Becoming a Citizen of the Digital World

Kathleen Morris writes about digital citizenship on her blog quite a lot. She believes that it is important to be digitally literate and aware of your digital citizenship. The two topics actually go hand in hand. You have to understand the uses of technology and how to use it properly. Digital Citizenship bounces off of this idea of understanding technology. You leave a footprint whenever you use the internet. You leave your mark as a digital citizen behind, whether you're just making a post or Facebook or commenting on a blog.

I took a look at the digital world and realized that there is a process to becoming a citizen within it. It's not like becoming a citizen of a country. There aren't mass amount of paperwork. There are just a few rules.

Common Sense Media describes digital citizenship as "empowering your students with the skills to think critically, behave safely, and participate responsibly online, allowing them to connect and collaborate in meaningful ways."

In order to be a good digital citizen, you have to be honest. You can't steal works from other people or plagiarize what they have written. You have to make sure what you post your won't regret later, because those posts are there for life. You have to protect yourself. You can't give out your name, address, age, and important information. Those things in the hands of the wrong people can be harmful to one's life outside of the digital world.

Like I said, there are rules to the digital world, but these are rules that I agree with. I want my future students to use the internet safely and honestly. The internet can be dark, as the name 'Dark Web' implies. Allowing children to access those sorts of places without protecting themselves is dangerous. As an educator, it is my job to teach my students how to protect themselves.

It is also my job to make them honest. I must tell them why they can't just copy what someone else said in an article without giving them credit.

As a future educator, it is my responsibility to cater to the digital world and ensure that my students are good digital citizens.

Teacher Panel - How Do You Feel?

I don't know about anyone else, but I am stressed...

First, let me say that I am really happy I went to the teacher panel hosted by the SEA. It was really a worthwhile event with so many good answers given to students with so many questions. However, right now I am just, in lack of better terms, overwhelmed and stressed. Time goes by so fast and even though I'm in my junior year right now, sooner rather than later it will be time for me to be placed for student teaching and doing the edTPA, and that scares me. Someone else has to feel the same way too, right? Even though we know the steps, materials, support, and resources that will be given to us (at least as much as we can this early on), it is a daunting task to stare down. So this blog post is here for a few reasons: to sort my own thoughts out, to let others know I can relate. Here is a list of things I found important: 

1. If you have trouble remembering names now, you'll get rid of that trait fast
2. Be a sponge
3. Don't become an island, make connections
4. People are here to help with the edTPA and they know what they are doing
5. Show yourself off. If you're doing something great now, take pictures, save it on a flash drive, have it ready to show how awesome you are. 
6. It's all about the kids. 
7. Everything will work in the end

Teacher Panel

The teacher panel orchestrated by SEA was a great event. As an Early Childhood Education major, I was able to receive lots of information on student teaching, future exams, how to build a resume and much more. I like how different principals and teachers gave advice on how to succeed in courses and offered many resources to obtain that would be beneficial. Technology is very popular in our schools today and one of the main forms of technology used in Early Childhood classes are iPads and smart boards. During the teacher panel, one of the presenters stated that it is extremely important to know how to use a smart board because many lessons and activities will be taught using it. After the teacher panel, I was able to connect with many peers who are in the same field with me and It was great to get tips on studying and succeeding through a course . One thing that I learned is to always ask questions and ask for help when needed. In education, it is important to be a support system to your peers as it will be needed during hard times. This journey is not to be achieved alone. Us future teachers should stick and work together.  :)

Teacher Panel

I think the teacher panel opportunity was a great one for us just starting the program. I'm really glad that I took the opportunity to go. What interested me the most is being given the opportunity to ask former education majors questions when they actually went to GSU themselves. It was also nice hearing about exactly what principles themselves are looking for in future candidates so that we can  make sure that we are building our resume to the best of our abilities. I'm glad I got advice for my future classroom too.

Teacher Panel

The Teacher Panel was on September 18 and was required to attend for class. I have never attended a teacher panel before so I walked in not knowing what to expect. There was a lot of valuable information provided by a variety of people who have an education degree. Information from student teaching to working the first year as a teacher. At first I thought how does this even apply to me as I am not even in the program yet but it was very eye opening on what the future will hold for me.

I found the tips on student teaching very useful. Like how you should get to know the teacher and the way the run their classroom. How to use all your resources meaning the other teachers and even principal in the school your student teaching for.

You could even ask the principal at the school for a mock interview to help prepare yourself.
There are teachers here at GSU that can and will help prepare you for the edTPA. I learned so much but I wish I would have been able to ask the entire panel about technology that is used in their schools and how they feel about it.

I did get a chance to ask one of the teachers about the technology that is used in his class room. He is a Kindergarten teacher and said that he does use technology in the class room. It is the programs that the school pays for and he seems to enjoy it and said it enriches his class room.

Digital Footprint and Internet Safety

Our world is ever changing, now more than ever with the advancements of technology. More and more technology is integrated into our everyday lives. We use the internet to determine where we go to eat, the movies we see, and choices we may make. Now-a-days, our digital footprint plays apart in the decisions being made about us, like in the hiring process for example. This is one of the reasons why the younger generations need guidance in the digital world.
   By using a four part process, we can begin integrating internet safety into the classrooms. This begins by actually integrating technological tools into the curriculum. We should offer real life stories and examples for the students to discuss and learn from and teach practical strategies so that the students can begin to form their own briefcase of actions. And, as with most all in life, communication is key! We need to communicate with the kids to see whats going on and to help them learn more about the high tech world we live in.
   In order for kids to really gasp the importance of internet safety, we should help them understand more about their digital footprint.
   When you visit a site, information is left behind, which can be searched for from others. What goes on the internet can never be deleted, so we should stress the importance of thinking before posting online.

   Looking at this article really brought me back to grade school where they taught more about the dangers of the internet, especially with chat rooms. This never really affected the kids too much, as then we did not really understand what any of it meant and didn't see the danger in using the internet as it was just a screen in front of us. Back then, the school took more of an abstinence approach to the internet, which never worked out. Having read the "Teaching Kids about Digital Footprints and Online Reputations" article, I see the different, better, ways that there are to discuss internet safety and usage with younger generations.

   I agree with Kathleen Morris that students should be informed and educated about their digital footprint, as well as about digital citizenship and literacy. It is important that students know how to properly look up and convey information on the web (digital literacy). An acronym that she used in her post was "Y.A.P.P.Y.", and this acronym is to teach internet users what not to share in the world wide web (especially for children). This stands for your name, address, phone number, passwords, and your plans.
   In my case, I plan to be teaching junior high, so "Y.A.P.P.Y." is a little tougher to stress, as students now have many different social media outlets, where they share so much information about their lives and their plans. This makes stressing the importance of their digital footprint all the more important, as it is something that will follow them through life. 
   This also applies to their digital citizenship, or their behavior on the web. I believe it is incredibly important to teach the appropriate behaviors for online, just like we would for in the classroom. Kids can be cruel, whether intentionally or not., especially when online. The internet takes away the personal feel of encounters, so it is easier for attitudes and behavior to go a little sour.

