Week 5

Surveys and Experiments

A class I took last semester involved gathering data on how students felt about breaks and recess. The results weren't that surprising. A quick break down of the survey showed that majority of the students enjoy breaks and recess and believe class times are too long and breaks are too short. Like I said, not surprising to find that kids want more time to play and less time to work. Me too 🤣 but that's not something I have control over. I can only control what goes in my class and did an experiment to test the effectiveness of brain breaks.

I did a series of 3 types of brain breaks: academic games, breathing, and physical. The physical brain breaks were considered the most fun while the academic games proved to be most effective with content retention and applying that knowledge on a test. The breathing exercises just reinforced my opinion of yoga and meditation. It can be useful when students need to clear their minds and relieve their stress, but I can't prove that relaxing improves their performance. It can definitely improve their mood though. Taking a breather has always helped cool a hothead. The experiments of brain breaks encourages me to implement these throughout the year when they're most advantageous. Can't wait to throw brain breaks in between lessons and throw some students off guard 😃

The video below is a fun dance/exercise break for kids to get motivated and energized to learn.

Week 4

Breaks and recess

My action research project for this masters program is on breaks and recess. The past school year has been especially stressful with work, school, and other personal obligations so this week I want to reflect on the importance of breaks and recess from life and responsibilities. Looking at how I started  and ended SY 2017-2018, I can't help but notice that I definitely wasn't as active and present as I was the school year before. Compared to last year, this year I didn't serve as a girls volleyball assistant coach, take part in planning events and field trips, and whiz in to replace the former teacher as the Academic Challenge Bowl coach. Starting this program put a huge dent in my free time and made me really appreciate time. Time spent to relax and take a break away from constant obligations. I've been doing research on this topic for almost a year and every article emphasized the same thing. Our brains can only handle so much information and our bodies can only take so much stress. How we handle and manage the everyday strain of work, school, etc. makes all the difference.

The struggle of juggling work and school and still trying to maintain a semblance of a social life has taken a huge toll on me physically and mentally. My weight constantly shifts from either overeating or skipping meals. I was constantly anxious and worried to a point where I my breaks and recesses were spent thinking about all the things I should be doing because "they're not going to do themselves." That's a little mantra I use to motivate myself to do things. I found myself waking up stressed about daily to-do lists and going to bed wondering what the next day brings. I need to find an outlet. A healthy alternative or hobby to implement into my schedule and allow me to stop thinking about my worries and anxieties. I recently tried yoga and immediately loved it. It was challenging with the excitement of new positions to try. It's something you can do almost anywhere and you don't need equipment for it. I admire the benefits of meditation and breathing exercises and also believe this is something students can use. Often times we're so wrapped up in life that we forget to live. I don't want to stress more than I should.

Week 3

Internet and technology

It's no secret that a large population of students and families do not have access to computers or internet. I can only imagine all the benefits of implementing Google Classroom into my class. I think one of the most minuscule yet irritating chores of being a teacher is having to go to the office to make copies of documents. The machine is temperamental but has definitely improved in the last few years. Having Google Classroom would take that strain away and give students access to all the documents and worksheets and assignments as I need. It make students accountable and would even be helpful for parents to know what's going on in class. I wish the department had the funds to provide every school with updated technology so that our students can be more competent with computer applications and understand how these skills are vital in the college or career path.

The video below perfectly sums up the advantages and disadvantages that students have when they lack technology. As a social studies teacher, I often have my students conduct basic research to find information whether it's a fun fact or for an assignment. Students are often allowed to access their cellphones as well because that's the beauty of technology. We can find information within seconds as opposed to those who still lack access to these tools and are stuck trailing those with internet, smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Most of what I teach can be found on the internet. If you want to know the significance of the pyramids of Giza or the causes of WWII, I bet someone has an answer online. We now need to teach students what to do with that information. Is it a credible source, do you sense biases, what's the author's point of view and message, etc. Technology can be extremely useful in the classroom when used properly.

Week 2

Upcoming projects and ideas

The cohort for the masters program I'm in is taking a grant writing course this summer. I'm aware that grants are available and many teachers have applied for them to gain money and resources for their respective schools. I was just under the assumption that to write these grants, you needed at least 5 years of teaching experience. You need to be a candidate for teacher of the year and have the superintendent as a contact in your phone. I'm going into my fourth year of teaching and I still feel as inexperienced as the first year. I still have my doubts as an educator, but that shouldn't limit me. It's possible that putting my foot in the door of grant writing can enhance my teaching strategies and make me more confident in my teaching abilities.

