#3 Technology Takeover!

              
          The ELA technology standards are very important for any prospective teacher to understand. Being a student, I have felt more comfortable with some of these standards than others. Those standards that I feel the most comfortable with are the ones that I will feel most prepared to teach when I become a teacher. 

          The standard I feel most prepared to teach currently has to be W/WHST.8 “Use Multiple Sources". For those of you who don't know what this standard does, this standard allows teachers to provide their students with information regarding what makes a source credible and/or accurate, along with what makes a source primary versus secondary. All of this is taken to account, and used in projects, papers, etc., but students will be taught how to avoid plagiarizing these sources.

           I feel that this standard is one that I could teach today, because of how much experience I have had with this topic. Ever since I was in elementary school, I've known the difference between a primary and secondary source, and in middle school I learned how to avoid plagiarism. These are life skills that I have had throughout most of my academic career that I know i would be able to successfully teach to younger students today.

          The other ELA standard that I feel the most comfortable with teaching today is L.5 "Vocabulary Using Context Clues". The fact that I potentially want to become an English teacher, I have tutored children for years teaching them the skills of context clues in reading comprehension assignments, as well as to learn new vocabulary words. This is also a topic that was very important to master in order to be successful in taking the ACT/SAT. This is yet another topic that I have known how to do since I was in elementary school, and would feel 100% comfortable teaching this to younger students today.

          Although there are some standards that I believe I have mastered throughout my academic career, there are still some standards that I don't feel comfortable teaching, that I would need to learn more about. One standard that I would like to learn how to perfect is SL.3 "Evaluate Speakers Point of View". This task to me is something that has always been somewhat challenging. The one thing that I always struggle with is understanding the speaker's rhetorical analysis, and I want to learn how to be able to identify that before I am comfortable teaching this standard.

         Another standard that I need to gain more knowledge about before feeling prepared to teach it is SL.5 "Use Digital Media". I like to consider myself as somebody who is technologically advanced, but one thing that I can't successfully accomplish for the life of me is visual displays and maximizing the advanced skills of creating a presentation. I usually make the basic presentations that consist of all of the links to videos, typical information and animations that display my information. I would love to master the art of creating and teaching how to make a presentation while using the most advanced tools and advanced technology. 

           Now more than ever, technology has become a very important part of the classroom. As a teacher, there are many technological innovations that I would want to use with my students to help enhance their academic experience and to give them the best opportunities to succeed academically. 

          Assuming my students are high schoolers, lets say 10th grade, technology would be a very big part of my classroom. First, I would have all of my students create email accounts solely for my class, specifically Gmail. One thing I have learned (specifically from this class) is how vital Google Docs is and can be for a class. Being able to upload lectures and have the students converse with each other while giving lectures and create their own unique community is something so pivotal in my mind, in the teaching and learning process. 

          I would also create an email list, so I can email all of my students important announcements and keep them on task while in the midst of big projects, exams, etc. Not only that, Google  Drive is a place where all students can save and upload their work to, so they will never lose it. Students can also simultaneously work on projects, papers, assignments, etc. together, which no other email service offers. 
    
          One more technological application that I found to be super intriguing is the Learning Management System (LMS). This system almost acts as a virtual classroom. It allows for students in the same class to work on all of their assignments online. In addition to that, it allows for teachers to use a unique and different way to make and present their lectures, as well as track their students' activity, and can be used to grade students' assignments as well. 

          It almost acts as a class manager, as if you were to put your classroom on autopilot for a few days. I believe a tool like this can be very helpful for a first time teacher. This can help them stay on track, maintain their classroom and overall use this as another tool to help their students become successful in the classroom. The LMS can help teachers and students become more familiar with and learn how to master technology in the classroom. 

         Teaching 10th graders, they've been hearing the same speech year after year about acceptable classroom conduct. However, the older the students get, the more you as the teacher need to make sure that the students completely understand these rules. Digital Citizenship is something that has become more and more important with the rise of technology in classrooms. 

         In a 10th grade classroom, I feel that it is extremely important to go over all 5 major guidelines of Digital Citizenship, however, some in more depth than others. For example, I believe that by 10th grade students understand how to demonstrate technological skills to use and participate on the Web successfully, as well as how to avoid cyberbullying and to show proper behavior while on the Web, so those will just be touched on briefly. 

