Use or Use Not There is No Try

     I believe Moodle could be designed better to be more aesthetically pleasing. However, I believe that Moodle is a great tool for working online with students. Teachers can use this tool to communicate with students. Teachers can use this tool to have students turn in assignments. Teachers can post announcements and videos using Moodle. I give Moodle a 3 out of 5. I believe Moodle is a great tool for working with students, but I also believe Moodle can use an upgrade and I also think at times the tool fails to be user friendly. Moodle takes time to get used to and time to figure out how everything works.

I give Chrome a 5 out of 5. I love how it has a clean look. Chrome is fast and easy to use. Chrome remembers what sites are visited often so you can click on the icons instead of typing in the address. I tried Opera for a while and it does the same thing. I really like to use Opera too, but I always gravitate to Chrome more. Chrome is the best!

     I love to use Google Apps. I think Google Hangout is a great way to connect with friends and group members. I have downloaded Google Hangout to my phone and iPad. I like how you can meet with up to nine other people. I like how easy it is to use and how clean everything looks. I also like how the video comes out super clear and that the app can function with slower internet. I love to use Blogger. I have other personal blogs that I've used to express myself using this app. I used blogger when it was called Blogspot. I love blogging so I find blogger very useful to write on. Google Docs is awesome and a lifesaver. I use Google Docs for everything. All of my papers, all of my research projects, and most of my presentations are done with Google docs, only because I can share my work with multiple people and we can all work on projects and group assignments at once without necessarily being together. There is one thing I do not enjoy. I'm not particularly fond of Gmail. I think Gmail is just a little too confusing to use. I don't really like the design of Gmail. I'd much prefer to use Hotmail, but that's just my preference. I give Google apps a 5 out of 5 for epicness.  

     If I could walk away with a favorite technology tool from this semester, it would be LiveBinders! LiveBinders is something I will most definitely use for multiple things in my future classroom. I love how I can put various tabs to live webpages. The possibilities with LiveBinders are endless. I cannot wait to use this tool more and more in the classroom. I also like how LiveBinders is a paperless way to organize your ideas in one place because this is environmentally friendly and I am a nature lover tree hugger. I also like how I can share my LiveBinders with many people and that tons of LiveBinders are available for me to explore and pull ideas from. Lastly, not only is LiveBinders an awesome tool to use to share resources and ideas, LiveBinders is user friendly and that's my favorite thing about it. Users don't have to spend hours at a time trying to figure out how to use this tool. I give LiveBinders a 5.5 out of 5 for excellence. 

    To put it lightly, I am NOT a fan of Sway. I was asked to look into Sway. I spent a couple of minutes to an hour trying Sway out and I ended up choosing something different. I do not recommend this presentation tool to anyone who doesn't have the time to explore and find out how to use this presentation tool. I don't believe its user friendly and I probably would never use it again unless it was the only option a professor gave me to use. I also explored Haiku Deck, but I didn't like how you couldn't change the size of the fonts so I looked for another presentation tool. I give Sway a 1 out of 5.

     After working with Sway and Haiku Deck I tried Prezi for the first time. Surprisingly Prezi was fairly easy to figure out how to use. I liked that I could choose the paths and re-arrange them. I like how I could choose to use different shapes like circles to house my information. I like how Prezi is super versatile. I think Prezi is super cool to present with. I also like how I could download the presentation to my computer. However, I do not like how Prezi takes forever to load if the internet is slow. This can make or break your presentation if you do not save the presentation to your computer ahead of time, for this reason I give Prezi a 4 out of 5. 

                                       

     Kakao Talk is a texting app. Kakao offers voice and video call. Users can edit and send pictures they can also send video. The quality of the voice call is excellent. Users can also participate in group chats.Voice messages can also be sent using this app. Kakao Talk can be downloaded to Apple phones as well as Androids. Users can download the app onto their desktops as well. Kakao is totally free. I give Kakao a 4 out of 5. 

                                                            

I liked ABCYA. ABCYA offers copious amounts of online games for students grades kinder to fifth. I especially enjoyed the game Drop Sum. This website offers games that even college students would find entertaining. I remember playing Drop Sum over and over and getting excited about the game. ABCYA is a great way to introduce online educational games to students. I will definitely be using this resource in my future classroom. I give ABCYA a 5 out of 5.

