Kahoot!

Kahoot! is a newly made educational tool that has already gained millions of users around the world. Kahoot! is a game type where you are able to create questions and give four different answers. There is a time limit on each answer, so the sooner you answer, the more points you will get if you get the correct answer. Kahoot! is easy to make and can be played from any smart device that has internet. The subjects are not limited to just the basics, but can be pretty much anything you need it to be.

The exciting and challenging thing about Kahoot! is it makes you think on your feet and forces you to make quick decisions based on initial instinct. I have had the opportunity to play this game in a different class and it is definitely an exciting and positive start to the class period. It integrates technology while being easy enough for anyone to be able to make the questions.

Benefits of Making

So, in TEAC259 we've talked about making and makerspaces, but this blog really highlights the difference these spaces make in student lives. It creates a space in school where it's ok to for students to be passionate. I hope any school that is able considers incorporating makerspaces into their environment, and for schools that may not have the funds to encourage passionate exploration for students. So much student confidence and power can come from giving them the freedom to pursue their own interests. 

Read the blog here: http://www.thenerdyteacher.com/2015/11/thoughts-on-makerspaces-makingmatters.html?m=1

Using Student Photography

I love the idea of taking students' hobbies and molding curriculum around them. With the rise of Instagram and snapchat, young people take thousands of pictures every year.... Why not use that in class? This blog had a few ideas (and some recommendations for tool to use!) to bring student photography into focus of the lesson. This is a multi-modal way to get students to internalize the lessons. 

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2015/11/three-good-byod-strategies.html?m=1

Google Expeditions

I'm so excited for Google Expeditions to launch. It seems like a really great interactive way for students to have field trips to places that would have been unattainable otherwise (for instance the surface of Mars). This could help bring a breath of life into history classrooms, showing battlefields and strategy in real time. I would like to use it to give a place and context for settings in novels or other works of literature for my students wouldn't who otherwise have a grasp of. This is another great tool from google that can be used to give students perspective. 

See google's statement about the launch here: https://www.google.com/edu/expeditions/. 

Flipping the classroom to get kids to read

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/flip-ela-class-with-blogs-brian-sztabnik

This blog goes into depth about the flipped classroom concept. He says his students read more fully when they have the choice of what to read and have the opportunity to read in class. He uses the class to "coach" them, by commenting on their blogs or teaching new methods of flagging information. 

Ways to Reach Everyone In Language Arts

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/stw-expanded-learning-time-individualized-learning-hassan-mansaray


This article gives different strategies on how to reach all  the kids when teaching language arts. Towards the beginning of the article it gives an instructional model where it gives time limits on things and how long you should teach them and why. It is a useful article for teachers who are looking for something to change up how they teach their everyday class.

Disappearing Funding in Fine Arts

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/will-less-art-and-music-in-the-classroom-really-help-students-soar-academically/2012/12/28/e18a2da0-4e02-11e2-839d-d54cc6e49b63_blog.html

For a long time, it has always been the story that the arts are losing money and have to find ways to keep the programs going by charging more or doing fundraisers in order to let these activities go on. This scenario was showcased in the movie with Kevin James called, "Here Comes the Boom", where he decides to wrestle in the WWE in order to get funding for the orchestra program to keep going. While he is able to achieve his goal and keep the program well-afloat, some other schools aren't always so lucky. Many schools these days are cutting fine arts out of schools or just simply leaving them with less and less funding as the years go on. As someone who was actively involved in the fine arts, I was fortunate enough to be able to go to a school where the fine arts did well enough to have a solid program to where all who participated were give an exciting and individual experience. I think by participating in the fine arts such as choir and theater, I was able to achieve skills of performing in front of strangers as well as peers, which are skills that easily translate into the classroom.

What this articles talks about is how "schools in areas serving children from low-income families have reduced or completely cut their arts and music programs due to the fact that these programs tend to be the first casualties of budget cuts in hard-pressed school districts already struggling to meet other demands of the curriculum." When federal budget cuts are something you have to worry about when funding these types of programs, there is really not much you can do in those situations. When it comes down to it, getting the materials to teach the students actual curriculum always need to come ahead of the extra stuff. At the same time, however, it is important that these young kids, or even older kids, need to have those opportunities to participate in music and theater programs in order to develop those skills that I had the opportunity to develop throughout my theater experience. Though it seems like this will be difficult because it gets expensive, in the end its an investment that will have payoff in the future when you helped fund programs for future directors and teachers. Many language arts teachers get their beginnings from these types of programs, and I'm sure they are a reason why they are able to have a slight advantage over those who chose to not do those programs. Though it may be small, the difference still exists.