week 11 course reflection

a. Coming into this course, what was your level of tech skill? Did you find it easy to adapt to the ways we used technology in this class? What was difficult for you? What was easy?

Coming into this class on a scale from 1-10 on a tech-saavy-ness I would have rated myself about a 7. I found it very easy to adapt to the technology in this class, and if I didn't understand it, by listening and following along I would quickly learn. The only thing really difficult for me was using a PC when I am used to using a Mac at home and work. Everything else was pretty easy to follow along and learn.

b. What have been your favorite activity/assignment in class so far and why?

I liked using pinterest as an assignment, I already knew how to use pinterest but I had no clue there was an education section of pinterest to explore. I also liked all the group work, even though it wasn't traditional group work, but all through the computer. I liked how we had open documents between partners.

c. Do you think you can easily incorporate your tech knowledge and skills into your role as a teacher? Out of all the tools we’ve  learned about so far this semester, which ones do you see using the most frequently as a teacher?

I definitely think I can use my tech knowledge in my future classroom! I plan to use Creative commons, and course tools.com for sure. BUT the biggest thing I learned about that I fell in love with is the google account. Having a drive, gmail, a blog, and a search engine all in one was amazing, and I plan to continue using it after class is over.

d. As we approach the final four weeks of the course, what do you want to know MORE about in Ed Tech? What are you still curious about?

What else can I do with google? Why google chrome?

 

e. Do you think your level of tech skill/knowledge has increased so far this semester? If so, how?

                            I think I learned a lot about how to use other resources to create lesson plans and ideas. that is the thing that changed the most for me.

creative commons

Are you a future educator/musician/artist/or just flat out love the arts? If you said yes to any of these then creative commons is the thing for you! Check out http://creativecommons.org/

Creative commons is an organization that takes copyrighting, and twists it to fit what you need! Say, for example, you are a local musician, and you create a new song. Instead of having a plain old copyright for your song where no one can touch it, you can have a creative commons copyright, that allows others to build off of your music for remixes/videos/etc. All you have to do is answer a few questions about how much or little you want other people to be able to do with your creations, and creative commons will give you that type of copyright for your work.

Educators can use this to do many things. They can use pictures taken by photographers in their slideshows, they can use content from other teachers around the world teaching the same thing they teach, and build on that. Imagine being a teacher, and collaborating with thousands of other teachers to create lesson plans that are interactive, fun, and educational for your students. I think that creative commons is a brilliant organization and I definitely plan to take advantage of it as a future educator!

Pinterest assignment

My pinterest name is kclou92

1.What did you learn from the PINTEREST activity?  How does it relate to what you learned about UDL, lesson planning, and differentiation?

I found a lot of great ideas for my future classroom. I found a lot of word activities to do with first graders that are both educational AND fun. It relates to what I learned about UDL because I can use the things I found to help reach hands on learners, not just kids who can listen and learn. I will definitely use some of the things I pinned as lesson plans in the future, and maybe build off of them to make them my own.

2.How do you believe you will utilize PINTEREST as a teacher? 

I will definitely use pinterest to find new and exciting things to do with my kids, and also fun decorations for my classroom.  

3.What are the strengths of PINTEREST?

Pinterest has something for EVERYTHING, whether it is reading, writing, math, science, or even discipline.

4.What are some of the challenges of PINTEREST?

I am still not very confident in how to take something off the internet and pin it to pinterest.

5.What comments, questions, thoughts, opinions, and/or feedback do you have about PINTEREST?

Overall I think that pinterest is a great tool, I already use it for ideas for my latchkey program. It is easy to use, and also easy to spend hours on!

Cinquain Poetry Assessment

Click here for larger version

Here is my assessment for the end of learning about Cinquain Poetry. The object is for the second graders to drag and drop the puzzle pieces into the right spot to make the 1-2-3-2-1 layout of a cinquain poem. They will have to know the order you write in, and what type of words you have to use for each line.