Teacher Panel

The teacher panel that was held on September 18 provided an insurmountable amount of knowledge about the future of my educational path. When I took a look at the topics that were going to be discussed, I felt as if nothing would really relate to the present me. But honestly, any information from people who have been through what I’m doing now is much appreciated. These topics ranged from preparing us for student teaching, the edTPA, and even finding a job once we graduate. 

To prepare for student teaching, the panelists gave a lot of tips and pointers. The one that stuck out to me the most was connecting to the students from the very first day. It seemed as though all of the panelists agreed that this was the most important thing that one can do during student teaching. A handful of the panelists also stressed that making sure you have a good relationship with the cooperating teacher and the technology that the school uses is also very important. 

The edTPA has always been something intimidating to me. Something akin to the final boss that you have to tackle before getting the treasure that is your teaching license. I have witnessed people fight it and come out victorious, but it has always seemed like it is scarier than it really is. The panelists and even some of the faculty put most of my worries to rest by giving me more details of what it is that others have not been able to. I guess there is some type of nondisclosure agreement that everyone has to sign?

Finally, there was a lot of discussion about what to do after you finish the student teaching. The principals really took the floor for this and described what they look for, the type of people they want, and what propels one candidate over another. The panelists all agreed that the first year should be used as a foundation year to establish yourself and learn to collaborate with the other teachers. 

There was not much talk about the different variety of technology that is used in the classrooms, however, it seemed most of the schools that were represented use smart board and Google Classroom. I overheard many of the teachers say that having the ability to adapt to new technology on the fly is a must. 

Digitalk

In the article "No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can't Wait" by Troy Hicks and Kristen Hawley Turner, they mentioned that there are "Five Practices that Destroy Digital Literacy". One of which is, "Criticizing Digitalk", which is basically using abbreviations, logograms, or other forms of digital language when writing.
Although some people may not find that an issue, I feel like it takes away from students knowledge on properly writing a paper. When it comes to writing, one of the main points is definitely proper grammar. Digitalk is not formal or proper. Although it is easier to understand for some people, especially with the amount of time we spend on technology, it is not professional or grammatically correct.
The Padagogy Wheel V2.0 gives numerous apps that can be used in classrooms and briefly explains what they can be used for. In the article, it explains how the technology that is used in classrooms now does not help digital literacy. With the SAMR wheel, you have a variety of apps that can be used in the classroom with all sorts of different ways to teach using technology.
The platform my group and I looked into was called Loomio. It was very interesting because it had many features to it that would be very useful to use as a teacher. With Loomio, you can come up with a topic and everyone in the group can put in their input on that idea and basically express how they feel about it. It can also be used to take a poll on an idea or used to vote on a time that works best for an event that the group is attending. I think this is a great tool for teachers to use with other teachers they work with within the same grade level. I did feel it was a little pricey if you are looking to use it for a group with more than 10 people. It charges $39 a month for up to 100 people and $149 a month for up to 1,000 people. On the bright side, it's free for only up to 10 people which includes basically all the features that the other packages include. It relates to Teaching Standard 3F and Tech. Standard 2C. 

Twitter In the Classroom

It's very interesting how you can use Twitter in so many different ways in the classroom. As I was reading the articles I was getting more and more ideas as to how I can incorporate Twitter in a classroom of my own. What I thought was very interesting is that you can use Twitter in basically all grade levels. Although some students may not be able to use it, it is a great way to interact with parents and other teachers. 

I actually had an instructor that used Twitter as a part of the classroom. When I was at Moraine, my Political Science teacher required us students to tweet questions, respond to tweets with questions he asked, and start debates or conversations on a topic all for a grade. It was very cool because it was actually a huge part of our grade! I loved how I was able to interact with classmates and my instructor outside of class on my own time.

Twitter is a great way for students to socially interact with each other outside of the classroom. It can be used to answer homework questions or to start a discussion. It is a great way to attach links or input opinions on a topic or lesson in class. 

For a much younger classroom setting, it can be used as a way to interact with parents or other teachers. From follow-ups, to posting achievements of the classroom or ideas that can be used in the classroom. 

Digital Footprint

Digital footprint is basically defined as a trail of information left behind out on the internet in my opinion. After reading the article on teaching students about digital footprint it made me realize just how important is it to be aware of it, as well as to learn about it and teach it. I always knew that once you post something on the internet, or even search something in your browser, it never truly goes away. Even if you delete it, it can still be out there some way, some how. It is actually a pretty scary thought!
The article had a list of ten things people need to know about digital footprint which I thought was very important. It breaks down the main focuses on digital footprint and how careful you have to be with what you post. With the technology we have now, anything you post can easily be saved with a simple screenshot on a phone, or recorded off of another device, etc.
I thought it was very interesting how the article mentioned how some jobs judge applicants based off what they search in their search engines. It's a little sad to say that I never knew about that before. Maybe because I was never asked to do that for any job application. However, now that I think about it, it truly can explain a person. If it were to ever happen to me, it would catch me off guard a little bit. At the same time though, for a professional career, it can be very important to determine who is right for the job. That is why you must be careful what you post or search!
After reading the article it made me realize just how important it is to teach younger kids about digital footprint. Although many of us make silly decisions when we are young, if taught at a young reasonable age, it can help prevent many negative effects of digital footprint.

Teacher Panel

So when walking into the panel i didn't know what to expect. It was a lot of information to take in all at once. That being said it was a lot of good information that was very helpful. It was very helpful to know how student teaching could go. The panel helped show the pros and cons and gave good tips to make the experience a good one. In the panel they helped the stress a little by sharing stories and experiences in student teaching and with the edTPA. When i had one of the panel teachers at my table he talked about his first year of teaching and making a connection with other teachers and with parents. He showed me this app called Class Dojo where he could talk to parents and tell them how there child's day was, post pictures, post a grade, have a one on one conversation with a parent, and post news letters. It was an app that connect them to the classroom and get them involved. Showed what their child was doing throughout the day. All in all this panel was very helpful. It showed what is to be expected ahead to how to handle what is coming. And that it would be worth it in the end.

Digital Footprints

The author mentioned in her article about ways to teach children about digital footprints. Morris stated 10 things to be knowledgeable about digital foot-printing. 1) Searching online leaves a trail of information being left behind. 2) Parts of your footprints can be shared or searched. 3) Footprints can help or hurt your reputation in the present and future. 4) Once something is placed online, it exists forever even if it was deleted. 5) You should always think prior to posting anything online. 6) Any kind of information, personal etc. can be shared to a larger audience. 7) Googling yourself can be a beneficial task. 8) Any old, obsolete, inactive accounts must be deleted. 9) Personal details should be private and in control in the privacy settings on any accounts. Lastly, 10) be apprehensive of others' digital footprints.

