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.

Fires in the Bathroom: Chapter 8

Chapter 8 focuses on teachers who have English language learners in their classroom. Students suggest giving them a level they can handle, help them learn from each other, and focus on the important thinking and not always the language. English language learners should not be singled out, and I believe that every teacher is equip with skill and knowledge on how to progress their understanding of the language, as well as the content.

I thought this chapter was very relevant because I will probably teach in the city where I grew up, which contains many different levels of English learners. My concentration, history, is all about interpreting texts from different time periods. I will use tips such as asking my students if they understand often and have patience with them because they are learning a new language, and although I am unfamiliar with that feeling, I need display empathy and then strategize ways to improve not only their English, but their understandings of history.

Fires in the Bathroom: Chapter 7

Chapter 7 deals with the issue that many teachers face on a regular day basis, teaching hard academic material. I found this chapter very insightful as a student currently enrolled in a teacher education program. All throughout high school I would always notice when a teacher had a hard time making a standard relevant to students. Tips throughout this chapter include, challenge assumptions, not sticking to the textbook, linking old material to new material.

A helpful tip comes from Maribel, “my history teacher connects many things with things today. There’s this thing with Tariff Union that I think Germany did, and he’s relating it to what Europe is doing now with euros, how they traded without tax and tariffs. That catches us” (125). With history, many students don’t see the point in it, this is something that I would get great pleasure in changing. By using the tips and opinions of students from this book, I hope I can make this goal a reality.

Fires in the Bathroom: Chapter 6

Chapter 6 focuses on getting and keeping students motivated in and out of the classroom. Getting students motivated is most easily done by being passionate about a subject. If a teacher is monotoning a lesson, and showing no interest in what they are teaching, students will likely mimic their behavior and become uninterested. However, if an educator is excited to get to work, and excites the classroom because they’re excited, students will likely at least listen to what the teacher has to say.

Relating students interest to content is another way to keep them engaged. Students suggest to know what they already read and write. On her own time, Mahogany enjoys reading“…urban novels, and about civil disobedience”(116). If a teacher could relate a topic, even if it was a stretch, I’m sure they would instantly capture Mahogany’s attention, creating an environment where she is a little more likely to become or stay engaged in the topic.

Fires in the Bathroom: Chapter 5

Chapter 5 gives insight on how teachers can appeal to individual students as well as managing group work. This can be tricky, but doing things such as keeping an eye on every group, asking often for personal insight, and assigning clear group roles and checking to make sure everyone is on task often. Teachers sometimes steer away from group work because it creates divides in the class and it is too much work to monitor different groups. However, with insight provided by students, it gives answers to many of the questions teachers have about group work.

During group work teachers assign groups, and sometimes it is difficult for students to meet together outside of the classroom. Students offer a suggestion: let us work together. Many teacher shy away from this, but students who already know each other will more likely meet up and do the assignment instead of one person pulling all the weight. They produce a better product because they know each other and are already comfortable with themselves in the group, as well as the content.

Fires in the Bathroom: Chapter 4

Chapter 4 gives examples for educators on how to create a classroom culture of success. Successful classrooms can be created by making criteria clear, encouraging efforts, and not favoring students who you think will do best, to name a few. Successful classrooms will drive student performance, and create a desire to learn. Its important to give students the steps on how to be successful in the classroom so they can model a hard work ethic for society as well.

It’s to be expected that “teenagers care about what people think of them, and so they feel intimidated”(65) but teachers can do many things to make their students feel comfortable in their class. When I was in high school, I often did not participate during class because I was convinced I had the wrong answer, and would fear judgement from peers. If a teacher had gone as far as simply stating, there are no wrong answers, or this is a judgmental free-zone, I would have been likely to share my ideas. When I am an educator I want my students to feel comfortable in my class, and feel as though it is okay to speak freely, because those are the ideas that further content knowledge and enhance everyone’s learning. 

Fires in the Bathroom: Chapter 3

Chapter 3 summarizes different ways an educator can foster a positive relationships with individual students and the classroom as a whole. Different approaches include listening to students, being organized, and know when and when not to discipline. If a teacher is able to produce a positive relationship with their class, they can maximize student engagement and efficiency. 

