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During one assignment we developed a lesson plan to encourage the use of technology within the classroom. I think this Lesson Plan is a great example of how seamless this process can become. Media can be incorporated within any English language learning course. Students will engage with a YouTube video and Powerpoint that the teacher will present moving on to promptly work on their own "Stop Light Method" Canva ! I personally believe giving students the opportunity to produce their very own Stop Light method poster helps them review the content creatively.

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This is an Adobe Express Video I created to talk a little bit about myself in the form of a poem. The purpose of this assignment was to explore how students can engage with this technology , to create their own "I Am Poems" or work with Adobe Express for any project or homework assignment. I really enjoyed this project because it gave me so many ideas on ways I can customize lesson plans. The App was student and teacher friendly. I was able to add color, text, pictures, and other details that personalized my own experience. This project is enjoyable for students who are motivated visually, and lends them a voice in a unique way.

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A few colleagues and I explored one particular Math Game on a website called ABCya! We analyzed this game through an educational analytical lens. Exploring certain features of the game we worked together to break down the technical , instructional and theoretical benefits of incorporating Math games into an Elementary Curriculum .

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Copy of Melissa Rivera - Group Game Review

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Have you ever wanted to give your students a visual voice? Allow them to explore material they are learning in class through a creative and self - directed manner ? One way that you can give your students that opportunity is by using the App Canva both within your classroom and out ! Canva is an excellent way to check for understanding. Canva has so many beautiful graphic images great for creating posters and infographics ! I truly enjoyed using Canva to create this infographic about why digital literacy is important within school. Students will love knowing they have the choice to express themselves ! Teachers will love to know that they are meeting their goals and collecting work that expands their Teaching Goals!

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Quizlet Presentation Using Screen Castify 

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Quizlet Presentation Using Screen Castify 

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This semester student teachers were also able to explore in different ways how we can present content to students both In- Person and/ or Virtually. One tech friendly method we explored this semester was through using Screen-Castify. This tool was used for screen recording and speaking over a particular tech tool presentation. This tool allows teachers to easily upload what they want to say within any given Powerpoint. Students can click on the Screen-Castify within a presentation. Share the video with one another, or limit who they want to see the video (such as the teacher ).They can also create their own Screen-castify account and share their own thoughts for multiple projects . This is another virtually friendly way of presenting information. This was a very easy to use tech tool, that allowed me to provide visual learning or auditory learning aides. Teachers have the freedom to really model for students in a way they might not be able to in a virtual school or in person setting.

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Observations Of a First Year Teacher/Blog

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The Edu Blog was one of my favorite assignments within the semester. I think having a blog and sharing your ideas is so important within the educational field . To keep up to date with what is occurring within the field which is always changing . To give both you and your students a voice. This blog can be shared among parents, faculty, colleagues, and even students. This is an edublog , friendly and easy to use for people of all ages and backgrounds. These are my thoughts that have spanned throughout the semester. Giving your students a voice can improve their self worth, increase their interest in their studies, and promote collaboration.

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The coding experience was quite enjoyable for me. I like how the one hour of coding website was themed in a kid friendly way . The program I chose to practice with was about teaching students how to help different computer characters have a dance party ! I enjoyed the way the program guided me step by step. First there was a friendly and fun tutorial presented by a computer programmer who was also a dancer. Then I was able to choose which character I wanted to have a dance party with ! As I continued longer within the coding tutorial, the connection between computer language and creating a graphic world began to click for me. Every movement and special effect could only be exhibited if I told it to do so through the language I was able to connect like a puzzle on the monitor.

How do you think you would have benefited from learning how to code in school? - I believe if I had learned how to code when I was in elementary school, my attitude towards computer science, and computer languages in general may have been different. Instead of looking at the computer language as difficult, uncompromising, and a niche that was not for me it is possible I would have seen it as a more attainable skill. I can only surmise that more access to coding at a young age would have possibly given me more confidence when it comes to computer science as a subject as a whole. I definitely believe the access , time, and possibility of becoming good at a computer skill would have intrigued me as a young girl. Over time, I learned that there is a lot of access for me as an adult to learn how to code. It is simply a matter of me reaching back out to those sources and giving the skill a shot.

Do you think you would have anything to gain in learning how to code today? I most definitely think coding is a skill that could benefit all adults . I think learning how to code looks great on your resume. It can also open multiple doors and avenues for you if you let it. There is a positive skew of growth in regards to jobs relating coding. Coding has become the backbone of the future. If someone wants to remain informed in the world around them, stay marketable to employers, and learn a new skill, coding can open so many doors for someone. It is only up to that person if they want to take that first step.