Here is a screen shot of a game I made with my partner using classtools.net

This game can be used to teach the seasons of the year to first and second graders!

Ohio DL Schools

For an Ohio learner looking into an online education for K-12th grade there are five major choices:

Connections Academy
ECOT
k12
VCS
Virtual School House

I took the time to research into all of these possibilities as if I am a parent of a child looking into online education, and I would like to post my results here!

First I will discuss the choice I liked the least, ECOT. ECOT stands for the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow. ECOT has more than ten years of experience as an E-School, making it one of ohio's oldest  E-schools. Students are expected to complete at least 25 hours of school work, just like a public school-- so there are no "lower standards" there. Students are also expected to pass the OGT to attain a high school diploma. ECOT is tuition free, and gives students free computers and broadband in the safety of their own home. Students can log on and complete their work 24 hours a day. Although all of this sounds great, ECOT's website does not talk about how students can still get in the community interactions with other children they need. Also, are there any extra-curricular activities my kids can get involved in so they can excel in things besides JUST academics?

Secondly I will discuss the choice I liked the most, Ohio Connections Academy. This school has just as strong an academic curriculum as ECOT or any of the other schools-- but it goes beyond that. OCA is the only Ohio E-School rated excellent! Growing up in Hilliard City Schools- who rated excellent my entire academic career, I wouldn't expect anything less for my kids! OCA also takes a huge interest in community and interactions with the students. Students will live-chat with students and teachers during class. Students get phone sessions with teachers. They offer many clubs and sports. And a strong PTA schedules fun educational field trips and events for students to partake in. 

Here is a QR code for my blog, thanks to http://goqr.me/ !!!

ORC Lesson Plan

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/composing-cinquain-poems-quick-51.html

This is a lesson plan I found on the ORC website that explores Cinquian poetry. The lesson teaches first and second graders how to write cinquian (pronounced cin-kain) poems on their own! Students will be expected to understand the concept of cinquian poetry, it's format, and how to write cinquians on their own. This lesson takes a look at the breakdown of the poem, in its one-two-three-two-one style. It also shows students what each line is dedicated to, and what they are supposed to write.

This is a screen shot of a graphic organizer I would use to help the kids learn Cinquain poems!

This lesson is meeting four of the academic standards for my future students. The first academic standard it meets is to "adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes". The second one the students meet is they can apply what they know about language structure, language conventions, media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, and discuss texts. The third standard is that students can participate in reflective, creative, and knowledgable literary outlets. The fourth and final standard is that students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes. In this case the students are learning to make cinquain poems -- they are learning to describe things in their life using poetry. 

I would implement this in my classroom during the language arts time. I think they would have a lot of fun picking a topic for their cinquain poems. I would share sample cinquains (seen above) with the class, either reading them myself or allowing students to read them out loud. Then on a smart board or chalk board I would outline a cinquain poem. 

The biggest problem I could see happening when trying to implement this is spelling/reading skills. This would be more likely for a second grade classroom than a first grade classroom. But overall I think this is a cute and fun way to learn a new form of poetry!

I chose to write a blog post about the Assistant Technologies used for Down Syndrome. According to the National Library of Medicine, Down Syndrome is what happens when a person is born with an extra copy of the Chromosome 21. This extra chromosome causes troubles with the way the body and brain develop. While there are many physical problems that come with Down Syndrome, the mental ones are the ones that affect their learning in the classroom. Down Syndrome causes impulsive behavior, poor judgement, short attention span, and slow learning. So when a normal student can complete 10 questions in a specific amount of time, a child with down syndrome may only complete 2. Children with down syndrome tend to be several years behind students their own age.
       

Their are a few electronic, and non-electronic assistive technologies that help students with down syndrome. The first AT used for kids with down syndrome is the ever-popular iPad. The iPad has apps that are used to simplify problems for kids with down syndrome. The iPad can take a word problem, and replace many of the words with symbols or pictures to help the child with reading. Also with a simple tap of the finger the iPad can read the problem to the child, so the child can focus on the problem and not so much on the reading. Another important AT for kids with down syndrome is slanted desks. Kids with down syndrome tend to have smaller hands, with stubbier fingers, and lowered thumbs. Also the wrist bones often do not form all the way in children with down syndrome, so the slanted desks alleviate pressure on the wrists, and help children write properly.
       

