Hello! My name is Emily Morrow! I am 20 years old. I am a junior at the University of Southern Mississippi in the Elementary Education program. I am also endorsing in Secondary Math and Social Studies. I was blessed to have received a Leadership Scholarship from the university. I have a perfect puppy named Lana. She is my pride and joy. I am from the amazing Mississippi Gulf Coast. I live on the back bayous in Gulfport where I enjoy water sports, kayaking, and paddle boarding. I am a member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority where I have the privilege of serving as a Vice President of Event Planning on the Executive Board. I love playing intramurals with my sorority and getting involved on campus as much as I can. I had the opportunity to welcome in the new students of Southern Miss on the Golden Eagle Welcome Week Crew.
Introduction Video-
In the first week of class, we were all getting to know one another. Doing the activity of our introductory video, this required us to have to branch out, talk to new friends, and have them assist us in the project of recording an introductory video. It was fun to see one another to make mistakes while recording and laughing it off. It also taught us that we have so many resources in our pockets at all times. The fact that we can video ourselves, email it to ourselves, and post it in a blog post within the matter of 20 minutes is great. We should be able to have these useful tools in our classrooms when times come. We can use this to record lesson, give detailed instructions, or record anything we say and post it to where our students are able to see it at ease. The students can listen to it over and over and the parents can have access to the videos as well to be able to help the children and get involved in the child’s lessons. This was a great opening assignment for any class, whatever subject or ages they maybe, in order to have an icebreaker with the class. Each student can watch the videos and get to know their new classmates as well!
Standards Met
Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments. Teachers:
a.promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness
b.engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
Concept Map-
Being in the Intro Block, I have experienced concept maps over and over. Before, I always thought these were not very useful or incompetent to learning. Now, I am able to see the countless uses that this utility of learning could be performed for in the classroom. There are examples like the children drawing the concept maps for their own good. Also, a teacher can make them to create a guide to a lesson, tie a lesson together, or to have a fall back note sources for the students to use for help in remembering the lesson. For the details that we included in the concept map gave us a guide to teach this lesson to the class. Presenting to the class made us get the useful advantage to be able to speak in front of people. I know that I am comfortable speaking in casual in front of my classmates, but when it comes to telling my classmates actual information that I am being “judged” upon make me a little shaky. Speaking to the class means that I got to practice and take away my fear of classroom speaking a little bit. This activity prepared me a lot for the future concept maps to come.
Standards Met
Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. Teachers:
a.design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and
resources to promote student learning and creativity
b.develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to
pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
c.customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
d.provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.
I remember as I grew up, I thought that “MySpace” and “Facebook” was a personal website that people could make. Now I have had the advantage to make a “Blog” page and a Google Site. The Google Site function that we get just from having the “Eagle Apps” email is incredibly useful tool that most students are completely unaware of. I love the fact that you can make multiple sites for multiple classes. The internet is our generation and this is perfect way to get our teachers, parents, and students all involved. This could also mean not printing out syllabi, handbooks, lesson presentation, etc in order to save paper. You can have links to download all the materials. This also allows you to be in control the class and using technology at home. The parents have easy access to your email links, videos, or lesson explanations. You can also set up a Google Calendar for parents and students to have access to so that dates are clear and understood for everyone. Parents can know what is going on in the class in order to keep students on track and motivated to meet the deadlines! This make communication an easy, at your finger tips, resource.
Standards Met
Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. Teachers:
a.demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new
technologies and situations
technologies and situations
b.collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation
c.communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a
variety of digital-age media and formats
variety of digital-age media and formats
d.model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning
Windows Movie Maker-
I could count on one hand how many times that I have used Windows Movie Maker, but I have never used it to my advantage like we did in class. I think this is an easy and fast way to give your students assess to make a lesson more interesting. We told stories in our lessons. This was a fun way to get to know one another and know what music that explains that person. We were able to explain a moment in time that meant something to us, but students can use this tool to explain a project. Power points could be replaced by using videos from Windows Movie Maker. I never realized the actual strengths that the program had before I made the video story. I will have students use this technology tool in the future in order to expand the horizons that presentation materials can give the class. I enjoyed doing this project as well to get to see more about my peers. They shared so much information that I never knew before the video! I got to share my story of adopting my puppy from the Southern Pines Animal Shelter. I loved getting to tell my story with the class.
Standards Met
Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. Teachers:
a.design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and
resources to promote student learning and creativity
b.develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to
pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
c.customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning
styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
d.provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments
aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.
