On the road so far, there have been many tools that have been added to my toolbox or organized in the shed. In some cases, they have been game changers while others could be used to tune things up, should the occasion arise. One of the first tools has been the creation of a word cloud to create, yes, a cloud of words. Not just any words as these all are pulled from a teacher biography that introduces yourself, covers work experience, highlights your family, and works very similarly to a cover letter to a resume. The key difference is that this is very personal versus the formal business style of a cover letter. Creating a word cloud really helps out the visual learners by changing the format the words are delivered--rather than left to right, top to bottom, the student, parent, or fellow teacher can start anywhere and move where their eye takes them. It offers a break in the block of black and white as a moment of pause for understanding. A word cloud can also double as a place to put the key terms to focus on for the current lesson plan.
Another interesting tool was the introduction of a personal website builder to create an e-portfolio. Depending on the site choice, it is completely up to the future educator on how they want to design the website. The only guidelines are the ones for the necessary sections that need to be present in the portfolio. After that, the template, coding, photos, and information are open to change and customization. Considering that it has been three weeks into class, entering the fourth, there has been a lot of information passed on for our use, so it's all a little melted together at this point. More of what we've learned is the use of Google Forms and how you can run quizzes, surveys, and other assessments through the program and get organized results in a downloadable spreadsheet. The same is possible through the web program called "Kahoot" that functions as a live quiz group. One of the biggest tools that will take some time to cultivate is the Personal Learning Network (PLN). The catalyst being used for this is Twitter where there are millions of messages being posted that relate to education, technology, books, artists, and other important aspects of teaching focuses. It is all a matter of compiling your own tweets on the subjects and reposting things as they come up in the feed or from searches. The end result is unclear but it's potential as a hub of teaching news, ideas, and information is incredible. Photo credit: Lofqvist, Chris. “A Picture Is a Poem without Words.” Flickr, 12 Dec. 2014, https://flic.kr/p/qtzrjC
0 Comments
|
Joel SchreinerBorn on December 17th, 1996, Joel Schreiner entered the Electronic Art program at CSU right out of High School. From there he decided to set his eyes on becoming an educator alongside an illustrator and concept artist. Archives
December 2018
Categories |