Pinterest is for Teachers, too!

Pinterest is a popular social media site that bookmarks images and websites from all over. It's been getting a lot of attention from teachers, too. Pinterest is extremely helpful to teachers for various reasons. For starters, there is an abundance of lesson plans. They are EVERYWHERE! It's amazing how much you can find on Pinterest when it comes to lesson plans and projects for students of all ages. Here's what you see (today; it's ever-changing) when you search "lesson plans" on Pinterest:

 

It's idea after idea after idea. Pinterest is a teachers ultimate resource. A teacher could also use Pinterest for group collaboration on a board. This wouldn't be necessary for every project but it is certainly an option!

Pinterest is also useful for sharing assignments. The teacher could have every student create a Pinterest account and post the assignments on their class board. This would also be useful when it comes to URLs for research projects and links to videos.

For my Educational Technology class, I had to create a Pinterest account to show how I could use Pinterest in my classroom. To start I needed to pin a bunch of ideas and figure out a way to make them fit together. I found a really great unit plan for elementary science and I modified it to fit my needs and to fit the project.

Meet the Bears is a PBL designed for K-2 classrooms and is a month long lesson plan. I pulled different parts of it and cut out A LOT in order to tailor it to a one time project that students could build off of.

I decided to align my project to the current Arkansas Science standards, specifically Standard 2: Living Systems, focusing this project on LS.2.K.3 and LS.2.K.4: Matching parents and offspring and identifying the basic needs of animals: light, space, air, food and water. Here's a link to my PBL: Meet the Bears

The next step to completing my Ed Tech project was actually doing the PBL I created and seeing if there were any issues and if any adjustments needed.

First, I needed to pick my bear. In my PBL I made it so we would pick them in class so I just chose one on my own for this. I chose the Sun Bear because they're cute and pretty unheard of. Next I needed to do my research.

I went to National Geographic and used their facts on the Sun Bear to complete my project because I find it way more reliable than Wikipedia. After reading through all the facts I created a new flyer in Microsoft Publisher. I left it as a blank page instead of using a template so I could have free reign of the project.

I then began to build my flyer and did a Google Image search for Sun Bears to get good pictures for my flyer.

They're so cute! Anyways, I finished my project and it looked like this in the end:

I adjusted a few things on my rubric and in my "Assignment" section of my PBL so that it could be successful and not cause any problems if I were to use it in the classroom.

Overall, I learned how useful Pinterest can be from this assignment. I had NO idea how great Pinterest could be for teachers and how many projects were on there. My first hour on Pinterest I repinned 40 different classroom activities, lesson plans and projects. It's really great.

Web 2.0 Tools

Web 2.0 Tools I can use in my classroom:  

 

Drawing for Children

http://drawing.gamemaker.nl/

Drawing for Children is a free PC program that has a lot of options built in. Kids can draw with different paintbrushes, use stamps, text, and other fun things. It also has a child mode for young children. I would like to teach young children so this program could help them be creative while learning how to use technology. I could make a fun project for them to do using this software.

 

Quiz Revolution

http://www.quizrevolution.com/

Quiz Revolution is a website teachers can use to create quizzes and tests. They are interactive and contain multimedia. You can even put them on Facebook, websites, etc. I would use this as a tool to create fun quizzes that my class could do as a whole. I could also use it for review questions before a test.

 

Zunal Webquest Maker

http://zunal.com/

Zunal is a webquest maker. You can make one alone or you can work in a team to create one with other users. It also has tons of webquests made by other people with the age group and subject area. We learned in Educational Technology that webquests are a fun way to familiarize students with technology and can be used for an endless amount of things. With this website I could even have students create a webquest in a group.

 

Invention at Play

http://www.inventionatplay.org/index.html

Invention at Play is a website full of games. It’s run by the Smithsonian, so most of the games are educational. They allow creativity and innovation to be brought out in children everywhere. I could use this tool to help the kids build their creativity. I could also use it to have them learn about inventors.

 

Shidonni

http://www2.shidonni.com/v2/?

Shidonni allows you to create a pet. You can take care of it and play with it. I wasn’t able to gather too much information because my computer doesn’t have Microsoft Silverlight, but it seems like fun. I could create a project on what it would be like to take care of a pet for a week. Students could create their virtual pet and see what it’s like to have such a huge responsibility.

 

Chartle

http://www.chartle.net/

Chartle is where you can create charts and graphs for free. You can publish them and it’s an interactive tool. They have broken down the process and made it pretty simple. I could use this for tons of things in class: math activities, Venn diagrams to compare and contrast things, pie charts, etc. The possibilities are pretty much endless, and I could even have students create charts.

 

Class Tools

http://www.classtools.net/education-games-php/timeline/

On Class Tools there is a timeline creator. You can create a basic timeline including dates, descriptions and images. Then you can print them or publish them. Students in my classroom could create timelines for various things. I could have them do a project on a historical event or they could create a timeline about themselves to share with their classmates.

