My 21st Century Classroom

 Welcome to My 21^st Century Classroom!

 

Hello fellow educators! My name is Emily Frederick and I am a sophomore at Edinboro University. I am majoring in Early Childhood and Special Education and have decided to add a concentration in Math to my degree program. Coming to college, I will not lie; I was unsure what I wanted to do with my life. Many people had told me that I had the patience and caring that it takes to be a teacher. They also said that I was good with younger children. So, I thought-why not! I can honestly say I'm glad I made that decision. I am beyond excited to have my own classroom one day and to influence so many young minds. The tools and resources I have gained so far are beyond helpful and inspiring, and I cannot wait to see what is in store for my last two years here at Edinboro.

 

 Below is a video essay that I have created that explains my views on how a school is so much more than just a building. I was originally exempt from this portion of the project because my computer would not allow me to export the file to save it. I was very upset it would not upload, and I feel it had a strong message, so I wanted to at least allow you the opportunity to hear the essay if nothing else. I hope to add the movie I had originally created that would not upload if we can figure out the problem. Enjoy!

 

 

Demographics

For my future classroom, I will be teaching a First Grade class at a private school in the rural town of Bradford, PA. The school is St. Bernard's Elementary and Middle School which services grades Pre-K through 8th grade. There are a total of 180 students at my school. I have the pleasure of teaching 15 students in my class; 9 girls and 6 boys. Most students are either at an average or above average learning level for learning abilities. There is one student with ADHD and one student with a visual impairment in my classroom.

Meet Brian

 

Brian has a visual impairment. An example of an assistive technology I will provide to help him is having magnifiers to help read texts. Also, downloading books onto an iPad or computer that can be read allowed to him is another example. Here is a page with some products we could get for Brian. His parents have informed me that they are starting to encourage the use of braille as Brian’s visual impairment is slowly increasing in severity. They want to start teaching him young so that it will be easier to learn. 

 

Floorplan for my classroom:

 
 

I decided to design my classroom in this manner for a few reasons. First off, I feel that the tables encourage peer interaction and will also facilitate group work. At this young age, I feel it essential to get them interacting with each other so that they can build interpersonal skills early and also learning while doing. These ideas come from the works of Dewey. I feel it is also important that my desk is in a place that I can keep an eye on my students in case of any problems that may arise. I also wanted my room to be very clean and neat. Everything will have a certain place in the room. There is space in the one corner where I would have educational games and toys for the students to play with in the morning. Another shelf on the side of the classroom has all neccessary learning materials that can then be easily placed on the students' desks when they need them. The other corner is where I will have my chalkboards as well as the Smartboard I would like to incorporate into my classroom. A final touch I added to my classroom is the idea of classroom mailboxes. I want to utilize these so that it can broaden communication with my students on an individual level and also help broaden communication with their parents by putting notes for them in their child's mailbox to bring home.

 

Classroom Integrations/Technologies

1.      Connecting students and teachers inside the classroom

a.       SMART Board

                                      i.      This will allow interaction during class. I feel it is important for students to be active learners. The Smartboards allow me to project an image or video onto a screen. An example of use in class would be projecting a Microsoft Word file onto the screen and allowing students to write their answer to that question on the board with the special markers made for the board. This is just a great tool in general to use exactly like a blackboard or dry erase board.

2.      Publishing student and teacher work locally and globally

a.       Blog

                                      i.      I feel that a blog is a great way to publish student work locally and globally. I enjoy the ‘teacher blog’ I have now, but I have seen others that are truly inspiring. They post pictures, ideas for lessons, resources for further learning, and simply just provide other teachers with ideas for their own use. I also feel this can be a great tool for my students because it can have assignment deadlines, resources for their parents, and information about what is going on in the school in general.

3.      Connect students and teachers outside the classroom

a.      Online Grade Book

                                      i.      I feel an online grade book is a great way to connect to my students outside of the classroom. This is also great because it is easily accessible on any computer through a site such as Jupiter Grades. On the website they can find out how they did on assignments as well as their attendance so far. You can also create tests to take online or post assignment files here. If my school does not provide a school-wide system, something like this is available that I could get for my own use.