After watching the movie the Social Dilemma, it is easy to feel appalled , concerned, and lastly hopeless. To think about it from the perspective of parents and educators, we are fighting against a system that we don't only want but in many ways need. To think that the greatest companies who have inspired innovation, inspired new thought, and provided life changing resources to billions of people are also the cause of this society's "demise". With much power comes greater responsibility. It was really heart wrenching to watch the various effects Social Media has on the psyche of the human mind as a whole. It's addictive qualities and the concept that we as a people have become products to advertisers. Our "attention" is considered how we pay for the free services we use such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. The core of the issue is that nobody knows they are a product. Nobody is aware that we are using digital content that is created to change the way we THINK, FEEL, and ACT. If this doesn't make you want to throw your phone away, I don't know what will ! What causes this to become more difficult is the fact that in today's day of age these apps shape the way human beings interact with one another. Almost all of our friends, parents, and acquaintances use these apps. People get jobs using these apps, people form connections with important people using these apps. And we use these apps in order to work and learn every day. So how do we take control over what possibly controls us? I think what we can do is to begin to take autonomy over what we know about the digital world and overall how much screen time we spend . We need to teach ourselves and our students about digital citizenship. We need to teach students to use technology in an intentional way with the understanding that these devices have been built with the idea behind of keeping us dependent on them. Once we approach these lessons through this sort of perspective we can be more realistic about how we communicate about these issues with one another. Students are not just another algorithm!

Digital Citizenship

Through our continuing digital connectedness it is easy to feel overwhelmed and as if we are hopeless through our ongoing digital consumption . The Digital Citizenship curriculum approaches this reality differently . Through digital citizenship students are learning HOW to use technology and social media in a safer way . Not only should you be a good citizen in the "real" world , but you should also be a good citizen in the "digital" realm. Students may have various questions about how to act in different scenarios. What happens if someone "exposes" you in a group chat? How should you act? Should you let a teacher know, or your parents? What happens if your account on Instagram has been hacked? How do you create an excellent password? What information is safe to share online and what isn't ? Through the Rings of Responsibility framework , we are guided to think about moral, ethical and civic considerations. This lens of learning goes through 32 different lessons, teaching students about personalizing their own media use. What a digital footprint looks like and how to limit our own, how to best represent our identities online. Other lessons within this framework discuss issues such as hate speech and cyber bullying. How to build a healthy relationship with your friend rather than being over bearing. I think this curriculum is helpful for adults, teenagers and children alike. Through this knowledge we can all better face the real world issues that come with the great power of technology and connectedness.

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In what ways can technology support UDL : UDL is about ensuring that within the classroom a flexible pedagogy is being used at all times, incorporating technology can also help create a flexible pedagogy . There are so many different free and low cost ways UDL apps can assist teachers so that they can reach all students. These apps can assist in making learning flexible as well as personalize them for each student. One way to ensure UDL is being incorporated is by introducing Project based learning, so that students are able to tie what they learn in the classroom with real world issues.

Through PBL , students are gaining knowledge and skills so that they can research, find, discover, and sift through real world complicated issues. This PBL approach happens over an a periodic amount of time. PBL uses technology because while students are conducting this inquiry based learning style they are researching online, working with technology in ways they may have never done before. Learning about new tools, using these tools, engaging with these tools. Students can also go out into their own communities and gather data through talking to other people. Inputting this data into an online survey, interviewing by the use of audio or visual aids. Through this work students are putting actual context behind the information they are gathering. They have to think more broadly and expand their knowledge past the memorization of content.

PBL is a great example of UDL because students are really getting involved in their own learning and are able to take charge. Through their own completion of assessments, and the chance to present gained information in multiple ways. Technology helps support PBL through a UDL design by allowing information to be easily stored for both teachers and students when they engage in this type of work. There are so many different storage tools teachers can feel comfortable to use with full classrooms . Google Drive is great for collaborative purposes and can be used to store, share, and create . There are opportunities within Google Drive to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings and data collecting forms. Collaboration through these documents is easy and clean, there are so many ways students can brainstorm together in order to create a beautiful project. And changes are saved in real time so that students don't have to worry about their work being accidentally lost.

