Week 9: Digital Learning Spaces & Cool Tool #5 & Major Project Progress #2

                                           

This weeks topic, was very interesting to me. I hope to one day work in a school that is built around flexible learning styles. Watching all the different videos and reading the material really got me thinking how important it is for students to be able to have space in the classroom. I remember in elementary school, feeling like I was stuck in one room all day. Having open spaces can encourage students to move around and meet new people. It will encourage learning and students will try harder since their work is usually out in the open more. Having glass walls and swivel chairs are just two things that schools can model in order to have a more flexible learning style. Google Apps for Education can give the students access to the information that the teacher has. Uploading the lessons can allow absent students to receive it faster than waiting until the next day or days after. The apps can be used in the classroom and they can be brought to the laps of students. Using IPads or laptops, gives students the freedom to search and navigate through different slides. 

Designing learning spaces for the future is important to think about. The future students will grow to be the future population and raising them right and educating them correctly is crucial. I believe that designing them how they look now, would be a great choice. Having movable furniture and an open space allows children to be able to have the freedom to work in which ever way is comfortable to them. Using an open space library lets students learn while also having fun.  

The University of Akron's campus only has a few things that I can think of right away that uses a flexible learning space. They have swivel chairs, movable furniture and glass walls in some areas. They have open access to internet and the campus covers a vast area. The library and student union are two places where students meet and study, so making sure that those building are up to date is important for our success. The spaces on UA campus align with my learning needs by providing me with a sense of motivation.

Having an open learning space is important for anyone, so they feel like they have the materials needed to succeed. You are in school for the first part of your life, and onto college, so having an open and flexible learning space gives freedom and brings success. 

                                                        

                                                                                  

For my final Cool Tool Review, I chose to do the tool, e-maze. E-maze is a presentation creation website. You can choose your own layout, which includes either a blank layout, or you can chose themed layouts where the colors and images are geared towards the theme. Adding other slides are super easy and it gives you recommendations on what sides you should choose. It allows you to insert images and video to your presentation. You can also add in your own text and edit your slides how ever you want. It has the option to download your PowerPoint and make it better with e-maze! Once you have created your e-maze presentation, you can save, send or share your finished presentation anywhere. I am always looking for different and fun sites to use for presentations and I think I finally found one! I created a short presentation, just to show how it's done! 

I would use this tool in my classroom as visuals for what we are learning about. Having bright colors, big words and child centered images, e-maze presentations would get my students involved and hopefully I can make them good enough, students will be excited to learn. This tool would be important for my students to remember so they can use it for themselves, when they have their own projects. It is easy to sign up and has very good step by step instructions.

Students can definitely make their own digital artifacts while using e-maze. They have the power to chose what they want it to look like, and their creativity can shine through their presentations. Figuring out how the website works at first can be challenging, however, I think with help and practice students will learn in know time. Overall, I think this is a great presentation creation website, and I will be using this for future presentations, in college and even after I graduate in my future classrooms.  

Interested?  https://www.emaze.com/

This week, I chose to make one of my favorite desserts, brownies! Every other time, I have baked brownies, I had to throw my pan away, since the brownies got burned! With that being said, I was very nervous to start this brownie baking process. I heard that using a glass pan for brownies, helps them not to stick. I decided to try it, and maybe even used to much Canola spray, but the after result was worth it, because the brownies came out a success! 

I started out stirring the ingredients to become a batter. The recipe did not call for chocolate chips, but I figured I would be brave to trying something new, and use them in my brownies. I poured them in a pan and anxiously waited to see my dessert. I could smell the brownies once they were done and knew that I had done something right. Checking them for perfection, I decided it was time for them to be done. Sprinkling powder sugar on top of them was the best part of the whole process. I just to do that when I was younger after my mom had baked her famous brownies. I feel very accomplished that I have once again, successfully followed all directions and produced such a great treat!   

Week 8: Global Publishing through EBooks & Cool Tool #4 & Major Project Progress #1

                                                             

This week, we listened to Jon Smith talk about e-books and how they are being integrated into the classroom. Jon is a special education teacher in middle school, who had his students each create an e-book about language arts, math or any other informative topics. Creating the e-books the students writing level increased and it caused them to work together. I think creating e-books could be a positive thing. Students would be able to use their creativity, and are more motivated because they are sharing their work with so many people. E-books might make the writing process become easier or more exciting for students. It will affect students and teachers by letting them have a better relationship through writing. This is important for teachers to know if using e-books in the classroom. 

Being an early childhood education major, I do not see my students creating to many e-books. They might be a little to young or immature when it comes to figuring it all out. If I would however, I would only have maybe two or three created. I see many benefits for using them though. It can help students become better writers and it also allows them to be able to read any e-books online. Using e-books gives students the responsibility for creating something great! Making sure that students use the e-books effectively is important if using them for reading. Reading at a early age will shape their reading skills for the rest of their lives. 

Jon's presentation was very fun to watch and I really enjoyed it. The most striking thing I took away from his presentation was the love that he had for his students and how he tried so many times to get his students to love writing. Eventually that was e-books. As a teacher I have now learned that it is important to stick with trying new lessons, even if I get, negative feedback from my students. Pushing kids to succeed, is basically my job, and I hope that I am really good at my future job.   

