Welcome to My New English Teacher Blog!

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We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.”

– David Warlick

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Professional/Personal Learning Networks

Hello! Today I’ll be discussing professional/personal learning networks (PLNs). Professional/personal learning networking can be described as connecting with people for career, business, or personal reasons. Usually people who are interested in networking with certain people see them as a potential asset to their professional or personal growth. As I was thinking about people who have had a pretty big impact on my professional/personal growth, I created a map using Coggle. I will talk about my use of Coggle later on in this post. I first want to talk about what I noticed when creating my PLN.

As I was creating my PLN, I noticed that it was fairly thin in relation to how many people I plan to meet and network with in the future. I know that I need to begin by joining for social media groups. I plan to start taking a look at groups related to teaching ELA on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram since those are the platforms that I find myself using the most. I feel now (rather than later) is the best time to meet more professionals since I am a first-year teacher. I’m sure I could learn a lot from educators that have just 2+ years of experience in the classroom. I plan on involving myself in organizations such as The National Councils of Teachers (NCTE), Georgia Council of Teachers of English (GCTE), and National Education Association (NEA). Joining these organizations will definitely promote positive development of my professional and personal goals. By networking more, I believe there will be “improvements in my classroom instruction, broader understanding of the importance and implications of literacy instruction, and a valuable network of colleagues” (Rodesiler, et al, 2014) Okay enough of my rambling. Back to Coggle!

Coggle: Coggle is a digital mind-mapping tool that helps with comprehending complex things. Although I did not use it for the purpose of breaking down complex ideas, it did help me construct a map of my professional/personal Learning Network which is shown below:

Affordances:

• You can collaborate with others, which makes it classroom friendly.
• You can add images and as many branches as you want.
• The different color schemes helps when differentiating between topics, ideas, or people.

Constraints:

• The free version is very restricted. You can’t disconnect certain branches and try to connect it to another if you made a mistake, but you can with an upgraded version.
• It is pretty difficult to use in the beginning. I found myself spending about 5 minutes trying to delete a branch.

Coggle in the Classroom:

I definitely plan on providing Coggle as a resource to students to help with will brainstorming ideas. I think it could really help them break down their writing topics into “smaller” topics and planning out what they want to write about each topic. I think other teachers might find this beneficial as well. Coggle could also help with breaking down complex information in the classroom. I also plan on using Coggle as a tool for students to have a conversation with me and with each other about ideas or topics that they are struggling with.

Suggestions for Educators:

• I definitely think Coggle is difficult to use in the beginning, so make time with students to mess around with it.
• Introduce Coggle early on because writing requires brainstorming very often. This could be a very useful tool early in the class for students!

Cautions for Educators

• If using Coggle as a means for students to communicate their lack of understanding with both you and their peers, make sure you set the expectation of language use.

Questions for Educators:

• Was using Coggle as a brainstorming tool beneficial to students?
• How else do you think Coggle could be used in the classroom?

Answer these questions in the comments below, and don’t be afraid to share anything else! Thanks for tuning in.

Resource:

Rodesiler, L., Rami, M., Anderson, G., Minnich, C., Kelley, B., & Andersen, S. (2014). Transforming Professional Lives through Online Participation. The English Journal,103(6), 52-58. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24484381

Virtual Reality

Hello! Today I will be doing an analysis on my use of Google Cardboard. Google Cardboard is a virtual reality platform that Google created. It’s literally made with cardboard and looks like this:

With Google Cardboard, users can try virtual reality straight from their smartphones with the numerous amount of apps, games, and images that are on the market.

Affordances:

• Low cost. I spent about $15 to get the Google Cardboard, which is pretty cheap to see virtual images.
• Simple to use. You download the Google Cardboard app and set your smartphone in the Google Cardboard.

Constraints:

• There were not many really cool apps to experience virtual reality with. The ones I looked at were pretty basic.
• The apps do not have a lot of content on them.
• Your phone is temporarily inaccessible.

