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