Utilizing Digital Resources

As society continues to pursue the constant change in innovation of technology, educators have taken it upon themselves to utilize digital resources to their advantage through their instruction.  I am no different.  While I am certainly far from the age of those who grew up with the first invented cell phone, I am still not leveled with the current generation who is attached to technology in one way or another.  The easiest way to compromise is to utilize digital resources and technology within the classroom setting.

It wasn't until my sophomore year when I created a Twitter account.  In fact, my mother had an account before me!  Crazy, right?  When I created my own account, I didn't pay much attention to it.  It was used simply to pass the time and keep up with big time celebrities.  Nowadays, Twitter is consumed by a community of over 900 million users.  The population of uses has moved away from the "mom generation," targeting younger users by the second.  My senior year of high school was when Twitter became more prevalent within the classroom at my high school.

A teacher whom I was familiar with, though I never had any of her courses, found reasoning behind giving students a reason to connect their social media accounts with their learning environment.  In doing so, students would be asked a question in class and part of their homework assignment was to respond to the question through a tweet.  The teacher was able to check for completion of the assignment by clicking on the corresponding hashtag for the assigned class.  For example, first period may have used #SpanishOnePeriodThree.  When the teacher logged in to her account, she could search for this particular hashtag and see everyone who used this in their post.  However, the teacher was faced with a few challenges.  For instance, what would have happened had there been a handful of students who did not already have a Twitter account?  While she had to make adjustments to this concept of utilizing digital resources, she was successful in her practice and seemed to receive a great deal of positive attitude.

Social media isn't the only successful process that teachers and students can cooperate with.  Using other online resources such as Prezi, SlideShare, or even the SmartBoard encourages students to remain engaged throughout the lesson and activity.  It also gives teachers another opportunity to differentiate the lesson, targeting more than one specific audience.  Engagement is exemplified through the use of technology, which gives teachers just one more reason to want to use it.

If you're like me, then you do your best to stay organized.  But after a few weeks of a clean desk with pencils in their proper hole, the organization seems to disintegrate.  One of my favorite perks of utilizing technological resources is the availability of online data tracking and folders.  While paper copies are the more simple way to grade students' work and give feedback, it isn't realistic for teachers to keep track of every assignment that needs to be graded.  This is a concept that higher leveled teachers understand more than anyone.  With a higher amount of students comes a higher amount of assignments to grade.  If students were allowed the option to submit assignments digitally, teachers would reduce the amount of papers printed, which would reduce the chances of losing a student's work.  That in itself is enough to help keep things organized for a little while longer.

All in all, digital resources MUST be utilized in order to maintain credibility with society.  Whether it's using technology yourself, allowing students to explore and find connections between social media and education, or both, it's crucial to the learning of every individual in one way or another.

You Can Learn Anything

Did you know: YOU Can Learn Anything?

Over the course of the last few months, I have had the pleasure of tutoring two young men in various subjects.  However, our main focus was math.  These two boys are brothers, but they are in two separate grades.  While the oldest is in the 8th grade, working on Pre-Algebra concepts, the other is in 6th grade, working on several beginning concepts that are setting the foundation for his upcoming math courses.

For me, tutoring consists of several things.  When I first arrive, the boys join me at the table with all of the materials they will need for the day.  We begin by working on their assigned homework before moving on to additional practice in other areas.  Halfway through the session, I stop what we are working on and allow them to participate in a fun activity.  These activities have varied from eating a snack to having a competition to see who could solve a word puzzle the quickest.  My reasoning behind these breaks is simply that:  it gives the boys a break from instruction, practice, support, and thinking too hard.  It gives them a second to step back and breathe.  It gives them the opportunity to have fun in the middle of a serious part of their day.

Despite their closeness in age, it's sometimes hard for me to assist both boys at the same time.  After a little research, I found an online tutoring program called Khan Academy.  Khan Academy is targeted for students in any grade, and provides lessons and games for just about any subject.  While assisting one student on his homework, I would allow the other to play games, which are stimulated quizzes.  Then we would switch.  There are several positives that I have been able to notice with this particular organization.

Khan Academy provides the student with resources that assists them in their learning.  If there is a concept the student does not understand, there are YouTube videos linked directly into the lesson that students can engage themselves in.  Furthermore, the stimulated quizzes require that students answer five consecutive questions correctly.  That's right, consecutive.  If a student misses the 4th question, they must then start back over at one.  I praise this method because students are given the chance to practice the same type of problem repeatedly.  It encourages practice and attention.  Another positive I enjoy is the availability to track the performance of students.  I am able to go in and look at their progress at any given time, which provides me with additional feedback on needs for each boy that I may miss when assisting them with their general school work.

Overall, I encourage the use of technology whenever working with students.  With the society constantly changing and the use of technological sources increasing, it is important in their structure of learning.  Technology has many great values and I have been so thankful for the opportunity to use this program throughout my time with these students.  With the availability of resources higher than ever, people of all ages have the opportunity to explore anything; including themselves.  It's never too late to learn something new, and at any given age, you can learn anything.

Khan Academy is free, so sign up today!!   

Using Integrated Learning Systems

Using Integrated Learning Systems:  What I Recommend and Why

One of the main concepts taught over and over in college courses is the process and effectiveness of differentiating lessons.  As a Special Education major, I take this strategy and information to heart.  Regardless of that, though, any good teacher will differentiate any given lesson to meet the needs of all learners present in the classroom.  A great way to ensure this is through the use of an Integrated Learning System.

