Johnson Standard 6.2

LiveBinder 8th grade history

PowToon

Candidates select and use grade-level and content-specific technology resources, including assistive technology, to increase student participation in the total curriculum.

This particular standard is meant for me, as a prospective teacher, to become familiar with ways to enrich my lesson plans with technology that is developed specifically for what I will be teaching. For instance, if there is a virtual museum tour, I could use that. It also means that I need to be comfortable enough with new technologies for assisting me in the classroom. Being familiar with tablets for instance. Tablets are being found in more and more places now and they can be as good as having a secondary teacher in the classroom. Even if you have a limited number available to use, splitting the usage up to small groups at a time allows you focus on a particular group of students that might need more attention and help with something, while other students are using the tablets to do the next assignment. IT will also help with the fact that I will have inclusion classrooms. I have a niece who was having trouble developing her speech. So much trouble that she, and my sister and her husband, qualified for a program whereby they were able to get a tablet device at an extreme discount in order to use the various programs available to help my niece, Samantha, develop her speech! She can now talk to me on the telephone and be perfectly understood. I know that I will have students who have similar problems in my classroom and there are so many different programs out there to assist them, that it would be foolish not to utilize it. After all, if I want to inspire my students, what better way to inspire them than to show them that no matter what sorts of difficulties you have, you can still learn the same things as everyone else. I really really enjoy Livebinder!! IT is so fabulous that I plan to continue to use it, both for professional and personal projects! It's better than Pinterest in some ways because I can link directly to what it is I want to do instead of repinning something from someone else's board and having to go through several clicks before reaching the actual content. I like it better than Evernote in some ways because it has more of a notebook feel to it, which kind of makes me feel a little safer, haha! I can't help it, I guess I'm slightly anachronistic in wanting to still do things with paper and notebook and this gives me the best of both worlds!

The biggest concern I have about using various technologies in the classroom is that how will I stay on top of all the different ones that will continue to be developed? I'm primarily worried that I'll end up using something that becomes so out of date that it's more harmful than useful in my classroom and I won't know for sure what technology to start using instead. 

Standard 6.1

Quizlet

Colonial WebQuest

Google Drawing Classroom

6.1      

Candidates integrate instructional technology to facilitate learning in their classrooms, to supplement instructional strategies, to design instructional materials, and to enhance hands-on experiences and problem solving

A teacher needs to be able to implement many facets of technology into his/her classroom. With technology surrounding everyone of nearly every day of their lives now, it is virtually impossible to keep it out of the classroom. I need to be able to include plenty of opportunities for my students to use technology to learn. This will help to keep them interested because it will seem more like the things they do in their everyday lives. They can take virtual tours of Williamsburg to see the day to day life of Colonial Americans. They can create a vacation plan to follow the trek of Washington's army, checking for memorials in different locations for a virtual field trip. By implementing various technologies into the classroom, I will also be given all my students the chance to learn in ways that will suit them best.
I really like the Quizlet. I think that will be wonderful for setting up flashcards for the students to use that they can access from anywhere they have an internet connection (with most people having smartphones these days, I expect most of my 8th graders will have access to the internet). The students can also help me with creating future flashcards that they feel will benefit future classes. While I will probably use WebQuests that others have created, I'm not sure yet that I feel confident enough in my abilities with it to create one for my students. I know I've created one that's linked to this blog, but to be honest, I'm not sure I completely understand the process of creating a WebQuest. That and despite the fact that the platform has already been set up for me to create one, I do not feel internet/tech savvy enough to create one that looks polished properly. This will be something I will have to spend more time with. I'm going to ask my sister (she has 5 kids) and a few of my aunts/uncles (I have several cousins that are close to the 8th grade range) if they will allow their kids to look at these WebQuests and see if they are something they would like to try. Maybe if I get some feedback from the demographic I'm aiming for, I'll find some ways to work on what needs to be improved.
I hope that whatever school I end up working for in the future has some of these technologies already implemented in their curriculum. I plan to work with other teachers to help myself stay up to date on what is in use and the best way to use these technologies. I expect that this particular class, Instructional Technology, will continue to be offered and to that end, I'm thinking that it may be beneficial to retake the class every few years to help keep myself up to date on what sites are out there for teachers to utilize.

