Reaction Paper

I have taken a lot classes in my career as a student. Some classes I have found to full of useless information that is not applicable to every day life. I hate these kinds of classes. Luckily, this teaching and technology class was not one of these classes. I learned so much that can be used to make my life as a teacher easier and to enhance the learning experience of my students. I learned lots of new ways to incorporate technology as a teaching tool that I never would have though of on my own.
Before taking this class, I only thought of teaching the content within my subject area. However, now I have learned that I can teach my content through technology, which allows me to both instill the content in my students in a relavant, modern way and teach them technology skills that they will need to function in every day life.
When creating my unit, I tried to design my assignments in such a way that students could get practice learning to write and using technology. Let's face it, in today's world, knowledge of technology is crucial. How can students expect to get a job in the real world if they don't know how to properly compose an e-mail or if they don't know the proper online protocol? The answer is they won't survive in the real world without a knowledge of these skills. I feel it is important to use techology scaffolding to ensure that my students are prepared for whatever lies beyond high school. College bound kids need to know how to properly set up MLA format in Microsoft word. Kids bound for the workforce need to know a myriad of rules concerning professional techonological etiquette.
For my unit, I wanted to teach my students about how to write for various forms of media. I thought this would be an appropriate topic since the media and techonology are so closely linked. I feel that all too often, students these days are unaware of the affect media has on their lives. They are so conditioned to having the media there that they don't ever stop to think about how it affects their ability to communicate. Similarly, students never stop to think about the different ways to write for media. Writing for a website is very different from writing for a newspaper or an academic paper. I wanted my students to become aware that they must tailor their writing not only suit a particular audience, but also to suit a particular medium.
By incoporating media and technology training into the standard English Language Arts program, we as teachers can prepare students to communicate effectively in a fast paced world. This was my intention with my unit plan, and I hope other teachers will adopt this attitude as well. If all teachers took a class like Teaching and Technology, they would quickly see the important of media and technology training in today's world. I have enjoyed learning about new ways to enhance both my teaching and my students' learning.

Teacher Support

For my teacher support project, I chose to do a newsletter. I like making newsletters because it allows you to be more creative while still providing a lot of information. I wrote my newsletter from the perspective of a teacher offering ways for other teachers to scaffold and structure media learning and literacy in their own classrooms. I included topics such as communication law, why media literacy is important and projects teachers can present as an assessment option in their classes.

Student Support Material

Today we turned in our student support materials. I particularly liked this assignment because it allowed me a certain amount of creativity, whereas in other assignments we are bound to doing only what is listed in the assignment. I think that student support materials can really enhance the learning experience for students and give them help where they otherwise might not receive it. For my project I created a news assignment in which students must create their own news stories for TV and newspapers. I also created a media log for students to track their weekly media use.
Through my student support projects, I have learned a lot about how to create other support documents to help my students better understand the material at hand. Also I have learned how to teach them more than one thing with a single assignment. I can teach them valuable lessons about how to use technology, which is a skill they will need in the real world, while teaching them about literature and grammar. I think this makes projects more interesting for the students; they like technology and in general feel comfortable using it, which makes projects more enjoyable.

Unit plan so far...

Since the last time I posted, we have covered a lot in class. I am adding a lot of new material to my unit plan. I must say, this is probably the most interesting unit plan I've ever created, I think that has a lot to do with all the technology I've learned to incorporate. Not only has it made me a more creative teacher, I believe it will enhance my students' learning experience in a number of ways. First of all, it helps them understand the content of the unit. In addition, it also helps them learn how to use technology in many different ways and teaches them to think critically about the world around them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6Q131nB1qY

Class Reflection- Student Samples

So far I have learned a lot in this class. There were many things I previously did not know I could do with programs such as PowerPoint, Microsoft Word and especially Excel. Excel was the program with which I was the least familiar. I held an internship in which I used it, and now I realize that I was using it the most inefficient way possible. I wish I had had this class before! Also there are many things you can do with PowerPoint which I was unaware of. It doesn't take much to spice up a boring presentation if you know the right tricks. The student samples have been very helpful so far in providing me with a guide of how to complete my projects. I hope to keep learning new ways to use technology in my classroom.

My Unit Introduction

My unit introduction is for my unit entitled "Media Literacy and Awareness". This unit plan is designed to make students more aware the time they spend on media each day and how the media and the messages it presents affects society as a whole. The student will also learn to discern a credible source from a faulty one. The students will also understand how bias is used in persuasive writing and will learn to employ such persuasion in their creation of a publication of their choice.

First Blog Post- Introduction

Hello! My name is Erica Arrington, but I go by my middle name, Ashley. I am a fifth year alternative master's student studying English education. I am 23 years old and just completed my undergraduate degree in public relations with a double minor in communication management and French this past May. I am originally from the very small town of Greensboro, AL and came to Birmingham back in 2003 for boarding school at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. There I studied classical voice for three years. Once I came to UAB, I continued to study music as an extracurricular activity by participating in the UAB Opera, UAB Concert Choir and UAB Chamber Choir. I currently work as a paid church musician at Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church and sing around town with various jazz bands. I love to travel and have spent the past two summers singing and performing in Europe. In addition to obtaining my master's, I hope to continue on to complete my doctorate in communication studies in the future with the intent of becoming a college professor. I hope that this course will help me perfect some of my technology skills -- especially in areas where I may be lacking.