5 Goals

5 Goals Surrounding Technology in the Classroom:

1. Learn something new every year
It's important to stay on my toes and keep progressing when it comes to learning.  There are new technology tools that are created every day that could help elevate a lesson, but I have to find them.  I think the first year of teaching is the easiest in incorporating these things because every lesson is researched and created from scratch. However, following years recycle old lessons and it's easy to simply use what worked the previous year. I want to reevaluate lessons every year and try to add something new to them.

2. Create a series of videos to reuse every year
Even though I just said I wanted to do new things every year, I think it's helpful to have some baseline videos in my back pocket that can be used to help students understand a lesson or concept.  I love the idea of screencasting something, especially to help absent students so I don't have to reteach things over and over again. It's also helpful for those who understand things better at home in their own space, which I can relate to.  I think a library of videos would be beneficial for a variety of reasons.

3. Assess in ways that engage every learning style, using technology
I would like to be familiar enough with technology that I could offer assignments that engage every learning style.  So assignments might have flexible ways of completing them, like one student could express themselves through a collage, or another could do it through an instructional video... but the idea is that students can work according to their strengths. I also love the idea that digital assessment is easier to keep track of and faster to access.

4. Stay informed and use technology students are familiar with
This goes hand in hand with learning something new every year, but I really want to go a step further than that and stay connected with my students in ways that are relevant to them. I would hope it would bring a little more enjoyment into the classroom if they have opportunities to use something familiar in between the times they're using new types of media. I think there's a balance that can be found there.

5. Try out flipped lessons
I think there's something exciting about doing assignments in a different way, for both the students and the teacher. By straying from the traditional way of lecture, students will hopefully be more curious about and engaged in the lesson material. I'm not entirely sure how a flipped lesson will work in a theatre classroom, but it's something I'm excited to explore!

Ode to an Orange

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/odetoorange

https://odetoorange.tumblr.com/post/190496365945/christmas-morning

For this project, I created a Tumblr account.  I got the idea from the assignment description. As I was reading it, I realized that I had no idea what Tumblr was and decided that I wanted to try something new.  The only thing I knew about the app was that my cousin had mentioned it a time or two in conversation. So I created an account and began to explore.  Tumblr claims to be a place to express yourself through pictures, GIF’s, text, audio, and other things. A lot of their posts are fandom related, but there’s other random material in there too. I was able to search things by hashtags, pictures, accounts, and GIF’s.

At first, I was looking up the word “orange” and scrolling through tags, GIF’s, and quotes.  I quickly learned that “orange” is a very broad term and I was rarely finding things that tied to the food. I would repost the few food related posts I found with direct quotes from Ode to an Orange.

Eventually, I got to the point where I realized that I wanted to contribute to this media, rather than simply consume it.  So I created a quote from the reading as well as a GIF.  The quote came from the beginning of the reading where the kids keep changing their phrasing to their mother in an attempt to get an orange.  The quote had lines directly from the reading, then I finished it off with something of my own.  It read:

We’re getting a cold…

We want an orange…

May we have an orange?

May I have an orange?

I need an orange.

I even learned how to change the color of the text to make it look more artsy! *cheesy smile*

Creating the GIF was a little more challenging than I was expecting. I loved the image of the orange at the end of a stocking, so my husband and I recreated it. We filled a stocking full of a bag of cuties, and created a GIF where the cuties were piling out of the stocking.  We quickly discovered that timing was everything.  We had several failed attempts, but I’m pretty pleased with the final result.  It was exciting to learn something new, even if it was as simple as creating a GIF.

I enjoyed learning about a new type of media, however, there were some moments of discomfort.  While it was fun exploring Tumblr and what it had to offer, I also discovered the raunchier side of the app too.  The word “orange” also ties to something called “citrus scale” which is a sex rating on fandom posts.  So I had to navigate through fandom sex stories as I was looking for pictures of fruit. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, and I’ll honestly most likely be deleting my Tumblr after this assignment. As a teacher, if I were to do an assignment like this, I would need to be sure that the students won’t be encountering things like this.  So, Tumblr might not be an option but Facebook and Instagram and other drawing or video apps would be safer candidates.  I would need to screen the things I suggest, but also balance the line of avoiding micromanaging. And if something comes up, it’s at least a great teaching opportunity and I can help the students learn how to find good, uplifting media instead of the degrading stuff that’s out there.