Digital Footprint

I feel that kids who are exploring online just like to click away and do as they please. They don't understand the harm they can get themselves into. Our world is throwing the paper away and going all to technology. As a student I am still trying to protect myself and the stuff I post or I see on my news feed.

When Kathleen explains that there are ways to teach digital literacy, she is scared or teachers are scared that children know more than we think. Kids really do know more than we think, if you give a 4-year-old an iPad they can do more than you. Kids are very smart and can work technology quicker than I can and I am 21 years old. She talks about "Do's and Don't" I don't think the word "don't" is appropriate because a kid may take that and say oh I will do it later and explore something else.

In my classroom, I feel it is important for kids to leave their "footprint". But I want the students to be safe and monitored. I want my students at the end of the days to blog on how their day went. If it was positive or negative. Their input means a lot to me and my classroom where I can change something for the following years.  There are many ways that students can interpret their day to their parents too and I feel as if they are involved they can see what we do as a class.

Digital Footprint

I believe that it is important for all individuals to be digitally literate, children should understand and know how to work such a huge platform. Technology is a huge source of communication, education, etc. If one does not educate children on digital literacy, they're doing more harm then good. With digital citizenship, the amount of engagement students should have with that depends on the age range. For instance, I am going for preschool and believe that they should not be given the access to communicate with others through social media because they are so young and don't fully understand "stranger danger". However, they should have access to apps to expand their knowledge and experience with technology. Another concern with children so young is publicly posting photos on social media. Every teacher is excited when they have a classroom of their own and want to share them with the classroom families. However, when posting your classroom on social media, you are exposing them on the internet world and do not fully know every child's circumstances. So a way to avoid that is maybe have a classroom site where you can share photos and activities privately keeping the children safe.

Digital Footprint

This website is pretty interesting, there are quite a few different resources to teach kids and parents about internet safety and how to use the internet in a safe and contributing way.
One blog in particular I found interesting is "Working with Families: 10 Internet Safety Tips for Parents." As a parent I kind of dread the day where my daughter is old enough to take an interest in going online, participating in social media and such.  It's one thing I'm not really sure how to handle because I grew up in a time where the internet was still kind of rudimentary and there wasn't really a whole lot to do on there.  I think I was a freshman or sophomore in high school when MySpace was a new and exciting thing.
I find this blog interesting because it is not only applicable to me as a parent, but also as an educator since I will be working with 9-10 year-olds who will probably all have phones and an online presence of some shape or form.
It is important for us to teach our children that digital literacy is really important.  Things that you say or do online are accessible to others all around the globe, and it's crucial that we teach them what kind of information is safe to put online, and what information is best kept to ourselves.
Something else that is incredibly important is to teach our children about cyber bullying and the affect mean words can have on another person's well being.  Just like in real life, it is important to be kind to one another online, and not say hateful things just because we aren't face to face.

a twitter cherp

When I take a look back at my own twitter usage I realized I don't tweet ever.  I really thought about this when the article said create don't just consume.  I usually just retweet things I find funny or important news blast.  However, I should get back to sharing my thoughts with my fellow twitter followers.  I've also never thought to deeply into the benefits of hashtags.  From Edudemic “The Teacher’s Guide to Twitter.” I found a lot of good emphasis on hashtags.  I've always used them in a more comical way.  Using the hashtags to help spread education is something I haven't looked at and I like the ideas it could help spread.  I really like the ideas of having twitter in the classroom it would be so fun and promote such good things for the students to learn.  The only drawback is how dangerous the internet can be and would need to do some work on how to protect the kids from things they shouldn't be reading or seeing yet at their age.  

Twitter could be a good source in the classroom for older students.  The idea brought up in class about being able to reach out to students who could be in a different county as a digital pen pal.  I like that I have a twitter myself but I would make a different one for a more business atmosphere instead of my personal one where I follow all my high school friends, celebrities, and meme accounts.  Having a separation would make a big difference in what I would see on my feed.  One more for spread of information teaching ideas and one for pure entertainment.  Even once being a teacher making a third account just for students and teachers.  That way I could post homework assignments or reminders to study or just to do the homework students would then see come 6, 7 o'clock while their scrolling and remember to do their homework before bed.

While searching on twitter I searched "2nd grade" and found Marshalls 2nd grade class that did a fun activity.  The math activity is for a nice day.  The students went outside and used chalk to create a number line on the blacktop.  This looked like a fun way to get the students moving outside and engaging in math while having fun.  Middle school and high school students could use twitter for interacting with the teacher and classmates.  There also could be a use for younger children’s classes so parents could follow the classes account and see what the students have been learning at school and the teacher could give a heads up about what’s happening next in class.  There also is a lot of information that a teacher could use themselves to find new ideas to bring into their classroom or just join in to a chat about education that could also lead to sharing teaching strategies or activities they have done in their classroom. 

Why Twitter?

In response to the article "A teacher's guide to Twitter", by Edudemic, and presentation "A Twitter-Tastic Teachers Guide", by Wabisabi, I ultimately feel that there would be many more pros then cons in incorporating relevant social media, with teaching and educational engagement purposes.

A few reasons include the development of social communication within the students as well as the teachers, convenience in passing information along from one student to the next, access to updated and relevant worldly news and opportunity to a new way of creativity of actually school or classwork. 

For social engagement, in participating in a Twitter styled blog or student group, students would have a interesting way of communication with each other and teachers, outside of the classroom. It allows, once again a new creative outlook to do what any other standard blog, email or group discussion would require, but could be way more sufficient, because at least 50% of the students may already have accounts or are active, on Twitter.

Secondly, Twitter could help with convenience in passing information between a class of students. This could help eliminate having to send emails, that a lot of people don't check enough, or the concerns of crossing thin lines between calling and texting other students and teachers at certain times. Since twitter is public, everyone can use it, respond to each other, in appropriate manner of course, and anyone can respond to it, at the time the receive a tweet or post.

Thirdly, anything similar to Twitter, have access to updated and relevant worldly news, which is great for any assignment, such as a weekly discussion post. Information from science to politics to celebrity gossip can all be obtained, and it'll only be convenient to have the same site where student can submit information as well as to discuss maybe opinion on these topics, which goals back to the communication benefit.

Lastly, using Twitter allows students to engage in a creative way of learning and communicating, which ultimately will make anyone want to learn more. Things can become repetitive, which become boring which causes student to lose interest in learning, so its important to provide new ways to teach.

