Post Grad School

I have been thinking about what I have to do with the rest of my summer after grad classes are done with this next week. I will be teaching technology classes this year, something my school has never had before and something they are giving me a lot of room to be creative with, and moving into a new room.

1. Move everything into my new room at school
2. Set up tables and arrangement of my room
3. Set up the network inside my classroom (network cables, switchboards, etc.)
4. Set up computer hardware
5. Set up computer software for each computer
6. Plan for the first 2-3 weeks

I have already planned for each class the next year and created a general timeline of what I will be doing for each class. I know there is a heck of a lot more to do. Any ideas or suggestions on what I should do would be much appreciated! Sock 'em to me!

The Homestretch

SO, here I am, on a Sunday night!...... reading and writing (Just what I want to do on a Sunday)! But really though, I have thought a little bit (I do mean just a little bit too) about the last 4 weeks and what I have taken from the three classes I have taken! Here's the biggest things I've learned/researched in each class.

1. Researching Current Issues in ITEC
    I have done a lot of research, sometimes not even for a class assignment on the flipped classroom and blended learning! I find this subject to be very interesting and a very hot topic that some people disagree with, but has been generally accepted in the educational community. I love all the possibilities it offers, especially the fact that it would make make-up work for students so much easier on both them and myself should they miss days!

2. Distance Education
    Similarly, to the flipped classroom approach in the first class, I have studies and learned a lot about LMS's in this class. Naturally, most distance education courses have some sort of LMS that controls the flow of their class. I have been interested by the possibilities here and am excited to try out Schoology this year instead of Google Classroom. If anybody has made this switch before and been unsuccessful, please let me know before I take the plunge and why I shouldn't!

3. Instructional Apps of the Internet
    Naturally, if you have seen my past blog posts, you know that my biggest area that I have focused on here has been Mobile App development. I see endless possibilities with this. I know that students don't like homework at all! So, if I can find a way to allow students to do simple homework pieces on an app, it is going to be more exiting to them and they will be more like;y to do it! That is my theory at least! We shall see about that!

Networking

I have seen the immediate usefulness with these blogs and the RSS aggregators. Networking! I have gone through and read many blog posts from my fellow classmates and a few of them have mentioned they are in the same boat as me this year: new tech teachers who are maybe a little nervous about their new, but exciting positions. I will continue to reach out to them over the next couple weeks and hopefully a real collaborative relationship can form so that we can bounce ideas off of each other before the school year starts in August. If any of you reading this post are new technology teachers of any kind or old ones too, let me know and I will be very happy to try and collaborate with you because God knows I'll need a lot of tips and tricks to get me through my first year being a technology teacher in my school. By the way, I will be teaching computer applications, web design, and programming (Scratch, python, and java) next year.

After going through the mobile app assignment, I am still extremely pleased with what I have created. I have a fully-functional app that can interact with students on a basic level. I can quiz them as practice and the app will tell them what questions they got wrong or right on a given day.

The one thing I noticed about the app assignment was that Dr. Ingram wants us to go even further than I originally intended. I just wanted an app that could quiz students on things we went over that day in class and then offer feedback. And that's what I have now!

I still would like the app to be able to record responses and compare those responses with what other students answered. I do not think that is going to be possible. I am going to try to look at some of the tutorials on MIT app inventor to see if there are any survey options available to where I can see what other users have answered. Not sure if I'll be able to do that though! If I fail, oh well! I still have an app that I could technically use for my classes next year that will do the trick and give students practice when they need it!

Mobile App, new Website assignment, and Stress Reliever??

Well, I just submitted my Mobile App design officially. I really feel good about it. I love programming things on my own and making them fit exactly how I want them to fit. I would like a lot more interactivity than what I could get in it, but oh well. The user can still answer multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions and receive feedback. That's pretty interactive right? Especially when you're the one who made it! I will definitely see if I can add some sort of survey into my app that records answers into a database. That will be tough though considering I have never done that though! I am a simple programmer, and databases are another level!! Oh well, this is summer, and teachers have the summer off, so I'm going to waste some time and experiment a little bit!

My big worry now is just finding a website system that allows collaboration (any ideas on that are appreciated!) for the next assignment and getting the podcast started.

Anyone know of any good stress relievers? I've tried those personal massaging chairs. Not a fan!

1 Issue that really "erks" me!

As I take my three classes for this summer semester, I have been in learning overload. My eyes hurt at the end of the day from staring at a computer screen all day! I feel like I don't see the sun near as much as I would like either! One of the issues I have been researching in one of my other classes is the idea of using technology for testing purposes rather than making students responsible, 21st century, digital learners. Schools, especially the last couple years, have bought a lot of technology, which is a good thing! What is not a good thing is the reason why: Testing. 

I get it... testing nowadays requires a lot technology for it to function, and yes, testing is a necessary evil (to an extent). We have to see where students are at and I believe it to be a good thing that we are trying to get comparative scores between students from different parts of Ohio and the whole nation. What I don't get is this seems to be the only reason why school districts are purchasing technology. This erks me! Is this really going to make our students digital learners? Is this really going to make them responsible digital citizens? Is this really going to prepare students for real 21st century employment opportunities? I would like to think it doesn't, and it really rubs me the wrong way! 

What do you guys think? Am I overreacting? 

Webquest look

Michael inspired me to get on my Webquest and publish it. I can still go back through and edit it, but let me know what you guys think. Check it out please! http://questgarden.com/q/2015