Twitter In Class

Even though Twitter is a social media app, it can definitely be used in a classroom. According to an article on US News, “In fact, nearly 80 percent of faculty members are using social media in some way, according to a recent survey of nearly 2,000 college faculty by the Babson Survey Research Group published in April.” I found this statistic interesting, because a lot of people use social media, but a lot of people assume teachers do not. However, it is a great thing to use as a teaching tool.  For example, you can have students make up fake accounts for characters in the book you are reading and write tweets that they would say, backed up by quotes from the book. Or, you could use it as a vocabulary lesson and have students search “hashtags” for different words and tweets they find. Regardless, this is a good way for students to get involved in the classroom and it is another way teachers can use technology in a positive way. 

Article link: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/05/24/5-unique-uses-of-twitter-in-the-classroom

Dropbox In a Classroom

Dropbox is such a great tool to have in any classroom, not just English. You create a username and password, and you can access any documents in your computer from anywhere, only if you have Wi-Fi. However, you can ask your class to join and you get more memory, and the students get to put documents up and see all of yours. This way, if they are not in class one day, they can just put the file in Dropbox without being there. That makes it so much easier for everyone, not just the student. Also, you can create different folders, so you can have a folder for every class. This is such an easy way to share files with your class. Also, if it is summer break and you know who your students are, you can add them to Dropbox and send them things like summer reading information. Whenever a file is added to Dropbox, your computer alerts you, so they always know when something is being added. This also makes group work so much easier; instead of having to meet up, students can just create a folder in Dropbox and put everything there. This program is such an amazing tool; you can transfer music, pictures and PowerPoints, so your students can never say that their email wasn’t working. Being able to access Dropbox from anywhere makes everything so much easier, and every teacher should have it in their classroom.

Storyboard

Storyboard is a great way for students to come up with interesting stories for characters in the classroom. This is also a great way to teach characterization. By using Storyboard in a classroom, students can come up with different characters and create a story for them. This is a great way for students to get involved. I liked this website so much, I ended up integrating it into my final lesson plan. Also, there are many different options on this website, so you can use it as an informative lesson, a fun lesson, or as a collaborative lesson. You can also use this website for assessments; you can have them create a story board based on something they just read; this is a fun way to assess the students, and they will not even realize they are being tested. This makes it really versatile, and can be used for so many different things. Overall, this is such a great tool to have in your classroom. Students love it because it is fun, and teachers love it because students are still learning, even though they are having fun!

Technology Integration Final

             The lesson I chose to use for the technology integration plan was dry and dull; however, by enriching it with technology, it became more fun, relatable, and effective. It is a three day lesson that encompasses the technology standards we have been learning about all semester. The lesson was on romantic poetry; it simply asked students to read the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Shelley and analyze it, and then have a discussion about the themes of the poem. However, I recreated the lesson and made it more fun for the students.

                The students will come to class and I will give them a brief explanation of the poem “Ozymandias.” In the show Breaking Bad, there is an episode with the same name, and a YouTube video of Bryan Cranston (the main character in Breaking Bad) reading the poem as a preview to the episode. We will watch this video and talk about what the video made us think the poem will be about. I chose this video because I think a lot of students will relate to it. Many students watch Breaking Bad, and if they do not they have probably heard about it. However, in case they have not, we will watch different clips of the episode that parallel to the poem. This will simply be an introduction to the lesson, so the students can come up with their thoughts on the poem.

                After the introduction, we will move onto the content. The students will read the poem silently, and after we will discuss it as a class. The students will ask any questions they have. We will mainly talk about how the poem still has themes that relate to our culture today. The poem talks about a man whose grave has a quote he once said, and even though he died many years ago, his legend still remains. To build off of that, I will use the computer to look up different famous and legendary people, and the students will write down what they remember these people by. Some examples would include Steve Jobs, Paul Walker, Nelson Mandela, Brittany Murphy and James Gandolfini. If the students do not know someone, I will explain who they are; if they were an actor or actress, I will show the students clips of their more famous work. This will be interesting to them because they are all relevant people in their lives, whether they realize it or not. At the end of day one, I will assign students with their groups for the project the next day.

                At the beginning of day two, the students will sit with their groups I had assigned the day before. We will talk about the project they are going to do in class that day. They will be picking one of the people we talked about in class the day before, or making up a character. They will have the class period to create a storyboard for their character. They will have certain criteria they have to meet, such as creating a backstory for their person, and describing what the person will be remembered by. This will be a very exciting way for the students to come up with a characterization, but also relate it to the poem we read. It will also be good for them to use this technology; mainly because it is fun, but also to get them more used to using it and becoming more comfortable with being assessed on their ability to do so.