Though these pro are extremely beneficial in incorporating in a educational environment, I do feel certain measures should be explained and observed. Social media can be helpful, but can cause issues when abused. As a teacher, you want to make sure there is a a healthy balance of technology use in the classroom, because you wouldn't want to loss the effectiveness of how technology assists, especially working with smaller children, with students becoming to tech dependent. This could cause your student to lose social skills in the classroom or if student have access to other programs on their devices, the could misuse the equipment for things that aren't school related.With great observation and planning though, this can be a very beneficial way to set up a lesson plan or curriculum.  



                                                             TAKE AWAY  9/17/18

  There are are many programs that can be easily accessed and used online for different age ranges of students. For example, a great website for Pre-K through 3rd Grade is PBS Kids. Its a fun website that has hundreds of games that include everything these age groups are learning about, from shapes, colors, spelling, pronunciation, counting and even time management, overall focusing on the development of children's cognitive, social, cognative and emotional functions. Teachers can use different games for different subjects a lesson, saving and copying links to where the students can access that particular game, allowing for a fun and exciting way to motivate your children to learn. For example, a game for counting on the website is called "Pegs Pizza Place". The objective of the game is to count and add the correct amount of toppings to the pizza for each customer. The graphics are not to simple but not to bright and distracting, which I feel is important for younger children to keep focus. Again, plenty of more games for different focuses, free of charge, with only the need of internet access.

How to TWEET?!

I never actually used Twitter before or ever made an account. Growing up as a kid I used Instagram or Facebook. Twitter wasn't as common. While reading these articles about twitter made me realize that it can be a useful tool in classroom and outside of classrooms. In the article, Twitter-Tastic, it explains how teachers can use Twitter in a classroom setting. Twitter can be used for assignments, blogging, class lessons, communication between teachers and classmates. If students miss a class the teacher can post on twitter what the student missed, which I thought is great way to reach out to students or even ask other students what they missed.
Twitter is one great source to use for students because it's a social media app that many students use outside of school so why not be able to use it for school and outside of school. I find that Twitter can be helpful for any grade but has to be used very carefully due to things may not be age appropriate for 1st grader or even a 4th grader. As we discussed in class, everyone using twitter can choose on who or what they want to follow. In the article, Edudemic: The Teacher's Guide To Twitter, one tip that was given was, Create, Don't Consumer. I find it that many of us download apps but don't actually use them often. Also something that popped out to me was, Twitter Hashtags. I found it interesting because with the hashtags you can explore many different ideas from all around the world. Also with twitter you don't have to have a twitter account if you don't want it, but if you want to know what your classmates or teacher puts on twitter you can search up the name and see everything that was posted.


On the website, Participate, I found it as a helpful source to find different apps to download that are free for students to help them out with a particular subject. As a teacher, I want to focus more on Mathematics so I looked for different apps for 4th grade Mathematics. I found this app called, Math Practice Flash Cards. This app can help students solve problems such as, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, etc. It gives the students a math problem to solve and four possible answers. I also found a video that shows students how to multiply multi-digit numbers and shows step by step. I think Participate gives a lot of useful information for teachers and students to use and help them with their particular subject.

Twitter? Good or Bad?

The idea of using twitter in the classroom can be debatable, is it a good technology tool or a distraction? Being able to understand the correct way to use this resource can be beneficial for students, teachers, and parents. Having twitter part of your class can help students look up information on research papers or get help and other opinions on topics discussed in class. The teacher can also use Twitter as a tool in class, they could find new teaching methods, videos on topics talked about in class, can have some assignments be posted on Twitter that way all of their peers in class can comment their opinion (no rude comments). Having Twitter can also be a great tool for parents and teachers to communicate, the parents can also be up to date with what is going on in their child's classroom. It's a great way for any announcements to be sent out to the parents.

There are some negativity points that can be made for using Twitter in the classroom. Some may say that it can be a distraction for the students and instead of being used for school, they can use it for entertainment instead of research or school material. Another reason it can be bad for the classroom would be the safety of the students. Who will the students meet online or what they will find if they search something they shouldn't.

If the teacher does decided to use Twitter as a tool for the classroom it's a great idea fro her to discuss the rules on having a Twitter for the classroom. Giving the students guidelines to follow will help with their safety online and also using Twitter with an appropriate age group such as high school students. Some guidelines that can be used would be only using the Twitter for the classroom, tweeting appropriate information/topics based on the class, and watching out for strangers and looking out for any red flags. 

There is another way for teachers to help their students by using technology without using Twitter and this website is called Participate. This website is very helpful for teachers to gain different types of resources to use for their students. One particular tool was The weather-Panda Games this app is for 1st graders and can help them teach them about the weather and the appropriate clothing attire. Participate has many other resources for teachers such as videos, example lesson plans, websites, etc. and the grades range from Pre-K through 12th grade. 

Teachers have great resources they can use and they don't necessarily have to be social media they can get it from websites too. There is many ways to use technology so why not Twitter!    

Teacher Panel - What knowledge did it bring?

Before going into the panel I was unsure what I would walk away with, I was apprehensive considering it was a requirement for class to attend. Looking around the room I noticed that many of the students in the room have already or are currently in the labs run at my workplace, and that many of the teachers on the panel have also been in that lab and have in fact learned from me in my classroom. I felt proud to see that they have graduated and are now working the education profession and are successful but I also felt some what embarrassed or even jealous. I have been working at the FDC for five years now and feel that I am an expert in what I do, and yet I do not have the degree needed to be seen as one. This realization has only fueled my drive to complete school and back up my knowledge with the credentials needed to be seen as a success.

The information I got from the panel really helped me further understand what needs to be done before completing the early childhood program. My guidance advisor was not very specific on what needed to be done to get my teaching license, she was just very direct on what classes needed to be done in order for me to graduate. Learning of all this new information was overwhelming, as I feel that teaching often feels like, but I know when the time comes to do my student teaching

Kaylie Tanis Teacher Panel

Going into the teacher panel, I wasn’t sure that I was going to get much out of it. I do not want to work in a school, and I assumed that they would mostly be speaking about that. Once the panel began and information started flowing, I was impressed by what I was hearing. 

The first topic that was announced was tile for college students where that are right now. Honestly, that topic was ignored and we went right into student teaching, which was fine. Again, I don’t want to be a teacher, but I will still have to student teach. Some tips on that were: get to know your cooperating teacher before you start working with them, get to know each child individually so they feel comfortable with you and get to know others in the building. Overall, just build a relationship with everyone. Another piece of information was to bring hand sanitizer, kids spread germs. As funny as this piece seems, I think everyone took it seriously - I sure did! 

Our next topic was first year teaching. My main takeaway from that was do not become an island. Do not put yourself in a bubble trying to do everything on your own. Ask others for help and ideas - and help them in return. Almost every teacher on the panel agreed to that. One teacher said to take every chance to socialize. If someone at work asks you to go to lunch, go. If they ask you to help them with something, help. Relationships are the most important so you don’t end up being that one that nobody wants to help and nobody goes to for help. 

