Posts

Social Media in the Classroom

Image
Social Media in the Classroom  I am the second oldest of six kids- the next one after me is 17 years old, and the youngest is 11. I think because of this, I have a huge maternal instinct. This instinct has only increased since I got into the education field. I feel the need to protect my students, make sure they are happy, and try to shield them from certain things. One of these things was social media. Many of the students in 4th and 5th grade at my school have phones. I noticed them talking about Snapchat streaks, Facebook groups, YouTube influencers, and other various trending social media topics. It was so much for me to fathom that kids so young had accounts with all these apps- when I did not even have a cell phone until I was 14! So naturally my first reaction was to tell them they should not be so engaged with social media, that they should be mindful of who they allow to influence their life, that they should wait until their older to have such a presence online. And ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Image
Ms. Konkel vs Nellie  I am only 25 years old, so I can remember high school like it was yesterday....and even some of elementary school. I remember having older teachers, younger teachers, and teachers of all ages in between. No matter how old my teachers were, I remember thinking one thing about all of them: there was no way they could have a life outside of school. Teachers did not have real lives. They came to school, taught us, then went home and got ready to do it all again the next day. When I saw teachers at the grocery store or at a neighborhood event- it was like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs: a very odd event!  Flash forward to me being in education- and it is absolutely crazy being a young educator and realizing that all my teachers were just completely normal people. Teachers are completely normal people! We watch horrible reality tv shows, we go out to dinner and eat too many calories, we might even go to a bar for a cocktail (gasp!). Yet this conc...
Post a Comment
Read more

Digital Tattoo

Image
Digital Tattoo       When I was turning 18 years old, I began begging my parents for a tattoo. I told them it was all I wanted for my birthday, I would only ever get one, I was 100% sure about this decision...pretty much anything I could think of to convince them to let me get some ink! It was not easy, but on my 18th birthday, my parents let me get 'Always Believe' tattooed. From that instant, I became addicted to the process. Having something so meaningful that you want it on your body forever, being in the tattoo shop and hearing the needle gun getting started up, watching the tattoo heal over time- I loved all of it. Not much to my mom's liking; I have gotten 3 more tattoos since that first one.  All of my tattoos mark a meaningful time or aspect of my life. The 'Always Believe' was for a rough few years I had in high school, but ended up graduating with a 4.0 gpa and getting into my dream school. My next tattoo was 'Everything happens for a reaso...
3 comments
Read more

My Educational Twitter

Image
My Educational Twitter Twitter is definitely my favorite social media platform on a personal level. I think the content being so short makes it easy to casually browse without having to commit to reading long posts. I usually go on Twitter about once or twice a day, and mostly follow comedy accounts. It allows me some laughs for the day! I do keep my personal Twitter account private and hidden. I think it is important to separate my personal life from my professional life- especially on social media where personal opinions can factor in.  Creating a Twitter to dedicate solely for educational topics was very insightful. There are so many accounts that cover such a wide variety of topics in education. Again, the content is so short- it is a simple and sweet way to learn about resources or see what is going on in education. I followed accounts from many different aspects in education including autism awareness support, Down Syndrome support networks, technology in education r...
Post a Comment
Read more

Assistive Technology: What It Means To Me

Image
Assistive Technology: What It Means to Me What assistive technology means to me is very simple...leveling the playing field. The terms 'accommodations' and 'modifications' are engrained into our brains as educators, and specifically as special educators. Ask anyone in the field the meaning of these terms, and you are going to get very similar responses across the board: accommodations and modifications enable students access to the general ed curriculum.  I see assistive technology as another tool that just does that. It does not give a student an 'advantage', or is not provided to students who do not need it to succeed. Assistive technology is used for students to help them complete tasks with more independence.  If I am doing a Language Arts lesson about nouns and adjectives, I am seeking to gage a student's knowledge on that subject matter. If a student cannot physically write, does not have the spelling ability, etc.- that prohibits them from d...
Post a Comment
Read more

Technology in Education: The Research!

Technology in Education: The Research!  When you talk to a teacher and ask them why they got into the education field, you are going to get varying answers but most will have some main commonalities: they love working with children, they have a passion for changing the world, and they want to make a difference in their students' lives. Working in this field for the past 3 years, I can genuinely tell you that all of my coworkers share these characteristics. And beyond that, we truly do get to play such a vital role in children's lives. It sounds super cheesy, but it is absolutely true. Are there bad days? Of course. There are days the kids make you want to pull your hair out! But at the end of the day, you look back and it is all worth it. I have never doubted that this is the job for me. However, there is a side of education that no one prepares you for or really even talks about: the numbers.  State test scores, district assessments, data collection...teaching has mo...
4 comments
Read more

Active Learning: A Year Told In Six Words

Image
Active Learning: Engage Your Students!  What we took a look at... 365 days. A year. A lot of months, weeks, and days. A lot of opportunities for a lot to happen. Could you sum up a year in just 6 words!? My lovely group members (Amelia and Pearl), and I examined an active learning activity in which students were asked to do just that. Students, grades 1-7, at Coonley School in Chicago were asked to use just 6 words to describe their school year. Their answers were then shared via PowerPoint with their peers. Below are some snapshots of our Padlet, but you can access it in its whole here.  Image source: Padlet.com  Image source: Padlet.com  In the top left image, you can see student examples of their six word summaries, a small description of the activity, and a blurb about active learning. On the image to the right, you can see options on how to modify this activity for various student functioning abilities. And there is even a link on our fu...
4 comments
Read more