Another AT used for children with down syndrome is springed scissors. The act of opening and closing scissors is very difficult for kids with down syndrome. So the springed scissors automatically open after closing, thanks to a spring between the blades. This allows children with down syndrome to get used to the opening and closing motion, and work on their fine motor skills. The last assistive technology used for kids with down syndrome is smart boards. Smartboards allow kids with down syndrome to draw lines from place to another, and form letters. Another way smart boards help is allowing kids to connect letters to the sound they make.        


The field of technology has been making great progress in creating assistive technology for kids with down syndrome. And they continue to research new apps for the smart board and iPads that will help kids with down syndrome create letters, read, form sounds, and write. I am excited to see where this field will go over the next few years, and will help incorporate kids with down syndrome into the normal classroom!

This is my group project on Personality Variables. Personality Variables is the difference between how a person really is, and how they appear on the world wide web. Our examples we used was a weak "nerdy" guy who makes himself appear buff and handsome online. Our second example was a girl who in person is incredibly sweet and friendly, but online without the consequences she turns into someone who easily angers and speaks harshly. Our last example is a man who is very poor, who allows others to believe he is wealthy on the internet. We as a group worked well together. We designated certain group members to work on specific things, making sure everyone had a role to play. This worked out very well!

My Presentation

Here is the presentation I made to show my Educational Technology class, and any future employers, a little bit about myself, why I want to become a teacher, and what my future goals are as an educator. I chose to use Google Presentation for the project because it was a challenge for myself. I grew up using powerpoint presentation. I enjoyed using google presentation because it was easy to add videos and photos to my slides, animate my texts, and imbed it into my blog!

Three Great Teacher Blogs

Here are three great blogs from educators!

1. http://dublinmiddleschoolart.blogspot.com/

This is a Dublin middle school art teacher's blog. It has an awesome video that talks to the viewer about her teaching style, what she expects from her students, and what her students can expect from her this school year. She also shows off the art projects from her students, which are both creative and cute!

2. http://mrsjumpsclass.blogspot.com/

This is a first grade teachers blog! She talks about things she uses daily in the classroom, and answers questions from her readers!

3. http://oceansoffirstgradefun.blogspot.com/

This is another first grade teachers blog. This blog actually won the Best Teaching Resource 2012 award from the teaching channel. This blogger shows copies of worksheets she does in class, her ideas for projects, and much more!

Welcome to my Blog!

 Hello there and welcome to my blog!

Let me start off by telling you a little about myself. My name is Kendra Cox, and I am currently in my second year at Columbus State Community College. I am going to Columbus State to earn my Associates of Arts degree, then I plan on transferring to a four-year institution to obtain a Bachelors degree in Early Childhood Education. I am particularly interested in studying creativity in the classroom, and the process of Reading Recovery in Elementary schools. 

When I am not in a classroom I enjoy many different things. I enjoy making art, specifically sculpture. The most fun sculpture I have worked on was a life-sized superman made of plaster-gauze. I also enjoy art of architecture, drawing blueprints of houses and buildings. I also enjoy reading, I really loved the Hunger Games series-- but my favorite thing to read is a good memoir. I love to partake in recreational sports, such as soccer, basketball, softball, and rowing. A few other things I love are watching movies, making videos, and hanging out with close friends and family. 

I am interested in the field of Education for many reasons, but I will name a few. The first reason I want to enter the field of education is to work with kids who struggle with meeting the reading requirements of their grade, like I did for many years. The second reason I want to go into the teaching field is for all of the great teachers I had going through Hilliard City schools. I had teachers who taught me so much, inspired me, and guided me through my earliest years. I can not wait to return that inspiration, dedication, and relationships to my future students!