Assistance and Adaptation (J7)

Salutations everyone! With everything that has been happening in class recently, I have been very glad to have Twitter to keep me informed of how everyone is handling things. It's refreshing being able to share some of my favorite moments and resources with you all, and I love seeing what everyone has been posting on their own accounts. I have had to adapt to using functions of Twitter I was previously less sure about, such as sharing pictures or resources from my posts. It can be hard to stay on top of things while trying to keep up with classwork from other courses, but it is a welcome challenge!

Speaking of challenges, this week's Web Design assignment definitely kept me on my toes! I have had previous experience designing websites in Wix for other classes, and for personal reasons. Still, working under a time constraint, making sure to incorporate elements such as calendars and lists... There was so much that went into this project, and I was honestly a little overwhelmed. I think in the future I will try to manage my time better, and break up the process into more manageable stages. If I have learned anything from this experience, it is that it is okay if your work is imperfect. No matter how much I want my work to be beautiful and exceptional, we are all going to make mistakes in our lives. What matters is that we are brave enough to make them, to put ourselves out there in the first place. Sure, my site is not where I want it to be. But it is out there, and I now know what I need to improve in the future. And hey, there is no shame in asking for help! Your teachers are there to guide you so that when you make mistakes, you can learn from them and eventually make better mistakes, or even successes.

Of course, sometimes students need a little more help to get them to where they want to be. That is where assistive technology comes in! Assistive technologies are designed to accommodate a student's specific needs to improve their performance in the classroom. I cannot emphasize enough how important these developments are. As someone on the Autistic Spectrum, I can attest to how helpful having tools such as communication exercises or Zones of Respect would have been when I was growing up. My hope is that I can aid my students in the same way I always hoped to be when I was younger. Devising plans that accommodate not only autistic people but people with other learning or physical disabilities or advanced talents is both a thrilling and daunting prospect. It can be difficult to satisfy everyone's needs, and everyone will require different forms of aid. But that does not mean we should not try. Students should not have to struggle unnecessarily to reach their goals. Our job as teachers is not to put students through a gauntlet. Rather, it is the duty of a teacher to help our students achieve their dreams in whatever way we can, no matter who they are or where they came from. I hope that together, we can all lift our students higher than ever before!

The Future of Technology in the Classroom (J6)

When discussing how technological in the classroom might advance, it is important to evaluate those technologies we already have. Take for instance the Bozeman Elementary School 3rd Grade class page. From their page, you can access a list of the programs they use in their classes from the Student Links tab. The Parent Links give you access to the parent portal, cafeteria menus, Class Dojo and the Florida Standards. They also supply a monthly newsletter with both current and archived articles, and a list of upcoming events in their own tab. And of course, they supply contact information for parents wanting to know more. Unfortunately, their page has not been updated recently, which does count against them. It is also a little minimalistic, thought that adds to the elementary school charm. You can find their site here! Go check them out!

While I know I have spoken about Google Docs before, its use as a means of writing and sharing files from any computer with instant feedback will likely prove invaluable in my future career as a writer. I also can see myself using sites like World Anvil to create a more interactive way of engaging with the worlds I create in my writing. World Anvil also organizes a lot of that information in clear ways, which will help a lot. And of course, having virtual reminders to keep me accountable is appreciated.

The tech sandbox opens up even more possibilities when it comes to bringing in new technology into the classroom. I am especially excited about virtual reality tours, as this could allow schools to take field trips more frequently and with greater accessibility to disabled students. 3D printing is also promising, as it offers a chance to bring models into the classroom. This could come in handy in a creative writing class, where being able to visualize and codify your characters and the world around them is essential.

ILP "Participation" - Drawing Digital Art in Photoshop

Salutations, everyone! This week I wanted to show you all what I learned from Lynda.com's "Drawing Digital Illustrations in Photoshop" course. In it, I discuss my experience of Lynda's interface, some of the most interesting things I took from this course, and anything else that caught my attention.
I had a lot of fun with this project, though it did prove to be a bit of a technical rollercoaster. While the lessons themselves were fantastically intuitive, getting my VoiceThread ready for the first time was a bit of a struggle. Still, this experience has given me insight into how I might improve in the future moving forward! Below is the thread itself. Take a look!

https://voicethread.com/share/12197146/

Web 2.0 (J5)

My first impressions of the Diigo extension have been pretty positive. Being able to share bookmarked sites in a way that is easily sorted for what you need is very useful. And the annotating tools are a godsend when I am doing research or taking notes! My only nitpick is that the tagging system is a little cumbersome. But it is perfectly serviceable for what I need it to do, so that is alright!

