Final Reflection

In this professional development session, I learned how to introduce blogging and vlogging to students, how to search for copyright free images, and how to create podcasts as auditory tools for students. The best thing about learning through this self-driven learning was that it forced me to “trial-and-error” with each of the tools. I am normally the type of student who enjoys lectures and exact directions because I become frustrated when I have to figure things out and cannot find an answer to my exact issue or question. With that said, I liked being forced to truly figure things out on my own, because I think I learned more this way. With the auditory tools specifically, it took me a while to figure out Synth. I realized what I didn’t know when I created my first podcast, and then had the opportunity to make threads. At this point, I understood the difference between a podcast and threads. And I am still learning how to use the text that pairs with my audio recording. Sometimes “playing” with a tool is helpful for exploration because you can find new things. In looking for copyright free images on Unsplash, I learned how easy it can be to find meaningful pictures, and pictures that can provoke student thinking and discussion. With blogging, I have always personally feared setting up a blog, but the platform I chose for this professional development showed me that I do not need to feel overwhelmed with setup, and that there are simple formats that can be used. I will be using all three tools that I explored with my students, by helping create a class blog, teaching about copyright and using pictures that are copyright free (especially as my secondary students prepare for college), and I will create podcasts based on content areas for my students. The hardest part to any implementation is time, as I need to take the time to implement these tools, but I think that it will be worth it for my students! I look forward to signing up for another professional development session like this because it allowed me to explore topics that interested me most.

Thing 5: Audio Tools - Synth

One of the things that I have been looking to do for the past several years as a teacher is create audio content for my students. Since I teach English language learners, and also feel that this could benefit any learner, I have been trying to find ways to create auditory notes or recaps of class for students to revisit in an online platform. What I had done in the past was create voice-over PowerPoints that students could view or review when they finished other work in our school computer lab. However, they would need to download the PowerPoint and understand how it works, and they had to be on devices that used that feature or PowerPoint, and PowerPoint itself. Students that had time to access it in the computer lab were thrilled by it, as the auditory explanation and reading of content often made understanding easier than them struggling to decode academic language above their proficiency level in an attempt to review what we had learned in class. Aside from this tool, I had no other ideas as to what existed, and even after asking many colleagues if they knew of any ways to do this more effectively, no one seemed to know. I am thrilled that the auditory tools are a component of this professional development because I was thrilled to explore a new platform. I chose to use Synth. I noticed that it did not work with Internet Explorer, but that it did work on Google Chrome. I like that it can be used on the website or on mobile devices and gives you that choice when you first enter the website. I was able to sign in with Google, which is perfect for students as well, as each student in our district has a Gmail account that can be used in this way. It asked for my name and year of birth when signing in. In exploring the website, I appreciate that it provides multiple ways for my content to be shared. I can share podcasts with a weblink, code, or an embedded code. I chose this website to try because I love that the words get put up on the screen, to help my students pair the auditory with the written word. I currently cannot figure out how to broadcast the text with my auditory, but I will keep trying. In setting up my first ever podcast, I now feel that I understand what a podcast is, verses a thread. I started my podcast with an introduction of myself, and then realized that I could create threads within the podcast, that would serve like a table of contents with small pieces of specific information for students to reference. I really like this setup because then students can target what they need to listen to. It would be difficult for a student to listen to an entire review lecture about ancient civilizations from global history class, but they could easily choose to listen to a small auditory recording about the use of irrigation in river valley civilizations and how it was used for farming. I love how this is set up with threads, and am excited to get started by making podcasts for my students to reference, especially for regents review!

 

Enter podcast code KNMJFAU at https://gosynth.com/s/c/sxnxeo

 

 

Thing 3: Photo Fun (Option 1)

One of the most difficult things for me as a teacher, and also as a graduate student, has been finding pictures that I am actually allowed to use without fear of breaking a copyright law. For this tool, I wanted to explore one of the websites with copyright free images so that I could provide it as a tool to students, and for myself. In the article by Kathleen Morris, she makes it very clear that using Google Images is not actually a good option for finding pictures, as most of them are copyright protected. However, it is usually the quickest way to find pictures, and it is often the most familiar to students. I admit to having a hard time trying to not use Google Images because it is so convenient, and also very exact. When I search a topic for pictures, it usually gives literal images before any abstract images pertaining to my search. In the past when I have tried to use the Advance Search option in Google to use copyright free images, I grew very frustrated because the images did not always or literally match my search. And when working with English language learners, I often need a literal example of an English word. If students do not know what a lion is, then I want to help them understand by showing a picture of just a lion, rather than a picture of multiple African animals that was taken by a professional photographer. Aside from my grieving the use of Google Images, I was not aware that “Even if you cite the source of the image, you are not allowed to use images that are protected by copyright” (Kathleen Morris, 2018). I truly thought that if you cite whatever you use, that it is perfectly fine to take. Additionally, I did not know that everything published online is protected by copyright by default, which Kathleen Morris also states in her definition of copyright when compared to creative commons. I am actually working on my doctorate right now, and was fully unaware of either of these facts, and I feel ashamed. I also now feel a duty to teach my students about this, which is why I wanted to explore a website that allowed me to search copyright free images. I chose to use Unsplash. I really liked how easy it was to use, as the search bars appeared like Google, with the ability to use a small search bar at the top of the screen, or a larger search bar in the middle of the screen. I loved that I could freely search, without needing to login or create any sort of account, and although other websites indicated that I needed to be 13+ years old, I was never asked on the site. Downloading was also as simple as the click of a bottom when hovering the cursor over the desired picture. I decided to search with the term “learning” and found some more typical or literal pictures of students on laptop computers, or piles of books which would indicate learning, but I purposely picked a more abstract picture for this assignment of a hand holding a compass in front of a forest. I think that learning can be an abstract concept, and I realized that I could use some of these more abstract pictures, even with my English language learners to promote discussion. Maybe not always showing them an exact literal image (not that there truly would be one for “learning” since that is different for every individual) of a concept could produce more discussion and dialogue. This could help students improve their language, and their understanding because it would occur in a more exploratory way than in me telling them something and essentially asking them to memorize it. One thing that I am now implementing in my classroom is the use of free writing time to begin class, and I am using pictures to do that. I show students a picture that is slightly abstract and ask them to write about it. They can write about what they see, what they think, what they feel, what they understand, or what they want to know. I started this in my lessons just a few weeks ago, and was using Google Images, but now I will use Unsplash, as I am quite impressed with the pictures that are available. I also feel much better about using these pictures since I am sure that I am not breaking any laws, and I am being ethical about retrieving them.