Another great technological tool that helps support UDL is Dropbox. Dropbox is useful because it is an online file storage app, that can store a ton of data from past student work. Students can store their own documents into Dropbox as well as work collaboratively in projects. More technological tools that make learning more comprehensive are live student response tools that can collect student answers and display them within real time. So that students can assess their own work as well as check their classmates , organizing their thoughts in a self checking way. A few great LIVE student response tools are as follows. Socrative is a tech tool that learners can follow through with as their teachers present interactive questions from any device. Nearpod is an app that gives teachers the opportunity to broadcast presentation type questions that contain polls and quizzes. These polls and quizzes can be paced, and results are adjusted accordingly as well as lessons.

For students who have trouble working in "traditional" learning ways there are even more tools that can incorporate both audio and visual skillsets. Students can display their understanding of content in more creative ways. Clips is an easy tech tool that is a free iOS app, that gives students the opportunity to automatically create video included with subtitles. iMovie is also an app where students can actually edit their own documentary or short films. They can capture key ideas of content learned and feel free to explore various topics through video clips, photos, music and personal narrations.

Why is UDL confused with learning styles ? I believe UDL is confused with learning styles because UDL focuses on being proactive in an approach to addressing any walls that may be present within a learning environment through a general education lens. It is more focused on developing a proactive and designing an entire curriculum that evaluates learning experiences in a more accessible and broad way. It's confused with learning styles because the learning styles method focuses on singular learning styles such as Auditory, Visual, and converger. But the difference between the two is vast. The learning style method focuses more on those individual needs, and individual skillsets meanwhile UDL focuses on creating a more comprehensive curriculum as a whole that incorporates all these styles . Some teachers may get confused with the broad idea of it and connect it with learning style, by thinking in a more "specific sense " . The "matching instruction " method is a short term solution for a long term issue. UDL focuses on the long term solution rather the short term lesson per lesson focus.

My experiences on reading , learning, and using a concept map online was mostly a positive one. I can see how a concept map could be used to create an interactive activity for students, in the form of a research project, or a way to check for understanding. Students can individualize their own concept map tools and enjoy the freedom to choose what they want to say and information they would like to share. If I was to lend students an in classroom assignment over a topic we have been discussing about in science, I would ask students to create a concept map for me and show me what they know so far. The concept map could be broken down into different categories. What the students know, what they would still like to know, and their own thoughts regarding why this scientific knowledge can benefit them. And why they are even learning about this concept in the first place. Students will be cued to find videos to share and watch with one another regarding that topic matter. By either drawing diagrams of what they know , answering teacher questions within one concept map box per each. I appreciate the concept map style of teaching because it can be used as a guidance point for students to follow through with. Each box can be used as a question point, or a point of reflection and guidance for students to continue to grow their maps. I would facilitate this project as an in classroom activity where I can then share students concepts maps on the boards, or students can present their concept maps as an in classroom presentation . Below is an example of a concept map I would create as a reference for my students. I would tell them to have fun with where their thoughts and research may take them. Depending on the grade level as well this activity may have to be monitored differently but either way a concept map for a teacher is a great way to save and organize your own work. And lead into the next subject matter topic flawlessly .

It is time for educators to start thinking of digital storytelling as a valid way to teach students to express themselves in multi modal methods. Digital storytelling can be a great way for students to reflect on their own life experiences and reimagine them in a creative digital form of any sort. When we tell a story through digital means we are still planning, scrapping together materials, and constantly researching ways to experiment with online tools. It's important as a K-12 educator to incorporate a multimodal, low cost, and user friendly editing software into our classrooms. To give students the chance to express just how powerful digital story telling can be . When we allow students to use digital tools outside of school as a form of homework or project based work, students motivations may increase and their identities may develop as they continue to grow a digital literacy. And with this a student's confidence level may increase. Allowing students to incorporate the usage of online cartoons, emojis, and illustrations, as well as the usage of Memes could be a great way to get to know your students. As well as understand better the generational culture that they come from. When we think about cartoons we also should imagine , online video formats such as Giphs, Youtube videos, Instagram clips, as well as streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, students may be extracting work and their content from . When we incorporate the use of Digital Storytelling into our day to day we are building various important 21st century skills. Ranging from creativity and inventive thinking, to allowing multiple intelligences to thrive within the classroom . Informational literacy is being obtained, visual literacy, sound literacy and technical literacy. Communication skills are being built upon such as oral , written, and digital. Students learn how to manage project based work as well as collaborate together. They understand one another better as well as trying to understand themselves.