One of the longer topics of discussion was how to get a job. We focused for a while and what administrators would like to see on a resume. One in ministry there on the panel had a lot to say about this. He likes to see that the person has a lot of experience with children - not just a degree, he likes to see certifications, and he likes when people share their other talents so they can possibly run a club or organization. As for the interview process itself, be prepared to ask your interviewer questions about the school. Not asking question shows that you’re uninterested and did not do your research. One teacher on the panel brought up doing a follow up call or email after an interview. Responses to this were mixed, some administrators said that a quick email would raise your chances whereas another said a phone call would ruin your chances. Ultimately, it’s a 50/50 chance. 

The panel also talked a bit about the edTPA. I had never heard of that until I attended the panel, but it seemed like everyone else know what it was. I’m glad I learned that it existed. I’m still pretty confused about what it all entails, but at least I know it’s coming and I know that there are some great resources I can use to help me with it. It seems like I will definitely need them.

At the end of the panel when the teachers came to talk to us by table, it seemed like it was very helpful to a lot of people. A girl at my table talked to him for at least 10 minutes and got a lot of information. Sadly, it was not very helpful to me because I do not want to work in a school. All the teacher was really able to say to me was that he would never be able to work with children birth to age three – which is what I want, and that I will need to build the relationships with the students and people I work with. 

Although not all aspects of the panel were helpful to me, I can’t complain. I got some great information, and I know that others got a lot out of it as well. I’m glad that I was made to go, as it’s something that I never would have gone to on my own. 

Twitter

Though I have never been a fan of twitter myself, I can understand now after reading the "Twitter-tastic Teachers Guide" and "The Teachers Guide to Twitter" how this outlet can be used in a learning setting and why some teachers choose to incorporate it into their lesson plans.
Using hashtags is a great way to connect the students on different topics and to basically summarize what was being written about.
Within my own experience, I had only ever seen twitter in a negative light, as all I had ever heard or seen about it was feuds between famous people and trolls on the internet. But after the readings, I can see now how twitter can, and really should, be used to keep folks up to date with current events, allow them to share their opinions on life and media and to receive feed back. . . to all-in-all be free to communicate with their peers and to gain new insight. It's a good way to get students involved as well as have fun while doing it.

Teachers guide to twitter:

       Twitter can be a useful tool for teachers if it is used in a positive way. The best way to use Twitter is by actually using it. Using Twitter can be a two part process which is being a consumer and sharing. As a consumer you follow people, read their tweets, and learn from them. Sharing is where the magic happens. You can have a conversation with someone and learn from it. A hashtag on Twitter can lead you to other things. Educational hashtags can lead to excellent resources to point teachers in the right direction. Following different people can lead you to find something interesting, exchange ideas, and have conversations. While having these conversations you can use #hashtags. As a Tweeter you don't have to stay involved all the time but it is important to check in, reply and try to participate to keep conversations going as regular as you can.  To post on Twitter you can only use 140 characters. But if you want to make it easier for people to Retweet you its best to do tweets in 120  characters. They Retweet with RT@username and by doing this you can forward someone else's tweet. The @ sigh is to talk to other users. There is no space between @username. DM is for a direct message, this is a private message. Trending is the most popular topics on Twitter. This is usually the big news stories or jokes that are on Twitter.
     Reading the article the Teachers Guide To Twitter helped get a better understanding of what Twitter can actually be used for. It can be useful to help start conversations going on in the teaching or educational world. Also can be used for classes, lesson plans or planning, talking to people about there interests, networking, promoting events, asking for help and so many other helpful things. Connecting with students onTwitter can be very helpful in the classroom setting. It is a useful way to reach students outside of the classroom. You can post content or articles that are related to class for students to read. Post things that are related to your students and or class but don't post to much each week. Give students a change to read.
   
https://kidsknowit.com/ i picked for an Elementary education classroom. It has options for games and worksheets in the classroom.

teachers' tweet

Twitter- Tastic:
*Classroom Culture*
Students may use Twitter to share to a classroom's blog, newspaper and newsletter and using their own hashtags that go to a specific section.  This can help with; collaboration, self-expression, publishing, area knowledge, organization, networking.

*Sharing Video Magic*
 Students can also post videos on Twitter.  It is easily shared with classmates.
This can help with; publishing, creativity, media fluency, digital production, journaling, and networking.


Teacher's Guide to Twitter:
*Create, Don't Just Consume*
There is a two part process when using Twitter.  The first part is as a consumer where you follow people, read the tweets and learn from them .  But it is more important when you share and post your thoughts, information etc. An example from the article, "..[I]f you were having a conversation with someone and you weren't responding, the conversation wouldn't go far..." (The Teacher's Guide to Twitter).

*Share Your Resources*
If you find alluring information on Twitter, share it!  The more you share with your community, the more it will grow and become useful to you and others.

These articles helped me understand more about Twitter.  I previously had a Twitter account for a History course.  I just posted a reply based on the professor's tweet.  I wasn't aware that Twitter and maybe other social media platforms can be extremely useful inside and outside a classroom.  I really like the idea of classrooms using Twitter, etc. for learning purposes. It can help students to connect with their classmates and teachers and be tech savvy.
There is obviously negativity all over social media.  It can be difficult to stay out of it, but if a teacher does their best to make sure their students won't become involved in the negativity inside/ outside the classroom, then I think its a plus to have Twitter etc. be used in the classroom.


I found a free app using Participate for kindergarten and first grade math called Moose Math by Duck Duck Moose. Kindergarten math skills are taught in interactive games with counting, numbers,  addition, subtraction, sorting, geometry, and much more. Duck Duck Moose joined with Khan Academy to provide a free, world -class education for anyone/anywhere.

How Do You Tweet in the Classroom?

For many teachers today, twitter is the hottest new tool making a huge impression on how we connect with our classrooms today. I think that taking such a fun tool and using it in a perspective that helps to spread the word of whats going on in your school will be able to reach out too many more than just an email in a more interactive way. I love that not only are you going to be able to have your students, parents of students, colleagues, and others see your posts but you can get new fresh ideas from other hashtags that could really help teach your lesson more proactive. After reading the article on, "The Teachers Guide To Twitter",I feel that its giving every ounce of advice on to use twitter for new comers to the twitter lifestyle. At the moment I am twitter-less but I think its crazy how many different tweets there are to use and how many different sites or pages each hashtag can then connect you to.

The pros and cons when it comes to twitter in the classroom can go both ways, I like how you can create a more organized classroom, research updates, and even blogging as a group. I believe that the cons could be students could abuse this power of posting inappropriate blogs or even just not use it if they don't find interest but I like to think the educational value of the site has more power to the cons. I love how the article twitter classroom talks about how you can use surveys, and help absent students reach out to get make-up work, I feel that would be the most useful part in my twitter classroom. As for the age group for the twitter accounts in the classroom I feel that ages middle school & up would benefit and flourish but I feel younger age groups wouldn't take it as seriously.

