Megan's+445+Wiki+Workspace

=
After reading "An Educator's Social Media Guide," I feel intrigued to use the different tools Aaron discusses in his article. I am someone who created a twitter account to stay in the know of what my peers were referencing in person, but I do not feel very comfortable with the app. I liked that he made the point to step out of your level of comfortability and engage in posts that push you and your followers to grow. Twitter can offer a lot of resources through chat conversations and shared material, but finding the right people or accounts to follow is what sets an educator up for success on it. The author uses Nuzzel and Buffer to create a successful twitter interaction with those around him, which is something my fellow educators and I should consider using. Nuzzel houses the shared and written posts your friends are discussing, while Buffer lets you select when you want your conversation to be posted to the feed. I could see Buffer being especially useful because it will keep my thoughts from being jumbled up into a stream of closely-timed posts and offer others a chance to think and respond between them. The other app he introduced, Voxer, seems interesting, but I would have to experiment with it first. I do like that you would be able to hear teachers' passion come through on their discussion. ======

=
The other article I read, "Instant Message, Instant Girlfriend," gave a lot of insight to young adults' use of social media. Hobbs main takeaway from his experience was that the internet is not a separate world, but a quicker version of the real world. I think it will be important to make the impression on middle schoolers that their actions online are a continuation of themselves, and the internet is not a private or untraceable place. The article gave light to how young adults struggle with real live communication, and some students feel more comfortable becoming anyone they want online. When I interact with young adults, I want to convey their need to be responsible when using the internet. I feel like I have better insight to the pressures of not being socially awkward in front of peers, and I will look for signs to positively interfere when students are struggling to feel comfortable with their classmates. ======

=
A huge takeaway I had from last week's discussion and the online professional identity wiki is that teachers need to create a professional image of themselves that is easy for others to find. On different social media sites, I should be conscious of the material I post, including pictures of my everyday life. After looking at my identity that appears when I google myself, I see some changes I should make to improve my professional appearance. The posts made on Facebook and twitter should not share too much of my personal information or contain cursing. Another helpful tip would be to use the same name for all links and information I want to be at the top of the page, when someone searches my name. ======

I really how you discussed each one of the tools that Hogan brought up in his article and discussed its use as well as how you could or could not see yourself using it. I can understand not being comfortable with Twitter yet, but hopefully your use of it with Language Today will help you get more used to it and recognize some of the ways its can serve you and your students in the future. I think you're also right to start thinking about how you can be a presence in students' lives that models how to use technology and social media responsibly and respectfully. Have you thought about how you might do that in your classroom? What sorts of lesson or activities could you craft to get that point across? As far as your online identity, I think you thought of some great ways to positively change your online presence that will help you make better connections and impressions on future students, teachers, and employers.

My online professional identity presentation:

media type="youtube" key="--BZwToBk-4" width="560" height="315"

__**Seminar 5 Reading Response**__

This week's reading provided some key takeaways for me from each of the articles. The article on how to use instagram successfully in the classroom showed me there are educational practices you can apply to have an informational account on your classroom. Teachers need to make sure their accounts are on private, and the only followers they have are parents and people that are part of the school community. I did wonder how you use structure your instagram account to look like it is from a historical figure's perspective. The second article on “Enhancing English Language Arts Education With Digital Video” gave an overview of the evolvement of literacy with media forms. The article points out that digital literacy has become relevant because of the ever-changing society norms with technology. Digital literacy, even though some teachers view it as an aid or support to traditional texts, is a valuable asset in the classroom. The final article on “Approaching Technology in English Education from a Different Perspective” introduced the concept of viewing literacy as understanding how of social and intellectual literacy practices cross in the classroom. Teachers should rework their thought on classroom practices to view technology as an influence on their specific content area. Another question that came to mind was how to use the tool capzles successfully in the classroom.