Johnson Standard 6.3

 Standard 6.3

Taking the quiz
Results Page
Johnson Standard 6.3

1.Teachers and those training to be teachers need to be able to utilize technology in order to help streamline their assessment of their students and the students needs in the classroom. This means that I need to strive that much harder to become familiar with the many different applications of technology out there in order to make myself the best possible teacher I can be. As an 8th grade history teacher, having these many methods available will be extremely useful in my classroom as my students will be of an age where having their homework and possibly class discussions online will be more appealing to them. They'll be able to work on their assignments wherever they are and can keep in touch with myself and their fellow students if they need assistance. With me being able to analyze how many of my students are performing better with different the different platforms available, I can determine the best one to use for my classroom experience.
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2. I know I'm not the most tech savvy student in my class and to be truthful, sometimes the sheer volume of different applications out there makes my head swim. I did enjoy creating the infuse learning quiz. I thought it was much more streamlined than the flubaroo quiz. If that is still useful when I graduate, I want to continue to use it. I can easily create short daily quizzes for my class to take or weekly quizzes. It is also easier to analyze the results in my opinion. The Jing application was interesting. Much easier than using the Mac video editor for what we were trying to accomplish. I would like to see if I can use that in my classroom with my students by having them find images that answer questions from class and using Jing to upload them to our virtual classroom.

3. The biggest questions I have are primarily, how will I know that something will serve my purpose best when there are so many choices out there? I know that in part, I will only arrive at a conclusion by some trial and error and using recommendations of those who have gone before me or are more fearless with technology. I think that if I can become familiar enough to not get my students to roll their eyes at me too much (not at all is a bit much to hope for I think) for being behind the times, then between my students and myself, we can create a virtual classroom of sorts where we can exchange ideas and information about history and how is affects us today. I know I can easily get into a rut with things I'm familiar with so I think I will try to ask my students for suggestions and other input, both at the beginning and the end of the year.

4. I would love to have practice items to do in order to practice with the different applications more. Maybe an additional virtual classroom where I have to do a more thorough preparation of some of these things in order to actually drive a class forward. I suppose I can create one myself, but I would like to have someone to evaluate and gauge how I'm doing with the different technologies I'm using. It may be useful to create a small group of other students who want to continue practicing and see if it's possible to develop a system of practices with them. I need to devote some time at least once a week to review some of the new items I'm learning about in order to stay as up to date as possible.

Standard 6.9

"Candidates model the legal and ethical use of technology resources"

 As a teacher, I need to not only know the difference between the right and wrong ways to use technology, I need to exhibit that in everything I do. That means that I need to be the example others look at when they are debating about whether to cheat on an online test, or whether to illegally download movies or music. Technology has made our lives so much easier that all too often we forget that just because it can do something for us that makes our lives "easier", that doesn't mean we should utilize it that way. In teaching 8th graders, my students will be at that crucial cusp of life where they will start making decisions that will create the adults they will become. I need to  able to show them why it is so vitally important to make the right choice when using technology. Things like Facebook and Twitter can be so very much more damaging to a person simply because they are not done face to face. There is no way to read intent or tone in what is posted online and as a teenager, especially as a teenager, it is so very easy to assume the worst aspect of intent and tone from a single sentence!! If a student falls into that habit while in school, it's something that could very well affect them throughout their entire lives! 