After discussing about the need for a twitter page or any source of social media in a sense I now feel that having some type of media is better than none at all. I believe if your not trying to get connected how are you actually going to become a great teacher without the panel to connect in. I feel as though if you are saying no to twitter for personal means or just because it seems like too much work, that you are not sabotaging your professional connection you're sabotaging your students, by not making that effort to be technology incorporated.

In the new tool called, "Participate" I found the site to be a very useful way to as a future teacher be able to find new apps, lesson plans, websites, and even videos for a narrowed down topic. For example I will be specializing in first grade math, when I narrowed down my browse bar, I found over 20 different apps most of which I feel my students would someday really benefit and enjoy from. I feel students especially younger love to play games to learn because it doesn't really feel like they are learning because of how much fun they are having. To look closely at one resource I found for example to play around with whatever grade level and any different math topic where the students can watch videos, play games, and practice on the site, the site is called Math Chimp.

Twitter world

According to the teachers guide to twitter, there is a study system that is useful for twitter. Sometimes people are absent from class for any number of reasons. Twitter can keep everybody informed on class news and assignments.  The article states, "Our digital kids like to get immediate rewards and feedback from teachers and peers. Use Twitter to send out feedback quickly." I think that is very cool because students are so into social media that would maybe influence them to want to work on there homework. The instant feedback to someone directly also gives that person accountability in order to respond because now they are on the spot as other students are waiting on them. Twitter allows students to express themselves if they are more shy to speak in class. Twitter has 140 character limit which also challenges students to express themselves properly in an exciting space.  I think it would be cool for the class to pick a motivational quote they like from twitter each week to set the tone for a productive week. I found it very interesting that the hashtags open up a whole new world of things to look up. The hashtags are useful to find information quickly related to what someone wants to research. I would be able to follow other fellow educators and get some ideas from them. Twitter is very useful for networking for students as well. I think its amazing the connections you can make via social media, I do think that twitter is catered to a older age group such as middle school and up.

The use of twitter can be good and bad. I think students are able to reach out and have a streamline of communication with their teacher and other students in the class. Something that I am on the fence about is the fact that it takes away from the face to face interactions that I feel is vital for students to have in the real world. Twitter opens up a lot of avenues for creativity within the classroom and teaches students how to use social media effectively. Twitter allows students to be exposed to current events and things that are going on in the world, but this also raises the issue of believing what they see on the internet.

I found learnings for 2nd graders through cool video resources from McGraw Hill. This video is very creative with cartoon characters and different colors as it introduces a unique spin on comparing and contrasting characters in a story. They use vendiagrams to compare and contrast. I enjoy this website because its visual pleasing and very kid oriented for the student to learn but also enjoy what they are watching to keep their attention. I found an app that is useful for students to have fun while learning their site words. The app Uses all touch features which kids love with playful sounds and professionally recorded voiceovers, this is a complete learning experience for any child who is beginning to learn Sight Words or looking to enhance vocabulary and memory. 3 built-in games make is seem like a play act the whole time while the child is learning each word with repetition.

Exploring Twitter for Education

Hello there fellow classmates,

As we were given this task in class I started doing my research. I noticed that when I use the #earlychildhoodeducation some twitter accounts came up. The ones that stuck out to me so far were
1. Early Childhood News
2. Teaching Strategies
3. Early Childhood Tech
4. UNICEF( Last one I found)
 The one that stuck out to me was the UNICEF one because of the video it showed playing. It was of a boy who has been dealing with trauma of loss of his parents. I choose this because it shows how not just children in America struggle with dealing with emotions of traumatic experiences so do other children around the world. Sometimes the only thing that they can cling onto to feel better is an educational person or thing they learn while in school to help relieve the pain they have been through. I would high suggest watching this video. It makes me happy to see children around the world find an educational way to cope with pain. Not only did he find his way of cope he also was able to teach other children at the same time. :)

The use of twitter

Hello!

 With talking about the use of twitter in class today. I was able to understand the perspective on how it could be incorporated into classes. The comments from the fellow classmates that were shared all had great points and made it more visual to see how it can be used in a classroom. I was thinking more of what is the most appropriate grade level to use this for. Like junior high and grade levels up? But then someone in class mentioned how they want to teach 1st grade math and then I started questioning that more. I liked how in class we found examples of how even though it's a younger grade level you can still apply using it in a positive way. The teachers could come up with some creative way to let the parents, teachers, and students be able to see what the children are doing in a classroom while its happening in class. Instead of having a parent wait till the end of the school year or parent teacher conferences to see the progress of their child's learning.  So overall, I believe it is a great tool to use for a classroom. 

Ready, Set, Tweet

After reading Wabisabi's " Twitter- Tastic Teacher's Guide", I have discovered many benefits in using Twitter in the class. I for one do not have a Twitter and am not very family with the app. However I've seen enough to understand how it works. Twitter is a commonly used  platform by many individuals to share important news, businesses, organizations and funny videos.

According to this article by Wabisabi, using twitter in the classroom can be a useful tool. Having a classroom Twitter account can help a teacher share information on research or topics discussed in class and lessons that were discussed in class. Students can interact with one another, ask questions about assignments, due dates, etc. This can create better teamwork and communication within a class which is a definite plus.Twitter can be used for more than just one classroom. Teachers can use this platform to reach out to other colleagues and branch out ideas with one another.

The benefits of using Twitter as a source in school goes on and on. With that being said, if a teacher does plan on using Twitter in their classroom. It is crucial as the teacher to stay aware of what is being said in their classroom's discussions. Opening the door to a huge social platform for children to communicate can lead to problems such a cyber bullying. It is important that there is constant communication with the parents and children about what is and is not acceptable when introducing the topic.

During the class period today I created a Twitter. While exploring the app I noticed all the different types of resources provided. When searching, I looked up "#preschool" and an endless amount of information came up. There were ideas for lessons, crafts, articles and pages that give a lot of insight on preschool. An example would be a post that had an article attached named "Preschool’s Hidden Value May Be in Combating Poverty". In the article is states that "In a community that offered a free, federally funded Head Start preschool program in the 1960's, people were graduating from high school and attending college in much higher numbers, and were far less likely to be involved in crime or become a teen parent themselves". Using a hashtag as simple as "#preschool" provides you an extensive amount of insight on the topic. 

Twitter & Education

Hello!