One thing that stood out to me in this chapter was how much teachers and students pay attention to gangs. Under enforcing the dress code section within the chapter, Andres points out: “the longer the belt ism and its color, signal a lot about their gang status, so teachers need to pay attention to it”(59). I would have never thought that gangs would be an issue to a school, let alone specific indicators and how teachers should be aware of this. I went to school in the biggest city in my state, and my high school never (to my knowledge) had any issues with gangs. However, this is insightful information, as I’m sure this is true for states all over the country.

Inspiration

       Exploring the resource website from Inspiration Software, Inc. was very insightful and gave me a couple ideas as to how I could use this in my own classroom. Two ways for students to understand how history changes over time are webs and timelines. Using Inspiration, students will be able to create their own representation of a specific event in history, and will be able to add visual ads to further their understanding of the historical event. This form of technology would fall under the modification level of SAMR because students have the choice of how they outline their timeline or web, and also can add visuals and many other aspects to enhance their learning. This would be an engaging way for students to exhibit their learning instead of a regular timeline or web on simple paper and pencil.
       Another resource I discovered is a lesson plan that deals with comparing and contrasting two different subjects. These would be interesting to use in a history classroom because students would benefit from comparing different views and ideas of historical figures. I found the lesson plan, a step by step tutorial about how to use the software in the classroom very helpful and a tool I may use inside the class time. I would allow students to add notes and images, either from clip art or their web cam, to increase their display of understanding. This lesson plan would also fall under the SAMR level of modification because students are adding features to their web of comparing and contrasting that would otherwise not be possible in substitution.

Fires in the Bathroom: Chapter Two

       Within chapter two there is a section titled "Do Students Need to Like a Teacher?"(19) and I found a student's response particularly interesting. Vance emphasizes: "...that doesn't mean you have to be our best friend, because that will cause our education to suffer. I hate to admit it, but respect and authority are part of the job. Kids expect adults to give us direction and boundaries, but it's a balance"(19). I whole-heartedly agree with the statement because as a student, I always had more respect for teachers who gave directions and had high expectations, yet still could let loose and make a joke.
       I hope to implement this in my own classroom because I want my students to look forward to class. A relaxed classroom environment where expectations are still met and exceeded is the ideal for any teacher, and I hope to have that relationship with my students. There is a difference between doing the work and being a friend. I hope when I am a teacher, I can differentiate the appropriate times to be a friend or role-model, and be an educator.

Fires in the Bathroom: Chapter One

       In chapter one of "Fires in the Bathroom" a student named Porsche described her typical day of school. Activities in Porsche's day consisted of waking up at 6:30 in the morning to get herself ready for school, and also to help her brother and sister to school. Porsche does not get home until 8:30 after her two different sport practices.
       Reading about Porsche's day really made me think about how well I am going to know my students, and how I am going to do so. If I have a student like Porsche in my classroom, it would be helpful to know about her schedule. For instance, if she does not have a chance to complete a homework assignment, I would be more understanding because I am aware of her situations, and obligations. Overall, if teachers are more informed about their students, they are often likely to have better relationships with their students than teachers who are oblivious to students lives outside of school.

Wes Fryer Chapter 6: Video

StoryRob allows for students to record their voice over a slide show of presentation. This would be an interesting tool for creating a more interactive lecture for students, or letting them use this website as a resource for engaging their audience when presenting a project.

No edit videos are videos that students do not cut out or edit the material, creating an authentic representation of their learning. No edit videos can also be a tool for problem solving, or to better understand how that student implies the thinking process regarding learning the content.

Animated videos can be created on the website GoAnimate. Animated videos can be time consuming to make, but with the help of this website it seems to move the process along more quickly. Animated videos are an interesting and different way to capture students attention.

Video sandboxes provide educators with homegrown and a filtered resource for students. Video sandboxes are basically another version of Youtube, except school districts put restrictions on content.

I might incorporate video into one of my lesson plans by having students create a podcast. Their podcasts should include taking the role of what you believe to be an important historical figure, and explaining their thoughts, beliefs, and actions, and how it was relevant to that time period. However, it would be interesting if they created a video of illustrations or pictures to accompany their podcasts.

