulous. As an educator you need to do whatever you can to build your students up and if badges is a way to do that for some teachers all the more power to them. I was shocked to hear that all of Mascle's students embraced the idea of badges," What surprised me is how much consensus I saw. There were almost no outliers when it came to badge awards" Usually you have at least a couple of students who may for lack of a better word "poo poo" on certain ideas you have.
One thing Mascle touched on in her piece that I whole heartedly agree with is her stance on peer response.
"student writing should have an audience, but it is important to remember that the audience does not have to be you"
I am a strong proponent for peer response. Peer response is a way to get you students comfortable with giving and receiving criticism; something young writers often struggle with. It also builds a community within the classroom making your students feel safe and welcome to share with their peers. Getting and giving feedback in a small group allows student writers to enlarge their readership and fine tune their revision process as well as develop relationships in the classroom. Prior to using peer response a student may write thinking that their only reader is their teacher. Peer response allows them to hear the comments from a variety of readers with diverse backgrounds and varying opinions. As a whole the process heightens a student’s engagement not only with the materials of the course but also with their peers.
Lastly I wanted to end my blog post with a question for all of you. Do you agree or disagree with Mascel's statement about the use of blogs in her classroom. "blog posts are not busy work – they are real writing for a real audience". How do you guys feel about this statement now that we have all completed our own blog posts for this class?
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