According to the teachers guide to twitter states " twitter is an excellent tool for consuming and learning". This is true. It would make more sense for the older children in high school or junior high to integrate using social media as twitter but for educational reasoning.  Being a teacher you have to be mindful of each student. But otherwise you still have to have to remain careful because as an educator we have to look out for students to be connected but be careful that it doesn't fall out of balance and end up turning negative or taken the wrong way. With twitter and any social media we as educators have to look at all aspects and understand the outcomes of having this incorporated into classroom and students. Therefore, I believe its a good idea but just be cautious and make sure that it is known to the students its for positive learning not to be used for anything negative.

TwitterTasticTeachersGuide

I find integrating Twitter into the classroom to be an extremely interesting and appropriate tool.  As this article states, there are nearly countless ways Twitter would be useful in a variety of classes, but the one that really seems the most useful would be "[creating your own hashtags and [doing] regular updates on current events, or [subscribing] to favorite running newsfeeds.  Discuss news stories and share opinions."  As the article states, doing this would raise global awareness, improve debating skills, and keeping kids up to date on current events, among other things.

In this day and age, we are all aware of the scare of fake news.  This application of Twitter would be a great asset to younger generations by teaching them to not take everything they see online at face value.  It would encourage them to do their research into news topics, and most importantly create their own opinions on various things going on in the world.  National and international news may not be as exciting as what is going on in the pop culture arena, but it is so crucial that our younger generations know what is going on in the world, and how it can affect them personally, whether it be good or bad.

Twitter could also be a great platform to improve debating skills.  It is important for young people to learn to be able to have a civil discussion with someone who does not share their viewpoints, without it getting personal or emotional.  I don't think much can be accomplished when we cannot be objective about something.  The fact that Twitter limits posts to 140 characters would help students keep debate topics clear and concise.


As a future teacher of fifth graders, I was perusing the subjects of Participate in this grade level.  I came across a website called Readworks that has over 1800 reading comprehension lessons for grades K-8.  Not only is it free, which is a big plus but it has varying subjects that include literacy, science, social studies and skills and strategies.  You can search by grade level or by the type of passage you are looking for, and it includes an audiobook option for children who have issues reading.  Readworks also has question sets that pertain to each lesson to test students' comprehension of what they had read.  This website is highly rated by other teacher users and I believe would be a beneficial technological tool in all classrooms.

Twitter Never Fails

Twitter can be used for more than just the basic expressing your feelings.Twitter can be used for many different ways professionally and non-professional. Twitter can be used in a classroom for educational purposes because you can use certain hashtags to keep your room security safe.The internet is a dangerous place yes and it is hard to be safe all the time. In my years growing up we didn't use twitter we used a class facebook where you were able to request the class and get the updated like that so it is private. I feel if you have a class you shouldn't be using twitter until you have students who are old enough to understand that there are "hurtful" things posted by celebrities or even just rude people, you need to know your audience. My twitter is full of random things where I don't even know what will pop up sometimes.
Yeah you can have a specific hashtag for your class or @ name you can post specific things for your audience. Teachers need to have the most control over twitter and they need to see what's being @ or said by other students.  So I do think having twitter in your class is very beneficial hence kids are out sick or have a quick question you can post something super quick and get a response quickly from the other kids in the class.

If you don't have a twitter and you are in school you don't need a twitter @ name which I feel is interesting, you are still able to find what your class is doing by putting the @ name in the search bar. It is interesting though that you are able to just plug something so random what you may need for a project or just to even help you with something and you can find your answer right there in the search bar. It isn't scholarly of course but it helps you out a little with getting you started on some insight.
Teachers may be able to use this tool to their advantage in many different ways because they can have a class leader who can be in charge of posting the initial tweet and the classmates replying from the initial.


I found two twitter handles that would be a good support in my class from a teachers perspective and then something where kids are able to go to for a reference.

Scholastic Kids Press is about what kids are doing around the world and they are getting noticed by Scholastic, Twitter Head This one talks about a girl who is a magician and they have her on the home page with describing what she does.
The next twitter handle I found was (Twitter Head) https://twitter.com/ScholasticTeach, from a teachers point of view and describes what types of books I can bring into my classroom. I have a friend who teaches and Scholastic has $1 a month books that get sent to your classroom and she posted it actually on facebook to see if anyone would support the kids who are not able to afford the montly books. She used her social media to get the kids in her room the help she needed from Scholastic.

Twitter

When reading about twitter it made me realize how popular it has become not only among kids my age but older and younger people as well. It is a great site to use to reach huge amounts of people and get more people involved. I have learned about many things going on in the world from twitter. using hashtags and getting them trending is so cool to me because you can reach people thousands of miles away! I think having twitter use in the classroom is a great way to promote new ideas and is a good way to get involved. Although with the internet there are ups and downs if we can work through those I thin it would be a great way to post assignments or discussions and having notifications on for it ensures the students will see it right away.

After discussing in class the different positive and negatives about using twitter in the classroom I still think it could be a good tool to use. As long as the class is only following that page and commenting or making posts that relate to the assignments in the course it could be a good tool. We talked about how there are negative things on twitter but if you make the page private and only allow the class to follow it I see no issue. I think children should learn in a safe environment the ways to go about social such as this one it can lead to more positive outcomes.

When exploring twitter I did the #kinderchat throughout this chat is people mentioning different teaching ways and lessons they use. They also post about some things that may be bothering them they would like to change an example would be someone mentioned a discipline chart policy and how they are looking for a more positive alternative than using the four colors. I found this through twitter scrolling through it.

Response: “No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can’t Wait”

Hick's Response:

In the article "No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can’t Wait", the importance and pros and cons  of the use of technology in educational environment are explored.

In the article, five points were addressed on this topic, Counting Slides, Using a Blog Without Blogging, Criticizing Digital Talk, Asking (only) Questions That Can Be Answered by a Search Engine and Using “Cool” Technology to Deliver a Planned Lesson, but the one that grabbed my attention most, was the paragraph on Counting Slides.

Points discussed for the Counting Slides paragraph explained how having certain restrictions on oral presentation can be effective but also how giving suggestions of openness to the amount of slides being used for developed presentation. Hicks stated that "Rather than focusing on content—and developing an appropriate message—the assignments focus on the most basic elements of form: the things that can be counted." I agree with this point because creativity as well as effectiveness in the presentation is based off of more than just presenting information. You can have a lot of slides for example, but lack creative structure and and smooth transitions, so it drags on without interest but can use a shorter amount of slides and get right to the point with just enough images for an effective and engaging presentation.

Class Take Away 9/10/18:

In comparison of Hick's article and applying the standards or teaching and engaging in technological tools in an educational environment, I feel that it is the teachers responsibility to not only help teach his or her students the importance of balance in using these tools. For example, if the classroom consist of children of a young age, then the devices should only be provided as a aid or augmentation of a book or reading/math program. This is because you don't want to lose the social aspect of interaction between your students, while developing skills in technical enhancing tools.

To Be or Not To Be; Will I Actually Use Twitter In My Classroom?