The ISTE Standards for students provides educators with guidelines on how they can incorporate technology within the classroom setting , in a manner that sets students up for ultimate success. As we all know, technology can be used in creative forms as well to teach students practical skills. Standard 1.6a regarding Creative Communication, states that students should be able to express themselves creatively while using various platforms and tools. Students should have autonomy over what they create. This is such an important standard because technology goes hand in hand with creativity today. There are so many tools that integrate technology that students can take the time to learn such as Photoshop, Adobe Creative Suite, Youtube, iMovie and so on . Many students wish to express themselves through digital means, and it is our jobs as educators to keep track of and even inspire students to take one step further. Students can create their own digital works or even repurpose and remix digital sources into their own new creations. I remember in High school I purposefully took certain classes because I knew there would be a creative digital element to them. When a student knows that it is their job to create something, and that their work will be showcased to other students it incentives them to work hard and learn the new tool. Students can become the teachers in turn by showing one another new and exciting Applications, through their creations. Students can present their work and in fact should feel open and comfortable to be themselves and pass on what they know . When we work with various mediums we better understand how a medium can change an entire lesson and give it an extra edge. Imagine if you turned a science lesson about light into a student run demonstration? Students can research light and then be given various digital choices to teach one another about the information they gathered. Whether that may be through a quiz format such as in Kahoot, a YouTube video demonstration, a digital photography project, or even simply a Powerpoint.

My favorite class in school for many years was Photography, and video making class. These classes seriously expanded my own creativity in digital means and were part of the reason as to why I decided to study Media in college. High school was a time of great anxiety for me (as it is for so many students ) yet these simple classes greatly would benefit a students overall confidence and shape the course of their futures for years. We need to think about the reasons giving students of all ages the autonomy to create through a digital way is just so special. These forms of expression can possibly be the only escape students receive when it comes to their anxieties about the real world. Outside of simply thinking about the new content students should be taking in, why don't we think about the memories that can be made along with the documented work . This is part of digital literacy, knowing how to share what you create and most of all keep that work for your own resources and for the memories.

One way we can "keep" what we can create is by finding websites that allow us to recycle content that was developed over the years, as well as edit and update information with students for years to come. One of these such websites is called "Padlet" that can be used as a way for teachers and students to collaborate digitally during class time. I created my very own Padlet as a way to dip my own toes into the learning tool. So far what I found is a multitude of ways students and teachers can collaborate creatively. The link to this self made Padlet is below.
https://padlet.com/naomiokenn/9sxvzn8d638a1t67

My very first blog post will dedicate itself to the concept of blogging within the classroom . Within a regular school day there is only so much time teachers can devote to one particular subject. But, when we think about the concept of blogging and its integration of various skill sets that are needed in today's day and age, we realize that devoting time to this subject could benefit students in a multitude of ways. And not only students , but teachers alike. Let me first start off with the idea that as a teacher, it's important to be open to collaboration. The very concept of a blog is to speak your own mind, share your experiences, while welcoming others to participate and share their own. This is why it simply makes sense to incorporate blogging both from a professional and educational standpoint.

Whether you are sharing thoughts, concerns, and ideas with fellow faculty members and parents of your students. The world of education is always changing and as we grasp these changes as a community, we need to remain open minded and comfortable with the concept of discussion. Just think, wouldn't it be great if the people around you had access to invaluable information you have gained over years of experience?

In these days of the pandemic, online communication became even more valuable. A blog is a great way to lay out your yearly, monthly or even weekly plans as a teacher and provide open feedback. Things that you see or come across , a different perspective , or fresh outlook may be hard to come by. But by starting a blog and following others, we are opening ourselves up to more than we may realize . As interconnected as the internet feels , having your own blog lends anyone a new sense of independence.

A blog can provide useful resources to parents, and provide opportunities where we can just be honest with one another. With your students, practicing how to blog can be a fun way of delving into the art of personal narrative writing! The pride that comes with owning your words, and having a space to share your voice is invaluable. Students can delve even deeper by creating a blog that is visually appealing to both them and readers their age . A blog can reflect time in students lives that can be looked back upon fondly as they continue to grow up. A blog can give students the chance to be their best authentic selves. Blogs during school can be incorporated during snow days, or school closings, summer vacation, and holiday breaks. Blogging can be done anywhere and in any time !

What else can blogging teach our students ? How to communicate with one another in a respectful and open manner. How to design website layouts, that incorporate creativity through learning how to use new and exciting digital tools. How to market themselves as writers, thinkers, and collaborators. How to become engaged in their own writing, reading , and learning. How to develop a narrative voice, and create their very own linguistic writing styles. And last but not least blogging can teach our students to take autonomy over their own learning experiences.

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The coding experience was quite enjoyable for me. I like how the one hour of coding website was themed in a kid friendly way . The program I chose to practice with was about teaching students how to help different computer characters have a dance party !