As I was using Google Cardboard, I took some screenshots of images that I saw:

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Virtual Reality in the Classroom:

It seems like the use of virtual reality in the classroom depends on the” discipline/subject being studied; fit with the sector (school, further education or higher education); match with the curriculum; and resources available including time, budgets and opportunities for continuing professional development of educators” (Minocha et. al, 2017). From the reading, it seemed like virtual reality is geared mostly towards geography and science classes, but I think they can work in ELA classes as well because I’m sure certain apps, games, or images can stir up discussions. If I were to use virtual reality in my classroom, I believe I would have students discuss their experiences with virtual reality and talk about why the prefer to see 3-D images instead of 2-D. I could even have students write a narrative using some of the images or games. I feel like other educators might have a more successful amount of students write narratives after experiencing virtual reality.

Suggestions for Educators:

• I would suggest having students look at one image at a time so that students do not get carried away and have side conversations about images that are not being focused on.
• I would suggest timing how long students should look at certain images.

Cautions for Educators:

• Be cautious of images that students might see. Because you can’t see exactly what students are seeing, make sure you tell students not to view any violent apps, games, or images.
• Because students will most likely be excited to see the images, be cautious of the class possibly getting out of control.

Questions for Educators:

• How do you plan on using Google Cardboard in the classroom? What were some obstacles that you faced?
• Did students engage in the lesson more? Answer these questions below!!

Resource:

Minocha, Shailey; Tudor, Ana-Despina and Tilling, Steve (2017). Affordances of Mobile Virtual Reality and their Role in Learning and Teaching. In: The 31st British Human Computer Interaction Conference, 3-6 Jul 2017, University of Sunderland’s St. Peter’s Campus, UK.

Parallel Composing

Welcome back! Today I will be discussing parallel composing in the ELA classroom. Before I dive in to the digital tool I will be discussing along with how it relates to parallel composing, let me first explain what parallel composing is!

From what I gathered after reading Composing with Old and New Media: Toward a Parallel Pedagogy by Kevin Leander, parallel composing is creating both print texts and visual texts side by side, or creating visuals from the reading of the print texts. I used Storyboard to create a visual that corresponds with a difficult text I have taught in the classroom called Antigone by Sophocles.

Storyboard: Storyboard is a digital graphic organizing platform that allows users to display sequenced images or illustrations. Storyboard “… is to visual story what outlining is to a print story — a parallel sequences of images, voiceover text, notes on the soundtracks, transition and effects, somewhat akin to a comic strip” (Leander, 2009).

Affordances:

• Storyboard has some pretty nice features to help you create the animated image that you want. You can choose certain backgrounds that correlate to a specific place, and you can edit your characters to have certain features and emotions.
• Storyboard is very simple to use. Students and educators will be able to easily catch on to how to use it.
• Finished products can be turned into animated slideshows or PowerPoint presentations.
• Storyboard provides educators will lesson plans where they can incorporate the technology into the classroom.

Constraints:

• Unless you pay to upgrade your account, you can only use 6 panels to create your story. Depending on what you want to create, that can be very little. Many of the better features will need an upgraded account in order to access them.
• Character choices are not very diverse. It would be better if Storyboard allowed users to create their own characters.
• The watermark stays on unless you purchase a plan.

Below, I created a storyboard that summarizes the prologue of Antigone:

Storyboard in the Classroom: Because I would not expect students to purchase an upgraded account of Storyboard, I would only use Storyboard for very short projects. I would most likely use Storyboard as I did with this piece — to create summaries of difficult texts. I would have students summarize in 6 boxes the chapter or act of a difficult text. This will help me see what they believed was important to illustrate, as well as create discourse in small groups. During the small groups, students could discuss why they illustrated certain parts and not others. This idea might benefit other educators as well. This activity aligns with the standards:

ELAGSE9-10RI7: Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.

ELAGSE9-10W6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

Suggestions for Educators:

• As mentioned, it would be best to use Storyboard for assignments that cover a short portion of a text. It might be difficult for students to use Storyboard for an activity or project that covers an entire text.
• Show students a model and work through an example with them before having them do their own.

Cautions for Educators:

• Be cautious of the lack of diversity in characters that Storyboard allows. Make sure students can create their image with the characters that they have.
• Storyboard does not automatically save work. Make sure students can finish their work in one sitting.

Questions for Educators:

• How do you plan to use Storyboard in the classroom?
• What type of projects have students created using Storyboard?
• Were there any other constraints you noticed that I did not mention? Please answer these questions in the comments below!