Integrated Learning Systems are software programs that have been designed to provide content to students in an effective way.  The delivery of these programs provide content that is measurable, monitored, and easily maintained through a series of assessments.  Here's how it generally works-students each have a personal account set up!  Through the program, students are given direct instruction on what they need to do for that specific assignment.  Students work through the generated problems and are given immediate feedback and results.  This cuts down on the amount of time students have to wait for their teacher to finish grading their handwritten work.  

Looking back on my own time in school, I was most familiar with the Accelerated Reader Program.  This program consists of reading AR leveled books and then taking a test on the story.  The quiz asks questions that pertain to reading comprehension and covers both literal questions and inferential type questions.  This program relies on the independent reading of students and assesses them afterwards.

Study Island is an online program that I am not as familiar with, but it is used frequently in schools today.  According to an article written by Derrick Meador, Study Island is offered in every state in the United States.  It is also used in more than 24,000 schools within our country.  From what I can observe, this resource offers information for all grades, K-12 in Math, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies.  Because of the amount of interactive resources available through this program, this is an effective way for students to study and prepare for their final assessments given by the state.  Meador's article provides many beneficial components that Study Island offers.  One of my favorite things is that the site provides instant feedback and is adaptable depending on each student and course.  Students are constantly working towards accomplishing goals and if they don't meet their standards, this learning system provides remidational work that students can continue to complete.  Therefore, all students are working towards their specific needs.  This is a system that is worth looking into for many reasons.  It allows for teachers and parents to take a break from constantly reviewing material and gives students a chance to work as long as they can on a specific goal before moving on to a new concept.

Overall, Integrated Learning Systems can be beneficial to students and teachers both.  Individualizing instruction to fit the needs of that student is perfect for the student because they are working on their own needs and not working on someone else's needs.  Teachers benefit from using these systems because the assignments and assessments are graded through the used system, which saves the teacher time.  It also gives the teacher feedback on specific goals and objectives the particular student needs to work on.  "Some experts suggest that through implementation of an integrated learning system requires a minimum of 45 minutes and four lessons per week in a given subject area as well as high levels of teacher integration" (Tutorials Explaining ILS, teched).  This resource also states that research indicates that "students who participate in activities through the integrated learning systems spend more time actively engaged in the learning system spend more time actively engaged in the learning tasks than their counterparts who are engaged in the same offline learning tasks in traditionally structured classrooms" (Worthen, VanDusen, & Sailor, 1994).


Sources:

Institute of Educational Services.  What Works Clearinghouse.  Accelerated Reader.  Retrieved 11/17/2015  http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/interventionreport.aspx?sid=12

Technology in Education.  Integrated Learning Systems.  Retrieved 11/17/2015  https://teched-su2011.wikispaces.com/Integrated+Learning+Systems

About Education.  Review of Study Island.  Retrieved 11/18/2015 http://teaching.about.com/od/tech/fr/Study-Island.htm

Wadsworth Cengage Learning.  Integrated Learning Systems.  Retrieved 11/18/2015 http://college.cengage.com/education/grabe/int_tech/5e/prepare/chapter/chap4.ils.html
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Dreaming in Color

It was always something I pictured myself doing: teaching.  It started as a game I would play with my best friend, Conner, as a five year old kid.  Four stuffed animals sitting around a small table in the center of my room, each with a piece of notebook paper and a No. 2 pencil directly in front of them.  We took turns, Conner and I.  One taught while the other assisted.  It was simple; walking around the "classroom" with a clipboard that spelled out each student's name, first and last.  It became a dream that never ended, so here I am today.

After spending the last fourteen years in a classroom setting, I generally am asked why I would ever desire to become a teacher.  Personally, I find that knowing I can make an impact on a child's life is already rewarding.  The thought of teaching students with special needs never crossed my mind until Junior year of high school.  I've always felt a special connection with students with disabilities, and with children in general as a matter of fact.  So when I took a leap and began researching Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence's theory for a school project, I quickly realized that every student learns differently.  Some students excel and learn quicker than the average student, while others have some difficulties retaining information.  When applying to East Carolina in the Fall of 2012, I chose an education path of Special Education and shortly after attending my first class at ECU, I added on a plan for licensure in Elementary Education.  But why teach?

I believe teaching is a passion, a desired dream.  

It's waking up early and staying up late, preparing and finalizing lesson plans.

It's finding a way to differentiate information taught to meet the needs of all students because every student deserve equal attention.

It's buying numerous packs of crayons, markers, glue sticks, dry erase markers and construction paper because you never seem to have enough.

It's saying "Good Morning" to all of the smiling faces in the morning, constantly reminding every single student that you believe in them.

It's searching for all kinds of books to stock your classroom library.

Being an educator is something that all people are capable of.  Think about it; every person teaches another person at some point in their life.  However, it takes an amount of care and support to teach a student.  Students who haven't yet been exposed to the sometimes harsh but ever-changing world we live in.  The things they learn before graduating high school will have the most impact on their lives, guiding them towards a path they will choose to walk down for the rest of their lives.

Growing up, every child has a dream.  Whether it's to be an astronaut, a business manager, a member on a professional sports team, or even the President of the United States, every child has a dream.  It's now up to me to help them reach that dream.