                On the third day, the students will present their story boards. I will assess them on their ability to present effectively but I will also be making sure they accurately used the technology, and were proficient in doing so. Students will also be assessing their classmates and will give each other feedback when they are all done. This promotes constructive peer feedback, and will help the students become better and more comfortable with talking to each other.

                Overall, this lesson implements different technologies, and will help students learn romantic poetry using the different technologies. These are all fun and interesting ways for the students to learn. Because they are different, they will not even realize they are learning! These activities will help the students with technology practices, peer feedback, creating websites and comic strips, and becoming overall better learners. Overall, this semester has helped me implement these lessons and become more comfortable with integrating technology into my classroom. This three-day lesson is just one example of that.

 

My Big Campus

                My Big Campus is a free online tool that any educator can sign up for and benefit from. This online classroom can be accessed from your laptop, computer, phone or any other technological device so that learning can be extended beyond the classroom. This website is 100% safe from pop-ups and ads, and also lets parents go on and monitor the progress of their students.

               The website has many features that are great for classrooms. For example, there is a profile section where students come up with a profile and talk about themselves so the other students in the class can get to know them better. There is also a Library section where students can look up scholarly articles that they can use for things such as research papers. Educators can use the Groups function to put their classes onto one page, and can even be used for sports teams and clubs.

This website helps you create a virtual classroom where students can interact with each other and you as an educator. Teachers can create tests and quizzes and the students have to take it on the website. They can see their results right away and the website keeps track of their progress. Also, you can see where the students did well and need improvement, which helps you focus on all your students’ needs.

Many educators and students have already started using My Big Campus, and for very good reason. This website is great for all students, and helps them get a more interesting and exciting education. Most of the students who have started using this website really enjoy it, and it is definitely a great tool to have in your classroom.

Canvas Remix

At first I had a hard time coming up with a canvas I could remix. However, once I saw the title “The Struggle Between Good and Evil” I knew I had finally found a canvas I could actually incorporate. Because Hamlet talks a lot about good and evil, and making bad decisions, this was a perfect canvas for me to remix. I added pictures that showed decisions in Hamlet that were not good, and also a video of Hamlet killing Polonius to show one of the worst decisions he makes, and how his judgment was so clouded by hatred for Claudius. I did not have to remove anything from the original canvas because it did not carry over to my new canvas. Overall, I think these two units would work very well together. Using Art and Music along with English is always really interesting and really exciting for any student; I also found a few standards that still aligned with the lesson.

Remixed Canvas

Kidblog In a Classroom

Because it is vital as educators that we use technology in our classroom, we must always be aware of the evolving and changing technologies that we can utilize to make our classroom as enriching as possible. One website I found that would be great in a classroom is Kidblog. Kidblog is a free website teachers can use in their classrooms, and students can also join for free. The website does not make students give any personal information and there are no ads. Because it is safe and reliable, many teachers use it to get their students more involved.

                Kidblog is a free blogging site all students can sign up for free of charge. Once on the website, they can blog from anywhere, including their phones and iPads. Teachers can use the website to start discussions and have the students answer, whether in class or for homework. They can also create presentations and display them on the website; overall, this is a great tool to have. In an English classroom this would be great because you could start a discussion in class, and then have the students complete it for homework.

                This website is a great tool to help students be more engaged in a classroom. Almost four million students have already joined, and that number will likely continue to rise once people realize how amazing this site really is.

Unit Plan Canvas

At first I did not know how to create my canvas, because my lesson plan was an introduction to all Shakespeare. However, I wanted to put a more contemporary feel on the lesson, so I decided to introduce Hamlet. The lesson includes gathering background information of the time period the play was written during, and then creating a commercial for a product they would have used. It also focuses on trying to get students to think about Hamlet in a more contemporary way, because it gets harder for teachers to do that. By comparing life in the 1600’s to now, they will get a feel for how different the time is, but by watching a very contemporary version of the movie Hamlet, they will see that it is still very much relatable. By the end of the lesson, the students will be able to relate to at least one character and an experience that character had in the play, and be able to relate it to a life experience he/she has had.

Unit Plan Canvas: Hamlet 

Who is the SAT Essay Really Helping?

The SAT is a standardized test that is almost a rite of passage for any student in high school. Even though it is aimed to a small percentage of students who will actually do well, colleges demand that the tests be taken. We spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars prepping, hiring tutors, studying and cramming, but in the end most students will not do well at all, and colleges will not accept them regardless of their grades and extracurricular. However the one section that people deem completely unnecessary is the writing portion, or the essay.