Resource:

Leander, K. (2009). Composing with Old and New Media: Toward a Parallel Pedagogy. In Digital Literacies Social Learning and Classroom Practices (pp. 147-163). SAGE.

Creating a Multimodal Argument

Welcome back to my blog! This post will discuss a possible way to help students get a better grasp on constructing claims, providing evidence, and creating warrants. The implementation of visual arguments can help. Visual arguments use pictures to create ideas and to persuade the intended audience to agree with the idea. I’ve had challenges in the past with getting students to understand and accurately use the CEI (claim, evidence, interpretation) writing strategy. Because the CEI writing strategy is very similar to the Toulmin model of argumentation, using visual arguments when teaching students the CEI writing strategy will probably help them understand the strategy better. I created a visual argument using Befunky.

Befunky: Befunky is a photo editing platform that allows users to apply effects on photos and create collages. I wanted to edit the photo I chose in a way that would deepen the argument that the image wanted to convey. Creating a visual argument on a poster is what came to mind. I was also able to add the claim, evidence, and warrant onto the poster as well.

Affordances:

• There are many templates that can be used for events such as invitations, menus, brochures, thank you cards, etc… The variety can be very helpful when wanting to create certain projects.
• There is a “popular tags” tab that generates popular images associated with the tag. This can help finding certain images easier.

Constraints:

• I noticed that I couldn’t make the background of my poster the image that I wanted. It seems like the background can only be a color and not an image. You may have to upgrade your account.
• There are not many creative features with the basic (but free) use of Befunky.

Below is the poster I created using Befunky:

By examining the image, you can see that the boy is upset. He looks to be crying very loudly. Above his head are notification symbols associated with social media platforms. The notifications are at 0, which seems to be the reason why the boy is upset. With this in mind, I constructed the claim, evidence, and warrant above. This argument makes sense to people who desire to be famous or popular on social media. A person who is not on social media may not agree with this argument. They may claim that a lack of virtual attention can make a person upset, but is not directly linked to one’s happiness.

Befunky in the Classroom: Using Befunky to display visual arguments could help me during the time I introduce the CEI writing strategy in the classroom because many students are visual learners. They tend to understand lessons better when visual aids are inserted. Because “images convey meaning just as words do” (Blake, 2017), students may be better able to construct arguments since they tend to understand activities better when visual aids are inserted. They could also be used to simply introduce argumentative essays. Educators may see this as an effective tool in their own classrooms by using them when discussing arguments.

Befunky was able to help me make certain choices so that I could “generate a response in viewers” (Rish, 2012). I wanted viewers to see the sadness the boy had by changing the background color to blue and using the blend mode called “vivid light” to sharpen the photo.

Suggestions for Educators:

• It will be helpful to show students original images if you end up altering them so that they see and discuss the affect that your changes had on what you wanted to convey. Here is the original image that I altered:

• I would suggest giving students a topic for which the should create their visual argument on when using Befunky for the first time. This could bring a diverse number of visuals and create healthy discourse among students.

Cautions for Educators:

• Be aware of the lack of features for the free use of Befunky. I wouldn’t use it for projects that are supposed to be very creative.
• Be cautious of students that might think inappropriate images are ok. Make sure you let students know what is unacceptable.

Questions:

• How have visual arguments been effective in your classroom?
• If you have not used visual arguments in the classroom yet, what texts or units do you plan to pair them with?

Comment the answers to these questions below. See you at the next post!

Resources:

Blake, C. (2017, November 08). How to Get Your Students to Understand Visual Rhetoric. Retrieved from https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/visual-rhetoric/

Rish, R. (2012, November 18). Double Exposure. Retrieved from https://ryanrish.com/2012/10/30/double-exposure/

Remixing With Memes

Hello!! Welcome back to my blog! I hope you’re having a great summer!

Today I will be discussing ways in which memes can be created for both fun and educational purposes in the classroom. I began brainstorming about topics that students tend to dislike; I came to the conclusion that vocabulary is very close to the top of the what-I-hate-about-school list for students. This idea of “remixing” content made me think of how I could “remix” vocabulary in a way that is more enjoyable. I came to the conclusion that memes might have turn the negative feelings students have about vocabulary into something positive. I used Meme Generator to create an original meme using Soulja Boy’s Famous image that I will display later in this post.

