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Teens and Social Media

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(Picture taken from emaze presentation) danah boyd (she does not use capitals in her name) is the writer of the book, It's Complicated  (free PDF copy).  She is a researcher with Mircrosoft research and has her own company research company called Data and Society .  In this book, boyd takes a deep look at teens and their use of social media.  She interviewed 166 teens from varying cultures and economic backgrounds.  Her findings are fascinating and frankly a bit of a relief. Admittedly, I had my own set preconceived notions when it came to teens and social media.  I always feared that social media was breeding a generation that could not socially interact with one another because they always had their faces in their phones.  In addition, I felt that many of them over exposed themselves online by looking for that instant validation from other people when posting so much about their lives online.  Or feeling that their not socially worthy unl...
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The Reflection

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 This was my first time taking an online course.  I did miss the classroom environment and being able to converse with the instructor and fellow classmates. Any questions I have had has been answered quickly so that helped. I loved the convenience and would definitely take another class this way. Especially since I believe this is the future of education.   I have learned so much from this course.  It really forced me to get out of my comfort zone.   Not that I'm inept with technology, but I just tend to keep the same things because that's what I'm familiar with.  For example, Power Point is what I have always used for presentations.  Now, I've used Google Slides, Padlet , and Mindomo to give a presentation. In addition, I used both Screencastify and Adobe Spark to narrate them.   I'm not a pro at using these but my interest and excitement has been sparked to keep it up because I fear if I don't use it, I will lose it. (My nex...
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Digital Tatoo/ Data Mine

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This was another fascinating assignment. There were somethings I expected to find and a couple of surprises. When I Googled myself, things like my Facebook page, Twitter account and my Blogger information came up.  The school I currently work at with my information was also listed.  Sadly, both my husband's obituary and my father's obituary were listed as well. In addition, the positions and activities I have done with IEA and the MEA ( Our local union) were also easily found.  I can't wonder with my union work information being so easily accessible if that is a good or bad thing.  I plan on moving to a new state next year and I hope that my union involvement does not hinder my chances for employment.  (Google search image picture) When I looked at images from different search engines, pictures were pretty much the same.  Most pictures came from my FB page, a fundraiser while my husband was sick or my union work.   (Fac...
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The Twitter

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( From my Twitter page) My adventure into "Twitterland" was almost comical.  I did already have an account.  Our district encouraged us to have one.  Honestly, I didn't realize the benefits of Twitter until this assignment.  I just thought it was another Facebook with more restrictions on how much one can write.  Since I already had an FB account I didn't need another.  I now can see the benefits and the plethora of information and ideas at my finger tips.  Initially, I was a bit overwhelmed on how much info there was to look at.  Then it became fun.  I checked out other math teachers and math sites, Class Dojo, Edutopia and PBIS just to name a few.  I got THE best new idea from a PBIS reward that I can't wait to do. Building blanket forts.  When you are trying to come up with free fun things for kids to do, especially in the winter, it can be challenging to come up with a new fun fresh initiative. I thoug...
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Web 2.0 Review

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(Logo from Mindomo.com) The options for this weeks assignment were overwhelming to say the least.  I finally decided on  Mindomo .  I currently only teach 4th grade math.  I wanted something that could be collaboratively used with my students.  Since vocabulary is often a deficit, I thought Mindomo would be a good tool to use for students to create maps to help them remember their vocabulary and to become accustom to applying it correctly.  I also saw an opportunity for students to be ale to work together and have great math discussion while creating their maps.   Mindomo has a free subscription but you can also buy it to create more complicated projects.   ( My final map) After I created my first map, I showed my Enrichment Math Club after school to gather their input.  It received rave reviews.  My plan is to show them how to use it first, then have them help me teach it to my 3 math classes. The pro...
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Educational Technology and Research

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(Picture from McCrindle.com.au) This week's assignment was quite fascinating to me.  The info graphics from McCrindle's social research on comparing the different generations really captivated my interest. Not only did I compare my generation to my students', I also looked at the generation that taught me.  I'm from Generation X and my students are at the end of Generation Z with Generation Alpha at their heels.  These kids were born with tech in their blood.  One of the graphs shows how the big tech of my generation was the Walkman.  I remember my first Walkman when I was 12, it changed my world.  Now, technology is moving at such a rapid pace, it's challenging to keep up with it all.  I also was intrigued by the different learning styles.  I wish I was a student during today's times, active learning, collaborating and using different modalities for learning are far more engaging than elementary school instruction in the 70's.  My teach...
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Active Learning

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Active Learning This week we looked at Active Learning in the classroom.  Active Learning  is all about getting students more involved in their own learning.  Letting them collaborate together, investigate, create, and make those real world connections to their own lives. Getting away from all day whole group direct instruction.  Having the teacher leave the center stage and become the facilitator so students can shine in their own learning.  I really enjoyed this assignment.  I'm not new to the idea of active learning in my classroom.  I tend to get bored listening to myself speak and I love to hand it over to the kids.  I love to see my students collaborate together.  Even though now I only teach math, I really get goosebumps watching them engage in math talks and discussions with one another. I have always been a huge fan of Kagan Strategies , I included a link to some of my easy favorites to do in class. With math, ther...
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