Honestly, I have never been a fan of Twitter. I probably will never use it. The Twitter-sphere is full of too much drama. It is a place of immaturity and ideals that I don't want to be a part of.

That being said, I have to admit that Twitter can be a pretty useful for teachers. The "Twitter-Tastic Teacher's Guide" and the "Teacher's Guide to Twitter" have made that clear. It a great way to get in touch with colleagues. They can connect with each other and share articles, studies, and other information with one another that may be useful in classrooms.

They can even use it as a tool in their classroom to have students communicate with one another and to engage students. They can post assignments on Twitter for those students who may have forgotten to write their homework down. They can also use it to post supplemental videos that students can watch outside of class. The teacher has a lot of room to work with with Twitter.

Twitter is helpful for not only the educator but to also the student. Students can ask their teachers questions about homework and assignments when they are at home. They can also use it to find the work they may have missed when being home sick. Students can also use it to bounce ideas off of each other for projects. The student has a lot of range when using Twitter.

Parents can also use Twitter to keep in touch with activities their child participates in. Say I am the coach for a kid's soccer team. I can post the details about practices and games for the parents to view. It would also be a good tool to use if bad weather were to cancel a practice rather than sending out a mass email or generated phone call that the parent may not answer. Because, let's be honest, we use our social media a heck of a lot more than we actually answer a mysterious number that pops up on our phone that we may or may not have answer before but never added to our contacts.

Still, I probably won't use Twitter. As I said before, it a breeding ground for drama and negativity. I don't believe that the students I teach, who will be as old as second graders, should be using social media. For older classes and students, it may be supplemental, but for kids so young, it is too easy to get to the wrong section of Twitter. It's too easy to make one click and follow the wrong kind of person on Twitter. I don't want to the reason such young children have access to a tool that can be used for such blatant negativity.

I don't want them to have snowflake feelings by any means. I just think second graders are far too young to introduce to Twitter and social media as a whole.

I may use it to get in touch with my future colleagues and parents of students, but in all honesty, I'd prefer have face-to-face, phone call, or email conversations before I'd use Twitter.

Now, to get outside of my little bubble that is my school or classroom... Twitter may be useful. A simple hashtag can find me like-minded people who share my ideas or are denying them wholeheartedly. I have this one tool that can give me so many resources.

More bonuses. Global reach. One post can reach people all over the world, which is something far different from Facebook. Facebook, you have the chance to make a public post that gets shared by millions of people, but usually Facebook stays within your close knit group of friend and family and peers. Twitter you can use on a Global scale, using just a hashtag to find someone and their posts. Facebook, you generally want to know and have met everyone you are friends with, but Twitter... It's a whole lot different.

But then again, I can get sucked down a rabbit hole. If I were ever to get sucked into the Twitter-Sphere, I feel like I'd need at least two accounts, one for my professional ideals and one for my personal posts and followings. I'd have keep my professional life away from my personal life because not every teacher will share my same political view or want to see my every single post and retweet about Harry Potter and JK Rowling. Not everyone wants to see me relentlessly reposting wholesome and loving animal videos. There would have to be that fine like between everything that I use Twitter for.

I feel like part of the reason I don't use twitter is the negativity and the drama. The other part is the simple fact that I don't want to conform to the constant nagging of my friends to make one, but seeing the usefulness of such a tool might have change my mind. Now all I need is a good phone app that's easy to navigate.

I went into looking for other resources to use in my classroom through Participate, as I cannot use Twitter. I found a website that I actually really like. It's StorylineOnline and it is absolutely fantastic.

It is a reading site for children, usually Pre-K to Third grade. There are children's books on the site that are being read by actors, authors, and other recognizable people. As they read the book, the words they are saying are put on the screen. The pictures in the book are showed and sometimes animated. It just seems very engaging for kids who struggle with reading. It's not as stagnant as having the child sit there with a book that they are struggling to read. I really like it. The only downfall to this site is that they are small. There aren't as many famous titles, such as Dr. Seuss on the website. With the donations of patrons and visitors to the site, however, StorylineOnline aims to add more videos and books for kids.

Participate is a great tool for educators to use if they don't have a Twitter. They have a variety of websites that they can use to engage students. Some of these tools get students to learn without even realizing that they are learning. In all honesty, with some kids, that's a great thing. Overall, it works very well, and I would use it in the future.

Tweetin twitter

                             
                                 Wabisabi's twitter tastic teachers guide is very informative and talks about all the factors that come along with twitter. As well as what twitter can be used for in a classroom setting. The things that Wabisabi has said that twitter can be used for updates, research, summing things up, speaking in different languages, teamwork, instant feedback, asking questions, inspiration, looking at different figures, polls, telling stories and etc. Of all the factors that Wabisabi states in the teachers guide, I really thought that "The buddy system" or working together as a team is one of the best. Since some students may be absent from class at times and have no idea what homework is due as well as what was covered in class, so instead of them getting behind in their course work. They would know whats due since the teacher would post whatever has been covered in class and what assignments went along with it daily. Also by having a classroom twitter page they can simply just ask a friend or classmate and they would then know what is due and get to it. So being able to easily contact another classmate and having easy access to what has been covered is a good factor that teachers can incorporate in their classrooms by using twitter.
             
                               Edudemic's teachers guide to twitter also talks about all the different factors and pros and cons of twitter. However unlike Wabisabi's teachers guide, it gives much more detailed explanations and  tips on the aspects of twitter. Throughout Edudemic's guide it talks a lot about tips for teachers to use when on twitter as well as how to connect with students and it stated many teacher hashtags. I personally think number 5 in which states "know your audience's interests" of how to connect with students is probably the best because if a teacher can catch the students eyes and get them engaged they will keep going on the teachers page and start commenting and getting interactive with other students without complaint. As said in the article, " If you can connect with the students lives its an instant win.
                           
                             The use of twitter can be good in terms of school and parent teacher communication. As discussed in class, twitter can be useful when it comes to communicating with other classmates and knowing what has been discussed throughout the class. To me I think twitter would be a good tool for teachers to use to communicate with parents and for teachers and older students to interact. I definitely think its not good to let younger grade level students use it on their own without a parent with them. Overall for parents and upper level students I think the usage of twitter would be a great approach in terms of communication, interaction and being able to present and critically think about new ideas and topics. What we discussed in class went well with the articles in terms of explaining why twitter can be useful in a classroom setting and in the end I think it would be a great resource to have in a classroom.

                                  I found a free app called Park Math by duck duck moose through the website participate. Firstly I customized my search bar to look for kindergarten math topics and resources and within those sources I found the App Park Math  by Duck Duck Moose. This app is a good resource for kindergartners in order to help them learn math and develop the basic concepts and foundations of beginners math. Throughout this app their are 7 playground math games for active learning in a virtual park. The math skills and subjects covered throughout the app consist of adding, subtraction, sorting and patterns.