Journal #5: Twitter

When I first started to use Twitter, I believed that it would only benefit my personal life. For instance, following my favorite celebrities or famous news channels to keep up with what is happening in the real world. However, after I joined Twitter, I found out that I use it more for my professional development by following other teachers that teach the same grade I do, or other educational multimedia enthusiasts. As a result, I have been able to gain more ideas with different strategies and activities I can incorporate into my classroom, such as a pumpkin investigation I will complete with students on Halloween or using certain apps during their reading centers. Although Twitter adds a great deal to my professional development, I do not feel as though it would a great amount to my classroom, due to the grade I teach. My first grade students are still learning to read and write, which means they should not be limited to the 140 character limit Twitter puts on their comment section. However, I do see a benefit in using Twitter to communicate with my parents, which was stated in the article “35 Interesting Ways to the Use Twitter in the Classroom.” I believe my parents would be able to use Twitter in order to see what is happening in their child’s classroom in real time, rather than through simple newsletters.

Question 1: Is Twitter beneficial for intermediate grades?

Answer 1: I believe Twitter is beneficial for intermediate grades, due to the fact that these students can use Twitter in order to collaborate over their assignments and discuss different things that occurring in their classroom.

Question 2: Should a teacher still monitor their students on Twitter?

Answer 1: A teacher should ALWAYS monitor their students on any social media account, due to the access that the students have to discuss topics that would not be appropriate for their age.

Final Project Plan

Final Project Plan

·       Site title – Miss Travieso’s First Grade Class

·       Developer – Michaela Travieso

·       Rational or focus –

• Statement of Purpose: My purpose for creating this website is to increase parent involvement and knowledge in my classroom.
• Main objectives:
• To increase parent communication
• To increase parent knowledge of events occurring the classroom
• To increase parent knowledge of the subject matter their children are learning in my classroom

·       Main features outline and Content–

• Home Page- Description of website, my contact information and important events coming up in the classroom
• Classroom Information Page- A page that has all of the information for our classroom, from the topics we are focusing on that week to our class rules and schedule.
• Calendar Page- A calendar for the month that lists homework and important dates
• Superhero’s Work Page- A page that has pictures and videos of the students doing their projects and work in the classroom.
• Math Tips- A page that will have websites and examples of the math the students are completing for the parents to view.
• Reading and Writing Tips- A page that will have websites and examples of the math the students are completing for the parents to view.
• Contact Page- A page where the parents can contact me directly if they have any questions, comments, or concerns.

·       Target audience – The target audience for my site will be the parents of the students in my classroom.

·       Design considerations- The design goals for my website are to make it:

-       clutter-free: I do not want to too much information that will overwhelm my viewer, such as long paragraphs or too many bullets for them to read.

-       easy to navigate: I want all of the pages to lead back to the home page, as well as the viewer to know which header to click on to get a specific site or information.

-       colorful: I want the colors to be red, yellow and blue to represent my superhero theme.

·       Limiting factors – The technical factors that might limit my website design would be knowing how to create a calendar that I can update daily or monthly, such as Google Calendar. Also, I am unsure if I would be able to create a page where the parents could contact me directly from the webpage, such as sending me an email directly. The audience factors that might limit my website design would be parents have the ability to access the website, such as not having access to the internet.

·       Site Map Image-

Wire Frame Image

Journal #3: Social Media in Schools

Kessler, S. (2010, September 29). The Case For Social Media in Schools. Retrieved October 13, 2016, from http://mashable.com/2010/09/29/social-media-in-school/#7ttdiIaPOkqR

Klopfer, E. (2009). The Instructional Power of Digital Games, Social Networking, Simulations and how Teachers Can Leverage Them. Retrieved October 12, 2016, from http://education.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/GamesSimsSocNets_EdArcade.pdf

The biggest question in debates today is: “Is social media and technology an asset to have in schools?” There are many sides to this debate, but I have my opinion that might be different than others. In my opinion, I believe that social media and technology can have many positive assets for a classroom. I can see how it can add a great deal to lessons, as well as the classroom environment. For instance, the way social media and technology can add to lessons was discussed in the article written by Eric Klopfer. He states that simulations and digital gaming can be added to give lessons an added challenge and sense of engagement for the 21^st century learners in the classroom. As for the classroom environment, Sarah Kessler discussed how social media can add a great positive dynamic to the classroom environment, due to fact that it creates collaboration instead of cliques, which cause displaced students in the classroom environment.

Question 1: Do cell phones help with chronic absenteeism in school?

Answer 1: According to Kessler, many schools have adopted a program that will wake up students who have chronic absenteeism through a text message. This will allow the student to get a reminder that they are wanted at school. As a result, these schools have seen a 35% improvement in chronic absenteeism and the school did not have to spend any money for this program.

Question 2: What are simulations? What are a few examples of simulations?

Answer 2: According to Klopfer, simulations are analogies of a real world situation, as they recreate a modeled or modified version of a real world situation. Some examples of simulation are Molecular Workbench, StarLogo: The Next Generation, and SimCity.