Thinking and Writing about Digital Media

                For the most part, I use personal media as a distraction as something that I use whenever I’m bored.  As a result, my media use feels pointless and time-consuming.  After listening to Amy’s devotional last week, I had every intention of becoming more of a contributor to social media rather than just a consumer, and yet I still fell into the trap of never-ending mindless scrolling. I commented on a post once, which is one more time than usual, but I hardly feel like that was a significant change.  I mostly kept to my habit of silently being informed about everyone else’s lives on Facebook and Instagram.

               I do believe that personal media can be a tool that people can use to benefit their lives. For example, I work as a cosmetologist and follow other hair people on Instagram in an effort to learn from the things they post. I’ll pick up tips and tricks for styling, coloring, and cutting.   It also keeps me updated on some of the newer products that come out that I could potentially use in my own practice.  However, there’s a limitation to the things we view on media in general. There’s something to be said about learning and seeing examples of things, but there comes a point where a person needs to actually try the thing for themselves. Keeping with the example of hair, I can educate myself in a coloring technique through endless videos and pictures and feel like I have a firm grasp on the concept, but I won’t know the full limitations or benefits of the technique until I’m able to try it out for myself and see if it works. So, while the virtual world is great and can be used for gathering a ton of information, by no means does it replace reality and the experiences we’re able to have there.

               Generally speaking, I mostly use Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest in my personal media use. I’ve tried to get on the bandwagon for listening to podcasts and audiobooks, then fell off after a few weeks. As much as I spend time on my phone looking at things, I also hate the time spent on it. I’m constantly telling myself that I should be doing something better or I acknowledge the fact that I’m immensely bored, yet keep scrolling. My husband is better at using his personal media to at least be informed about happenings in the world, and I see that as being a little more productive, yet I stick to what I’ve always done.  Knowing that my self-control is pretty weak when it comes to social media and the time spent on it, I’ve tried to put timers on my phone to keep me in check.  However, the “ignore for the day” button is far too easy to push, and is pushed daily. I’ve considered doing the same thing one of our classmates mentioned last class and letting my husband come up with a password for the timer so I can’t ignore it myself.

               Perhaps I can learn from my mistakes and find a way to encourage students to have a healthy relationship with personal or popular media.  I really do think it can be helpful, but it has to be controlled. Ideally, there would be application in our lives after we spend some time on our personal media.  The application could be as simple as an increase in knowledge, and maybe sharing that with a friend or family member. Or it could be a new skill that we learn about and try out in our own lives. However, the constant, mindless scrolling is pointless. We dig ourselves a pit of comparison and eventual unhappiness. In the classroom, we can use media to engage different types of learners, which is wonderful.  It can be a creative outlet and something that’s engaging for the upcoming generation who is so tech-savvy. It’s a way to relate to the students in a simple way.  The only caution, as I’ve said before, is that it needs to be controlled and monitored.

10 Most Significant

Becca Christiansen’s 10 Most Significant:

1. Little Women (musical) - book by Allan Knee, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, and music by Jason Howland

2. @JasmineRaeHairCo - Instagramer

3. Harry Potter – book series written by JK Rowling

4. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing – specifically an arrangement that I sang in a community choir in high school

5. Into the Woods – Musical, Original Broadway cast, directed by James Lapine

6. Living with Purpose: The Importance of “Real Intent” – Worldwide Devotional by Randall L. Ridd

7. Clean Simple Eats (Winter) – Cookbook by JJ and Erika Peterson

8. Saving Mr. Banks – movie, directed by John Lee Hancock

9. One for the Money: A Guide to Family Finances – written by Marvin J. Ashton

10. Pure Imagination – song sung by Josh Groban

Agency

We get to make small, impactful, decisions every day.  Many options are good. We get to choose what best reflects our intentions.