Time to Give my Blog a Facelift: Zha, Zha, Zho

This week in my Web Technology class, we spent a lot of the time talking about Zhooshing up our blogs. As I have mentioned, this is my very first blog endeavor! I really want to make sure my blog has the Zha Zha Zhu!

So, from this day on, I solemnly swear to…

1.  Categorize & Tag all my posts…from here on out
2.  Include useful Widgets in my side bar…from here on out
3.  Find a sweet balance: not make my posts to long, or too short…from here on out
4.  Include a wide array of
   1. images (that are cited!)
   2. hyperlinks
   3. other sources
   4. videos…from here on out
5.  Add a splash of COLOR

By doing this, my hope is to make my blog easier to navigate and to make it more aesthetically pleasing to your eye. Thank you so much for putting up with me this far 🙂!

This week, I found another technology gem: animoto. (See what I did there! I hyperlinked it so it would be easier for my followers to find out what I’m talking about). Like I’ve been saying over-and-over-and-over-again, I am not the most technologically savvy person, but I am willing to learn and try. As I started to use this gem, I realized how easy it was! I was able to get pictures from my facebook (or any other social media) through animoto. Once I picked my theme, it was pretty self explanatory. I basically drag & dropped pictures and added text. Simple as that. Animoto did all the tough work: adding the music, timing the music, and making it look pretty & professional. I know it’s a little bit cheesy, but look at my sample video I made…

I honestly feel that adding one of these personal videos would bring the classroom to another dimension! Animoto has a few options. They have a Lite version (free), a Plus version ($5/month or $30/year), and a Pro version ($39/month or $240/year). For more information about the features each version has, just click here.

Over & Out.

Lights, Cameras, Action!

There are so many benefits of using educational videos in the classroom. When my future students walk into my room, I want them to be transported into another (math!) world. Using videos can do just that! Videos create an experience, plain and simple. Although I like to believe I am the MOST interesting person in the world, I have my doubts that my future students will have a mutual feeling (and that’s ok!). By using videos that are incorporated within the lesson, it will give students a break from my voice (sad, I know) and break up the lesson. Instead of it feeling like one long, continuous, unbearable never ending 40 minute period (or 90 minute block), videos could help make the time (hopefully) fly. In addition, by just hearing a different voice, it might facilitate students’ learning and memory.

Here, the teacher is using a flipped classroom. Students are actually interacting with the teachers, This is a two-way communication, whereas a traditional class, the communication is one-way (teacher to students)

photo credit: kevin dooley via photopin cc

 However, there are so many other ways for students to use videos for educational purposes. In my class last night, we discussed the possibility of using a flipped classroom model. Which, to be honest, I always thought was an awful idea. The more I actually thought about it yesterday, the more I felt it might actually be a good idea. Like all things, it needs to be placed/planned right. I remain open to assigning a flipped classroom assignment once a week, or so. By using this type of model, or videos in the classroom (in general), my hope is to reach as many students/learners as I can so I can interact with them in the time I am given. Instead of using the class period to lecture to blank faces, it may be smarter to interact with them instead of to them.

In addition, the way I show/explain a concept may be different than a video does. Maybe Students A through R grasped the concept the way I explained it. But what about Students S through Z? Don’t they deserve the same understanding of the concept? Perhaps the way Salman Kahn will reach those students or PatrickJMT on youtube.

When students leave my classroom, I want them to feel better about themselves and abilities than when they entered; maybe one way to do this is through video. So, Lights, Cameras, Action! Let’s learn…together!

 

Please Excuse My…Who? on Video?

Like I’ve been mentioning throughout my blog, technology is here to stay with its many uses; it  will continue to creep into our children’s classrooms in ways that were (at one time) unimaginable.

 

Depending on how you view it, the concept of teach and learn are one in the same, as the picture displays. If you view the reflection of the word “teach”, you will see “learn”

 photo credit: duane.schoon via photopin cc</a

As  a future teacher, and current student, I can see the beauty of videos from both sides of the desk. As a student, videos clarify information that was either missed or misinterpreted. Being able to pause, replay, review, and move ahead allows me to tailor a lesson to my unique pace.  At the same time, as a future teacher, I know that every student is unique…just like their learning styles. I also know that I will not be at home with them, re-teaching the confused information to them step-by-step. Using a video to learn or review will make the learning process continue at home!

 

 

Below is a link to my Ted Ed Sample Lesson on the Order of Operations.
http://ed.ted.com/on/VHjTL2Ue

The Order of Operations are given in steps in this picture. We see exponents first, followed by the operations of multiplication, addition/subtraction (from left to right).

By HB (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons

So, I Decided to get Funky with it. And, Yes, it was Legal

 

This banner was designed to describe me and my journey through my technology course. The colors of the sun, the sunset, and the horizon are all merging together.

As my previous post preached (a little too much, I admit), I first started with an image that was eligible for reuse on Pixabay. Then, on pixlr (my newest internet gem), I began to edit my image. In adjustments, I decided to use the “Blur” tool in order for all of the colors to collide and come together. This tool allowed me to marry the pixels together, creating an abstract looking image.