Thing 2: Student Blogging and Writing

Student blogging has always been a fear of mine, due to the amount of thought and time needed to adequately prepare students for publishing work publicly. I really appreciated the first three articles posted to this assignment by Paul Wagner because I appreciated his positivity about blogging. In my personal experience when I have had students type work on their Chromebooks or Ipads, I have found that the grammar and punctuation has been that of “text messaging” with acronyms and abbreviations that would be embarrassing if a possible college or employer ever saw their published work. Paul Wagner noted that by helping students target their thinking with an audience and helping them understand that all of the work that they publish can be viewed by the public, meaning anyone, can be helpful in curbing this problem. I also appreciated how he reminded me to incorporate time for free writing, which can make the task of writing less burdensome since they do it so much. Something else that was brand new to me, even in these first three articles by Paul Wagner, was the idea that student accounts can be controlled by a master teacher account. I did not even know that this was possible. I thought that each student would need to separately create a blog and that in that way I would not be able to help protect them if necessary. Right now, Weebly seems more appealing to my working with secondary students than KidBlog which was also proposed, due to more options for personalization, and the title itself which could be off-putting to my older students who do not consider themselves “kids.”

 

Something else that I had not considered was the inclusion of parents in this process. In the article by Chrissy Hellyer, she made it clear that it is important to have a specific purpose for the blogging and to share that purpose with others to gain support from the school community and parents. As someone who is pregnant with their first child, I am personally very nervous about my child online, even though we are years away from their online interaction. I would most likely be a concerned parent if I learned that my child was blogging in school. This makes it very important to use a blogging tool that allows the teacher to monitor what is being posted. That would help me as a parent to feel safer about my child interacting online, and I would want that safety net for my own students as well. The idea of allowing students to personalize their blogs is also important. When I was teaching kindergarten, I remember veteran teachers telling me to allow students to simply play with tools first, such as counting bears, to give them time to “get that out of their system” so that they could then use them as educational tools, productively, for counting, without as much of the temptation to play. I feel that this same idea can apply to personalizing blogs. By allowing students some free time to personalize their blog, as well as do some free writing, then they should hopefully be more focused on the writing tasks themselves when assigned.

 

As a teacher who would be new to blogging, I really liked the article by Kathleen Morris titled, “50 Blog Topics and Prompts for Teachers.” As much as the prompts are intended for teachers, I think that it could be really beneficial to work through most of these prompts with my students. I have been told in the past that I do not need to be an expert in something to use it with my students, because often they will be able to teach me! I agree with this sentiment and think that these proposed prompts would be a fun way for all of us to get started. For example, the first prompt is “Share Your Blogging Story” which provides questions that ask the writer to share about their blogging experience, as a reader and a writer. It also asks about an individual’s goals of blogging, or general feelings of fear. Finally, it asks that if an individual is more experienced with blogging, that they can give advice for newbies. This would be a great prompt for my entire class to address, myself included, to learn about each other. Many of the articles about blogging mentioned that it can give insight into students that may not speak or participate very much verbally in class, and I think using a prompt like this makes all students vulnerable and makes me vulnerable as I admit to very little blogging experience. It will support building classroom community because the entire class will quickly learn who might need help in the process, and who we can ask for help.

 

Video blogging is also something that can be very beneficial as an option for my students, all of whom are English language learners. I took time to explore Flipgrid and love the idea of allowing students to have multiple tries to get their video the way that they want it. For example, you can start a video post and then if you make a mistake or don’t like it, you can stop, delete, and record it again. Speaking is one of the first language modalities to develop in second language learners, so allowing them to speak and do video blogs will not only allow them access to participate at their language ability, but it will also allow them to hear themselves when they play back the video which can help them develop clarity in their speaking, as well as more deliberate word choice. This will also give a starting point for students, to then transition into more writing which is a more difficult language skill.

 

Overall, my comfort level with blogging and vlogging has greatly increased, and I am excited about it! The resources provided helped me think deeper about it as a tool for writing that can truly be more than another space to write, such as Word. It gives students more freedom and options, as well as an authentic audience to not merely write, but truly publish their thinking, which I find to be very powerful.

Thing 1: Getting Started

Good Morning!

My name is Kendra Steele and I am an ESOL teacher in the Rochester City School  District, specifically at East High School. I am taking part in this program because I really want to learn how to effectively use new technological tools in my classroom. It is often the domain of our APPR teacher evaluation rubric that I score lowest on because I am not super familiar with all of the tools available, and therefore do not know how to incorporate them into my teaching. I am excited to learn more tools so that I can enhance my teaching, meaning that I want to better engage the students and make them excited about the learning!