          Another guideline that will be briefly talked about is just reminding my students to be responsible for your own actions, and everything that you post can be linked back to you. Technology is a powerful tool and can help them get through high school and college, but a few mistakes on social media or on the web in general can result in some serious consequences, so I would just urge them to be smart about what they post and how they act o n the Internet. 

          However, a controversial guideline such as students being aware of and obeying copyright laws is something that I, as a teacher, would extensively go over with my students. I would honestly probably touch upon this for a day or two, giving them exercises and making sure they are all 100% positive they are aware and know how to avoid copyright. Knowing how to obey copyright rules is a skill that these students will need beyond their academic careers, but they will need them for their occupational careers as well.  

           Open terms is about making information open to a large population, in particular, the public. Open terms refers to anything that is available for use or modification depending on if the person using the term/source wants to edit it. Open education has allowed for online courses to be available for free for everyone by certain schools. Open learning allows motivated learners to learn whatever they want on their own time for free. Open content specifies what people can and can't do with the materials they find online. Reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute are the ways this content can be used. 

          Open content allows teachers to participate in a community of teachers who share each others content and respect each others work. Open source refers to programming or coding of software, allowing people to edit software to add new features or updates to a specific program. Open source software is free and can be downloaded from the Internet (ex. Open Office, Lennox, etc.). Most educators do not want to be apart of this software community, but this software can benefit them. Open means resources, that are readily available and useful for educators. They are mostly free and they are able to be edited as well. Here is a link to Open Office, which is an open source software:
https://www.openoffice.org

          The newsletter design assignment was something that opened me up to new skills on Microsoft Word, and helped me to learn how to make newsletters, which I can incorporate in my classrooms when I become a teacher. There are several new skills I acquired from the newsletter project. For example, I learned how to use the function where I can type my articles in multiple columns. Believe it or not, this is something that I have never used or knew how to use before this assignment. Another skill I learned how to master was naming hyperlinks. I always knew how to make websites appear as hyperlinks, but I never knew how to name them as something other than the website name itself.

           Overall, I really liked the newsletter project. It taught me how to think like a teacher and to plan out what I wanted my students to get out of my classroom on their first encounter with me. I also learned how to sharpen my organizational skills, and make my work look more professional than I am usually able to make these type of assignments turn out. I like how this project challenged me to think about how to make this project appealing to students, while using the new tools that we have learned in class regarding Microsoft Word. I also liked the fact that my peers had an opportunity to check out our work and let us know what they thought of it before we turned it in.

          There wasn't anything about the project I did not like, and personally I believe it should be kept the exact way that it is currently. In my future career as a teacher, I can now incorporate these newsletters into my classrooms regularly. It is a fun thing to have my students help me create to keep them on task and to help build a greater relationship with them. I am very excited to show you all my newsletter on this blog! I hope you all like it!

     

#2 Protecting My Future Students

                    As a student, I've used Microsoft Word for many things. I type all of my papers on Word, I make quizzes and tests on Word whenever I need to do in class activities. I also make other class activities, such as surveys, on word as well. In addition, I upload all of my pictures to Word whenever I want to make a collage or print out a bunch of pictures on one page (although I'm sure there is a better way to do that), etc. I use Microsoft Word almost every day as a college student as well, because I am always completing assignments with it. At the same time, I've seen my teachers use Word for many things as well. My teachers use word for creating rubrics, creating guidelines/rules/procedures for the classroom, for creating exams and quizzes, homework schedules, course calendars, etc. I've even seen teachers take attendance with it by having each student type their name on a document for the day. Microsoft Word is a great asset for both students and teachers.

                 Copyright and Fair Use are very important things in the educational world. Copyright is a form of protection for intellectual property. A person with a copyright has exclusive right to use and distribute it. People may have to pay that person to use their work. Textbooks, videos, and softwares are copyrighted, as well as other resources from the internet. Copyright governs what teachers and students can and can't use in the classroom. For example, owning a software license allows you to use other people's work, but pirating is illegal. Fair use is a set of guidelines allow users to copy material for non profit reasons based on how it is used, how much it is used, and what impact it has win its value. Students of all ages should be made aware of copyrighting laws, based on age of course. Teachers need to explain why you can't photocopy a book  or duplicate a video. When it comes to my experiences with copyright and fair use, as bad as it sounds, there are some situations where i din't even think it was applicable. There are photos and videos that my friends show my on Facebook that I then post or share, not ever thinking that it was copyright. There are videos that I would include in my presentations in high school, but my teacher would always as ask see it and make sure we weren't copyrighting before we used them. Besides that I personally have never encountered any copyrighting issues or fair use issues in the classroom. To avoid copyright and fair use violations as a teacher, there are some things I would do. First, I would only use information out of a textbook or other sources that is necessary to meet an educational goal. Also, I would always cite my sources, being a role model to my students teaching them the same tactics to avoid these crucial issues.
           
