Wes Fryer Chapter 7: Show and Tell

Through reading Wes Fryer, I have learning many useful tools that I plan to incorporate into my classroom. Wes Fryer is a wonderful resource to anyone who is beginning in education and looking to incorporate technology within their classroom!

Two out of the three things I have learned have actually been in the chapter of audio. Audio is something that I would like to incorporate into my classroom in the form of homework. I think students will gain so much more from a homework assignment if they are listening and taking notes or reading along verses reading quietly to themselves. Plus homework audio adds a zest to traditional history homework, which is usually reading a textbook and answering corresponding questions. Autoboom and  Vacaroo are two websites that I explored in this chapter. This allows students to listen, and also to record themselves. I have used Autoboom in my classroom already and it was a big success! Students loved the fact that they could search a subject and a quick summary or explanation would come up, usually containing relating graphics. Lastly, I learned a lot about copyright. Copyright is something I will definitely bring to my classroom's attention. I was very much so in the dark when it came to rules about copyright and I am glad that I will not be breaking the law and not knowing it anymore. I found this video, along with the lengthy classroom discussions we had as a class, to be very insightful regarding copyright.

Wes Fryer Chapter 5: Images

This chapter gives many resources that teachers can use when incorporating images into lessons, presentations, homework, or classroom activities. Pictures are worth a thousand works, and many kids learn through visual images. I explored the website Flickr, which is filled with pictures that have clear statements on whether or not you can use it with or without permission. Flickr has a section called the Creative Commons in which they give symbols for the copyright status. This is helpful for educators, because although they can use pictures on grounds of education, their students cannot. Another website that I really found to be helpful was Wylio. This website, much life Flickr has a creative commons sections as well. When I made my account, and got to view the pictures, I thought that the images here were of a higher quality than those found on Flickr. The last website I explored was Compfight. It appeared to me to be very similar to the other two websites. I believe that sharing photos it an interesting way to gather perspective on student content knowledge. I will use and provide many of these websites to my students whenever they are required to present information because visuals are important to every learning style, and they can be fun!

Wes Fryer Chapter 2: Digital Text

Chapter 2 reviews the definitions of blogs and wikis and when they are appropriate to use in the classroom. One link that I clicked on, Weebly allows someone to make their own blog, and use it in a creative manner. I personally prefer Weebly to other create your own blog sites such a Blogger because I feel as though Weebly gives more options and control when it comes to layout and design, which can prove crucial to bloggers as well as viewers. Something I learned that I did not know before reading this chapter was the difference that less links makes. I have experienced many times before, clicking and clicking on links that seem to lead to nowhere, ultimately ending in confusion. My piece of advice to any educational blogger or teacher using a blog, make sure your links are straight forward and doesn't lead into the blackhole of different browers. When I have a blog for my classroom, I will probably use Weebly. Not only is it easy to use, but I like that I can be creative with the layout. Another link I clicked on was how to use blogs effectively in a classroom when sharing work, this article "Platforms for Interactively Sharing Student Work" I thought was an insightful read which sums up that technology is not going away, and it can prove to be the best way to convey student information "Whether or not your students are able to take a field trip to an engaging destination, chances are good they can be richly engaged with assignments which challenge them to reflect, synthesize, and share their ideas online using multimedia." 

"Professional Development in Technology Integration

I followed Susan Pojer on Pinterest. Her board “Technology in the History/Social Studies Classroom” has 1,039 and pending and close to 500 followers for that specific board. Overall, her following on Pinterest is 8,703, with over 200 pins ranging from A.P history and home design. Pojer, based out of Chappaqua, NY is also author to the award winning website, www.historynet.com, which got the title of #6 on the Best History Web Sites page. Throughout following Pojer, I learned many different strategies for not only how to incorporate technology into my classroom, but how to make it applicable to my concentration, social studies, something I have always has trouble doing. I am going to share a couple of my favorite pins and posts from Pojer that I can imagine using in my own classroom someday that I have caught my eye over the past couple of weeks.