Meme Generator: Meme Generator can be used to search for memes, create memes, and add captions to images. Since Meme Generator allows users to caption images, I thought it would be perfect to incorporate vocabulary words with popular images. Students will be able to be very creative when constructing their memes. Students will have a lot of control over their products because of the freedom Meme Generator allows. When using Meme Generator, I noticed some affordances and constraints.

Affordances:

• Searching for images is very simple.
• You can see how other people remix images.
• You can use your own images to create memes, therefore making the created memes more personal and realistic.

Constraints:

• If you do not know the name of an exact image, it can be difficult to find.
• You can’t save the memes you create on your account. You have to download them on your computer.
• Memes from other users with identical names will pop up.

The meme I created below uses the (hypothetical) vocabulary word “amicable:”

To understand the remixed captions on this meme, you must first know where the image comes from and the intended message of the original image. The image comes from an interview that The Breakfast Club did on Soulja Boy. A video clip of the interview (along with the part where the image came from) is shown below:

Did you notice that I used Animoto again?? In the video, one of the men says that Drake is “the biggest rapper in the world.” Soulja Boy gets up and makes a face that disapproves what one of the men says. His voice pitch changes to vocalize his surprise and objection to the claim. The meme I created is supposed to have a similar affect. Although I remixed it for educational purposes, the intention of the meme is still the same as the original meaning. In my meme, I am surprised and objecting that a person would believe “amicable” means hostile. The extra question marks and “o’s“ are supposed to reflect the vocal inflection. I decided to use this meme because it is a well-known image and students will most likely understand the intentions behind it. I took the demographics of my school into consideration when coming up with a meme.

Meme Generator in the Classroom: In the classroom, I would use Meme Generator to assist with learning new vocabulary words in a more enjoyable way. Students will be able to create “remixes that offered comprehensive views” and interpretations of the vocabulary words (Dail & Thompson, 2016). Educators will be able to assess student understanding of the vocabulary words as well as see some creative memes! Sounds like a win-win situation. I think educators could use Meme Generator in the classroom in this way as well.

Suggestions:

• Educators, make sure you provide students with an example of a remixed meme. Assignments like these can be confusing, so make sure students are aware that their audience should be able to define the vocabulary word by seeing the meme.
• Urge students to create their own personal memes using pictures of their friends and family. This could add more excitement!

Cautions:

• Educators, some of the images on Meme Generator can have very inappropriate captions. Make sure students are told what is and isn’t appropriate.
• Students might get comfortable using the same meme(s). Make sure they explore different options!

Questions:

• How have you used memes in the classroom other than for vocabulary? I’m interested in what other activities I could use memes for.
• How did students react when you used memes in the classroom? What was the age group? I would love some answers to these questions in the comments section!

Resource:

Dail, J. S., & Thompson, N. (2016). Talking Back: Remix as a Tool to Help Students Exercise Authority when Making Meaning. The Alan Review.

Analyzing Text and Remediation

Oh you’re back!

You must reaaaalllly love what I’ve had to say about digital tools in the classroom so far. I’m glad! Before I begin to discuss the very cool digital tool I discovered and used, I’m going to provide a little bit of detail about what my product shows. My goal was to show how textual analysis and remediation worked together. In my opinion, they work best together by presenting how two of the same ideas are shown to the audience differently. In other words, I contrasted two different mediums of the same story. At the end of my product, I discussed the effect of contrasting the different mediums. Overall, my product shows that “the use of visual elements such as font, colour, spacing, and accompanying images can” show the adaptions and effects of different interpretations (John & Hafner, 2012). I created my product by using Piktochart.

Piktochart: Piktochart is an infographic application that allows users to create infographics and visuals without much experience as a graphic designer. The application is web-based and is extremely easy to use. I thoroughly enjoyed the very nice features that came with Piktochart such as the themes and creative visuals. When brainstorming the type of digital tool I wanted to use, I immediately thought of wanting something that allowed me to contrast two ideas without using a venn diagram. Venn diagrams are old news. Piktochart allowed me to search for templates that gave me the the opportunity to contrast two different mediums of the short story “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes. The templates that Piktochart provided were very refreshing and new, which is why I believe Piktochart was the best digital tool to use for showing how textual analysis and remediation work together. I was able to notice some affordances and constraints while using Piktochart.