In the first article, I asked about how students could create an Instagram account to look like it is from a historical figure's structure. I was mostly confused about how the student would set up their profile and select photos to make the account be from the figure's perspective. After reexamining my question, I realize the teacher would need to set parameters into place for students to know what should be included in the account. An example of this would be the teacher giving the students a rubric with specific expectations, such as they must post one image that demonstrates where in the world their figure lives from the figure's point of view. I initially thought kids could be confused on how to take on the role of their chosen person and make their Instagram account appear authentic. The article said the students could use a poster board, so this also clarifies my confusion. In the second article, I discussed that teachers are viewing digital literacy as an aid to traditional texts, instead of a valuable asset in the classroom. Digital literacy should not be view only as having the capacity to be a strategy to support traditional texts. Treating this as a support, rather than a skill that also needs to be developed, lessens the value of it. I think digital literacy can bring so much to the classroom because of the personal connections students can make to the content. Students are able to develop a critical eye to dissect images and multimodal texts that they encounter inside and outside of the classroom. Also, digital literacy would allow readers to move beyond making surface-level observations of an image or video to a deeper, more meaningful connection. One example of this would be political cartoons used in a social studies classroom. In my future classroom, I could see some of the tools mentioned to enhance instruction. I would definitely use lexipedia to have students explore visuals and aids to help them develop a concrete understanding of a key term used in a unit. Another tool I could use to help students in my classroom is storybird. Even though storybird is typically used in an ELA classroom, I do see its potential for a social studies setting. The students could this tool to develop a multimodal product that demonstrates their understanding of key events in history. I would ask them to create a short book (5-10 pages) to teach their peers about a unit topic we cover. They could write the information as a narrative from a made up character's point of view, or a figure studied during the unit.

I think that using Instagram is a really cool teaching strategy as well. In your post, you asked about how an Instagram account could look like it is from a historical figure's perspective. What did you mean by that? I think it shared in the article that students could post a relevant picture and use the commentary section to talk as the historical figure. Did you think it looked like something different? I also agree that teaching students to analyze digital video can be a valuable asset to the classroom instead of just an aid or a support. What do you think it brings to the classroom? How does it a valuable asset to the classroom and to students' learning? Why do you think it is a valuable tool to learn? For the final article, what were some tools that the article shared that could enhance your classroom? How would you use them? Please add more detail to your post by responding to all of the questions. Thanks!

__**Initial Ideas about MSL Electronic Portfolio or Teaching Toolkit** __

**Purpose**: The purpose of my electronic portfolio is to house my growth as an educator and demonstrate my preparedness for teaching middle grades. The portfolio can be used in job interviews to demonstrate past assignments in my classes, as well as units or assessments I have created. Anyone who views my portfolio may see my pedagogy too. **Audience**: The audience for my electronic portfolio is other educators in the field, including potential administrators for schools I would like to work at. The information on the portfolio could give other educators ideas for their classroom and a chance to learn more about my experience at NC State.
 * Possible Categories/Contents**: The possible content I will include is my pedagogy statement, major assignments I have completed in class on assessment and units, and an overall timeline of work that shows my development in middle grades education.

Three takeaways:
 * 1) Electronic portfolios need to be continuously updated
 * 2) Use a theme to introduce teaching philosophy to audience of website
 * 3) Critical reflection should be part of your portfolio and show your growth as an educator

Great job explaining the purpose of your portfolio. Also consider adding future parents and students as potential audience groups as well--it could be a great tool to help them get to know you and also provide them with resources that could be useful to them. I think you've brainstormed some good categories. You could also include a section for resources or courses you have taken.

DV Soundbite 1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_7n8kV_uG-ma2NHaU9nSkR0QTQ/view?usp=sharing

DV Soundbite Takeaways: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1db3Lr8MxzmqHTqiqiSCBG7SMbdlsPuzU

Status Reports: 1. November 13, 2017 I have already created my online portfolio page on Weebly for previous education courses, but I know I need to make some changes to it. As one of my first steps, I added the different category pages for what is required in the final submission. Next, I selected a sample lesson from ED 204 to showcase "digital content and instruction." Lastly, I added two examples from my ED 311 and 312 course to represent the "data and assessment" tab. 2. November 20, 2017 I have chosen a new theme template to showcase my portfolio. The theme will show that experiences from life impact and create the process of learning. I have decided to show this theme through images of places I have traveled and my experiences. My theme is based on an influential quote from John Dewey. In regards to education, Dewey (1897) says "Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself." I want to show the connection I have made to this quote and how it is representative personally of me.