Digital Citizenship 11th Grade

Digital Citizenship is something that every teacher needs to be familiarized with. It is the way that you present yourself within the online community. (Ribble) It is important within the grade level that I personally will be teaching because although the 16 and 17-year-olds of the 11th grade are already extremely technologically savvy, their etiquette can be somewhat lacking. As you can see in this Prezi presentation, utilizing digital citizenship within the classroom is something that will benefit everyone. 

Learning to Learn

      Education is constantly changing. How we learn is changing almost as fast as what we learn. Educators need to be well informed in more ways than one. What a person studying to be a teacher may not realize is that in college, while they are learning how to educate their future students, they will have to unlearn all of the methods that they grew to know. With technology in the classrooms always growing and changing, it is impossible to keep the same techniques going. Luckily, there are steps you can take to learn new teaching techniques and technology skills.
     With so much going on in the world of education technology, it may seem hard to fully understand how much there is to know, unlearn, and then relearn again. Our book, The Connected Educator, mentions steps in knowledge that every teacher must take.

Knowledge for, in, and of practice are crucial to educators. Knowledge for practice refers to traditional college instruction on how to teach in the classroom. Knowledge in practice refers to trying new methods and seeing if they work for education or not and knowledge of practice refers to teachers going technologically out of their comfort zone and work collaboratively with other teachers via e-mail or especially social media to get new ideas and skills that they can pass on to their own students. Unlearning old skills and constantly relearning new may seem like a huge challenge but with collaborative thinking on social medias I believe it can be well achieved.

Interactive Whiteboards in Today's Classroom

    Interactive whiteboards have been a part of my life since I was in seventh grade and my middle school decided to spend the money on the new high-tech boards. Therefore, I am quite partial to them and have been very familiarized with them throughout my middle and high school careers. I specifically remember when I was a sophomore in high school, we had to do a research project and it had to be specifically designed to conform to an interactive whiteboard. I really liked the project and wanted to learn how to do more with them in my classes.
    In SEDU 183, I liked learning about the different of boards apart from just the SMART boards that I was accustomed to. I also liked learning about there were different earlier models of interactive whiteboards.
Although the movable ones do not seem that practical for kids to write on, it would be nice to have one like that because you could move it to different locations as just a plain white board as well. I also liked learning about the boards with the built-in projectors that eliminate unnecessary shadows that could block what you're trying to put on the screen.

  These are all pros of why interactive whiteboards would be good in the classroom but some cons do exist as well. I think differentiation would be hard to achieve because if you already have a set whiteboard program, all students' needs may not be met. It would be great for visual and maybe even auditory learners but for hands-on tactile learners it would not be as good. I do not think that tactile learners would get as good of a use out of the interactive whiteboards that visual learners would.
http://www.prometheanworld.com/us/english/education/products/interactive-whiteboard-systems/

http://www.neamb.com/professional-resources/benefits-of-interactive-whiteboards.htm

http://konymusic.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/using-the-smart-board-to-teach-music-literacy/

Differentiation

     Differentiation within the classroom is something that every future teacher needs to think about. Every student that an educator will have pass through their classroom, will have different learning needs and styles that all need to be equally met in order for them to succeed. When studying the background of the made-up students that I received in class, it really set in that when I am a teacher and have real students in my own classroom, I will have to adjust my lessons so that they can fit all of their specific learning styles.
        The students that I had were a mix of tactile learning, which means they learn through touch and visual learning which, quite obviously, means they learn through seeing the actions performed or words in front of them. Thinking of how I could incorporate both tactile and visual learning into one lesson was a challenge however I think I came up with some good solutions that could also fit any auditory learners I might come across as well. I decided that in my classroom whenever I will teach my students new terms or vocabulary words, I will use flashcards with the words and pictures on them, and I will say them aloud and give them each a set. This way, they are touching the cards themselves, seeing the words correspond with the pictures, and hearing me say them. 

    Technology in the classroom could help immensely. Video PowerPoint along with a handout of the actual slides that I would be showing could give the same benefits as the flashcards. Having the students make their own blogs and PowerPoint presentations would be another way that technology in the classroom could help with the learning style differentiation. Although it seems like an unattainable goal to get every student's specific needs met, I believe that I can do it. After all, this is why I want to become a teacher. I hope that every future educator looks at differentiation in the classroom as a challenge that they want to conquer and not as a bother that they do not want to deal with. 

Twitter and Me

When we were first told in class that we would be using twitter, I was really surprised. When I think about twitter I think about Will Ferrell parody accounts, teenagers trying to be witty, and the constant struggle of trying to gain more followers. In the classroom, however, I learned it can be very valuable while I am continuing my education and when I am a teacher. Following people that are in the history field on twitter is beneficial because I can see what the professionals are using in their classrooms and how I could apply it to my own homework or in my own classroom. I also like how you can search a hashtag such as #historyteacher and twitter can directly connect you to anyone who mentioned that they are a history teacher in their mini bio or in any tweets. I am already used to twitter so I have not really had any problems when using it. I really like using twitter in the classroom and I think I will continuing using it throughout my teaching career. 

The Final Frontier

Technology in the classroom is something that every teacher should strive to have. A classroom without the incorporation of technology is a classroom that does not live up to its full potential. Students are more willing to learn and are more likely to enjoy what they are learning through the technology that they are used to using on a daily basis. This presentation will explain why technology is so important in today's classroom.

All About Me

 Hi! I'm Kara Matteo, a freshman at Edinboro University studying secondary social studies education. I will hopefully one day become a high school history teacher. My main focus is on the late 19th and 20th century, and I especially love the 50s-80s time era. I have always been fascinated with this time frame, even when I was a little girl. I am proud to be attending a renowned teaching university where my life goal of becoming a teacher can become a reality.
  Throughout my life and professional career, I also would love to learn Spanish. I took four years in high school and can understand it pretty well. However, I cannot speak it as well as I would like to be able to. A huge dream I have is to be able to learn Spanish and travel to Hispanic countries before settling into a school in Florida where I can teach ESL students American History in their own native language.
  When I am a teacher, I believe that technology will be an even greater aid to the classroom than it already is today. Computers, tablets, and projectors are all such valuable tools already to me as a student. Technology like iPads in the classroom make learning easier and more fun for both the students and teachers. I want to be able to properly use all of these tools to their full potential in my own classroom and have my history notes be entertaining and easy to learn from. Technology has helped so much and I cannot wait to become a teacher and explore all of my technological options.