Affordances:

• I loved the range of templates that I could have used. You can make very nice flyers, presentations, posters, infographics, and reports.
• The templates are so diverse, that they probably have a template that perfectly matches your creative vision.
• There is an “Inspire Me” tab that shows you what other people have created if you need some inspiration for your project.
• You can embed videos!!!

Constraints:

• I noticed that there was a way to create partnered projects, but sadly you would have to become a part of the “PRO Team” and pay for those services. It would have been very nice to be able to create team projects (especially in the classroom), but everything can’t be free I guess.

• Although you can embed videos, if you go into fullscreen, the presentation will start over once you exit out of fullscreen. The presentation won’t be as smooth as you’d like.

Piktochart in the Classroom: In the classroom, Piktochart would be great for individual projects that asks students to create posters or flyers. I would have students use Piktochart as an option to do so. If students have to create a creative piece to compare and contrast two similar ideas, I think Piktochart would be a great tool to use. I could definitely use my product as an example to show students. Educators could use Piktochart to have students create posters or flyers as well.

Suggestions:

• Educators, when having students use Piktochart, point out that they can click on “Inspire Me” to gain ideas. I know the most difficult part for students when creating projects is starting the project.
• Show students a model of your own work so that they know your expectations if they plan on using Piktochart.

Cautions:

• Make sure you let students know that Piktochart is not a very good tool to use for group projects unless they plan on paying to use the upgrade that allows them to do so.
• Make sure students continuously save their work. If there are technical issues that lead to Piktochart shutting down, their work may not be saved.

Questions:

• When you used Piktochart, did you use it for a project besides creating flyers or posters? How did it go?
• Are there any cool features that you noticed that I did not mention?
• What did you like and dislike when using this digital tool?

Let me know the answers to these questions in the comments below!! Until next time.

Resources: Jones, R. H., & Hafner, C. A. (2012). Understanding Digital Literacies: A Practical Introduction. Taylor and Francis.

Considering Digital Tools

And welcome back to my blog! Previously, I talked about what I wanted to accomplish by using digital technology in the classroom. Today I will be discussing my analysis on a very popular digital platform — Instagram. When reading Rodney H. Jones’ and Christoph A. Hafner’s Understanding Digital Literacies, I was reintroduced to the terms “affordances and constraints.” I was already aware of what the two words meant, but I was able to see what they meant when applied to the digital media world. If you do not know what the two words mean, you can look at the presentation I did pertaining to Instagram. During my presentation, I discussed the affordances and constraints that I noticed when analyzing my personal use of Instagram through a digital tool called Visme. My analysis was completely opinion-based.

Visme: Visme is a digital data presentation and visualization tool that helps create more visually appealing presentations. Visme is a very helpful when wanting to create a presentation for just about any purpose such as school and businesses. It reminded me a lot of PowerPoint, but it has its differences and is not a popularly used tool. I thought Visme would be perfect for creating an analysis on Instagram because I felt as if I would be “presenting” my findings to an audience. I wanted to be able to create a presentation that would make my viewers want to continue on to the next slide, and Visme gave me confidence that it would do just that.

Just like any digital tool, Visme had its affordances and constraints. Visme extended certain parts of me, while amputating other parts of me (Jones & Hafner, 2012).

Affordances: If you have not noticed, I love GIFs. I insert them whenever I get a perfect chance to. Like now.

Visme allowed me to insert GIFs, which made me love it instantly. I also really liked that I was able to insert a video clip, and when clicking on it, I was not forced to view the video through another tab. I think being able to view the video within the presentation made it look more polished. The flow of the presentation would not be interrupted. I liked that Visme gave me suggestions on what I could do to amp up my presentation. For example, as I was creating my presentation, a box popped up and told me that I could add transitions and animations to my slide, and I love different transitions!! It makes the presentation look more interesting in my opinion. Visme would work very well for people who want to present data. I saw features where you could create charts and pie graphs, which is really cool. The graphs will adjust according to the data you put in.

