Blog Post #8

     
     

       Lets say that I am a middle school English teacher and I create a power point describing figurative language. First I need to begin by recalling the short story that we read as a class the other day, this will help them by remembering the story and some specific details that will be beneficial during the lesson. After bringing up the story, the best thing to do will be to introduce figurative language and what its uses are. I will need to explain what figurative language is and describe how it works in different instances. I will then need to explain the different types of figurative language such as metaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, and symbolism. Once I have thoroughly described the different type of figurative language, I will put some examples up on the board and work through them with my class. Now that they have learned the material, I will transition to  a slide that has examples of the different types of figurative language, but does not provide any answers to which they might be. Then I will call on students to answer and  explain what example fits with the correct figurative language. After receiving all correct answers, I will show the class why each example differentiates from each other and we will organize each examples qualities that set it apart from other examples. As a class we will evaluate whether or not we organized the example correctly and critique how each fits with its corresponding figurative language. After the lesson, students will form groups and read a selected passage from the previously read short story. In their groups they will try to find as many examples of figurative language in the passage as they can. After a while of searching, we will come back together as a class and discuss what each group found.  

https://feedly.com/i/welcome

         Feedly is a website that is similar to google reader, it allows one to share their works or findings to social medias, organizes the web, and helps one to discover. Like Diigo you can create groups and share you bookmarks and web collections with colleagues. Feedly offers discussion boards so that you can keep up with all the new trends and latest technology, it also collects key words you search for and connects you to articles, blogs, Youtube channels, and websites that your looking for. Feedly is also connected to other popular and helpful sites like Evernote, One Note, Trello, and Slack. This is a perfect website for staying in touch with all the latest and greatest technology that will keep teachers constantly innovating the class room.

Website

Click here to go to my website: http://techforteacherseme2040.weebly.com/

Blog Post #7

        A student submersed in a class surrounded by peers  would easily  feel out of place if the teacher were to make a huge deal about their disability, they might even feel out of place if their teacher pretended the disability didn't exist, using technologies in the class room is a good start when trying to make a disabled student feel supported. Adaptive technologies have made supporting learners with disabilities possible through the use of various applications, software, and hardware.The podcasts mentions students that suffer from dyslexia and how, through use of speech recognition software and spell checking, have become more comfortable learning in the class room. It also touches on how teachers can design better learning materials that will accommodate students with learning disabilities . In high school the was a girl who was in some of my classes that had to have special copies of assignments  printed out for her in super big font so that she would be able to read it. Also she was allowed to use her computer so that she could increase the font size and clarity herself when we were given written assignments.I believe that when I become a teacher it will be quite difficult trying to accommodate such a wide diversity of students. You can never predict what type of disabilities you will have to find and design to support an oncoming class of students. Supporting disabled learners is just a part of being a teacher.    

       While working with Weebly I became frustrated many times. I had never created a website before Weebly, so I was not sure what to expect.Apart from all my frustrations, I can definitely say that I gained some new skills, particularly in the area of formatting. Formatting the text in my website was absolutely awful, apparently when you build a website they do not give you the option of resizing text boxes. I spent 2 hours, I kid you not, 2 hours trying to figure out how to put different texts beside each other until l  figured out that there was not an option to do so, only to create columns, So,overall, I learned how to format columns in  Weebly as well as figure out a bunch of other fancy formatting quirks. Even though I solved my problem with the texts, it would be just great if Weebly could give the option to resize text boxes. Next time I create a website, I do not think l  will use Weebly. I did not like how "basic" and "fixed" all of their layouts and features were. I learned that in the future I will find a website builder that is right for me and you can bet that I will make sure it has re sizable text boxes.    

       As we learned about Diigo in the classroom, I at first didn't think it would be of any help to me. Then one day, I was in my apartment writing a paper for another class and I wished I had some way to find decent websites without having to look through a million of them on google. The it hit me! There was such a website and it as Diigo! Who knew a website where someone could share bookmarked websites could be so useful? Ultimately I have learned that sharing bookmarked sources with others can actually be helpful in daily life. Diigo is so easy because other people post their bookmarked sources and they highlight and annotate the most important bits of information and features of that website. This will com in handy when I eventually become a teacher. It will make life easier when trying to hunt down lesson plans that have been suggested by teachers with more experience. It will also be a great way to get to know other colleagues by constantly sharing teaching ideas with one another.