              Implementation issues are divided into several categories: legal, social, and ethical. All of these issues can hinder the learning process as well as make the teaching environment less safe fore students, making it harder for them to learn and be successful in the classroom. One of these issues that have become increasingly serious is cyberbullying. In my classroom I can prevent cyberbullying by having my students sign Internet safe pledges. These are contracts that when students sign, they promise not to cyberbully. As a teacher, I would also teach my students about what cyberbullying is and how to prevent it, as well as how to seek help if you need help stopping it or are a victim of it. I would also provide parents with resources if needed to help their child prevent cyberbullying. Another implementation issue is academic dishonesty. As a teacher, there are many ways to go about preventing this in the classroom. First, to make sure that students do not plagiarize, I would use an anti-plagiarism software, that catches students when hey plagiarize after they submit their work to the software. Also during tests, I would make sure my students put their phones on my desk, and I would constantly roam the halls making sure nobody is trying to look at other students' papers. I would also make my students sign academic honor policies, holding them accountable for cheating and/or plagiarizing. One more implementation issue that has been controversial is student privacy. There are many ways as a teacher that you can protect your student's records. For example, in order to pull up pictures of students, you need written permission from the student's parents/guardians. Also, as a teacher, you need to avoid putting your students location and/or information on the Internet. Lastly, as a teacher you can explain to your students The Children's Internet Protection Act and the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act. These acts protects students while on the Internet, helping them by blocking websites that can danger their privacy. There are many other implementation issues, but these three are the ones I find to be the more serious issues that need to be resolved.
           

#1 First Chapters of the Textbook, ITSE Standards, and "Digital Natives"

                    Teachers are influened in many ways to use technology in their classrooms. An accomplished practice that teachers have is the ability to meet teaching technology standards. Also in order to obtain a teacher licensure/certification, teachers need to meet very specific technology requirements. Due to the fact that teachers are certified in using educational technology, this will influence them to use technology in their classrooms. In addition, technology allows teachers to best support and enhance teaching in the classroom. Teachers are able to improve their organizational skills by creating class websites. This keeps all homework assignments, lesson plans, presentations, etc. online, allowing students to have easy access to materials they missed, need to submit, and/or need to study. Teachers also use apps in the classroom. These apps are educational and provide teachers with fun/effective ways for students to review and understand classroom materials. Teachers are also influenced to use technology because of the fact that it is an amazing tool to help students participate in the classroom. Students love the opportunity to go fill in the blank on the SmartBoard, or solve the math problem on the SmartBoard. It makes education more enticing for the students.

               At the same time, students are also influenced to use technology in the classroom. Some students have different learning styles than other students. Students who are more visual learners are more likely to use tablets/laptops in class to look at certain diagrams, pictures, charts, etc. to help them better understand the topic that they are learning in class that day. In addition, students are influenced to use technology because it reinforces their learning. To this day I still use Quizlet. This website allows me to upload terms and definitions into a set and this site tests me on those terms and definitions by using games, activities, or just online exams. Technology also has the chance to help diverse students understand curriculum by using certain audio softwares, or translation websites to help them understand what is being said in the classroom. Students also have the opportunity to use things such as Google Docs, giving them the opportunity to work on projects simultaneously with a group of students. Google Docs allows students to use critical thinking by planing out how they want to create their projects, giving them the best opportunity to succeed in the classroom. Unfortunately there are times when students can use technology in a negative way. The most obvious reason is cell phone use. Teachers may have planned a game out on an app, but students may choose to text instead. This is one negative idea that students may be influenced to do in the classroom.