Constraints: As I mentioned my love for transitions, I noticed that there were VERY little options. About 6. This might be because I am not a premium member (I signed up for FREE!), so this is understandable, but I still really like to mold my presentations in my own way. I guess I would have to upgrade my account if I wanted to do so. I also noticed that there was very little customization features available. This did not hurt my presentation because my goal was not to create a very animated presentation, but instead to simply present my findings. This could be a problem depending on what you want to present to your audience. This issue could also be because I only have the free version of Visme.

Visme in the Classroom: In the classroom, I believe this presentation would be great to show students another digital tool that could be used besides the traditional PowerPoint in order to change up the routine a little bit. It “enables us to do new things” (John & Hafner, 2012) and use new things in the classroom. I don’t know about you, but I have never seen students use Visme for any project. Introducing this tool to them will give them another option to consider when creating projects in the classroom. In my classroom, my students will definitely be shown Visme when discussing tools that can be used to complete assignments and projects.

Suggestions: When introducing Visme, make sure students are aware of the little customization options. Let them know the really nice things would most likely come with the upgrade. I would also suggest showing them a model of a presentation so that they can get an idea of what they can do for their own projects.

Cautions: Although I like Visme, it looks like it can use some time to understand how you can manipulate the features. Make sure you tell students to put aside some time to play around with Visme before starting an actual project.

Questions: What other digital platforms do you know about that seem similar to Visme? Do you prefer Visme over Powerpoint? Why or Why not? Are there any digital tools that you would like me to test out? Let me know the answers to these questions in the comment below. See you next time!

Resources: Jones, R. H., & Hafner, C. A. (2012). Understanding Digital Literacies: A Practical Introduction. Taylor and Francis.

Goals for Technology and Digital Media

Hello! Welcome back to my blog!!

If you missed my introduction or have no idea why I’m talking about technology and digital media, you can click here to see my previous post. If you are not new to my blog, then as promised, I will be discussing what I want to achieve by using digital media and technology in my classroom! I will be using Goal-Buddy — which is a goal-setting software — to show what I want to accomplish since we are talking about setting goals here. I thought it would be a really great idea to find a digital platform that helps set, track, and achieve goals when thinking about a tool I would use for this particular topic.

Although I cannot share a link to my personally created Goal-Buddy because it only allows the maker and friends to see it, I can discuss what I did, and how I used it. I do want to mention that my personal goals can be seen as long as we are “buddies” on Goal-Buddy. If you would like to become my buddy and see how I progress towards my goals, make an account! on the website, click on “my buddies” and type “technology” into the “keyword” box. I’m emss2. You will be able to see exactly how I plan to achieve my goals. I used Goal-Buddy to set and track when I wanted to achieve my goal of implementing more diverse technologies within my classroom. My specific goals were to learn about and use at least 10 different digital tools in my classroom each school year and to have my students use at least 2 of them for projects. I plan to research and use a new digital tool at least once a month. I was able to set a weekly reminder to have a new digital tool ready to share with students by a certain day. I think it’s very necessary to be able to set reminders because certain tasks can be easy to forget. Especially if it’s a new task, or a task that is not performed every day.

In my classroom, I believe it is important for students to have a goal-setting-tool in their hands. Not only will it be helpful for academic goals, but it will also help financial goals, physical goals, and other personal goals. Digital tools that can help students outside the classroom are just as significant as digital tools that can be used to help students inside the classroom. Goal-Buddy will be specifically used for setting all types of goals in my future classroom.

Within Goal-Buddy, you can manage certain tasks (which are the things you do to meet your goal), create new habits (for me, I chose the habit consistency because my lack of consistency has been my downfall to achieving certain goals), and make sure your goals are SMART!!! If you are an educator (and maybe a student), I can bet you’ve heard of SMART goals. If you have not, that’s ok! SMART goals are goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Goal-Buddy makes sure that you are not accidentally setting yourself up to fail at reaching your goal, which is really great! I do wish you could publicly see some goals that random people do not mind sharing so that you could work on a goal that you did not initially think of.

EDUCATORS!!! If you plan on using Goal-Buddy as some sort of project where students can help other students keep their goals on track though an accountability partnership, students MUST add one another on Goal-Buddy in order to see their peers’ goals. Keep this in mind. I believe Goal-Buddy will be very effective in the classroom because it will give students the opportunity to get organized (if they are not already) and set goals. I for sure struggle with setting and achieving goals, which is why I think Goal-Buddy would be a great digital tool to share with students. When students are able to see their goals happen, their self-esteem and motivation can definitely shoot

I’m hoping you got my reference. If not, shame on you for not seeing one of the best animated movies!

