Brief Blog Reflection

Discuss what you have learned during the class and how it will assist you in achieving further academic and work related goals.

I have learned a lot from taking Technology in the Classroom there have been many chances for me to learn more about how to use technology especially since most school districts are moving to the one to one programs. After interviewing the principal at my cooperating school she explained how difficult it can be for older teachers to be able to work well with technology, because they are not given the opportunity to learn about technology while they were in school. I think that the technology in the classroom class has given me the opportunity to learn more about applications that I can use in the classroom that allows me to teach my students about the use of technology, and how I can help my fellow teachers when it comes to educating them on their use of their chrome books. These applications will assist me with my future career and academic goals in that it allows me to learn how to use technology in my content area, and it helped me succeed in my internship because I was able to share some of the applications that I learned about in this class with my cooperating teacher. I think that as a goal for myself I will strive to learn more about technology for when I have my own classroom.

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How will you use technology to engage parents as partners in their child’s learning?

There are several ways that I would like to use technology to engage with parents. The number one way that I would like to use technology in the classroom to connect with parents is through the classroom weebly. The one thing that I see as a wonderful tool due to the ability to communicate with parents, and to add all assignments that students may have missed if they were out for a day. The other idea that I find wonderful about the use of weebly as a teacher is being about to add a calendar with all assignments, and due dates for both students and parents to see. Another thing that can be added to weebly is the registration for a classroom remind 101 which allows the parents to register for classroom reminders. I believe that allowing parents and students to sign up for remind 101 it would be helpful for keep students up to date on their assignments upcoming tests, and even projects. Another way of connecting with parents is through the use of a professional twitter, I feel that with the use of twitter it allows for communication between other teachers, as well as parents the parents can see and communicate with the teacher also they can keep up with the work being done in the classroom. The teacher can create a classroom blog that allows the parents to see what their students are doing in the classroom, and being able to allow the teacher to explain why she is choosing the assignments in which they are doing in the classroom. I believe that the teachers could add podcasts to their blogs that allows the teacher to discuss what they are doing everyday, and some of the techniques used in the classroom. Lastly, as a teacher I would like to connect with parents through technology through the use of biweekly digital newsletters that are sent to the parents through emails that contains weekly assignments, due dates, classroom updates, and current events coming up in the school. There are many ways for the parents to stay up to date with their students classroom. The teacher can communicate with parents through many resources online. I look forward to having the opportunity to find new ways of communicating with parents through technology or online. Think that one of the biggest things about being a teacher is learning how to use technology in a way that is not only helpful for you, but also for the parents.

How will/should classrooms of the future look different from classrooms today?

Future classrooms will look very different than the classrooms of today.  Many school systems are moving to a ONE to ONE technology program meaning that students will be provided with a technological resources. In Catawba county students in the  Middle Schools are provided with Chromebook’s in which they use within the classroom, and outside of the classroom. Due to the increase in technology in the classroom I expect to see future classrooms that move almost completely away from pen and paper. Currently in the classroom that I am interning in I have seen that many of the assignments move form pen and paper to online resources and assignments. One of the biggest uses of technology in the classrooms right now is the use of online testing, and the use of applications such as edPuzzle, and EverFi. Today’s classrooms are still a mix of pen and paper assignments, and the use of online applications. Currently looking at the classrooms the use of technology is still very limited due to the amount of resources currently available, but in the future assignments will move online. With the growth in technology becoming available in the classrooms more companies are creating applications that can be used in the classroom to better the learning experiences for the students. One thing that will need to be stressed in future classrooms is the importance of teaching students about copyright, fair use, and Creative Commons. When using technology knowledge of this information becomes important so that we teaching students to accurately use resources. In today’s classroom we are trying to teach the students how to cite their answers from their textbooks, which is why it is important especially with the growing use of technology in the classroom to teach the students how to legally and accurately use resources found online. In the future classrooms should be more sustainable in that assignments online will be able to be graded faster and easier, and students will be able to work on their assignments at home as well. With the growth in technology the one downfall that could possibly be avoided with great planning, and consideration is protecting against WIFI dropping during the school day, and having back up plans just in case this may occur. This is one concern of many teacher currently due to this happening periodically, and whether they are prepared to combat this in the future. The use of technology in the classroom will increase in the near future and as a preservice teacher I must become prepared for this to occur in my future classroom. The many differences that you may see in the present and future classrooms are the resources available online, preparation for WIFI problems, and we will be preparing to teach students how to have a digital profile online.

Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Common

Daily/weekly personal technology usage? How does this influence you as a teacher and a learner?

