Lessons in Character Education Webinar

I participated in a "Lesson's in Character Education: Interview with Medal of Honor Recipient Leroy Petry Webinar." Leroy Petry received the Medal of Honor after serving multiple tours in Afghanistan and he shared a personal story of a instance that ended with his hand being severed. It was truly inspirational to hear this story and sacrifice that he gave his country. I enjoyed listening to his story and how important he felt that his participation in the military was not a sacrifice but a privilege. Many questions came in during the webinar and some were centered around low-income children wanting to join the military and what he thought was important about becoming a member of the military. He spoke about his mentors being teachers and leaders in the military. He felt that it was extremely important that children learn how to stand up for something and be a part of something bigger. I couldn't agree more. Many of my students spoke about wanting to join the military when they were older. Many times we talked about what was expected and how decisions they were making wouldn't be acceptable in the military. Great webinar hosted by edWeb.

Dual Language Learners Webinar

This morning I participated in a webinar hosted by Dr. Jennifer J. Chen, it was called "Diverse Strategies for Communicating with Dual Language Learners." I wanted to participate in this webinar specifically because I will be co-teaching this year and wanted to find more ways to teach my ELD students. Co-teaching is when the ELD teacher comes into the general education classroom and teaches with the gen. ed teacher. The original model consists of the ELD students being pulled out of their regular classroom and attending a small group with all ELD students. With co-teaching, they are able to stay with their classmates and receive the same instruction as everyone else, with guided support from the ELD teacher. I enjoyed listening to Dr. Chen's tips and noticed that my school implements a lot of them already. Visuals was something Dr. Chen touched on quite a bit. I think it's extremely important to have visuals in the classroom for all students to see, but especially the ELD students. One thing I strongly agree with that she suggested was pairing a student who is unfamiliar with English with another student who speaks the same home language. It alleviates some of the stress the student may feel, and allows them to communicate with you through another peer. One thing I learned from this webinar is responding to students that have not been able to successfully connect all parts of a sentence when speaking to someone. Dr. Chen used the example of "I play." She suggested recognizing what the student is attempting to say and respond with: "Oh, you would like to play with those blocks. Let's say 'I would like to play with those blocks.'" I always wondered if I was making the student feel uncomfortable by correcting them, but according to Dr. Chen it is important for their language acquisition to hear it spoken correctly. I enjoyed listening to Dr. Chen's webinar and hope to catch another one soon.

My Creative Expression

I decided to create a Google Slide presentation to showcase my understanding of CoP, Connectivism and PLN. When I was reading through the resources provided, along with the resources shared on Diigo I began to think of these three relating to each other within a school. The Communities of Practice is like a school faculty working toward the same goals, but being able to support each other and lend ideas. The faculty is working towards the goal of overall student achievement. I then related connectivism to students working together during a science experiment. They are communicating, they are testing different theories, they are connecting their knowledge with each others to conduct an experiment. The last piece is the Personal Learning Networks, and I saw this as students working together in a small group throughout the day. Some students lurk and listen, others are active participants and leaders within the group. They all have something to bring to the group, but they also have the freedom of listening and learning.

Resources

Meador, D. (2015, October 21). Building a Personal Learning Network Will Make You a Better Teacher. Retrieved June 10, 2016, from http://teaching.about.com/od/L-O/g/Personal-Learning-Network.htm.

Moss, P. (2013, November 26). Why Learning Through Social Networks Is the Future. Retrieved June 10, 2016, from http://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/learning-through-networks-is-the-future/

Siemens, G. (2005, January). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning Go Top. Retrieved June 10, 2016, from http://itdl.org/journal/jan_05/article01.html

Smith, M.K. (2013). Jean Lave, Etienne Wenger and communities of practice. Retrieved June 10, 2016, from http://www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm

Week 1!

What are you initial reactions about joining these social networks for use in this course?
I am excited, because I use Facebook daily for personal use. I'm familiar with blogging and completed the EdTech537 Blogging in the Classroom course last summer. I've used Twitter before and feel pretty comfortable using it. The only social network I'm not as familiar with is Diigo. I have it installed but haven't taken the time to experiment. I'm feeling pretty comfortable with learning new things, but being able to navigate myself with the networks I've used in the past. 

What is your experience in using social media for your own professional development?
I use Facebook and blogging the most for following educators and using some of their products or ideas. I've found many helpful videos via Facebook that allow me to show students how to make an art project, or how to use a specific website on the Chromebooks. Blogging allows me to find educators I have something in common with, and look through their past posts for ideas regarding my students or projects we create. 

What is your experience in using social media as an instructional strategy in your learning environment?
To be honest, I don't have any experience in using social media as an instructional strategy. I've used Facebook as a means to show videos of art work, but not as an instructional strategy. I look forward to learning how!

What are your expectations of this course?
I expect to:
1. Learn to use different platforms of social media to enrich my student's lives personally and academically.
2. Use different platforms of social media to further my professional development.
3. Network with other educators and learn from their experiences.