Reflective Post

Throughout this entire course, I found myself oddly at peace with all the new information and lessons included in all of my classes. Over the six semesters that I've attended Edison State College (Now Florida Southwestern University College), I've normally been too nervous to ask for help or asked a student for their opinions on my work. Mostly because I didn't think my work would be that good. The reason being that I've never honestly taken criticism well. But this was the first course that I've honestly felt comfortable asking people for their opinions.

I have also had an easier time reading the textbook. It’s the first one that I’ve actually been able to understand and not keep asking for help when I’ve read something that’s a new concept to me.

The one thing that I will say about this class, is that it’s the first time, I’ve ever been allowed to base most of my classwork on Irish history in America, or just simply American History (which was my favorite subject when I was in high school). Also, this class allowed me to be creative in my own way, while there were certain guidelines that I had to follow, it still left me with more room than I’m used to having when it came to designing the webpages and the quizzes that I did as part of my classwork assignments.

I’ll admit that I did stick to the same 2.0 education technology tools (bubblus, flipquiz, & kahoot) for most of my work. Mostly because when I checked out the others, they confused me way to much when it came to setting things up. Though I have to admit that my personal favorite was bubblus. It was fun being able to create a “web” of my own. Though when it came time to share the link to get credit for the assignment, that’s when things got tricky. I had to ask the teacher for help. I was worried she’d get mad, but instead she simply helped me, she wasn’t mad or anything, she was just helpful. Which in my two years here at FSW, is a nice change of pace.

Digital Badge #8

There are some teachers that think if you give your classes too many tests & quizzes, that your students will become overworked and overloaded with information. Which will lead to them failing the class. There are also some teachers who think that if you don't give your classes tests & quizzes too much then they won't learn anything. The trick is, to find that right amount of tests and quizzes. I believe that the best way for any teacher to start the semester at the beginning of the academic year, is to give them a practice assessment, this way you know what they know, what they don't know and what they need help remembering. That particular strategy is best suited for math, history and Science.

Another great way to figure out a student’s strengths and weaknesses, is to have peer reviews & group assignments throughout the semester. Mostly because the students will choose the parts of the assignment that they are best at; one student may choose to do the research, or work on the problem. One student may have good handwriting which would make them the one to write out everything, and one or more students (depending on the size of the groups in question) may be good at designing which would be perfect to figure out the layout of their presentation so that it all comes together. This is also a good way to evaluate every students contributions and how much work they’re willing to put into their assignments & homework.

The idea of using clickers in a classroom is actually quite genius when you think about it. This helps you keep track of which student has been paying attention in class, as well as which student is actually in class, which sort of makes it a high-tech tool for taking attendance. I myself have experience with using clickers. In my senior year of high school, my Administrative Office Tech teacher as well as my American Government teacher used the clickers when it came time for our chapter quizzes and section unit assessments. While confusing the first time around, clickers will eventually become 2^nd nature to students that use them, no matter which class they are taking that makes use of them.

Digital Badge #7

There are certain ways that we can use technology to design a lesson plan and create an entire curriculum is a great way to ensure that a class can follow along easier. The main reason a teacher (no matter the grade level) would want to use this kind of technology is due to the positive effects it has on a student’s academic success as well as the entire class put together. This technology helps ensure that the teacher’s classes understand what they’ll be learning and not worry about being confused and in some cases (I can count myself in this group) feeling left behind when it comes to understanding how the entire course is planned out.

Some teachers use technology to set up a lesson that can be taught in two different ways. The best example of this can be found in the course textbook for Introduction to Education Technology, which uses Student Learning Objectives in to help students understand Ecological Footprints & Rainscapes. In order to make sure that the lesson plan makes sense, one way to ensure that it works is to use Student Learning Objectives. The objectives can be summed up as the Who, What, When & How. The objectives are also considered the intended outcome that a teacher has planned for their class. The best way make sure that the students achieve the desired outcome, it is sometimes best to use group activities. By using group activities, a teacher can be sure to know where a student is confused or where a student’s strengths lie when it comes to learning a new section or important lesson as part of the class.

The most important thing for any teacher to remember when using technology programs in order to set up curriculums and lesson plans, is to ensure that they follow the state board of education standards as well as the department standards for whichever subject that a person chooses to teach. Not only do they need follow along with the state standards, but they must also follow along with the Professional Standards and the National Standards. Since I’m studying to become a social studies teacher, this means that I have to follow along with the National Council for Social Studies. That is the professional organization that sets the standards for the department. I also will need to follow along with the Expectations of Excellence: Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. They are the Nation’s standards for teachers in that particular department.

Digital Badge #6

      Using technology is extremely important when it comes to being a teacher. It can help students with a variety of learning disabilities. It can also help students that are linguistically diverse, or if the student has trouble reading or hearing something. Unfortunately the main 3 technologies used by teachers have only started to be mass produced.
      These technologies while be it expensive in some cases are necessary for teachers to ensure the success of their students. Some teachers use them to help their students connect to the content of the lesson. In some cases, the technology helps them understand what they are reading or hearing in class. Some students, such as those with dyslexia have trouble reading out loud and can sometimes misspell or misread the words in a chapter. Text to Audio technology and programs help teachers ensure that their students find it easier to read and overcome the challenges that those students face.
      Technology such as audio to text programs. help students see what it is they're reading so that they can follow along. A perfect example of this kind of technology are books on tape. This particular technology can be used in classrooms and has been since the 1990s. Admittedly teachers didn't start using them until the early 2000s (Just goes to show you how far back the entire education system was back then).
The one kind of technology that has certainly gained a lot of credit and praise over the past 3 years is technology for linguistically diverse students. The best and most widely used example of this technology is known as "Rosetta Stone". This particular technology helps students learn new languages from the comfort of their own homes. While some high schools in states like California, have started to use it, other states like Virginia and Washington State are still behind the times. However, they have allowed their students to use laptops and iPads in class. Which if you ask me, is almost as good as any kind of technology out there because they offer these in all the classes. Which helps just as well in any state and in any grade level.