Recently I update my iPhone to the newest software update which added a screen time monitor on my phone. One thing that I have realized is how many hours that I have spent on social media, reading, and entertainment. The app monitors day to day, but you can also look at your weekly usage. Just in one day I have spent a total of 3 hours on my phone using various apps. I have spent an hour and a half on social media, 25 minutes referencing information, and 11 minutes on entertainment. The monitor has opened my eyes to the amount of time that I spend on my phone daily, and I hope to decrease my usage over the next few weeks. My weekly usage shows that I’ve spent 9 hours on social media, 3 hours watching shows, and 1 hour referencing information.

I feel that this influences me as a learner in that I tend to take breaks from my work to stop, and take a break on social media. Sometimes this leads to me becoming distracted, and procrastinating on my assignments. As a learner this can become very difficult for me to complete my assignments efficiently. As a teacher I do feel that this gives me an advantage in that I have learned a lot more about technology, and applications that can be used in the classroom like iCivics a free social studies interactive game, and Expeditions which is a virtual reality field trip app. As a teacher having an idea of how to use technology in the classroom it can become helpful for teaching certain topics. I think that having a “teacher instagram” or “teacher twitter” is a good way of communicating with fellow pre-service teachers, and veteran teachers. I have enjoyed getting see new ideas that I could modify to use in my very own classroom one day.

Learning, Understanding and Conceptual Change

In one of my classes at Lenoir-Rhyne we were studying the topic of, What is learning? Throughout this class we have discussed and looked at the many forms of learning and how over the years the way that a student can learn changes. Learning is using experiences to create information when it comes to subjects or life. Learning is important to gathering everyday information because if we do not being to learn about concepts especially in subject like social studies we can face be under informed and can be undereducated and lead us to repeating certain events. Learning is time for us to take in information that is gathered from information needed to understand a subject. We use what we learn in schools and classrooms everyday to understand the world around us, and how we understand topics that can be difficult to understand.

Teaching methods that support learning come in a wide variety. There are so many teaching methods that can be used are ones like lecture, discussion, research, and group work and much more. Teaching through the use of lecture you as the teacher can fully explain the information to the students so that they can better break down the information to help the students to take a complex subject, and break it down to information that the students can fully understand. Conceptual change I believe in the Middle Grades are very important because of the conceptual change of the information the students move from concrete thought to complex thought. The change in the way that students think can be very important especially when they have to be able to break the information down.

 

Essay for EDU 451

 

TPACK Experiment

Tonight, I enlisted some help from my roommate and had her partake in my TPACK experiment. Since I did not have all the ingredients from the original assignment so I decided to mix it up. Teachers have to work whim a lot of times in the classroom so I took this assignment as a time to trying something and work with the stuff that I have to complete the assignment. I asked my roommate to grab me a bowl, a plate, and a utensil. I didn’t give her any references to whats sizes or what type of utensil needed. Skyler (my roommate) grabbed a Tupperware bowl, a blue plastic plate that had a burn mark from where it began to melt, and a purple knife out of our cabinets. Next I had put the numbers 1-5 in a mug and had her draw a number, and I had to create whatever item corresponded with the number she drew.  Listed below is the original ingredients beside each original items, have listed the items that I actually used:

• Slice hard cheese (e.g., cheddar, gouda, havarti, wensleydale) as though you were going to add it to a cheese plate—-> I didn’t have anything for number 1
• Make whipped cream from 35% heavy whipping cream—> Hidden Valley Ranch packet and Sour cream
• Make a fruit salad (or at least slice up two types of fruit as though you were going to add them to the salad)—–> Extra cheddar Goldfish & Mickey Mouse shaped Goldfish
• Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich—-> Peanut butter and jelly crackers
• Slice veggies for a veggie tray—-> veggie tray made of celery and bell peppers that I had in my fridge

Skyler drew the number 3 so instead of being able to make a fruit salad I was able to take goldfish to create what I like to call a goldfish salad. I took the extra cheddar goldfish, and using my knife tried to cut them in half obviously knives are not made to cut Goldfish. It took a couple of tries, but I learned that I had to “saw” the goldfish with the knife to get them to cut into halves. The knife did its job though it might not have been the most helpful item that I could have used it worked in cutting, and stirring the goldfish.

I have taken away from this experience that as a teacher I will have to think quickly on my feet when I do not always have the resources I need in the classroom. When working in the class you have to be able to take items and repurpose them to your advantage. I feel that this experiment has shown me how to think on my feet. I didn’t like the idea of not being able to participate just because I didn’t have the proper ingredients so I took what I had and learned to make it work for this assignment. I feel that the TPACK model allows for teachers to realize that there are a lot of resources that can be repurposed in the classroom. TPACK focuses on the areas of technology, pedagogy, and content, but it does exactly show us how to have that happy medium and I believe that this experiment has taught me that I can always find a way to repurpose something especially in education. Attached is a link to my TPACK experiment.. I tend to be very awkward and goofy so I hope you enjoy the video. TPACK experiment.