Wes Fryer Chapter 3: Audio

        When I read Wes Fryer’s chapter on audio, I initially did not think that I would find sources as intriguing as I did. The first link I clicked on was for autoboom. Autoboom is a website that has short audio clips, usually of news, with a corresponding picture and an optional comment section. The site also contains channels of organized audio clips, such as the Times, which differs from their home feed of random assorted news stories. I love this website, and would incorporate it into my classroom by finding a social issue to focus on and having students use an Audioboom clip as one of their resources. 

        Vacaroo is a simple website that allows for students to record themselves. It was very simple and very easy to use and after recording, it saves audio files easily and safely to a computer. This would be good in the classroom because unlike Audioboom, it is very straightforward, and students would not become off task or distracted because of its one purpose feature. 

        Unlike Vacaroo, is Audiopal. I do not think that I would use Audiopal in my classroom because it has a dangerous function that allows students to type whatever they want, and have transferred to an audio message. It would be great it students did use it appropriately, however, I think it would be hard to manage in a classroom setting. If I was to use this in the classroom, it would be interesting to do as a check in. At the end of a lesson, having students type and summarize their big ideas, and send them in an email to me privately, which is all possible through the website. The next day in class I could share out my favorites, while still protecting my students privacy if they so desired.

       I would enjoy incorporating audio into my classroom because I think it is a different media tool that students do not get much access to. As Wes Fryer states: “audio can be an extremely compelling format to document our lives as and our learning experiences”

Google Earth

       While discovering Google Earth, I learned that Mars has a traveler's guide to help aliens such as myself learn more about the foreign planet. A cool feature, the Saturn icon allows users of Google Earth to explore different parts of our solar system. I chose Mars and was blown away by how much research is still an ongoing process about the planet closest to the sun. NASA uploads real photos of Mars with scientific understandings, explaining what the pictures were about. I am a social studies concentration, and still found this feature really interesting, and applicable to what I can teach in my own classroom.

       I will use Google Earth in my classroom because Richard Byme has excellent resources for multiple different content areas. By downloading his U.S history tours into Google Earth, spots of specific battles of wars are highlighted, and when clicked on, a short summary of that specific battle can be found. I thought this was an awesome tool and never imagined that Google Earth could be used for this. Google Earth is a great tool for giving kids a spacial representation of what happened and where it happened. Usually when kids learn about battles, they have a hard time placing them on the map and conceptualizing how a course of a war transpired. With Google Earth, it really captures both of those ideas, and puts them into practice wonderfully. What an amazing tool to use in the classroom, I am applauding and thanking Google Earth and the ingenuity of Mr. Byme!  

Maine Memory Network

       I have never seen the Main Memory Network, so when I first discovered the website, it felt like I was hitting the jackpot. I thought it was so interesting how when I searched my hometown, different historical pictures, taxes, and documents came up. The historical time periods in Portland really came alive to me through those documents. I really enjoyed this website, and am so glad I found it because it will be a resource for me in the classroom that I will probably continuously use throughout my teaching career. Yay for new resources!
       As a social studies concentration, I could use this website in a number of ways. First, connecting this to my unit in Dr. Graces class about the American Revolution, I could have my students look at primary documents from the colonial time period. My students will be able to get a better sense of what that time period means through actual pictures and real life stories verses something they read about in a text book.

Wes Fryer Chapter 4: Copyright and Fair Use

       Throughout the Wes Fryer chapter on Copyright and Fair Use, I learned that there are many different components and regulations within each of guidelines and a good way for remembering them would be a mnemonic. I gathered knowledge about the public domain, which are differing types of media that are not copyrighted and are free for the use of others. I also discovered that fair use allows teachers to show portions of materials that are copyright but there are limits to how much they show, and how it ties in with their content. NASA's pictures are almost always apart of the public domain, which I found very interesting, and a good tool for incorporating into my classroom.
       I hope to always remain cautious when handling the protection of intellectual property in my future classroom. I will do this by trying to acquire the most information I can about the guidelines of fair use, and copyright, so I can make informed decisions about what types of sources I can use. Also, by using resources such as Wes Fryer and checking back on my blog to refresh my memory about copyright and fair use in my classroom.