Pojer pined a website called Power My Learning. This website is designed to have interactive games for students related to that incapsulate whatever subject they are learning. Games, activities, exploration, and creative tools are all categorized by grade level and subject. I clicked on what grade I currently have and what I have been teaching them (sophomores, and the French Revolution) and there were 19 different activities that directly related to grade 10. The best part? These interactive games, videos, and apps(that are iPad compatible) are aligned with the Common Core! This was such a great website that I never would have stumbled upon on my own if it hadn’t been for Pojer.

Another great resource I found while following Pojer on Pinterest was a pin on creating a Youtube channel for the classroom. It discusses how you can take your class on an “interactive time machine” and I couldn’t agree more. I think students learn the best when they are shown something and given a visual, instead of just talking and discussing something. I have used videos, and all of them are from Youtube. I use it so frequently that I sometimes forget videos that I mean to show at a later time. By creating a Youtube channel, you can hand select videos you want your students to view, and now its all in own place, in chronological order, and the teacher has the power to delete or add videos that best fit whatever content you are learning. SO COOL!!

Another website I discovered was Time Maps. I have used this website before in my class, and they loved it. One student told me it really put things “into perspective for them” AKA very social studies teacher’s dream. Basically, the map changes over time, ranging from 4300 BC to 2005, and the countries change color when under a different rule or government, accompanied with a color code at the bottom of the screen. I have been looking for something along the lines of an interactive map, and I think if you screen shot the map, upload it to a lecture or presentation with a voice over explaining the difference, it would make for an engaging and pretty cool lesson.

Overall, through following Pojer, I have been introduced to TONS of resources that I never would have discovered on my own. In my free time, I love to scroll through her pins on Pinterest. I haven’t gotten the chance to look at her website, although I did give it a glance and it looks like it is filled with a remarkable amount of resources, surprise surprise.

Final Fires Reflection

I really enjoyed reading the text "Fires in the Bathroom" because it gave me insight on how students think and respond to styles and personalities in teaching. I would recommend Fires to anyone who is beginning their teacher career, or participating in a teacher certification program such as myself. Personally, Fires as changed my views on student teacher relationships, expectations of students, and how difficult and challenging the field of education can be not only for the educators, but the students as well.

For example, at the beginning of the semester I believed in hard deadlines. Meaning that if an assignment was not turned in at the due date, that student would receive a 0 in the grade book. However, my views on grading have changed. This may or may not be directly caused by Fires (I wouldn't be surprised if there were more influencing factors as well) but I now believe it is essential for teachers to develop a nurturing relationship with their students. Now, if a student handed in late work, I may pull them aside, ask them if they are okay and why they haven't completed their assignment. Student and teacher relationships are so important to a students education, and "Fires in the Bathroom" not only gives you guidelines, but it gives you solutions to problems that many teachers face today.

Fires in the Bathroom: Chapter 10

Moving outside of the classroom can take any teaching to the next level. When what students are learning in the classroom also exists outside of it, that is when students will get excited about what they’re learning. Teachers can exhibit these qualities when they, take field trips, create community relations, and support the learning that students do on their own.

In chapter 10, Veronica reinforced her knowledge of physics when she was involved in an outside of class activity. She writes: “if you’re going to do an activity, make sure people really learn about something from it! We had to play dodgeball in science, to learn about mass and motion” (176) to illustrate that teachers do not have to think abstractly to excite their students and make sure they are learning, but that they are doing something to remember what they have learned. This is also an example of how inside the classroom can be applied to outside of the classroom, making kids engaged regarding content.

Fires in the Bathroom: Chapter 9

Chapter 9 emphasizes the importance of a teacher keeping their cool when things do go wrong. Teaching, as I have been experiencing with in field experience, is an emotionally taxing job. Teachers need to keep their emotional balance in check, and when things do go wrong, they need to be able to cope with the situation, and learn how to better the situation and themselves from it.

Through this chapter, students suggestions came as a no brainer to me personally. However, they stated the following advice: don’t be afraid to apologize, reexamine teaching approaches, don’t take a bad day too hard, don’t judge success on student opinion, don’t be a superhero, and don’t give up on them. Teachers who give up on their students should reconsider a new career path. Even if I have a bad class, students do not deserve to be given up on, and in my opinion that is the worst thing a teacher can do to their students.