            In the article, “We Are Teaching High School Students to Write Terribly” author Matthew Malady argues that the essay is the most unnecessary part of the test because of the many flaws it encompasses. Because essay graders have a maximum of 2-3 minutes to read the essays, they will never actually read and make sure it is coherent and cohesive. Also, graders tell students to “make stuff up” if it will make you sound more interesting. It has been reported that students have even made up fake deaths to sound more interesting and garner more sympathy. And because graders do not have more than a few minutes to grade, they have no time to check historical accuracy of facts or even look up unfamiliar words, which could very well be made up.

             With all of this information, it makes it hard to see the purpose of the SAT essay. Students are rushed to write about an event they might not know happened, and are graded based on whether or not they use big words. Because of this, other tests like the ACT have made the writing portion optional to students who think it will benefit them. Writing this way is not helping students grow as writers and really is not helping. This unfair grading process, which only helps a small percentage of students, should not be mandatory.

Article URL: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2013/10/sat_essay_section_problems_with_grading_instruction_and_prompts.html

Technology and Pedagogy

I chose this lesson because I think teachers have such a hard time teaching Shakespeare because the students simply do not want to read it. I think that this lesson plan is really interesting and fun for students, and because it uses so many forms of technology it will capture their attention. There were some gaps in the standards and how the lesson actually fulfilled them. For example, there was a standard that said the students would learn how to write a research paper, but there was no assignment in the lesson plan that would fulfill that. Therefore, I had to create the research assignment so the standard would actually be fulfilled. Also, there was some research to be done before the assignment, but not about the things people used in this time period, it was more of researching that time in general. Being more specific would definitely help. I think creating a commercial is a very important thing to be taught. Not only do you have to film it, you then have to show it to all of your peers, which is a very bold thing that I think students need to learn. Also, I think the research is essential before starting Shakespeare because some teachers try to jump right in, and it never works out in their favor. Students need to have some background before starting these texts. I do not think there is a better technology that would help fulfill these goals because researching and making a commercial can only be done with a computer and video camera.

Are Scantrons More Effective Than Other Grading Methods?

For last week’s blog I decided to use Scantrons as the technology I thought was interesting and wanted to learn more about. After much consideration, I believe Scantron machines are both useful, but are also sometimes more trouble than they are worth.

            From a teacher’s standpoint, Scantrons are great. They can grade tests for you, and it takes only a few minutes. That means that because they do not have to take the time to grade tests, they can dedicate more time to coming up with intriguing lessons. Also, it is great for the students, because they take a test and can have the grade by the end of the day (depending on the teacher.) For this, these machines are great.

            However, they can also be a huge hassle. Students have to use pencil to take the test, so if they forget they automatically cannot take the test (unless the teacher is nice enough to provide a pencil.) Also, it is hard to keep track of what bubble you are actually on, so if you miss one question you can throw off all your answers for the entire test. In terms of teaching English, Scantrons are not always practical. Even though you can give multiple-choice tests once in a while, the majority of the work should be assignments like essays and readings; obviously Scantrons cannot grade those.             And even though Scantrons are machines, they can also be wrong. If a student fills in a bubble wrong or not darkly enough, it could take points off as an unanswered question.

            Scantron machines are a great help to many teachers; they make grading and testing easier. However, it is not always practical to only have Scantron-based tests, considering the many negatives that could occur. There are many positives and negatives to these machines, and for now teachers will continue to use them. 

History of Technology in English

Making the grading process a breeze since the 70's.

Social Media as a Teaching Tool

Social media can be used in all classrooms, and can definitely be used to enhance English lessons. The best teachers are the relatable ones who understand what students are interested in, and incorporate that into their lessons. Different Social Medias such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (and many others) can make a lesson more interesting and heighten the experience for the student.

            There is website, Fakebook.com, that has the same Facebook template, but is temporary and used for teaching purposes. One way to make this apply to a classroom would be to have the students make fake profiles for characters. For example, if you are reading The Great Gatsby, you could have the students make a fake profile for Jay Gatsby and create what they think he would be like. The students could put quotes he says in the book, pictures, a friend list and posts in his voice. To further the assignment, they could write a paper to back up why they thought he would say these things.

            Another Social Media students could use would be twitter. Like Fakebook, they could come up with fake accounts for different characters and tweet things they would say. Since some students do not know how to use Twitter, you could print out a template and have them write out the assignment.            