Cell phones in the Classroom?

Do you believe students should be able to use cell phones in class?

Should students be able to use cell phones in the class? I am very torn on the answer to this question, I believe there are pros and cons to allowing cell phones in the classroom. The honest truth is that there are now so many programs offered to bring technology in the classroom, and students are going to have their phones on them anyway. I personally like the idea of allowing the students to use their phones for certain activities they shouldn’t use them the whole time, but you can use them to get on social media platforms to have discussions, or to use educational apps. The problem is in todays day and age your students are going to have their phones whether you want them to or not.  Oxford Learning did a study and found out that students check their phones 11 times in a single class period. (CELL PHONES IN THE CLASSROOM: LEARNING TOOL OR DISTRACTION)  I believe that you can cut out on students trying to hide their phones, but there is still be problem of the students becoming distracted. I find it very difficult to decide whether I am fully on board with the idea of cell phones, but since most school systems have moved to One to One technology program a lot of students can become distracted while using the technology, just the same as if classrooms could have cells phones. I have personally sat in a classroom during a school visit and watched as the activity was all online and there were students who would pull up several different tabs so while there teacher was not looking they could play games and not do the assignment given. I read an article on Edutopia of tips how to control the usage of cell phones in the classroom. Kids are getting their cell phones younger and younger now, but the tips are to try and find ways to incorporate cell phones into the class. The three tips that Edutopia gave was to use the stoplight technique, have an open dialogue about cell phones, and possibly using a classroom contract. (3 Tips for Managing Phone Use in Class) Most of the articles that I read about cell phones in the classroom stated that it is better to find a way to incorporate than to completely ban them from the class. I read some pretty great methods that hopefully I could bring to the class. I hope that as a teacher I will realize that as the years progress cell phones will become more popular, and I hope that as a teacher I can use the phones to help educate the students that they are interested in.

 

Sources

Kolb, L. (n.d.). 3 Tips for Managing Phone Use in Class. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/3-tips-managing-phone-use-class

Oxford Learning. (2017, December 15). Should Cell Phones Be Allowed In Classrooms? Retrieved from https://www.oxfordlearning.com/should-cell-phones-be-allowed-classrooms/

 

To have Faith, or to Need Faith

Introduction

 

When thinking of faith and a person’s beliefs can be difficult to think about. Thinking of faith causes risks and can ultimately change what a person believes in. In a lot of ways any religious faith will require a blind faith. Faith requires you to believe in what you do not see, and what you do not know. The definition of faith is “believing in God or any other religious doctrine; faith also is based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.” Faith is in other words is believing in what your heart and mind says over basing everything that you believe on of facts.

Many people have mixed emotions about this question because faith is something that you have to trust and believe in with all your heart. Many times people will question their faith when a tragic event happens in their life such as death or illness. When someone begins to think about and question their beliefs in times when they need faith the most they stray from what they believe in looking for something else to fill the hole that is left.  In many instances many people will run away from God and all that they have ever believed in because they are going through trouble in their life and will question why is he putting them through all that is happening. In other times of need many people will run to God in prayer, and rely solely on all that they believe in. In times of need there are the people who will trust that God is handling everything that they are going through. These people will not question or over think about their faith because they know that God has a plan for everything, and knows that he is a healer. Many people believe in that no matter what they are going through they know that God is always by their side and gives them the courage and faith to continue fighting for what they love the most, such as those who are fighting cancer they believe that God has created many doctors, nurses, and cures to fight the illness. People who are going through losing a loved one will run and question why God took away a loved one, and others will know that God had a reason to take away the ones we love if it is to bring a broken family back together. Thinking can pose a risk to a person’s beliefs but God gave us all brains so that we can think for ourselves, and believe what we want to believe. If God wanted us all to believe in one thing he would have us all set to believe that way, but God wants us to learn and to be open minded to everything, and everyone we meet.

Blind faith requires being able to read what you believe. We have the Bible and it explains and gives us factual stories to believe, but when you trust in God you don’t see him but you know by his amazing creations that he is there. Take a cancer patient for example one who has had cancer multiple times in their lives but has always believe in their faith, and trusted God would heal them. It is a miracle to think about the patient is trusting in God that he has healed them multiple times before that he will continue to help them recover. Blind faith is believing in what you don’t always see. The miracle of the cancer patient recovering, and being healthy is and example because the patient put their trust in God even though they can not see him they know that God is there with all their doctors, and nurses that are performing their surgeries or the treatments that they have to go through. Even though someone cannot see God if they believe with all their heart that God is their Lord and Savior they will have faith that he can lead them through any of troubles in their lives. Christianity does require blind faith, and the courage to believe in what they cannot see.