TurnItIn Assignment-
This assignment was full of truths and points that a lot of pre-service teachers need to be able to fully understand. Plagiarism is a serious and unacceptable matter that everyone needs a break down and understanding. If pre-service teachers do not seen the severity of the issue of plagiarism, then we will not be able to extend the message to our students that we will have the opportunity to teach. If students do not understand how negative the issue is, then they will find it hard to learn the proper way to write and research papers. I learned a lot from this assignment because when I used quotation marks, the assignment did not “read” as a high percentage of plagiarism. I took out the quotation marks in order to be able to have it read as a higher percentage as the assignment instructed. This taught me that when you quote an author’s work, it will not read the quote as plagiarism. I also gained the opportunity to learn how to use TurnItIn.com and all the amenities that this website offers to teachers. Having students turn in a copy to this site will be teachers grade this paper based off the plagiarism presented or not presented.
Standards Met
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving
digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers:
a.advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and
technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources
b.address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies and providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources
c.promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information
d.develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools
Webtools Assignment-
Pre-service teachers have a large expectation to achieve when they make the switch to a real life teacher. There is no amount of preparation to give preservice teachers in order to have them ready to take on this job. With all the little steps that we have taken in college, we can grow to some extent. These tools that we were blessed to be familiar with like making rubrics, making quizzes, and the TrackStar for students gives us a better since of comfort when taking on the classroom as a teacher. Making the rubric was simple because it had types of lesson plans, the basic “parts” of the lessons broken down into sections to grade, and the ability to add your own “parts” of the rubric to make sure the lesson is custom to your class and lessons. The quiz was so easy to make and it can be used to print out the quiz or have students take it online. It is versatile for teachers. As for the TrackStar, the teacher is able to keep up with websites and see when the students use them! This is one of the best preparations for technology use in the classroom.
Standards Met
Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. Teachers:
a.design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and
resources to promote student learning and creativity
b.develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to
pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
c.customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning
styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
d.provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments
aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.
I love Google Docs for college. From computer to computer and using library printers, I have saved documents on my Google Drive since I got my eagles.usm.edu address. I love that we, as students, have assess to these resources. In order to complete group projects with everyone’s busy schedule, this is a more efficient way to share the projects between all the group members. Emailing files, the old fashion way, can be inefficient if the files are not converted correctly. I personally like that each member can work on the projects one on one at different computers but at the same time. The files automatically save and you can never really “lose” the files. I do not think I will use this in my classroom for the younger students because it is not exactly a resource that they would need. As for secondary classes, they can use this for group projects like we did. I will personally use it for transferring files back and forth from my personal computer to the school’s computers as needed. I also like that Google has their own “file” type because I use a MacBook Air and I do not have Microsoft Office. This allows me to save money and not have to purchase extra software.
Standards Met
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving
digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers:
a.advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and
technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources
b.address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies and providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources
c.promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information
d.develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools
Class Reflection-
In Intro Block, this was one of my favorite classes. I attended every class because I wanted to go to class and learn everything I could. I took in a lot of useful tools and software ideas that I would have never known without the help of Dr. Beedle. As a MacBook user, I was able to learn all about the Windows computers and how to use both the MacBook and Windows together to achieve the goal that I needed with the to kinds of computers. Dr. Beedle helped me learn about Software Protection for my computer to an awesome software to make concept maps and other resources for lesson plans. He was able to push us to have us achieve high goals. He expected the best work from us. I had fun learning all about the topics we covered because it interested me with dealing with technology.
One of the best aspects from this class was the fact that we did not have any real “paper” work. I got enough handouts, example, work sheets, and printed picture for my future class room from all my teachers this semester that I had to get a filing cabinet! In Dr. Beedle’s class, we had the advantage to used a blog to turn in our assignments. We could post links, essays, and photos at ease. We got to keep up with all of our examples there in order to have forever! The usefulness of just posting to the blog site is unexplainable. You could see your work posted. You could fix things as needed. You will always have these files for you to keep up with. Along with that, I can go back and view this blog when I start student teaching or after graduation in order for me to see my progress. I can see my work at the beginning of my preservice teacher career path and hopeful I will have a large improvement between graduation.
Last but not least, I am forever grateful for the practice I got in this class with presenting materials out loud in front of my peer. I will be in class with these student for the rest of my career at Southern Miss. I was able to warm up to them and find a comfort zone when speaking in front of crowds. Speaking to children who you are teaching is a fun and easier than to those students who are judging you and are as knowledgable as you are. I gained the comfort I need with speaking in front of anyone because of our presentations in this class.