Copyright and Fair Use

       To start learning about Copyright and Fair Use inside the classroom and school settings, I completed a brief pre-assessment quiz written by Hall Davidson. The quiz titled "The Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use" gave different scenarios about teachers and what kinds of content such as VCR's, or computer programs were permissible and which would be breaking Copyright and Fair Use laws.

       Most of my answers were wrong, given that my knowledge of Copyright and Fair Use is very hazy. My answers nonetheless surprised me, but served as a good learning experience. Questions 2 discusses the issue of copying a computer program photoshop from one computer on a network so it can be accessed by multiple students. I got this question wrong because I thought that it was a violation of copyrighting. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the answer, because it was true! If the school owns a program it can be copied to the server where multiple students can access it. Question 7 deals with teachers uploading student work to a website that is only entered by students and other parents, by username and password. I got this question right, and was glad because I could envision myself using this in the classroom and it would satisfy the guidelines of fair use, as long as I monitored the website to see that "the outside world wasn't getting in". Question 11 has a teacher who is using a PBS film and having students "edit themselves into" to further their understanding of California. I got this question wrong and was actually surprised that teachers are allowed to do this in their classrooms. One question that got me a little upset was question 12. I did not understand why manufacturers are now instituting blocking technology which means that educators can't share more recent DVD's and VCR's which I think is absolutely ridiculous and inhibits our ability for sharing some media sources that would be beneficial for our students learning. Question 15, which talked about compiling video clips together does not fall under the fair use guidelines. This upset me a little bit because I feel as though students learn through video, and if teachers cannot use many different kinds of video it in their classroom, then students will ultimately pay the price for these restrictions. However, the answer did provide links to free videos that can be used. Question 17, I was glad that I got correct because it dealt with students using pictures of local businesses in their projects. I am satisfied that students can take pictures and then share them with the outside world. This made me feel a little better about their strict rules regarding copyrighting and fair use.

       This is all helpful information that I will use in the classroom because as an educator I want to set a good example for appropriate online behavior, and behaviors with media in general to my students. I also do not want to be responsible for getting my school in trouble with the fair use guidelines! Through taking this online quiz, I found many ways to incorporate different medias in my classroom while becoming aware and in touch with the copyrighting boundaries that exist.

Meaningful Engaged Learning and Learning Styles

In the article written by Mike Muir, "What engages underachieving middle school students in learning?" students success is determined by a teachers engaging their specific learning styles in the classroom. By examining the four different categories of the Meaningful Engaged Learning Model,  environment, experience, motivation, and meaning, students are more likely recognize and identify with what they are learning. Also, if teachers use this model properly, students will retain knowledge easier because it is more applicable and relatable to their own lives. Contradicting Muir’s theory was Richard Felder, who believes that student's multiple intelligences, such as sensing vs. intuition can be successful in multiple environments. Felder essentially believes that there is no precedent for learning styles in the classroom, however, no research supports his argument.

Personally, when I took a VAK, I got the results of a visual learner. Many of the suggestions for making the most with my learning style included drawing pictures, using different colors pens and markers when studying key concepts, and that visual learners tend to think upward when listening. I agree with most of what the survey said except that I tend to look forward, or at the speaker when I am listening. However, everything else stated was spot on about being a visual learner. Their strategies for teaching other visuals learner includes handing out charts, and outlines that students can fill in. I have to agree with this because as a visual learner myself, I found it easier to learn content if my teachers allowed white spaces to fill in with my own ways of remembering specific ideas.

Wes Fryer Chapter 1: Why?

“Playing with Media” offered an interesting perspective on how the use of media is important to our schools. However, when reading there were parts throughout the chapter that caught me by surprise or that I did not agree with.

It was interesting how much emphasis Fryer put on cellphones, because honestly I cannot envision them in a school setting. When he said that educators should “embrace them” I could not disagree more. Cellphones in a school setting are nothing but a distraction to students, and that is coming from the student perspective. As a future teacher, if there was an app beneficial to my classroom, I wouldn’t use it because my students would be busy doing other things like checking emails or text messages. I think that its completely ridiculous to use them in a school setting because there is no way for teachers to monitor or restrict the use of cellphones.

Another point Fryer made that I did not agree with was how students need media to be creative and/or create. I think there are many other different ways to be creative and that technology is one of those ways, but it is not the only way. It is important for students, especially children, to express their creativity. It’s a little over the top to say that we need to depend of technology for that.

