Technology in the Classroom

A common theme I’ve seen in my education classes is how we as teachers can incorporate technology into our classrooms.

Most recently this past semester, we discussed this in two of my classes with a particular focus on specific apps that students can download.

Image I took of my cell phone. Students can use their cell
phones, iPods, or iPads to download apps that can assist
them in the classroom.

In my EDT 246A class, Foundations of Language and Literacy, we had a special focus on apps that would help English Language Learners (ELLs). Some of the apps that my group found for this project focused on grammar lessons so students could learn basic grammar rules.

My group also found an app that would allow students to interact with a piece of text by marking it up, highlighting it, using virtual sticky notes, and the app also allows students to draw on the text. This would benefit students as it is a way for them to write on their textbooks without making a mark in the actual book.

In this class, we also had a project on how we can utilize social media in the classroom. Many of the articles that my group found dealt with how to use Facebook, Twitter, and blogs in the classroom.

An example of a project that would use Facebook/Twitter is having students create profiles for fictional characters. As for blogs, students can create informative blogs on a specific topic or blogs can be used as discussion boards for students to share ideas.

For this project, my group and I also found an interesting article on using graphic novels in the classroom. Graphic novels are a different type of interactive media and students are provided with a visual aid so when they’re struggling to understand the story, they can use the visuals to figure out what is happening.

This semester I also took EDP 256, Psychology of the Exceptional Learner. In this class, we focused on apps that could be used as assistive technology for students. The majority of the apps my group discovered had to do with voice recognition software.

My Favorite Classes at Miami

I can’t just pick one favorite class, since I’ve liked a fair majority of the classes that I have taken, but I still have liked some more than others.

So far, my favorites have been EDT 190 (Introduction to the Teaching Profession), ENG 141 (Life & Thought In American Literature), EDT 246A (Foundations of Language and Literacy), and JRN 101 (Introduction to Journalism).

Part of the reason why I liked EDT 190  was because as part of that class, I was able to do service learning. I was in a 5^th grade classroom and the teacher I was paired with, had me take students to the library and I would work one on one with the students on math and science.

While I’m not one for math and science, this was still a good experience for me, as it reaffirmed that I had chosen the right major. I took this class during second semester of my freshman year and I switched my major in the middle of first semester. Being in the 5^th grade classroom made me sure that I made the right decision to switch majors.

In addition, during EDT 190, I was given the opportunity to do a lot of self-reflection on my work and why I want to be a teacher. We also had to do a group project where we taught the class a chapter from our textbook.

Picture I took while writing a paper for my ENG 141 class.

In ENG 141, which I also took the second semester of my freshman year, we looked at American literature from the colonial period through 1865. We covered some of my favorite pieces of American literature during this class and we also read a lot of poetry, which is something I don’t mind reading and analyzing.

I thoroughly enjoyed this class and I always had fun writing the papers (I know, who has fun writing papers?). This class pushed me to think more and analyze literature in a deeper way than I had before.

I took EDT 246A this past semester. For this class, I learned more about how to teach and it was a great experience since there were only 10 of us in the class, so we really got to share our ideas with each other and learn from one another.

It was in this class that I had my first experiences writing lesson plans, which is now something that I know I enjoy doing.

As for my JRN 101 class, my professor only assigned us two main articles over the course of the semester, but he would also have us go out and interview complete strangers on campus about random topics, for example, their favorite song.

For the first article assignment, I wrote an article about a ride along I did with the Miami University Police Department. Going on the ride along alone was an interesting experience, but it was fun to actually be able to write about what I saw.

In general, I’ve had fairly good experiences with classes at Miami, and I’m especially looking forward to taking a Shakespeare class this coming semester.

It's Back to School in a Month

In one month from today, classes start again for second semester. I’m not sure I’m ready for that reality again.

Don’t get me wrong, I want to go back to school, I really do. I’ve been missing my friends like crazy the past few weeks. But am I ready for my course load? Not entirely.

Screenshot I took on my phone of the calendar. 

Last semester was pretty bad for me in terms of my course load, and I’m hoping that this semester is lighter, despite taking 18 credit hours. I would rather not repeat the week of 13 papers, so my goal is to avoid that.

One nice thing about this coming semester is that I’m taking a lot of classes that pertain to my major and my minor. In fact, all 6 of the classes I am taking are for my major and minor, which is really exciting to me.

This will be the first semester that I’m not taking any classes to fulfill my Miami Plan requirements.

On another note, after being home for such a long time, it’s going to feel really good to be back in Oxford. While I love coming home and being able to eat home cooked meals and take showers without flip flops, among other things, being at school has several benefits. 

At school I'm on my own - to a certain extent - and I do things at my own pace and on my own time. In addition, I get to see my friends. 

The hardest part about going back to school is getting back into a schedule. After being at home for a month and a half, my sleep schedule will be off and I definitely will not be accustomed to schoolwork.