8th Grade History Class Tutorial 

The above tutorial was created for an 8th grade history/social studies class. When I tested the readability level, the Flesch Kincaid score was 7.9. What I really want my students to understand is that while it is in human nature to put down others for a multitude of reasons, nearly everyone will fall victim to someone else treating us the same way. I want to stress to my students that their action or inaction could be the one thing that forever alters someone's path. One of the biggest things I've learned from this assignment is that cyber bullying is so much huger than I ever thought. I know I sometimes got made fun of at school but I was somehow one of the lucky ones who managed to let most of it roll off my back. I knew a lot of other kids who weren't able to do that. But I never knew that 94% of kids have witnessed cyber bullying. That means that nearly every child I know either already has witnessed it or will in the near future. Something else I've learned is that there are copyright laws in place that affects teachers. I would have thought that anything that can be used to teach would be more or less usable but that seems to not be the case. While you could do something along those lines and possibly have it hold up in a court of law, it would essentially come down to lawyers from both sides splitting hairs to make their case. If it's a matter of splitting hairs, don't let the ax get that close to your hair in the first place. This may not seem like something big to have learned, but I've also discovered that something like Pinterest can be used for this purpose. I think I knew that on an abstract level, but when most of what you see on something like Pinerest includes recipes, crafts, etc., you don't think about it so much as a platform for ethics and morals. But it can be. In fact, in some ways it might be better because it's something you're not expecting to see and it makes more of an impact that way. 
I plan to do some more work with helping to  stop cyber bullying. I want to get involved with Change.org and I plan to do research about what is being done at whatever school I end up at and helping to further the cause of building kids, not destroying them.
 

STANDARD 6.6

Technology should be understood and utilized by educators so that they can reach their students and parents better to involve them in the learning process to the betterment of everyone. This means that I need to be familiar with the technologies I can use to get students interested in history and help parents understand what it is I'm trying to teach their children.

The biggest problem I seem to have with the Prezi (or any type of presentation technology) is that I'm never entirely sure how much is too much and when I'm too vague. I have trouble being able to find enough appropriate videos, music clips, images and other information. When I do find what I'm looking for, it's difficult for me to cull the wheat from the chaff. I am the type of person that does better when someone walks me through the different types of things I'm able to do with something and then from there, I'm usually able to take off on my own. Exploring something like this entirely on my own leaves me feeling more than a little bit intimidated in all honesty.

I'm thinking what I ought to do is set up a series of presentations and send them to my friends and family (and possibly some potential colleagues) and try to get a feel for what they think works best. While I plan to try and focus on history at an 8th grade level, I think any presentation where I'm able to acquire a better grasp of what I'm doing will help. I have a couple of nieces and a son who are approaching the 8th grade level and I will test out my presentations on them as well. They'll be able to give me input from a students' perspective as well. My grandfather was a university professor for many years and while he's not overly fond of some of the new technologies, I believe I can talk my grandmother into getting him to at least watch the presentations and give me some pointers.

Prezi 8th Grade History

Google Presentation 8th Grade History

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s372/sh/eaeaa117-ba28-4c87-9cfc-d805d45e74c8/ffdc09146f3989f9e894b2f27d319c88

6.5       Candidates use technology to gather, sort, and analyze information needed for their own research projects.

       Technology is a quickly increasing field that surrounds nearly everything we do today. It can be fairly intimidating to those that are unable to always keep up with it in fact. I freely admit that I am one of those that seems to have a love/hate relationship with most technology. I adore having a laptop and a cellphone and my kindle fire, but I do not really use them for much other than their most basic uses. I read books on my kindle, I make phone calls and text on my phone (in fact it's a very old fashioned looking flip phone with no camera and barely any internet capabilities) and my laptop is mainly used for web stuff. I've been becoming more aware since I came back to school that technology is becoming more and more commonplace in our education system. I am surprised at the sheer number of applications and websites available to use for educators, students and parents though. I think one of the most intimidating aspects of it all though is how many are out there. A person can literally spend forever just looking up different sites and trying to separate the wheat from the chaff. That is honestly what terrifies me most about all of this:  that I'll always be behind on what the good sites are to use or that I'll get so caught up in sites that are dead ends. This class has helped me to see that there are lot of useful sites out there for me to use as a teacher and that many of them connect to each other fairly easily. 

