Laney's 2040

After observing at Florida State University Schools, I soon became familiar with Google Classroom. Prior to observing at FSUS, I had never used Google Classroom or had any experience with it. However, I soon realized how much of a helpful resource it was for students. The teacher I observed used it to post resources and materials so her students could access them in class and at home. Google Classroom is so easy to manage and organize which is great for the teacher, but also the student as well. There are a lot of neat features like the ability to post questions and have students answer, a calendar, and discussion boards too!  Since I had never used this, I was a little nervous when creating my website, however, it was so simple and easy to navigate. I could definitely see myself using this in the future as a teacher.

I hope to be a second-grade teacher, so while it might be hard for students to use Excel, I think it is something I could use as the teacher. I would most likely use it for record keeping and to stay up to date with the student’s data and progress. Excel could serve as a personal gradebook for me to have a copy for myself, seeing that most schools have a specific website for that.  I could also use it to keep their parents’ contact information as well. As for surveys, I think second graders could participate and fill them out and possible enjoy them too! I would probably make them at the end of a lesson, to get feedback from the students. I could even create one for the beginning of the lesson to serve as a benchmark of what the students know or don’t know.  When reading blogs posted by other students in class, I found it most interesting seeing what they struggled and succeeded on. It seems to me that we all were in the same boat for the most part. What I struggled ...

Using Twitter is not exactly my favorite. I think because I have never been a fan, makes it hard to use it in an educational sense. I am not too familiar with it and how it works. But with time I have found to navigate around the app and realize the different uses it has. I do find it a little difficult to interact with people when you’re limited to 140 characters, but for an academic sense, and especially in high school I think that could be a benefit.  Working on the web design was absolute chaos at first. I had no idea what I was doing and was completely overwhelmed. It was something I had never done before and could definitely use some more practice on. I did like all the creativity that was allowed for, however, that almost made it too difficult at times. Having so many options was overwhelming, especially for a beginner. With time and becoming more familiar with the website creator, I could definitely see myself making a more visually appealing website, and one that is m...

The flipped Classroom is a concept that I am not too familiar with. The first time I heard about it was this semester. However, from what I have gathered and read, essentially the students prepare themselves for class and read over the material at home before class. Then during class students can get feedback from the teacher on what they don’t understand, or things they might have had trouble with. Then after class students are assigned homework problems that can check for understanding. It is not a traditional way of teaching and I think would be a hard practice to implement.  https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/impact-of-open-educational-resources/ Open educational resources are also something new to me, but something I think is very helpful. These are resources, and usually online, that cater to all learning styles. Teachers can find something that could help their students, but it might not be age appropriate or might go too in-depth so OER gives them the ability to ch...

      For the Florida State University School, they have an elementary, middle and high school, and on their homepage, there are links to each of the three schools. From there, you can access individual grade levels, and even further into that, parents and students can access a specific teacher. On the teachers, home page, are different links and resources. For a specific fifth grade class, there is a welcome page, as well as class schedules, a link to their Google classroom and an informational page on the teacher. These are all side tabs that link to different pages, some include information regarding field trips, while others are tips and study hacks or websites the students can use. For parents, every weekly newsletter is posted so they can stay up to date with what the students are doing in the class. Overall, there is a lot of information for not just the students, but also the parents as well! Here is a link for Mr. Valdes' website:  https://www.fsus.school/Do...

For my independent learning project, I decided to make an InfoGraphic. When I first chose this, I immediately opened up Microsoft Word, but then I thought, there has to be a better way for me to do this. Now I know I could have created something on Photoshop, but that is way out of my skill level right now. However, after a little research, I found this awesome website, www.canva.com. It allows you to make any type of graphic that you want! It also gives templates and ideas for you, which is what I did. I took one of the templates and changed some things around like the colors, fonts, and style. I had so much fun with this project, and this I definitely a resource I would use as a teacher to convey some not so interesting information in a more fun way!