Phishing and Pharming: Beware

     I had never heard of the terms phishing and pharming before we were assigned to these topics. Researching the two topics was enlightening and eye opening. I knew some basic information regarding online safety to protect my identity, but I never heard of phishing or pharming. Jey-ar, Ji, and I all had a hand in the researching process for this project. We used google docs and whatsapp to communicate with each other. 

     Previously, Ji had been the mastermind behind our presentations, so this time around I wanted to try designing our presentation. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I became frustrated because I wanted our presentation to be awesome like the ones before. We had raised the bar high with our past presentations and I wanted to reach the bar with this one. This endeavor was challenging at times, but I learned a lot and exposed myself to different media tools. I tried out slides and found the program easy to use, however it was very plain and I was not able to input any video into the program. I then attempted to use Sway, but found the program difficult to use and incredibly time consuming. After Sway, I used Haiku Deck, but I did not like that I was not able to change the size of the fonts in my presentation. Eventually I tried out Prezi. I had never used Prezi before in my life, so using Prezi was new. After struggling with the previous presentation tools, I found Prezi to be easy to use. I enjoyed putting our presentation together. 

     After putting the presentation together I shared the link with Jey-ar and Ji and asked them to make any changes if need be. Ji looked through the presentation and changed the order of the path to have the slides flow better. 

     Jey-ar took it upon himself to come up with a way to get our audience to interact with us. He used twiddla to have the audience mark what they found wrong with an email posted on the white board. The audience was able to circle the sketchy parts of the email and share either verbally or through the chat what they thought was wrong with the email we provided. Jey-ar explored and played around with the program and told us what he had planned for this part of our presentation. 

     I think our presentation went well. I hope we were able to show the class the importance of being aware of phishing and pharming as well as being safe while using the internet. I have enjoyed this class and I am sad to see the class ending. I loved learning so many new things about technology. I loved how this class has opened my eyes to things I never knew existed. I am grateful for a team who supports and works so well together. I hope when I become a teacher, I will be able to foster such dynamic learning experiences like the ones I have experienced with this digital safety project as well as all the other assignments I have done previously.

References 

   Prezi. (2015) Retrieved from http://prezi.com/opi_0polnnkc/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Twiddla. (2015) Retrieved from http://www.twiddla.com/     

                    

Enabling Dreams Reflection

 Watching this video opened my eyes to see all the possibilities that are created with assistive technology. Assistive technology helps students with disabilities go after dreams that would probably not have been available in the past.

If I were to have a student with a disability, I would not allow their disability to define them. I would work with the student, parents, and anyone directly connected to the student to find what would help the student go above and beyond in the classroom.

In addition to talking to the student and the student’s support system, I would research ways that would help the student succeed in the classroom. If the student did not come into my classroom with an assistive technology tool, I would research tools that would help the student and make sure the tool would be provided to the student. I would also communicate with the parents of the student if the tool that was provided to the student was working or not. If the tool failed to help the student, I would look for a tool that did.

If my student expressed a desire to go after a dream he or she had, I would research assistive technology tools that would help him or her go after that dream. After watching the video, I believe that nothing is impossible. With technology only getting better with each passing day, I believe that anything could be created to help a student with a disability attain his or her dreams.

As an educator, I will treat each child as an individual and not a number in my classroom. I will be enthusiastic and passionate about what I teach. I will ensure that every single student succeeds. I will go the extra mile to help anyone I see struggling. I hope to be so inspirational that my students will want to become educators too.

References 

Carlin, S. (2011, June 15). Assistive Technology in the Classrom. Retrieved from

      http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech086.shtml

Stanberry, K; Ranskind, M. (2009) Assistive Technology for Kids with Learning Disabilities. Retrieved from 

      http://www.readingrockets.org/article/assistive-technology-kids-learning-disabilities-overview

             