Advice for Educators Using Goal-Buddy:

• I would advise and suggest having a group discussion at least once a month to talk about progress.
• Be cautious of some of the push-back you might receive from students since some things might be too personal to share. Make sure you tell students that might be worried about this to set goals they do not mind discussing.

Questions: How has this tool specifically helped students in your classroom? How do you plan on using Goal-Buddy? Are there any nice features that the app has that the desktop version does not?

Share your thoughts and answers below in the comments. Make sure to subscribe to my blog if you have not already!! My next post will discuss my analysis on a very useful (and possibly popular) digital tool, see you next time!!

Introduction

I am a Daughter, Sister, Student, Friend, Aunt, Lover, and Teacher.

Hello Friend, Student, and/or Reader!

I know it might be a little weird that I’ve already declared you my friend, but we have nothing to lose. Plus, we already have 1 thing in common! We are both interested in technology in the educational world (or at least I’m hoping that’s why you opened up my blog). If not, then it won’t hurt to do a little learning about different digital platforms or softwares throughout my blog posts :). If you are an educator, some of the tools I discuss might become helpful for your own classroom! I am beginning this blog because of a course I am taking called Technology and Digital Media in English Language Arts. As an educator in the 21st century, I see how loaded classrooms are with different technological devices such as smart boards, laptops, iPads, and most of all CELLPHONES. With the abundance of technology in the classroom, it is important that educators keep up with the technology. I am not an expert on digital media, but I am aware of and knowledgeable about many different digital platforms, applications, and softwares. Other than my familiarity with digital media and technology, I am not very qualified to provide information on the subject, which is why I created this blog. I want to become qualified to share information on digital media and technology through my research and trials with different technology tools, so that I can become a more technologically literate Literature teacher in order to serve my students (and interested readers) better. Throughout my blog posts (and beginning with this one), I will be giving responses to the digital tools I experiment with on different topics that I will cover. As we begin this educational journey, I want to tell you…

A little bit about myself through this video making platform called Animoto. Make sure you check it out!

I used Animoto for the first time to create an introductory video about myself. Animoto.com claims that you can “Create impressive videos in minutes with Animoto’s drag-and-drop video maker. No video editing experience necessary.” I must disagree with the claim of creating videos in minutes, but since this is my first experience with Animoto, that might have a lot to do with it. I considered using other tools to create my introductory video, but Animoto gave me options that other tools I viewed didn’t: it allowed me to completely personalize my video. I was able to add pictures, voice-overs, change the background color, and even include a video of myself playing tennis! Other tools did not give me these same luxuries! Some would not let me upload voice-overs or include my own video and pictures (or maybe I didn’t know how to use them, which only makes Animoto better since that would make it more user-friendly). I really love that my creativity had no boundaries. The only downside of Animoto that I noticed was that the water marks stay unless you pay for the platform. I only used the trial version, BUT it still allowed me to do just about everything I wanted.

I believe it is important to have very few restrictions when introducing yourself because there are sooo many things you might want to talk about when talking about yourself. It is important to have an application that gives people the opportunity to limitlessly introduce themselves because people’s lives contain so much. For Animoto to capture everything I wanted to share is amazing, and it will be a wonderfully creative tool to use within your classroom! There’s nothing students love more than the freedom to create their own images. I plan to have students use Animoto to create visual projects. I’m sure Animoto could be used for just about any project that I ask my students to complete in the future.

Advice for Educators using Animoto:

• I would advise and suggest allowing students to first use Animoto to create something with very little room for error. This might excite students enough to go all out and discover some cool buttons or visuals that they can share with the class.
• Remember, students can get a liiiiitle crazy when they have freedom, so make sure there are STRICT expectations so keep the learning environment positive.

Question: What topics or units do you expect students to use Animoto for? I would love to hear some ideas in my comments below.

In my next post, I will be discussing what I want to achieve by using digital media and technology in my classroom through a new technological tool or platform! Make sure you follow my blog and stay tuned.

Through all of this writing, I almost forgot to mention my name. It’s Emily Nwachukwu! Thanks for reading!