Prior to this class, I had never even heard of Diigo, let alone used it. I must say, at first it was a little tricky, however, with a little practice it became easier. When researching, I visit a lot of websites and sometimes exit out of them or don’t always save them, and then I am left scrambling, going through my browsing history trying to find them. I like how with Diigo it is not only so easy, but the fact there is an extension you can install on your browser. The extension makes it so simple to save it quickly and leaves you with all of your resources in the same place.   I can honestly say that I would have never imagined myself writing a blog. I always thought it was such an official thing, and something you had to be approved for. However, I quickly learned that, that is not the case and anyone can write a blog. This then entails what I find so interesting and neat, is that there are blogs on just about anything. Although it is convenient that anyone can write abou...

I have never been a big fan of Twitter; however, it is interesting using it in an educational aspect. Recently I have been interacting with people who are also in the EME2040 class by using the hashtag, #fsu2040. It is neat how I am able to connect with other students, even those that aren’t in my exact class. I have found that a lot of us are in the same boat when it comes to when I tweet about assignments and observations for my other education class. I do not think I would ever use Twitter in my classroom. However, if I ever got to the point and was teaching high schoolers, I would maybe consider it. Twitter is a popular platform among teenagers, so I think that would have them actively participating if I were to require them to use it. I would most likely tweet out a question and their homework would be to respond to it, or something along those lines. While I can see it being helpful as a communication platform with my students, I do not think I would use it unless I ended up tea...

     After looking over the different ELA standards for 3rd grade, based on my knowledge and background, one I found I am most prepared to teach is  LAFS.3.RI.2.5. This standard is defined as " Use text features and search tools (e.g.,  key words, sidebars, hyperlinks ) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently." I feel comfortable with this because I have had a history with online textbooks as well as websites that assist with course content. One that I could definitely learn more about would have to be  LAFS.3.W.3.8. I am not the best at organizing sources, and having bookmarking sites or information sorters would probably be very helpful in my future teaching career.       One of the CPALMS tools from the educator toolkit that I find most interesting and helpful would have to be the curriculum coordinator. I think it is neat how it corresponds with Florida's standards and gives you ideas on what...

Microsoft word was probably the first computer program I learned how to use. I remember being in third grade, we would have to write an essay and then we were required to type it; this was my first encounter with it. From this point on, it became a more familiar program for me to see in the classroom. I noticed teachers used it to make and format their tests. It has also been used to create our weekly newsletters than were handed out to us. As I got older, I began to use Microsoft Word more and more. Whether it was to use it to create WordArt to put on a poster or to write a report, it soon became a stable for every assignment I had.  Copyright is a big issue and as students, we were always taught to give credit or cite our sources. I remember my teacher would always stress the importance of not plagiarizing. As a teacher, I imagine to be pretty difficult to create product and material for your classroom and the students without facing issues in copyright. I do know there are ...

Teachers are influenced to have their students use technology in the classroom because of the day and age we are in first and foremost, but it also creates a new method of engagement and learning. It focuses on different aspects of learning style and triggers certain sensory skills that are not targeted when just writing on paper or listening to a lecture.  Technology is something that is evolving so fast nowadays, the standards that International Society for Technology in Education, has established help students grow and evolve with the technology. These standards embody the ideology of encouraging technology in the classful in helpful ways, not to just make the computer do the teaching. One standard that really stands out to me and is something that I find important is the student standard of the creative communicator.    This standard vouches for the creativity in a student to be let out and to use technology to put emphasis on the subjects that are often dism...

☀HELLO☀ Welcome to my first blog!   I am a sophomore at Florida State University. I am from Cape Coral, Florida. I am majoring in education- I want to be a teacher of some sort, but just not sure of what, yet! I love being outside, and the beach is my favorite place. I used to play soccer and golf in high school, but now I just work out and golf occasionally.   Technology is definitely not my strong suit, but I feel like I have a basic understanding for common programs. In high school I had a graphic design class, and in this class I learned how to use Photoshop, I am in no ways an expert, but could work my way around the program. I also use Microsoft Word and PowerPoint on a pretty frequent basis for school projects and papers. Over the past year I gained more experience and became more familiar with Excel, as it was the main program we used at work.  In this class, I hope to become more proficient with different Microsoft programs. I ...