               The ISTE standards for students is a great way not only to hold students accountable for how they are using technology, but to help them understand how to master technology, and to also encourage them to use technology in a positive way to help them succeed in not just the classroom, but in their every day life as well. The ISTE standards for teachers makes sure that as role models, teachers show their students the proper ways to use technology, as well as helping students learn as much about technology and have their students be able to use technology as an asset not only for their class, but for future classes to come due to the fact that technology is such an important aspect of not only being a student, but being a teacher as well as becoming successful in life. I do have one particular favorite standard the ISTE has for students. My favorite standard is the Digital Citizen standard which states: "Students recognize the rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of living, learning, and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal, and ethical." I was really happy to see this standard, because it is teaching students how to be accountable for their actions online, as well as to understand what they can and cannot do on the Internet. I also really like how technology is phrased as an opportunity, because if they do things on the Internet that are illegal and/or unethical, they will lose that opportunity. They are being taught how to be model citizens and that is something that is super important in today's society. One standard that is currently not in my skill set is the Innovative Designer standard which states, "Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful, or imaginative solutions." As a student, I feel like I never had the opportunity to express myself with technology in a way that allowed me to use my imagination to help me solve problems in class to better enhance my learning of a specific subject, topic, curriculum, etc. Looking back on it now, I wish that I had the opportunity when I was younger to learn how to use my imagination with technology and be creative in figuring out new ways to study, complete assignments/projects in my classes growing up.

               A digital native refers to somebody who has grown up knowing and understanding technology. These are people who are currently children, teens, and young adults. We cannot remember a time without computers, the internet, and cell phones. They constantly use it to help them with their personal lives, but struggle using it in the workforce. A digital immigrant refers to people of older age who learned about technology as they were already adults. They watched technology become what it currently is today. They had the opportunity to learn and become familiar with the new technology, or refuse to adapt to this new way of life. They see it as a way to support them with their work, but don't understand how to use it in for personal use. Natives are more used to the presence of technology than immigrants are. There is definitely a difference between students as digital natives, and teachers as digital immigrants. Students use technology as a way to socialize and for personal issues, while teachers use technology more to create exams, presentations, lectures, study guides, etc. Sometimes, teachers struggle using technology to help them inside the classroom. Outside of the classroom however, some of my teachers still use flip phones (as crazy as that sounds, it is true!). I find it interesting how some teachers try to incorporate technology into their lesson plans, but constantly rely on their students to help them get the technology up and running. My teachers have given me the knowledge of knowing what technology to use for presentations, studying, research, etc. and without them I do not think I would have been able to master those achievements. I do not believe that their will be any differences between myself as a teacher and my future students when it comes to technology use. As a digital native, I have had technology around me all my life, and I will always be advanced when it comes to understanding and using it, and so will my future students. The only difference us that their will be new technological developents while they are students that I as a teacher have never seen before, but I, more likely than not, will quickly adjust to these advances in technology.

#0 My First Ever Blog

                 I have had many prior experiences using technology. Every single day I use technology to check Blackboard, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Word, PowerPoint, complete my homework, etc. Technology is a big part of my life and without it life would be very different. Even minutes before my class started today, I was checking sports scores on my phone and what to look forward to today in the sports world. Even back at home in Long Island, New York, technology is a big part of my life. I'm the oldest sibling in my family, and my little brothers as well as my mom are constantly coming to me asking how to use the new iPhone software, how to run this software on their Mac books, etc. I like to think of myself as someone who as an average understanding of technology and its functions. However, if I am clueless about what to do on my computer or phone or any other technology, I immediately call my dad. My dad knows absolutely everything about technology considering he uses so much of it for his job. With all of that being sad, technology is still a very big part of my life, and without it not only would school work be harder to complete, but it would be harder for me to socialize and meet new people as well.

                I hope to learn a lot of important things in this class that apply to my major. I want to become the best teacher that I can possibly be, and technology is a very powerful, important asset that can and will help me achieve my overall goal.Technology is a way to interact with students in the classroom, which when I become a teacher is something that is very important to me. I also want to become tech savvy, and teach my future students creative and new ways to work on group projects or individual assignments. In addition to that I also want to learn more about technology, and learn how to become more creative and take full advantage of everything that technology has to offer for teachers.
           
              My own learning style believe it or not is actually a great representation of who I am not only as a student but as a person as well. First, I am a mix of an active and reflective learner. Before I take action, I always stop for a moment and think about what it is exactly that i am setting out to do. Secondly, I am 100% a sensing learner. I love to learn facts and I find facts as one of the easiest ways to learn material or information. In addition, I also tend to love visuals. Whenever facts or information fails me, I can look at a diagram, graph, or chart and I will be able to understand what I previously found confusing. Lastly and most importantly, I am a sequential learner. I need to learn things step by step in order for me to fully understand a curriculum, I struggle when people teach me things out of order. All of these learning styles were highlighted in my results from the questionnaire that I took.