Emma+Bowers

=media type="custom" key="7412761"Emma Bowers=

My name is Emma Bowers and I am currently a junior at the University of Cincinnati. I graduated from Fairfield High School in 2008 and I am working on a degree in Secondary English Education. I studied abroad during part of my sophomore year of college at the University of Adelaide in Adelaide, Australia. I stayed with a cousin and her family while I took some classes. It was the best six months I could've asked for. I hold two part-time jobs; assistant pre-school teacher/after school counselor and I work at Hallmark (as in cards). I go to school full time and work three or four days a week. As for home life, there's mom and dad, two older sisters (Corrie and Jennifer), two older brothers (Andrew and Eric) and one younger brother (Spencer). I have two adorable nieces (Norah and Sophie). I love to read; Jodi Picoult, Nicholas Sparks, J.R.R. Tolkien - I love it all. I love movies too; Inception is a recent favorite. I chose teaching as a profession because I have always wanted to work with kids. I orginally wanted to be a Child Advocate, but that plan went out the window when I realized exactly what was involved: a lot of heartbreak. Teaching is something that I have always been interested in; I love seeing that look in a student's face when they finally understand. This class has certainly made me realize how much technology should be involved in our future classrooms. This is not the early 1990's when computers were not always available. All sorts of technology are available and are encouraged; we should really incorporate them into our future lessons. Students will only benefit from this. However, this does not mean we give up all the other ideas of education; there has to be a balance.



__**Assignments:**__
 * Reflections:**
 * 1. ** **Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity**
 * a. || promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness. ||

I believe that keeping creativity in the classroom is incredibly important. Implementing technology should only increase the opportunities for creativity, never replace it. Before I took this class, I was kind of “old school”, probably due to my own schooling. Technology was never a huge part of my high school experience. What is wrong with the typical “write your own poem” assignment? I realize now that there are so many ways to make an assignment like this much more interesting to a student. Teachers should use technology as a way to push students to be more creative with their assignments. This class really taught me how to teach my students how to use technology in an educational way, not only in a procrastinating or lazy way. The tools we have learned about will certainly benefit me in teaching my future classes. As a group, we planned a lesson centered around [|www.facebook.com]. This is a tool that many student would already be familiar with, comfortable with, so the assignment would, hopefully, be more engaging.

2


 * . Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments **

a. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress. I want my students to use technology in a way that will benefit them, not just get an assignment done. Since I will be teaching high school students, I hope that they will be responsible enough to control some of how they will complete a task. This goes along with creativity; students want freedom and I want to be able to indulge this. Websites like [|www.blogspot.com] and [|www.youtube.com] allows for many types of creative-freedom for students. These websites allows students to share with each other, but in a controlled setting. Safety on the internet is a major concern.

Allowing students to see how far they have come by using technology is especially important in today’s society. More and more jobs are either online or deal heavily in technological aspects. The students in today’s education system will need to know how to use technology in all areas from Math to English to music. Although I was not in favor of an English class heavily focused on technology, I realize it could work now. Depending on the subject at hand, technology could help the students creatively and through their research.


 * 3**. **Model Digital-Age Work and Learning**

communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats

Teachers are constantly trying to find better ways to communicate with students, parents, and peers. Ease, speed, and quality of the communication are all important factors when it comes to finding a new way to establish ties outside and inside of a classroom. Teachers are becoming more involved with their students outside of school as well as the connection in the classroom. There is a controversy/debate going on now as to whether or not teachers should be "friending" their students on Facebook. The argument is that this form of communication would allow teachers to communicate with absent students in a faster manner than through email, which is most often not checked as often as a Facebook profile.

This is why some of these technologies are in place in classrooms. Teachers are teaching students to rely on what they know and what will be "the future". Technology is not going anywhere, it will only progress. The skills that are learned in the classroom are taken and put into real world situations. It only makes sense that technology would be at the top of the list when it comes to acquiring the needed skills to be successful.

Teachers should also be mindful that parents are interested in keeping up with their child and the classroom. Websites could be developed by the teacher in order to keep parents updated in a semi "impersonal" way. It is not always considered appropriate to "friend" teachers, parents, or students. There is a line and that should not be crossed.

Techonology is important in the classroom today. More and more students are relying more on the internet to teach them rather than the actual teacher in front of them. Teachers should realize this and use this attitude to their advantage; keep the students in mind. Cater to what will keep them interested. Once teachers lose the students interest, it takes effort to get them back.