As I work on this grant writing proposal, I can't help but get excited about the fake money I'm requesting to be able to purchase a variety of resources and technology to use in class. The one piece of equipment that I'd love to get my hands on is the virtual reality headsets. This would allow me to bring the world to the classroom. Although this is for a fake grant, the idea of having these resources has given me ideas for projects and ideas that I can implement for the new school year. The virtual reality technology inspired me to step outside the classroom and really learn the history of our island.

Week 1

The pros and cons of summer class: a narrative.

As the first year of the masters program comes to an end, I can't help but look back at not only how far the cohort has come, but how my personal determination to finish has slowly been depleting. I know, two totally different ends of the spectrum. From one perspective, I'm ecstatic that I got the ball rolling and I'm highly anticipating reaping the benefits of finishing the program. But on the other hand, I'm cursing at myself for thinking I was mentally and physically ready for the challenge of going to school and working. It has been a challenging year and we still have one more to go with a little break in the middle. Which brings me to the issue of summer classes. Alas, summer has arrived and for educators and students alike, it is a cherished time that flies by and next thing you know, it's the first day of school again. As an undergraduate, I absolutely adored intersession courses. They were shorter, notorious for being easier because of the time constraints, but still worth the same amount of credits and the same quality of work! Condensed classes that get straight to the point of what you need to know and learn to avoid wasting precious time should be practiced in most educational institutions and I believe this concept of time management says something about teaching practices. There are incidences where educators are told to maximize time and use up every minute of it but if we are able to achieve the same results within less time, that's something to be celebrated as well. Anyway, back to summer classes. Don't get me wrong, summer classes can also be a bummer because it takes you away from your precious vacation, but at least we only sacrifice one month and one summer to the program. So to recap, summer classes are preferred because I feel like I learned the gist of what needed to be learned in less time than regular courses, but summer vacation should be at least 3 months. Too bad we're starting school on time this year.

Cool Tools, Not Only for School

For the duration of this semester I have been introduced to a numerous amount of technology tools that proved to be useful for me and can definitely be useful for other students and teachers. But of course, these tools aren't limited to classroom use, and I plan on taking advantage of these tools for as long as I can. Below are a set of eight technology tools and my personal rating of each tool.

I have rated them according to this scale:

★- not recommended
★★--mild reccommendation
★★★---highly recommended

Google Apps Rating: ★★★

 What I absolutely love most about Google Apps is that it's free and it features many useful tools within one website. I've been using my gmail account since I first started college here at the University of Guam, but I mainly used my gmail account specifically for gmail. I didn't know that I could create a blog. I used Google Docs once but I forgot about how convenient it was to share documents with classmates and be able to work as a group without having to be in the same room. Google Apps is extremely useful for students and teachers because it is easy to use, easy to access and free for use!

LiveBinders Rating: ★★

Livebinders is useful because I can store all my online sources here. I can combine them all on website and use it at my disposal. I think livebinder is extremely useful especially for students because many of our sources for information and research come from the internet and livebinder can be used as a way to store all those websites for future use or just in case you forget to mention something featured on the website. I'd definitely encourage my students to use it for that purpose only. The main reason why it's not highly recommended is because I can't customize the binder to my liking. I'd like the privilege of customizing the binder and making it my own. 

Moodle Rating: ★★★

What I love most about moodle is how easy it is for users to turn in assignments. A couple years ago or so, moodle didn't allow users to drag files into the drop box so easily. Moodle is like a personal secretary that will remind me about upcoming assignments or online quizzes. It also allows me to view grades and how I am progressing in a class. Teachers can easily give feedback on assignments and can save paper and trees by giving progress reports online. 

Mozilla Firefox Rating: ★★

I started using firefox out of curiosity in high school because internet explorer was always the go-to website back in the day. I am personally biased against any other web search engine because google chrome has proven to be faster for me. I did learn during this semester that firefox is safe, reliable and faster than internet explorer. All in all, it depends on the speed of your internet or wifi and not always on the search engine. 

Expressr Rating: ★★★

I really enjoyed using empressr mainly because it was just so easy to use and access. There are so many things you can use in the presentation to enhance it and capture your audience. I can use videos, graphs, pictures, audio and animations. I'll admit I was overwhelmed with all the tools and extra buttons, but the more I used empressr and the more I became familiar with the website, the more comfortable I was. I definitely liked how graphs can be utilized. It can definitely be used for business meetings and for showing statistics. 