4.      Connect with experts around the world

a.       Twitter

                                      i.      Twitter is an easy way to connect to experts around the world. It is a free site that allows you to follow top educators. You can receive updates from them right to your phone. They can post links to resources they have found valuable and also share their own works as well. This is a great tool so that I can gain the best knowledge possible from the best educators there are.

5.      Collaborate with others to create and share knowledge

a.      Google/Google+

                                      i.      Google will be a great way to collaborate with others. We did this in class and it worked well. There are so many things that you can now do on Google such as writing papers, creating forms, and creating drawings to name just a few. Google+ allows you to connect with other people as well as create circles of people that you could then collaborate with. You can access  both Google and Google+ from a phone, tablet, computer, almost anywhere now to make it more convenient. The other plus is that it is free. All you have to do is invite someone to the project using a gmail account, it's as simple as that!

Self-Reflection

I feel so proud of what I have accomplished in this class so far this semester. I feel I have grown as a learner tremendously. Coming into the class, I figured it would be a breeze and that I’d have no problem because I would probably already know how to work everything we would learn about. But to my surprise, the first thing we did was create a blog, and I have never blogged before. I was nervous about putting personal information on the Internet and also about others reading my feelings about certain topics. Now, I really enjoy blogging and may think about either keeping my page going after the class is done or creating a new one. I also feel I stepped out of the box by exploring and somewhat mastering Macs. My roommate has one, and one time when she let me use it I hated it and said I’d never touch one again. Now, I’ve learned so many new things to do with them and how many different and useful programs they have. I do not get as frustrated anymore when I have to work with one either. Here is a link to the one little video we created in class on my blog page. I feel so proud that I have created a video expressing my beliefs as a future educator, even though you may not be able to view the final product like I had hoped. Finally, I feel I have found some valuable resources that are practical enough to use in everyday life as a teacher. Learning about Open Educational Resources for example can now give me the opportunity to find things at low costs. I also now know how to create fun and engaging PowerPoints for my students to aid lessons. I have also created two powerful presentations from learning more about Prezi. I am so proud of how far I have come and for how much I have learned this semester. I know it has shaped me into a better person and has made me a better teacher candidate.

 

Please fill out the feedback form below so that I can learn what areas need improvement and what is not making my project a successful project!

Works Cited

Blogger. "Blogger." : Create Your Free Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.

Blogger has helped me create this whole project. Without the account here I would not be able to complete my project!

"Drive." Google.com. Google, Apr. 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://www.google.com/drive/start/apps.html>.

Google Drive allowed me to draw my picture of Brian. It also allowed me to create my form for feedback on my classroom. It was very helpful because it was all right on the google website so I could open and edit the files on any computer.

Freedom Scientific. "Products for the Blind and Visually Impaired - by Freedom Scientific." Products for the Blind and Visually Impaired - by Freedom Scientific. Freedom Scientific, n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.

This website shows a variety of products used for the visually impaired that can be used in the classroom to help Brian.

Google. "Google." Google+. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.

Google+ is a tool to use as an example of how I can collaborate and share ideas with others.

ISKME. "OER Commons." OER Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.

OER Commons was a great link to show a place that I can access information at a low cost once I become a teacher. It is also somewhere I learned about in class.

"John Dewey." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

This link gives a little information on Dewey and some of his ideas. It also provides the reasons I feel my classroom should be set up for success.

Jupiter. "Jupiter Grades Gradebook." Jupiter Grades Gradebook. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2012.

This website was a resource for my classroom integrations part of the project. It gave some basic information on a possible resource to use in the future.

Prezi. Prezi Inc., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.

Prezi was a tool I learned to master in class that I now plan to use in the future for presentations or lessons. It is a great link to show on my blog so that others can utilize what it offers.

SMART Technologies. "SMART Board 800 Series Interactive Whiteboard." SMART Technologies. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.

This website can help to visualize the type of product I hope to have in my 21st century classroom. It shows what the smartboard can do and I hope that makes it clear to my readers why I want to incorporate it into my classroom.

Twitter. Twitter.com. Twitter, n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2012.

Twitter is a helpful tool to show how I can communicate with others around the globe to share ideas.