To further marry these colors, in the effect toolbar, I used the “Per” effect. This seemed to give my image a rosy kaleidoscope essence of color! In effect, without premeditated plans, it made my “blur” more drastic. The inherit movement of the ocean also seems to give my image a flow! Next, I decided to add an overlay. The Paper Skirt Overlay with the flowers makes my image feel organic; flowers in the water. To me, it’s all very serene; merging colors, flowing water, and growing flowers.

With so much white space in the bottom right corner, a border definitely was needed! I decided to use the “squared smudgetv” border to give it a vintage look, reminding me of an old photo snapshot. The dark black the border initially showed was too harsh, so I chose to decrease my “amount” by 34%, creating an opaque look.
Lastly, I added the text “The flow of thought.” I hope the words, along with the different effects I used will give my viewers a tiny window as to what my blog is about. My goal, by the end of the semester is to marry, incorporate, and mesh all of the tools from my technology courses: old and new.

I want all my thoughts to be organic. I want all my ideas to start as free-flowing thoughts. I want all my tools to come together and create a masterpiece; all of which is directly reflecting my image.

 

Original Image Citation:

By: Geralt
Title: Still Sea Sunset
Date: April 26, 2013
License: CC0 Public Domain

Get Funky with It!…but only if it’s Legal

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve taken a picture from Google Images, and used it in my lesson, PowerPoint, or recreation fun-time use. For this, I should be in technology jail. Bad. I don’t want to end up like this girl…

This average looking girl is behind bars in jail, looking out at them in retrospection and sorrow.

You can’t do this! For 21 years, I thought this practice was completely acceptable and ethical–I’ve seen my peers, professors, and teachers (who who actually taught me) do this. I think it’s time for me to tell them about Creative Commons License because every image they find “on the internet” cannot necessarily be used for anything they want. There are different licenses that an image can have. There are some images a person cannot use,  can use, and others where people are allowed to edit it. People just have to not be lazy, and check it out. Each image is different, depending on the license. Even though it takes just one more step to look to see just how the image can be used, if at all, it is not necessarily more difficult. Yes, there are different websites that you can search for images that are acceptable to use. While those images are interesting, it is nothing compared to  the almighty Google Images.

There is still hope yet! Google Images hasn’t deserted us! By just a few clicks in Google Images, you can filter out the pictures that are unacceptable to use, and just show the ones you can reuse (without going to jail…ok, that may be a little harsh, but you get the picture). I wish it took me a little less than 21 years for me to find out about this simple and easy way to search reusable images.

This is how I viewed my high school teachers as when they yelled at us to cite, and not plagiarize. This army officer (who is doing push ups) to fix a behavior, which was the

It’s quite ironic though. How many times have your teachers, professors, or professionals (wherever your situation) drilled into your mind “CITE! CITE! CITE!”?

For me, it’s way too many to remember. And yes, this is how I saw my teachers belting out that four letter word. In middle school, we had a whole class dedicated to making citations and works cited. If a student doesn’t cite something in his/her paper, they get in serious trouble. Everything a student uses must be cited…or else! So why is it that we can just take an image from the internet without even giving credit to where credit is due? Well, it turns out…you can’t. There is a specific way for a person to cite the images they use, which I had no idea.

All in all, the ethics of using images are strict! We don’t always recognize this, and we should. Why should someone’s work suddenly be your own? Be ethical! Give credit where credit is due and cite! For those images that  you can edit, get funky with it! Make it your own…but only if it won’t send you to jail (ok, I overreacted again, just a bit! But seriously, don’t).

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Practice what you preach!

Image Credits:
photo credit: Thomas Hawk via photopin cc
photo credit: United States Marine Corps Official Page via photopin cc

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Breaking Ground: My First (ever!) Post

This is my first blog post ever! Here we go!

I think it’s important to know a little about me before I start blogging about my web page technology journey. I am in my last year of college, which I cannot believe; it feels like college has flown by. Throughout my college experience, I have taken technology courses to (hopefully) better my teaching style.

I am a secondary education/mathematics major. Next semester, I will be completing my student teaching, so I am excited to learn as much as I can from this course and use it in my placement next semester! I am not the most technologically savvy person, so I am looking forward to gather all the skills I can! I feel that technology is the key to reaching students of this insane technological world. I am hoping that I will incorporate blogging into my future classroom because there is so much a teacher can do. With each post, videos, pictures, links, study guides, extra practice, assignments, and reminders can be all in one place at their fingertips. Using this type of platform will be aesthetically pleasing and “sticky” to my future students (and parents!). Keeping parents in the loop will be extremely important to me, therefore having one cohesive and visually pleasing place for them will be a great way to meet my intention.

At the risk of sounding “nerdy” math is my life. It was always the subject that intrigued me. My father was the one who sculpted my “math mind”. Math was always something my father and I could bond over. To me, math is more than merely “just a subject”. This is how I see math…

My hope is to inspire young minds, showing future students why math is a subject to embrace, not be afraid of.