      I think the most useful aspect of learning about these various sites is that it will help to keep my files, information, etc. organized. I really like Evernote so far because I feel like I have an actual binder on the computer, but a much more intelligent version of a binder. It is important to be able to separate the good sites from the garbage sites, and to be honest, I do not feel one hundred percent confident in that ability at this point. I am discovering, however, that many teachers that a much more tech savvy than myself are more than willing to help direct me towards sites that will be more beneficial. I feel that it is important to be able to utilize this network because otherwise many teachers that do not feel confident in their technology usage with get left behind. 

      

The following are links for research articles about middle school social studies. I opted for general middle school social studies instead of a specific grade because the majority of the relevant articles are for the whole grade range of middle school.

http://aer.sagepub.com/content/38/2/437.short

Ryan, A. M., & Patrick, H. (2001). The classroom social environment and changes in adolescents’ motivation and engagement during middle school. American Educational Research Journal, 38(2), 437-460.

 http://www.editlib.org/p/94703/

Pye, J., & Sullivan, J. (2001). Use of computer-based instruction in teaching middle school social studies. International Journal of Social Education, 15(2), 92-104.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00098659909599423?journalCode=vtch20#.Uw9azV65YaY

Braun Jr, J. A. (1999). Ten ways to integrate technology into middle school social studies. The Clearing House, 72(6), 345-351.

 

Introduction

Well, I suppose I should actually introduce myself. As you can see by the title, I am Jessica Johnson (Davis). My grandfather was a teacher for many years at a college in upstate New York. I remember that from almost as early as third grade, I kept telling everyone I wanted to be a history teacher. I had some great experiences with recreating scenarios when I was younger in my social studies classes. I will admit part of that was because I was living on the east coast where a lot of the early American history took place and it was often easy to get to those spots for school. My whole family tends to be a bit historically oriented. Growing up, whenever my sisters and I were on summer break, our family vacations usually had us driving to historical sites and camping nearby. Since my father was in the Navy, we often had new spots available to us although we never made it out of the country. I suppose you could say that history and teaching are family traits for me. I am primarily hoping to teach middle school social studies however I am looking into the possibility of being able to teach all grade levels.
There are some interesting things about me that at first glance don't really have anything to do with my career path, but upon deeper examination can still circle round to my first passion. I love music (of course I don't know anyone who doesn't love at least some type of music), and will listen to most kinds although I admit I'm not really fond of country music. Strangely enough, I enjoy Celtic folk music. I also like a lot of types of music you don't ever hear on the radio unless that particular group is popular locally. Some of the bands I love include Nightwish, Blackmores Night, Abney Park, Cruxshadows, Emerald Rose and Voltaire. The fascinating part is that several of these groups, upon listening to their lyrics, have taken information from history or historical mindsets or notions and created music from them. Blackmores Night in particular is well known for their medieval and renaissance themed (and sometimes recreated) music. I also love sci-fi/fantasy. Books, movies and TV shows. While I'm not always up to date on the TV shows (too many years without access to cable has left me woefully behind and always trying to catch up), I do have some particular favorites. I've loved Star Wars since I was about seven years old and discovered Doctor Who as I got a little bit older (something else I share with my grandfather). I have discovered that part of the reason I love sci-fi/fantasy is because there is so much history in it!! Watch any science fiction show or read a book (or fantasy for that matter) and you will be able to connect it to something from human history. The phrase "those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it" ( I apologize that I don't know where that phrase comes from and I think it's not an accurate quote) is so true!! I've been seeing it for so long in the way we are evolving as a country.
I plan on focusing on the history content for K-12 standards since I'm hoping that by creating an interesting recreation of most historical events for the students to experience online, they will become more engaged and not think of it as something that happened "way back then" without any bearing on the present or future.