Observation in an ESL Class

     I was given the opportunity to observe an ESL class at Ordot Elementary. The students were first and second graders. The teacher was super enthusiastic and I could tell by the way she taught that she was passionate about her job. When I first walked in she was starting a new activity. She asked the students to make a pyramid this signaled that they were ready to transition. She paired the students together and taped a large sheet of paper to the board. The paper contained unfinished words and pictures. The partners were to work together to complete the beginning and ending sounds of the picture. Before the class started on their assignment she went over the images with the class.  While they were working the teacher would walk around the class and assist any students who needed help. The pairs that made no mistakes on their work were rewarded with a small toy from a bag.
     She transitioned to reading and called the different groups out by number. She would say one potato which would signal the students to get ready to transition, two potato which would signal the students to stand up, and three potato the students would walk to the carpet on the floor. While a group of students was working on reading exercises the other students worked on worksheets. She did this really cool thing where she told the students this finger says ch this finger says ip. She would hold one finger up for the class to say the sound then hold her other finger up for the class to say the other sound. After the class practiced both sounds a couple of times she would bring her two fingers together to say the whole sound. She also went over different sounds with the class. She would also encourage her students saying see so and so moved to group two we can move to group two too if we just practice.
     I really loved observing this class. The teacher was so passionate about what she did that I wanted to become an ESL teacher too. I could really tell that she loved working with her students. I hope when I become a teacher, I will teach with the same passion she has.

Multimedia Lesson Plan Reflection

   

   
     I have never used the ASSURE lesson plan format, so creating this multimedia lesson plan proved very difficult. I knew exactly what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go with my awesome imaginary class; however, I struggled to understand where to put things. I struggled with this new format. I wanted to put so much into the lesson plan. I just was not sure where to start or where to end.
     Within my lesson plan I had many hyperlinks to different sites. I used prezi , slidedog , powtoon , and googlesheets . I also had hyperlinks to my livebinder created for the lesson. I hope these hyperlinks will make teaching for the substitute teacher more easier and more efficient. The hyperlinks would also help me save time when teaching a lesson. All I would have to do is click on the links to show my students the different tools and resources within the lesson plan.
     While creating this lesson plan, I found out how much I love livebinders! What a fabulous way to organize lessons and resources for lessons. If I were to be absent, all my substitute would have to do is search for my binder. He or she will have everything he or she needs to teach the lesson. I would provide everything that the substitute would need to succeed in delivering the lesson. I can also use livebinders for other things like creating tabs for resources I can use in the classroom. I will definitely be using livebinders in my classroom.
     I hope that I created my lesson plan in such a way that a stranger could walk in my class and know exactly what to do. If I failed at this, there is always room for improvement as an educator. I hope I created a lesson that would keep my students engaged and involved. The only way to test this out would be to teach the lesson. If I used this lesson in the future and I found that my students were not engaged and involved I would edit and improve my lesson plan accordingly. I hope that when I become an educator I will stop at nothing to make sure each one of my students succeeds in learning. I want to adapt my lessons in such a way that each student walks out learning something new.
     I believe if I used the ASSURE lesson plan format more often, I would eventually get used to how to use the format. Although, I struggled with putting this lesson plan together I liked the requirement for detail because it helps the teacher become well prepared to educate. I can see myself using the ASSURE lesson plan in my class to create a learning environment filled with technology savvy students. I do not believe anyone is born great at something, I believe even the most famous super stars in history have put effort in order to obtain success. I want to be an educator that works and strives for excellency in teaching. My students deserve the best education they can get. I will practice and practice and make changes to what did not work out with this ASSURE lesson plan format to become the best teacher I can be.

References

LiveBinders (2006-2015). Retrieved from 

    http://www.livebinders.com/shelf/my
Reid, D. [Doug Reid]. (2008, November 8). Label Reading 101 [Video file]. Retrieved from

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrdCBqFYDyo

Conclusion

I hope this livebinder has been successful in helping you see different resources available to you. This livebinder is only a stroke of paint in the big picture. I encourage you to explore and to find additional tools and resources you can use as a teacher to help your students succeed and become more technology literate. Have an awesome adventure in your searches! 

Thank You, 

Rhia Jimenez

Live Binder Introduction

Hafa Adai, My name is Rhia Jimenez. In my livebinder you will find many resources you can use as a teacher as well as resources your students can use. There are study tools, multimedia tools, communication and collaboration tools, search engines for children, and much more. I hope my livebinder will equip you with the tools you need to be a successful educator. Keep in mind, there are tons of resources out there, all you have to do is do a little research and you will be surprised at what you find! Have a wonderful day. 

Si Yu'us Ma'ase, 

Rhia Jimenez