In Honor of Halloween Past

It's six thirty and you cannot wait to get out the door. You've been in your costume since noon and no matter how hot, sweaty, or itchy you are you refuse to take it off! Your mother pleas with you, but there is no way that costume is coming off until it is bath time later...and maybe not even then.

Finally your parents finish cleaning the dinner dishes and you wait by the front door for them to get their cameras, stroller, and everything else (that is seemingly unimportant to you) ready to go. You have been waiting since last Halloween for this Halloween and it is finally here. Your pillow case turned candy bag is clasped tightly in your small fist, and you jump up and down and scream with excitement as you see your parents making their way to the door.

Whoosh! The door is open and you're off like a horse at the races, sprinting to meet all of your neighborhood friends at the end of the driveway. But before you can run off to your next door neighbors house your mother pulls out her camera... You (unenthusiastically) smile your best fake smile at the camera so that she will stop taking your picture. After fifteen minutes of posing and taking in all of the adults "oh-ing" and "awh-ing" (yes you know you're cute) you are finally released from their capture and thank God because if you had to wait for one more minute you might have exploded!

By now you're a pro at this, you know what houses to make sure you smile extra big at and throw in a twirl in your costume to get that extra piece of candy. You also know which houses are notoriously known around the neighborhood for being the "fruit and veggie" houses, and you conveniently tell your parents you are too scared to go to their front door (even though there are no decorations at all) so that you can keep moving towards your end goal... the lady at the end of the road that gives out the FULL-SIZED candy bars.

It is nearly eight thirty and you have hit all the houses (at least the ones that matter) in your neighborhood. You have lost your prized glitter tiara, the little boy two houses down has lost his army goggles, and the girl from one neighborhood over lost one of her shoes. Two other neighborhood kids are crying, your parents are bickering, and you are exhausted. You slowly walk back through your front door and plop yourself at the kitchen table, spilling your haul into one big pile. You shift through the candy, separating the chocolate from the DumDums while your mother shakes her head and picks up certain pieces of candy, throwing them away because they could be "dangerous." As long as it isn't a Reese's Cup you really don't care.

You are allowed to eat three pieces of candy and have to save the rest for another day. Your mother finally coaxes you out of your costume, throws you into the bath tub, and you are scrubbed clean. Later that night as you lay in bed you swear you can hear your parents riffling through your candy but when you ask them the next day they will claim innocence. You slowly drift to sleep feeling the pride and accomplishment that only a child with a full bag of candy can feel on Halloween, and dream about your costume for next year.

Creating for the Classroom

This week is all about creating for the classroom. There are SO many great tools available for teachers and students out there, it would be a full-time job to explore them all. However, as an educator I think it is important to spend time playing with new websites, apps, etc. because you never know what you will find to use in your classroom!

Personally, I love quotes. I have always found quotes motivational, and I plan to integrate quotes into my classroom as often as I can, whether it be through classroom decoration, essay prompts, or quick writes.

A website that I often use is a great tool for integrating quotes into the classroom. The website is quotescover.com, very easy to use, this website generates quotes into pictures that teachers or students would be able to use in a variety of ways. The tools within this website allow you to pick quotes that are already loaded on the website or type in your own quote. You are then able to choose the background color, font colors, add pictures, change the text, etc.  This site is user friendly, and gives a variety of options for saving the image that was created.

Below are examples of quotes that I have created and posted on Twitter for my JV volleyball team!

Technology in the Classroom

In this weeks blog post I will be channeling my inner teacherella and her thoughts on technology in the classroom.

As far as technology is concerned, I consider myself to be a technology native. I have grown up from young age using technology, and feeling comfort in its use. Although I cannot say that I recognized about more than about half of the sites listed on the class link, I know that if given the opportunity I could learn to use them all. On a daily basis I text, email, browse social media sites, and use academic technology such as BlackBoard.

The three links that I liked best and think would be most useful in a classroom are as follows:
1) Screen-Cast-O-Matic found at www.screencast-o-matic.com
2) Voice Thread found at www.voicethread.com
3) Slideshare found at www.slideshare.net

The screen cast website is very useful to give step-by-step instructions to students for any kind of digital platform. If students need to learn how to use tools on a particular site or computer application, teachers can upload files that would assist students to do so. The voice thread site is very interesting. This would be a great way to upload online lectures, or supplemental material for students to look through for class. I would also like to use this instead of having to do online discussions, for students to be able to record their voices and their picture speaking about a certain topic, instead of using plain text would add a whole other element to assignments! Finally, slideshare, although a simple tool, would be very helpful. Students could upload their presentations for easy access and safe storage. Teachers would also be able to use this tool to upload any class files that students need for note taking or review. I think that this site would be particularly helpful for students who miss class, or are slower notetakers and make need to go back and add information to their notes.

To be quite honest, I have yet to start thinking about how I will keep learning after school, other than the far off thought of getting a masters degree; so I feel I have very little insight into virtual professional learning. However, after browsing the sites on our class list, I notice that there are basically unlimited opportunities for virtual professional learning. Although I am sure that some sites, or platforms are held in higher esteem than others, it seems that learning opportunities for educators is endless! It also seems that a lot of professional learning comes in the form of blogs, which would be a great way to get involved with student writing as well.

Virtual writing is quickly becoming the chosen platform for discussions, both personal and professional in nature. I think that it would be a great way to get students writing, however there are benefits and drawbacks to consider. For instance, students using a digital platform for writing will be able to reach a much wider audience than they would using traditional writing. However, teachers and guardians also need to monitor and guard students against any unprofessional and immodest interaction through the Internet while completing their digital writing.

After reviewing Jane Hart's slide show, Top Tech Tools for Educators 2014, found here...

http://www.slideshare.net/janehart/top-100-tools-for-learning-2014

I notice that teachers are increasingly using the dreaded....social media... in their classroom! Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest... all being used by educators. And I say about time! I think these are great platforms for students to be using in a classroom, as long as they are using them in an academically appropriate way during school hours! These platforms can lead students to research opportunities, networking opportunities, and all around great learning opportunities, which after all is what we want for our students!

Just as teachers should use the higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy in an academic sense to challenge students, they should use the higher levels of Bloom's technology taxonomy as well! We want our students applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating with technology! As teachers, it is our job to foster our students, and to do this we must push them in the right direction, but always remembering to keep grade level in mind!

There is simply SO MUCH technology out there that it can become overwhelming for an educator to try and choose what to implement in their classroom. However, I will always remember that before I introduce new technology into my classroom that I will test it out, and try to master it before I share it with students. I will also remember that not every piece of technology will work as planned, teachers need to remain flexible and open minded, and that's when the magic happens!