I wrote about the topic of faith because in my life I have faced many conflicts that have tested my faith and the faith of those that I love. My mother has had cancer four times and has just recently finished her last round of radiation. She has had multiple surgeries and has spent countless hours in the hospital. Through all of the times that my mom was sick her faith remained strong. During this time I began to lose faith because I felt that all this has happened to my mother and continued to happen to her I began to question my faith and continuously asked God why this was happening to her. I began to realize that questioning my faith and what I have always believed in would not help anything. My faith is so much stronger now than it was before because God works in mysterious ways through the trials in your life to teach you and strengthen your faith I him.

In the three articles that I found that relate to my topic of faith they all discuss faith and the role that it plays when it comes to cancer patients and their caregivers. Cancer can cause much stress on the patient as well as those who help to take care of them. This can cause their spiritual well being to decrease and their faith to dwindle. There are many positive and negatives to faith and the reality of cancer, but there are many supporters that believe if your faith is strong then you can get through anything that you face.

Thinking can pose a risk to a person’s beliefs but if they trust in what they believe they can handle anything that comes in their way. No matter what troubles a person may be going through if they have the courage to “step out of the boat” and trust that God will lead them to stable ground then their faith is stronger than anything that could try to break it. Blind faith and believing in what you cannot see requires you to, but God shows his work in many ways, and he may not be visible but if a person looks at the world around them the can see all of God’s work in the making. My reason for writing about this is that I have always found it fascinating how troubles that you face in your life can change your faith and if you will run to God in times when you need strength.

 

Annotated Bibliography

 

Adams, Rebecca N. Mosher, Catherine E. Cannady, Rachel S. Lucette, Aurelie, Kim, Youngmee. Caregiving experiences predict changes in spiritual well-being among family caregivers of cancer patients. Psycho-Oncology. Oct2014, Vol. 23 Issue 10, p1178-1184. 7p.

 

The article discusses a survey that many family caregivers of cancer patients took that asks about the experience and what impact it has on their lives. They discuss that it can have a major impact on their self esteem, family support, impact on finances, and the impact that it has on their schedule. Being a caregiver is described as a full time job, it can also make a huge impact on one’s spiritual well being. The studies show that many caregivers sometimes need an intervention to help cope with the stress that can come with having a loved one with cancer.

 

Salsman, John M. Garcia, Sofia F. Lai, Jin-Shei, Cella, David. Have a little faith: measuring the impact of illness on positive and negative aspects of faith.

Psycho-Oncology. Dec2012, Vol. 21 Issue 12, p1357-1361. 5p. 2 Charts.

 

This article discusses a survey that was taken on 509 cancer survivors. This survey was used to try to test the positive and negative outcomes that cancer has on its patients. There are questions about faith on the survey and how faith was impacted during the time of illness. They discussed the faith and concept of it as spirituality.

 

Johannessen-Henry, Christine Tind Deltour, Isabelle Bidstrup, Pernille Envold Dalton, Susanne Oksbjerg Johansen, Christoffer. Associations between faith, distress and mental adjustment – a Danish survivorship study. Acta Oncologica. Feb2013, Vol. 52 Issue 2, p364-371. 8p.

 

This article discussed the faith and its role in the lives of cancer patients. Cancer can positively or negatively impact faith of a patient. It was recorded the higher spiritual well being of a person can help relive the amounts of distress. The major difficulty faced was with the feeling of bewilderment and anxiety. Faith is positively and negatively associated with distress and mental adjustment to what the patient is facing.

 

Life with Robert Peace… Jeff Hobbs life as his roommate

 

On Thursdays October 22^nd author Jeff Hobbs visited Lenoir Rhyne University as a part of the visiting writers series. Jeff Hobbs wrote The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace in this piece of literature it tells a story of a young man who grew up in Newark and left his home to go to school at Yale University. When Mr. Hobbs spoke to the students on campus he told many stories of his journeys that he went on with Robert Peace his roommate and best friend at the time. Jeff Hobbs discussed how he received his information for the book, and his inspiration to write it. Jeff Hobb’s told many stories of his time with Robert Peace from the good to the bad. He exclaimed that his time with Peace as fun and memorable. Jeff Hobbs seemed very laid back but also nervous in presenting in front us the students.

Chuck Klosterman

 

On Thursday November 12^th writer Chuck Klosterman visited Lenoir Rhyne University as a part of the visiting writers series. Chuck Klosterman was relaxed in during his talk he was being recorded for Charlotte Talks. Chuck Klosterman has a talent for seeing the things that we normally miss. He worked for the paper at the University of North Dakota and that was his stepping stone into becoming a journalist, his first book was just to see if he could write that much. Chuck Klosterman has a good sense of humor, he explained that he learned more from his friends in college than he did from his professors. He over thinks many things he knows the number of papers sold but not the stories that were read. He explained how the internet has ruined journalism because he was able to know what was being read.