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.
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
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.
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/.
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.
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.
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.
This article talks about the importance of working in children's theater and gives different interviews from different people that talk about how much they enjoy it and how they are glad they continued to work in this field. One man says that there is "little importance is attached to children's theater". I agree with this statement. We even see that more and more schools show less and less attention to the fine arts programs due to things like athletics receiving most of the funding. Now i'm not going to harp on athletics in this post, because i did sports in high school, but I can see why childrens theater is seen as so unimportant. If high school or college aged kids don't get great support in it, why should the children get it? Unfortunately, that is how some of us think today.
This is actually the first page of a book, and it talks a little about how we think about language arts. Something i liked that it said was, "Focusing more on the component parts of language arts, rather than on language and language learning,". I think it easy sometimes to focus so much on the speaking part that we forget about the "component parts" of language arts. There are always more than one thing that needs to make up a subject as we see here with the two parts.
Public speaking is so easily overlooked in our profession. Many people in our age group who plan to become future educators sometimes fall by the wayside sometimes simply because they lack the skills to comfortably speak in front of other people. Public speaking is a skill that can be obtained and even inherited. All through school, we all have taken many different classes where speaking in front of people was mandatory. It was always so easy to pick out those who would struggle and those who would flourish when speaking in front of people. It is not hard to spot.
In language arts, public speaking is pretty much required. If you can't speak comfortably in front of people, it will be difficult to be able to go on a stage and recite lines to 500 pairs of eyes glued to your every word. It will be hard to stand in front of a small audience with four other people, reciting a comedic sketch about drivers ed in a speech. A lot of how you learn how to public speak is by the people who teach you. Good teachers, coaches, or even parents who are willing to be straight up with you and tell you how you can get better instead of sugar coating your efforts and telling you "you're great" when you aren't. Though feelings may be hurt initially, in the end they are doing nothing but making you better at what you do as well as making you a better public speaker.
In this article, it gives 7 ways to effectively public speak. What I liked about this article was that it was straight up, like what I was talking about in the previous paragraph. The first rule we see says "Perception: Stop trying to be a "great" public speaker". As students and even as teachers, it's easy to try to hold yourself to such a high level of perfection that we see ourselves giving a speech about photosynthesis like MLKJ would himself, and that simply isn't always going to happen. It's possible, but its not something to be upset about if you don't accomplish that task in front of a class of 15 students.
I loved Mansaray's "Nine Strategies for Reaching All Learners for English Language Arts." The strategies are found at the bottom of the page. They each contain tips for facilitating learning that meets students where they are.
One section was "Make Meaning." This does not mean creating a fake meaning where there is none, but discovering relevance for students.
His tips reinforced the purpose of my Guided Learning Experience, which is to annotate and discuss "I, Too" by Langston Hughes. Mansaray's post highlighted annotating text as a great way to make meaning for students. I also like annotations because they allow a student to think through the poem or text on his or her own before being expected to contribute to class discussion, which can be intimidating for some students.
This article touches on the various aspects that English educators do in preparing their students for college. English should expose the students to various forms of literary works, writing practice and speaking skills. As an aspiring English teacher it is exciting to think how I can impact my students through the course works that I have implemented.
Many teachers in early education focus on phoenix of speech. There is an overview of basic teaching instruction. As much of speech is first heard and adapted at home the schools will then refine the skills and if extra help is necessary the teachers can set up that help.
This article reiterates the basis that all teachers should have when they are teaching speech.
1. Teacher must know his students
2. Teacher must know his subject
3. Teacher must know how to teach
With these three core ideas it is essential as an educator to be able to take these ideas and expand on them. Making speech an individualized experience is a crucial way that educators can impact their students.
Having Journalism in schools is one of the ways that educators can provide key skills for writing to their students. With the availability of Journalism in schools student's are given work that has a purpose. Many times in the standard english classes students do not submit their best work because only the teacher will see it. With the idea of having a school newspaper there is more motivation to have a solid piece of writing in the columns because of the audience.
Many schools have a variety of Journalism courses that students can take. The intro classes include the ways that journalism is a possible profession and how the students can use their skills in writing as a career. Other courses focus on the aspects of media and journalism, by keeping the students aware of the world around them, they are able to keep others informed through their own writing. There are also courses that build their writing skills by constantly pushing the students to do their best while preparing them for their futures in writing.
With the current school trends it is my hope to see journalism in all secondary schools. These courses give the students a purpose. It offers outlets for them in ways that other sources cannot. While the students are growing in their writing they are also growing in their communication with one another and the world around them.
As high school theater educators are there to facilitate the theater as their classroom, one job is also to ensure the development of skills for the students. One way to achieve this goal is to constantly push the students into improving their skills. In theater there are countless ways in which aspiring actors can grow and push themselves. The standard questions always concern blocking, volume, diction and staging. While in the moment of acting it is hard to tell whether or not you are doing well.
In this article there is focus on the ability to show the students how they are acting on video tape. By doing this it exposes the students into how the audience views their performance. There is a saying that we are all our biggest critique. That being said we are the ones that will push ourselves to the best that we can be. "If a learner can record his or her behavioral performances electronically, by audio or video, he or she can devote cognitive resources to the learning process then to the self-monitoring process, which will improve the quality of both processes" (Zimmerman 1995).