 

Notezz!

http://notezz.com/

Notezz is a note taking web 2.0 tool. Students can create an account and put notes in it. It’s free, simple, and doesn’t even ask for an email when you sign up. I could have students each set up their own account and use it for reminders. I could also suggest parents get an account to keep track of dates and events for their child.

 

Zooburst

http://www.zooburst.com/

Zooburst will let anyone create a 3d pop-up book. The tool is interactive online and simple to use. It was also voted the Best Website for Teaching and Learning in 2011 by the American Association of School Librarians. Here, I could have students create their own story and share it with friends or family. I could also create stories to share with the class this way.

 

Flashcard Stash

http://flashcardstash.com/

Flashcard Stash allows you to create virtual flash cards to study with. There are several categories to choose from, or you can create your own. You can also look up words in the dictionary and then save them to a flashcard. I could use these to help my students study words and definitions or multiplication tables. They could also sign in from home and study with them from there.

The Effects of Social Networking

Social Networking is a relatively new phenomenon. However, the industry is booming. Nearly every person I know now uses at least one of: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pintrest or Myspace. Several people I know use two, three, four or more types of social networks. I, for one, have had/still have a Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Babycenter, and now Blogger. I keep up on my accounts regularly for the most part, even if it's just to lurk around and not actually say anything. But what are the effects that social networking has on us? Particularly our communication skills and our emotional well being.

The two articles I'm reviewing can be found at:
http://socialmediatoday.com/karenn1617/1745751/effects-social-media-how-we-speak-and-write
http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/15/social-media-and-its-effects-on-our-emotional-well-being-3924915/

So let's start out with communication. Karan Chopra is the author of the article and he's a CEO of an internet media company. He points out several ways social media has effected our communication skills. First he points out that we're learning a new language. Twitter, for example, has a character limit. Chopra points out that this forces us to condense our thoughts, resulting in "textspeak." Most people have heard of "LOL" which normally symbolizes some sort of joking or laughter when typed. This is an example of textspeak.

Also, with social media we write for a larger audience. When we write in journals, it's possible that no one will read your writing. But when we are posting something on a social networking site anyone can read it. This changes the way we write. Most people wouldn't write their biggest secret on Facebook and a lot of people soften their opinions in order to avoid a heated argument.

Social networking also enables us to over-share, but be more concise. Additionally, public speakers are seeing less eyes when they present. Most people are still listening, but taking notes or updates throughout presentations. I know that I have a hard time putting down my phone when having a conversation with others. I still talk to them and listen, but I absentmindedly play on my phone as well. That also shows how easily distracted we are due to this new technology.

Social networking also has effects on our emotional well being. Thanks to the Internet we have the ability to be constantly in contact with people and connected to them. When we can't get an Internet connection many users suffer "disconnect anxiety," the negative feelings associated with a lack of Internet connection.

There's also the problem with our self esteem thanks to social media. As users, we see people in an unrealistic way. Online, people portray themselves as their perfect version of themselves. We see this "perfection" and it makes us think less of who we really are.

Personally, after considering all of these pros and cons of social networking, I believe it's a good thing. Overall, I really believe the benefits outweigh the hindrances. What do you think?

Blogger App

I decided to try out the Blogger App for the iPhone. I have a hard time using my laptop because a certain someone *ehhem, Liydea* thinks it's a fun toy and messes with it whenever she can. My phone is small enough, however, that I can do work on it without her interference. This post is just to test it out and see how it works. 

Here's a picture of Liydea in a shoebox:

And here's a picture of her awake in the middle of the night last night:

College Mom Blogs

Hello! My name is Brandie and this is my first blog. I'm your not-so-average mom/college student/teenager. 

Children:
I have a 16 month old daughter named Liydea (pronounced the same as Lydia). She was born on June 7, 2012 at 6:25 PM in Akron, Ohio. She weighed 7lbs and 9.3 oz. When I got pregnant with Liydea I was a 17 year old senior in high school. I had her exactly one week after I walked across the stage at my high school graduation. Now she's a busy body who never lets me have a break, and boy do I love it! I'm also excited to announce that my loving husband and I will be expecting another bundle of joy May 12, 2014.

Then of course I have two furbabies: Blacky Xavier and Tiberius Percival Octavius Bartholomew. Tiberius is an extremely prissy and full of himself cat so I thought he could use a name to match!

School:
When Liydea was a month old my husband and I moved out of my parents house and into our own...1000 miles away from the only place we've ever lived. We both grew up in Northeastern Ohio and made the big move to Arkansas to go to a college we both loved, Henderson State University. I am majoring in Early Childhood Education and am super excited about it! I have zero family members outside of Ohio and my husband only has his aunt, her husband, and their two kids (who all live down the road from us). I have an academic scholarship to maintain which demands I keep my grades up pretty high. A lot of students would have a hard time with that but I have a toddler, too!

Together we are surviving the demands of parenthood, a full time college schedule and he even has a part time job. You may have guessed how busy our lives are but we wouldn't want it any other way. We're happy with what we have and if you stick around awhile you'll get to see how great our busy life is!