            Activities like these are simple ways to make a lesson more exciting for you and the students. Social Media is a great way to parallel many books and create activities. Because so many students use Social Media, it is imperative that teachers can figure out ways to incorporate it into their lessons. Of course there are countless others we as teachers could use. Most of the books students read in school are outdated and sometimes do not make sense to students, but with these activities the students will be more engaged and willing to read and learn. 

Technology in English Classrooms

It is interesting to think about the ways technology has shaped our classrooms, seemingly without us even knowing. When I was in high school, I was in an Honors English class. Every night for homework we had to read at least a few chapters of whichever book we were working on. However, there were some nights when I was too lazy or tired to read, so instead I would look at the summary on Sparknotes. It was not that I did not understand the material, but some nights I just did not want to actively read, which included highlighting, commenting and thinking about what the passage meant. Reading the summaries on these websites was so easy, and my teachers never even noticed; the summaries were so in detail, it was easy to read that and still be able to participate in a classroom discussion. Looking back, I wish I had just read the books; the amount of time I spent reading the summaries could have been used to read the actual book, but nonetheless I did really well in my classes.

As times are changing, the classes we are teaching will be more diverse, which will probably include many ELL’s (English Language Learners.) This means that the students will already be struggling with the complexities of English, and then have to read books that are already challenging for students whose first language is English. Because of this, websites like Sparknotes and Cliffnotes will be used even more. These websites are so easy to access, and even easier to read, which means it will be harder to pick up on whether students understand the material. It becomes even more challenging when students who can read choose not to, because then it will become even harder to detect who is just lazy and who really cannot understand the books.

Another problem English teachers will face with the rise of technology is autocorrect and spell check. Students write papers mostly on word, and when they make a spelling error it immediately shows up and gives them the correction. However, many students do not understand the root of the error and continue to make it over and over. When they have to write papers without spell check, they do not understand their mistakes, and make them once again. However, when you write with a pen and paper, there is no spell check to tell you that you made a mistake. This is especially true with technical errors like passive voice and verb-tense agreement issues. My fear is that at some point teachers will not be required to teach these critical rules because Microsoft Word can do it just as easily.

Even though technology is very helpful in most classroom situations, I do not think it is as helpful in English classrooms. Students need to learn the basics of the language, and they do not need a computer, tablet, or cell phone to do so. Most of the time these technologies make it even more confusing to learn an already difficult language, which is something schools should consider when making their curriculums and equipping students with these powerful tools. 

Technology Autobiography

            Technology is amazing in the way it connects people, makes information more attainable and makes learning more possible. However, it is a double-edged sword in the way it has somewhat consumed our lives. My goal is to become an English teacher, so most technologies can be applied to a classroom, however a lot of these technologies can start to take away from the basis of English, which is reading and writing. Reading has become skimming on a Kindle or other tablet, and writing has become typing. That being said, I appreciate technology and rely on it every day. The three most important technologies in my life are my cell phone, laptop, and social media.

            My parents bought me my first cell phone when I was in seventh grade. It is amazing to see how much more advanced phones are now than they were seven or eight years ago. My first phone was a flip phone, with no camera, texting or front screen. Now, my phone is basically a mini computer; I can buy books, listen to music, take pictures with professional-like camera quality and watch movies all in one place. Smart phones are great because you can download and read books with one simple click, therefore learning new information at all times. One of the girls in the video said her phone was like her third hand. I completely agree; my phone is with me at all times, and if I ever lose or break one and have to wait to buy another it is almost torturous. I realize this is a huge problem; I have become so attached to my cell phone I never know what to do without it.

            My laptop is a close second in my list of important technologies. Laptops are great because they’re not that big, so you can bring them anywhere, and you can do almost everything that you can do with a computer. Learning has become so much easier with the use of laptops; you can immediately Google something if you do not know the answer, or have your homepage be a news website so you are always receiving current information. However, laptops can be a burden because they are not always reliable. If you have an assignment due at midnight and wait until an hour before to do it, the Internet could stop working and then you are stuck with a late assignment. Also, if you do not back your laptop up and it crashes, you could lose every assignment you have ever worked on. This is a huge issue for students and teachers. Laptops are great tools to learn from, but they are also not completely reliable.  

            The third communication technology that has impacted my life is social media, but mainly Facebook. While I enjoy going onto Facebook to check up on people I know and see what they are doing, I also learn a lot while I am on it. Many people post links of interesting things happening, and I get to catch up with people I might not have seen for a while. However, Facebook does have its flaws; it is set up so the most interesting things show up on your News Feed, which makes it seem as if your life is more boring than other people’s, which might not be the case at all. However, I really enjoy looking at different websites and learning more while on it.