At the beginning of the chapter, Fryer expressed the importance of images. I thought it was interesting how we learn more through pictures than through text, and personally I can relate because I am more apt to learn that way as well. Fryer writes that: “learning experiences in our classrooms for students should be filled with visual media created and shared by students as well as teachers” because if we learn through images, a classroom should be bright, colorful, and engaging to make students more willing to learn the subject at hand, and more inspired to unleash their creative side.

Apps for a Personal Passion

My apps that I searched for are for my passion of baking. Most of the apps I found were kitchen games, but I mainly focused on apps that would be of use to me in the kitchen, essentially to improve my different baking techniques. 

1. Kitchen Stories - I would rate this app a 4/5 because although it had very interesting features like how to videos, it was a little hard to maneuver, unlike my favorite app, In the Kitchen.

2. In the Kitchen - I thought this app was by far the coolest, and the most variety in recipes. It comes from the Food Network, so it comes with celebrity chief advice, and allows you to customize a grocery list or run multiple timers at once. Definitely a 5/5.

3. Baking w/ Dorie - I did not really care for this app, it did not have many different recipes and you had to pay for the individual recipes, instead of getting them for free like In the Kitchen!

4. Muffins - I would rate this app a 3/5. It came with interesting recipes and was easy to control, but for my passion, I would not like to limit myself to just cupcake and muffin recipes.

5. Craftsy - Along with Baking w/ Dorie, I did not care for this app. All recipes you had to purchase. It looked interesting if I had the money to spend on it, but actually paying for the recipes was a downside to this app, and after that discovery led to disinterest.

SAMR Model

One model of enhancing technology within the classroom is TPCK. TPCK stands for pedagogy, content, and technology knowledge. All of these subjects are interwoven together, for example, there is content knowledge, or pedagogy technology knowledge. However, when they are all combined, they are important for the benefit of a teacher’s students. The second model is SAMR. There are four stages of SAMR which are divided into enhancement and transformational. Substitution, and augmentation fall under the category of enhancement and modification and redefinition fall under the category of transformational. It is easiest to think about SAMR as how a teacher can incorporate different levels of technology into a classroom.

Once example of the SAMR model that I have had personal experience with is substitution. During a precalculus class in high school, my teacher instead of writing problems, formulas, and examples on the board, wrote them on a note pad, hooked up to his computer and projected it to the class room to see. This is substitution because he did not use any other features  in the program. His reason for using it was so if someone was absent in his class, he could send them a copy of his notes and examples, instead of students relying on other students.

SAMR can also be found in many technologies today. For example I have an app on my phone, Triviacrack that allows me to play my Facebook friends in a trivia game ranging over topics of history, art, entertainment, science, geography, and sports. This takes the highest level of redefintion because the app allows you and other users from all over the world add questions that all players of Triviacrack can answer. It also allows you to be social in an educational way with classmates or friends.

Googledocs is a program that I used frequently during the first semester of college for my writing seminar. For the editing process in writing, we would share our papers with three other people in class. When editing a paper, they could highlight text, leave comments, and rearrange different parts of a paper to make it flow better. All of there edits were logged, and they could make their edits on their own time, which allowed us to not be obligated to schedule meetings with each other for editing. Googledocs falls under the stage of modification because it transformed the actual process of our paper editing for that class.

Another example of the SAMR model in real life was an app I used when I went camping with my friends. The app made lists of things that we needed for our trip, so we wouldn’t forget anything important. It easier bringing my friend’s tablet than a notebook and a bunch of pens. So this example is based off of the level of substitution, because we were simply switching paper out with technology to make our lives, and the stress of packing easier for our group of friends.

Lastly, an example of the level of augmentation, was when my history teacher changed his lecture style of make class more interesting for us. Instead of just lecturing and us taking notes, he started to make slide shows. He said his special slide shows kept us more lively, and less likely to doze off in the middle of a lecture. He started to incorporate special features such as links to short videos, photographs of places and people, and interactive maps of battles we were learning about. It was a drastic change from him standing up and lecturing all class, and I found myself more captivated with the help of his technological changes.

"TPCK and SAMR: Models for Enhancing Technology Integration" by Ruben Puentedura