I am really glad to be able to share my experiences with you all! Blogging has been an interesting challenge, to say the least. Keeping up with it may take me out of my comfort zone, but I still love being able to put all of my thoughts in one place. Besides which, blogging means I can continue to practice writing consistently, something all writers should do. Getting used to the way these posts are formatted and what they are capable has been a fun ride, and one I hope we can continue together!

The introduction of Web 2.0 has redefined how we use the internet. I am especially excited to incorporateYouTube video essays into the classroom. Whether they are being used as a sort of "illustrated podcast" for my students to go over when I am absent or as a review, video essays help to give information in an engaging way that my students can deliver direct feedback on. Perhaps I could even have students experiment with video essays themselves, although that may start delving into the digital divide. Regardless, the idea of introducing my students to new concepts in a way where they can react to what is being shown is highly appealing to me.

Software in the Classroom (J4)

So far the people I interact with most on Twitter have been the people from this class on my school Twitter for the sake of finding new resources or discussing assignments. However, I also use Twitter to keep in touch with artists, writers, and creators that I love to see what they are working and what they are thinking about at the moment. I see Twitter as a powerful tool for myself and other creators to communicate with our audience and announce new projects that we are excited about. Having a medium where we can communicate our thoughts quickly and succinctly can be extremely valuable to someone in a creative field.

The digital divide can create a huge disparity in how prepared a student is for their assignments or how well they are able to perform. Because some students grew up with more access to technology do to greater affluence, wealth, or personal connections, students without access to these materials are at a significant disadvantage at using these tools despite similar levels of experience. Students from lower income backgrounds deserve to have the same chance at success in my classroom as any other student. It is my job then, as a teacher, to avoid assigning homework of such nature to my students, and instead encouraging technology-based learning experiences on school time, such as interactive games or presentations.

Personally, I would love to expose my students to programs like Word Anvil. Word Anvil is a site designed to help you create and organize all the elements of world-building for writers and role players, and is remarkably robust and intuitive. Hemingway could also be a useful application to have in the classroom! It's a writing checker that checks all spellings for you, checks if you're overusing adverbs, picks out over-complicated sentences, and so much more! A very handy tool for young writers!

Standards and Resources (J3)

The ELA standards serve as the backbone for the majority of what we as teachers need to accomplish in our lessons. I myself feel most comfortable in exploring the standards for 11-12 English Creative Writing, particularly LAFS.1112.W.2.6. This standard asks students and educators to use technology to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products. Where I start to falter however is in regards to standards involving the integration of multiple sources of media, such as LAFS.1112.RH.3.7.

I found the Digital Storytelling website from CPALMS to be an interesting potential resource. It provides worksheets and lesson plans designed to help students create narrative products in a digital format, helping them to understand the process of script writing and adaptation in the process. As a Creative Writing teacher, I appreciate the chance to give my students a hands-on experience with creating their first professional project.

The newsletter was a great way to introduce the idea of conscious formatting. I really liked the idea of a format where you can let students know about advancements in your field and possible opportunities to get their writing out there. I am still figuring out how to create attractive banners, and figuring out what content I should share. But I am excited to have a means of keeping my students informed on what is happening in the world of writing!

Words and Their Usage (J2)

I am sure for many people MS Word was their introduction to digital writing tools. As a part of the Microsoft Office Suite, it's pretty widely available, and while its interface is not too deep, Word does offer a lot of options. Having said that, my time working with Word was rather short compared to most people. While I have explored it in my younger years as an early writing tool, I am far more comfortable using Google Drive for my writing projects. Having your information saved on the cloud in addition to having more plugins and a more accessible interface made Drive very appealing to me. That said, I am glad to have the opportunity to revisit Word and explore it further!

Copyright law is very pertinent to me as a writer and an artist. I want myself and my students to be able to create in a safe space where we can feel comfortable in the knowledge that our intellectual property is protected. We covered some elements of copyright when I started my site for ENC 2135, and it will definitely come up if I or my students use NaNoWriMo or another publishing service. In the future, I hope to use programs like the Creative Commons to ensure that sites, games, or tools I design can be shared without the risk of theft. I also wish to be involved in making sure my students also get in touch with copyright licenses for their own writing projects. 

To ensure my students do not infringe on the copyrights of others, I will help direct them to sources in the Creative Commons, and encourage the use of citation. Citation will also be important in the name of academic integrity, to make sure that their using their own work and are crediting the artists and educators that inspire them. I would also allow for students to devise pen names that they can use in my class, as well as validating the sites I use or preferably devise myself to ensure my students' privacy is protected.