                                                          

                                                                           

For my Cool Tool #4, I chose to try out the tool "Canva."This is a graphic designers dream website. While using this tool, you are able to create flyers, presentations, blog graphics, business cards, posters and invitations. You can search any picture you would like and add it to your blank creation. From there you can type your own things, you want to say, on the page, and you can edit it however you like. Students or users are able to upload their own photos and are able to add any frames or icons they would like. There are many different events or icons present on Canva, along with the different font colors. This gives variety when it comes to what you can make. After your creation is done, you can save it, and eventually have multiple pieces art of art. This is a free and easy website to use in all classrooms. I love cheap but nice creation sites, like this one, and creating your own pieces can be so rewarding. I can use this tool in my classroom in many ways. Using it having students create silly work during free-time, or to use Canva, after reading a book to portray a scene that happened. 

Using this tool gives students the ability to express all of their ideas, on one piece of paper. They can have creativity when trying to make up their own creation. Again, there is so many things to make off of Canva. Check out my creation, of a poster, here!

Students can use Canva to create almost anything. It is a good all around website that gets the students involved and uses their creativity. The site is easy to navigate, however when uploading photos teachers or assists might need to help out. Some types of editing like creating your own texts, may be difficult for some students but the basis of photo creating is much simpler.

Try it out! (Canva)


This week is the first week, in the major project. I was so excited to start this, because I knew, I would have a good time. I chose to learn how to bake! I love sweets and thought it would be great if I could make them for myself. Usually, its my mom or grandma that always do the baking in my family, but I thought it was time for me to finally learn, and figured this was the perfect timing. Hopefully I have a family of my own one day, and being able to bake and cook, (which I believe I can do) is important to feed my future family. Following directions is crucial when baking if you want your treat to come out yummy. I was able to follow all directions and successfully baked my first  of many, desserts! 

I provided a picture here, of my steps that I had taken on the first day I baked cupcakes. I had a great experience and am happy that I get to do this many more times! Actually not burning or under baking them feels great! They were perfect! My whole family was very happy that we had dessert after dinner. 

Week 7: Creative Commons & Cool Tool #3

Becoming an educator it is important that I understand my responsibilities with the use of images with copyright,public domain and creative commons licenses. This subject was never taught to me before, so I am all new to it. I always thought that everything on the internet was free for everybody to use. I have never that you could have to possibly pay someone to use their work. However, I do know a little bit about plagiarism. I guess they could fall into the same category. For teachers to use images with copyright, they must seek permission from the original creator. Public domain though, is considered public access and those are open to anyone. Creative commons licenses have rules that come with them. Teachers are allowed to use the content, but must follow the rules. This weeks topic had so many good videos to explain these questions. I learned so many important things from this one! 

                                           

Technology is continuing to grow and is now overtaking education. Learning how to do something young, will only get easier as you grow up. Conquering an activity, you can become more successful later in life while using it. If education wants to incorporate technology, we all need to know how to use it. Teachers need to have a firm grasp on topics that revolve around technology. If teachers do not know the information, how are they supposed to pass on, or teach it to their students? Teachers need to be a role model, in all aspects. Knowing when to attach a citation on another persons work to a image, text, video or audio, is important with the rise of technology. This topic was never taught to be in depth, but I am going to do whatever I can to make sure that I spread the word of importance for it. Especially, as a teacher, I need to shape my future students for society. 

Stealing is against the law. Unfortunately, that is what so many people do everyday. Technology is so accessible nowadays, and you can find anything you want. Entertainment is one of the most important thing is today's society and receiving that entertainment, to some, is a necessity. Music and movies are the two most downloaded files across the web. However, there is an ethical issue with downloading. People are doing it, for free, and illegally. The people who create the files, need to make their money, and they cannot do so, when society is not paying for their products. I will be the first to admit, I have downloaded some music from the internet, but now that I know the importance and the consequences of that action, I will never illegally do it again. Teaching students the rights and wrongs of the internet, will better prepare them for having to use it in the future. 

I was never taught about creative commons when I was in school, but I am glad that I now know about it, and I can teach my future students the importance of making sure to use citations. 

For my third Cool Tool review I chose to do the tool, "Storybird." On Storybird, you can create your own picture books, short word or longform books and poetry. You are able to create an account and save your creations in a different file called "bookshelf". You can publish your book, privately or publicly and also, you can explore and read other people's published books. You can even able to share your books on different social media accounts! They can give you a price estimation and you can buy your created story. I love arts and crafts, so I tend lean more towards interactive and fun tools. I have never heard of Storybird before, but I am glad that I did. I was trying to find a website like this for another reason awhile back. Anyway, I chose to create a short word book. Since I am an early childhood major, I figured this was the perfect choice.  Check out my book here!

I would use this in and outside of the classroom. Using it in the classroom, I can implement it in many ways. By having my students either create their own storybook, or read another ones, use it as a project after a book report, or just for fun. I can use this tool outside of the classroom to create a special book on a topic that I want my future students to learn about or maybe one day publishing my own children's books. I would use this tool to help my students learn to read, type and use the computer. 

Students are definitely able to create their own artifacts using Storybird. They can create their own masterpieces at home and who knows... maybe they will create a best seller!  It is very easy to use. Signing up is free and choosing illustrations for the book is exciting. Some challenges that teachers may face when using Storybird would be how they might need to focus more on instruction with little children. For the younger ones, it might be a little complex, but with some practice, they'll be experts in no time!

I really enjoyed creating my own little book on Storybird. I will be using this tool later on, and will share my interest in it with all educators.

Want to create your own story? https://storybird.com/accounts/signup/?