Mellisa+S

Melissa S [] - This is my final project that I couldn't show you all last class. If you are interested in seeing it, my class would love for you to see it! Enjoy!

This class has opened my mind to many concepts, websites, and Apps that I could bring into my classroom to help all kinds of learners. When you first spoke about digital citizenship, I was really only familiar with acting kind to other people, however, I didn’t think about all the other components that went along with that concept of what it means to really be a good “digital citizen”. Thinking about my classes and what would be most beneficial for them, I really wanted to get my hands dirty and see what I could really bring inside the classroom. Your class allowed me to try things that I was scared to try and really jump outside of my comfort zone! This year, I felt extremely successful with the projects and seeing the kids get really excited to try something new. For example, getting me to try the Wiki. Wikispaces was said to be a great program, but I loved the capability of being able to show how much it can really do! In addition, the best part about the Wiki (in my opinion), was seeing students get so excited that they went online at home and posted to their friends about what they loved about each other’s reviews. To me, there is no better reward than to know you’re keeping your kids motivated. Thank you for opening my eyes to that. This also allowed me to see how digital citizenship tied into even Language Arts and how the kids need to be informed as to what it looks like to “act or post appropriately”. Another thing that I really loved was getting to play around with was Socrative! I feel this online quiz is not only great for all subject areas, but all grades! I think it’s a great pre-test tool and was super easy to try out. Of course, I played around a little to see what worked and what didn’t, but overall it was a tool that I feel will be extremely invaluable in my teaching! The students loved how different it was and many of them didn’t feel threatened or nervous like they feel on a pre-test. Many students mentioned that they would like to see more tests like that in the future! For the students who may not like it, there will always be options of taking it by hand instead- but overall the major consensus said they really liked it! The last thing I am proud of trying was the Animoto video. That video was interesting to play around with, but surprisingly, much easier to manage than I thought. The only thing that I thought would be confusing is how to get my kids to convey the message that I have been teaching about all semester. My main goal was that I wanted this video to be able to help introduce my students to digital citizenship next school year. My students were excited and right away started having ideas. I wrote concepts on the board as they were brainstorming and then at the end I gave them all a task. By the end of class, students had posters and an idea that they were going to use to film the next day. They worked cooperatively and the final product was an absolute success! If you want to view the final video, use the link above. Thanks for introducing me to such a great video tool and I hope you enjoy! One thing that I really loved learning about were the different Apps that are out there and how they can help all type of students perform! Even though I don’t own any type of Apple Product, it really helped me see the benefit of learning why they are helpful and that many of them are free. I would love to stay in touch and stay updated on Apps that you find helpful and which ones become free and recommended. This, like I have said before, is something that I would like to use more of in the classroom. In conclusion, this class not only taught me how to incorporate different types of technology into my classroom, but it also taught me how to use many tools to help me stay creative and attend to the needs of all students! Everyone in the class was so helpful, supportive and so positive. It was a great learning environment and I am proud to say that this was one of the best classes that I have taken here at Saint Josephs! Thanks Nicole and classmates! Have a great, successful rest of the year!