Toondo Rating: ★★

Toondo is a website that people can use to make comics and even make comic books. It allows people to actually tell stories using comics of their creation. I personally liked toondo because it provided more options regarding characters, props and background. In comparison to pixton, toondo doesn't allow users to manipulate all body parts and instead allows users to search for a specific stance they are looking for. There are so many options to choose from and it looks more comical than the characters in pixton. 

Haiku Deck Rating: ★★

I like haiku deck so much that I've already used it for other class presentations. What I love most about haiku deck is it's simplicity. It's a very straightforward outline and doesn't have complex options. It is also extremely easy to make presentations more appealing to the eye with beautiful backgrounds. The reason why I think teachers or students may not want to use it is because the words are limited. By that I mean, the more you type the smaller the words get. This presentation tool requires that users provide short details upfront and more details orally. Another aspect is that haiku deck doesn't allow users to import additional pictures besides the picture used in the background. But haiku deck automatically gives credit to the person whose pictures are being utilized in your presentation. Haiku deck is easy to use and easy to sign up for. 

Wix Rating:★★★

Considering the fact that I have never made a website before, wix was an eye-opener for me. I never would have thought that creating a website could be SO easy. I loved how wix provided different layouts and for those layouts, there are categories that make it easier to find what kind of website layout you're looking for. Wix lets you shine with creativity and provides users with a variety of options. I will definitely reccommend this website not only to my colleagues and future students, but to everyone and anyone. I used to think creating websites was hard and that only business people really need their own website. Now, I can think of many ways I can use this website in the classroom, and everywhere else. 

Digital Dangers

Technology is growing to be more accessible, more affordable, and more necessary for the common teenager. This is a good and bad thing. Technology can definitely come in handy and as a future educator, I enjoy the fact that it makes work easier for me. But it can also be dangerous for those who don't know the full potential harms it can bring with its use.

I'd want to encourage my students to use technology to their advantage and at their disposal. More information at the convenience of a button isn't entirely a bad thing for them. But if they aren't given the proper warnings on what could happen when using technology or programs that aren't familiar to them, bad things are likely to happen.

Phishing, farming and copy rights are more school-centered whereas cyberbullying, sexting and textual harassment apply to all teenagers and even adults. They didn't work as cohesively for me when you put all the topics together. I'm more likely to warn my students about phishing, farming and copy rights rather than to discuss cyberbullying, sexting and textual harassment mainly because I believe that the issues of sexting, textual harassment and cyberbullying are more so morality issues and start at home. I also consider it common sense that people would know the dangers of those topics, which is probably why people don't discuss the issue as much as they should. In an article by The Sydney Morning Herald, Katrina Baum who conducted a survey on textual harassment states that "technology has become a quick and easy way for stalkers to monitor and harass their victims." I believe that parents need to be more involved in their teens technological habits. As a future educator, I want to reiterate these issues, but moral values start at home.

Wiggo wasn't useful in this project. Our group members divided the work and compiled it onto a google document so we are able to individually make changes at the same time. We then decided what presentation tool to use and inputted our information according to how our presentation was organized. As a matter of fact, Wiggio wasn't used at all for this presentation. I believe the google document proved to be more useful because we were all able to work simultaneously without having to meet up.

I think the only thing I'd want to change about the presentation, is the time limit. I believe that every group had to seriously condense their information to ensure that it fits the time allotted. If were were given maybe another 10 minutes, each group would be capable of giving a more detailed presentation and more information that can only teach the audience more about their respective topic. I would also like to add the dangers of too much technology. Like I mentioned earlier, I'd want my future students to use technology to their advantage and disposal, but a survey conducted worldwide in countries such as Japan, India, Brazil and China reported by The Times of India shows that "tech-obsession can make us less human". The report shows that we rely heavily on technology and prefer to google topics instead of reading about them in encyclopedias. Times are changing and technology is affecting the world more and more everyday. Educators need to keep up with the technological trends and it isn't as easy as it would be for teens nowadays.

Sources:
Ahseen, I. (2013 October 22) How Dependent are we on Technology Retrieved from:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/man-woman/How-dependent-are-we-on-technology/articleshow/24491279.cms

Baum,K (2009 March 6) Textual Harassment on the Rise  Retrieved from:
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/textual-harassment-on-the-rise-20090407-9x5m.html