**4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility **


 * a. || advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources ||

Teachers should be teaching their students about copyright and citing sources. This goes hand in hand with plagiarism that is rampant in schools today. This aspect of technology is important and something that all teachers should be able to explain to their students. The students should be able to explain it also so that way the teacher knows they understand. Lessons could be centered around copyright and learning how to decide how to properly cite the sources they use. This will be an important tool that they will take with them throughout many college courses. [|www.bibme.org] is one website that allows students to plug in information into a formula that then formats it into a reference. Teachers should be aware of these kinds of sites. Teachers are responsible for teaching the students how to cite and what is and is not plagiarizing. Copyright is complicated and teachers need to be able to explain it in a way that students are going to understand. The lesson does not have to be just a lecture; the lesson on this could be made interesting by putting together a video or website that walks students through the proper way to cite.

**5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership **


 * c. || make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning. ||

It is just incorporating technology into a lesson that is important; it is using the right technology. Don’t just use technology for the sake of using technology; that would defeat the purpose. Students need to know that technology has its place and time. Teachers should also be aware of new technology tools and the advantages that they could create in the classroom. Using a tool like [|www.facebook.com] probably would not be appropriate in a math classroom. However, it could be useful in an English classroom. [|www.voicethreads.com] could be extremely useful in a math classroom and an English classroom. Students are learning differently now than they did even ten years ago. Students made more practical use of a library; books were a more ‘practical’ tool than the internet. However, now, students seek out websites like [|www.google.com] or another search engine as a starting point for projects. Teachers need to be aware of this. Websites like [|www.wikipedia.com] should be on a ‘list’ of sorts as a website that should not be used as a reference. Teachers should be kept aware of the websites that students seek out so they know what their students are thinking when they are researching.

** Final course reflection! **  This course really opened my eyes to how technology can incorporates itself into a classroom setting. I realize now how important it is to be able to use technology in my classroom. Teaching things “old school” probably will not keep the students’ attention. A recent news story said that texting is the new “doodling”. Technology is going to be around and implementing it in a classroom is the only way to keep up with “the times”. I did not realize all the tools available to a teacher to be used to educational purposes. Many of these tools could be used in a classroom setting under the right circumstances. This course really made me understand that my way of thinking will not be the most beneficial for my future students. I have to accept that using technology in my classroom will be apart of the daily activities. I am impressed with the variety of tools and websites that this class introduced; this course, as a whole, was incredibly beneficial.

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 * __Artifacts:__**
 * Rubric:**

Student's Name: Emma Bowers Title of Lesson Plan: SAT or Foreign Language Vocabulary Grade: 9-12 Brief description of lesson plan: Students will create a "menu" of sorts using vocabulary words. Allows students to be creative and still learn. In order to learn the vocabulary, they must give a "description" of the "entree" using hints. This allows students to use seldom-used words that will likely be on the exam. Website: []
 * Lesson Plan Ideas:**

Student's Name: Emma Bowers Title of Lesson Plan: Taking a Pilgrimage to Canterbury Grade: 9-12 Brief description: Write a poem that is similar to Chaucer's (specific occupation alluded to, descriptive, etc.). Could be a "walking tour" around the school. (Hands - on ) Website: []

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Student's Name: Emma BowersTitle of Lesson Plan: MacbethGrade: 6-12Brief description: Read and understand the story. Be able to apply prediction strategies. Make comparisions between characters. Apply the themes to today's standards and the student's lives.Standard:Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self-Monitoring Strategies StandardBenchmark:A. Apply reading comprehension strategies to understand grade- appropriate texts.B. Demonstrate comprehension of print and electronic text by responding to questions (e.g., literal, inferential, evaluative and synthesizing).C. Use appropriate self-monitoring strategies for comprehension.Indicator: Be able to apply in essay or exam for. Use appropriatly for comprehension.Website: [] Emma Bowers--[]
 * Lesson Plan Template:**

<span style="display: block; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Title: International Reading Association (IRA)URL: [] Summary: This organization promotes the importance of reading across the disciplines. It encourages "the habit of reading". They publish four journals to encourage teachers to keep reading in the classroom for various ages. This organization would be helpful in learning what is going on to promote reading all over the world, not just America. It's important to know about what's going on across the globe.Name: Emma Bowers <span style="display: block; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Name of Technology Tool: **Blogs** URL Location of Tool: **[|www.blogspot.com]** Is there a video or tutorial to learn how to use the tool? Yes No **Yes, tutorial (video).** Is the tool free? Yes No Can I pay to upgrade for more options? Yes No **This tool is free.** Would you, as a teacher, use this tool? Yes No **Perhaps. It would probably fit better into a long term project than in a day-to-day lesson.** Who uses this tool? (Teacher, Student, Family Members, Other) **All.** What does one use this tool for? **Sharing thoughts, pictures, ideas, general writing.** What is the educational value of this tool? **This would be best used as a project (i.e. book reviews, movie reviews) or keeping the class up to date with assignments.** Student's Name: **Emma Bowers**
 * Web Resources Assignment:**
 * Technology Presentation Form:**