As an aspiring English and Language Arts Teacher I am excited to implement various teaching strategies for my students. In my own experience with theater watching yourself on video really puts into perspective how the audience views you. You can realize things that you didn't even know that you were doing.
While I have more to learn I am excited to offer my future students my own input as well as new information that I am gaining in my pursuit of higher education.
I
am a junior Journalism and Secondary Education English/Language Arts
double major at UNL. I love the written word, and have a passion for
journalism, fact-checking, and proofreading. I also love literature,
especially poetry. My favorite class I've taken at UNL was British
Literature since 1800. I spent Summer 2015 studying abroad in Stirling,
Scotland, where I took a journalism class about the British monarchy and
an education class about how the Scottish system works. I want to learn
how to best serve my future society by fostering critical language
skills in myself and my future students.
Eric Zimmerman
I
am a Sophomore this year at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. I am
currently a Secondary Education English and Language Arts major, with
hopes of becoming a high school English teacher. I love to help people
and I am always willing for adventures. I am very involved at the Newman
Center on Campus. I have had the privilege of working with the homeless
on the streets of Denver through a program called Christ in the City. I
first went to Christ in the City in the summer of 2014 and have since
been back three times for various mission trips and helping out. This
experience has truly impacted my view as to why I want to become a
teacher and how I can impact lives. My hopes for post graduation are to
teach abroad in areas that are less privileged than we are use to here
in the U.S.
"I have found the paradox that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."
- Mother Teresa
Lincoln Chamberlin
I
am currently an academic transfer student from Southeast Community
College where I went through my general courses, so this is my first
year at UNL. I am currently a language arts major, with hopes of
becoming a high school English teacher. My favorite course that I have
taken so fare in college was a fiction writing class where I went on to
learn a lot from the teacher and other students and ended up having
tremendous success in that class. I love to write and look at other
peers' writings because there are times when there are not always right
or wrong answers, but just suggestions in order to improve on the story
or essay they have already written.
Jon Regnier
I am a freshman Pre-Secondary Ed major at UNL. I am an avid user of technology and always have some sort of new device on me. I am focusing on Language Arts and minoring in Film Studies. I enjoy movies and entertainment media and I feel that I have learned as much from them as I have in the classroom. My goal is to be able to provide knowledge to students in a way that is both entertaining and beneficial.
Crash
Course is one of the best programs online for independent learners, but
also a great resource for teachers who want to engage students on their
terms. Using YouTube for instruction is great in lots of cases, but the
extra research and production value that goes into the Crash Course
series takes it to the next level. Hosts who are passionate about the
subject matter take high school students from apathy to empathy about
literature.
In the first video of the Literature
series, author of "The Fault In Our Stars" John Green, discusses why we
read and provides insight on how to do "close reading" of texts. He
doesn't want students to regurgitate information about texts to get a
good grade. He outlines four things reading will do:
Have a fuller understanding of lives other than your own
Will help you be more empathetic
Help you avoid some pitfalls of life
Reading critically and attentively can give you the linguistic tools to share your own story with more precision
By bringing these purposes closer-to-home for students in a
humorous, yet informative way, Green offers some sort of greater
incentive for students to read and care about literature. This can lead
to greater understanding and an opportunity for students to internalize
what they do in an English classroom.
Currently, Green
has posted 24 Literature videos, and so far the channel has posted 412
educational videos on topics ranging from Economics to History to
Astronomy. His brother, Hank Green, an ecologist by training, created
this channel along with SciShow to promote lifelong education. They have
also launched Crash Course Kids, a channel geared toward elementary
students, which incorporates National Standards. These channels are
funded partially through Patreon, a website where viewers can contribute
to the programs they love in order to keep them running and growing.
They are also working towards creating other classroom curriculum for
teachers who love Crash Course.
I personally use Crash
Course as a learning tool, and intend to use it in my future classroom
to gain attention or provide another thoughtful perspective on some
literature. Take a look at their channel and learn more about any of
their 14 topics!
For our class we were given the assignment of creating a prototype of some technological tool that could help teachers or students in our subject are of Language Arts. We decided to mock-up an app for tablets to use in theater or drama classes. We wanted to create a way for directors and advisers to have an all-in-one place to make notes, access scripts, and design sets instead of having a bunch of loose notes and pieces of paper that easily get lost.
Here's our ideas of what the app would contain:
Our app would simplify theater direction by keeping everything in one place.
Sets on the stage- Keeping track of where everything goes on stage on paper is tough. However with our app, you have everything in front of you, and are able to easily move things around to where it would better fit.
Director's Notes- a feature that links the director's notes to the student’s devices. Ability to make notes portable and for everyone.
Various Play scripts are available for download through the app making scripts portable and easily accessible. Directors can make adjustments in-line so nobody has an out-of-date script.
Students can also select their part to see it highlighted.
There will also be a video function where directors can type on the screen and create pop-ups for suggestions at certain moments of the production. This is better than YouTube because it's private and can be updated through each rehearsal.
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.
