Summary of Learning

I used Prezi as my artifact for my Summary of Learning. I chose this because it was one of my weekly tools that I picked and I wanted to use it again! I also really like Prezi because it is a lot more creative than a normal Power Point presentation.

The #1 thing that I will take away from this class is the last slide of my Prezi. It is a quote from Jake Miller's presentation. The reason I chose this to be the #1 thing I will take away from this class is because sometimes it easy to get stuck in our ways. We know something works and we stick with it. This is not always a good thing. We must realize we are in a changing society and we cant stick ourselves in the past. This will not only hurt us a teacher but also harm our students. Furthermore, this is how I plan to incorporate technology into my classroom. I want to constantly update my classroom in order to benefit all the types of students I have. I want my classroom to be a success for all different types of learners and testers. This means my classroom will need to be equipped with all different types of strategies and tools!

All in all, I am very pleased I took this class and everything that I have gained from it!

https://prezi.com/1duwxzqz2ffw/summary-of-uaedtech-learning/

Productivity in MY Classroom!

Technology can most certainly help to make me a more productive teacher, within the classroom. I say this because of how much you can really do with technology. It not only helps me get what I want to say across but it also helps my students with their learning process. I say this because there are so many different ways to present material through technology. There are different apps and websites that can help me develop whatever I want to present to my class. Or even remind me of things for my classroom that I might need. As far as my students go, technology is such a vital part of their learning processes because I believe all of my students require differentiated instruction and assessment. Technology helps with this because it allows my students to perform in ways that best fit their academic needs. They are able to learn in ways that are a better fit for them, as well as, assess in ways that fit them best. For instance, if some of my students work better creating a presentation to convey that they understand the material. Then they are able to do this!

Reading through the article 10 Best Tools for Teachers and Students to Use in 2014 there were a lot of great tools in that article that would be helpful in a classroom. However, two that really stood out to me were Smore and Screenr. I see myself really using these two tools to better the productivity of my classroom! Smore is a website where you can make cool flyers. I think this would be cool, as a teacher, to make different posters and what not for my students when we are starting a new topic or lesson. For my students, this could really be useful for projects they are doing! Screenr, is a website where you can record yourself explaining websites. Therefore, if I am introducing a new website in my classroom I don’t have to explain it to each child I can just record myself explaining all the different parts of it and my students will already have that at their disposal.

Something I found to be very shocking about his presentation is when he stated, “You’re not married to the tools you use in class, just because they worked last year doesn’t mean you have to keep using them”. I found this to be very eye opening and cool because it’s so true!! And I feel like we lose sight of that sometimes when we’re caught up in a certain way to do something. I even face these types of things in my everyday life. I constantly focus on a way that I know something will work instead of trying new ways that may be way more beneficial once you get the hang of it. I really think this will stick with me because of the type of world I live in. Things are changing constantly and there’s always a new or better way to do something and as an educator I can’t be afraid to try new things.

Something I thought was really cool was that he made a Google Site for his class. Meaning he set up a Website with all of the different periods he teaches and had each periods assignments that needed to be completed for the quarter. I understand, like he said, this wasn’t the best tool out there. However, coming from a students perspective I still thought this was pretty cool and I would have liked to have something like this available to me when I was in school

Blended Classrooms

One way that, I believe, we have effectively used blended learning is by all the different ways that the information is presented to us. Mainly, because I prefer the videos rather than reading the articles. I like that we have the option to watch the videos to learn each weeks topic. Just as well, we have the option of participating in the WebEx so even though it is an online class we still have the interactive portion of an actual classroom. It’s not like we’re left on our own to figure it out.

I'm not sure if there was much about this course was ineffective. One thing I had issues with was getting to an open innovation at a time it was available. I ended up figuring out how to post my blogs but I was a little frantic about that in the beginning. I wouldn’t say that this portion of the class was ineffective. However, I guess if there had more options on how to explain setting everything up in the beginning that would have been helpful. I only way this because I am very technology challenged.

Blended learning follows the rules of existentialism. This means that this type of classroom understands that each child learns and assesses differently. We, as teachers, need to cater to each child’s individual person to fully fulfill each child’s needs.

Something that especially shocking about Stacy’s presentation was when she explained how a tech rich instruction isn’t the same thing as a blended classroom. We need to realize that just because we have technology incorporated into our classrooms doesn’t mean that we have a blended classroom. Having technology isn’t enough. In a blended classroom, data from the online instruction is used to inform the face-to-face instruction. We must adapt new and invent new learning environments to better assist the teacher and the student.

Something that I really enjoyed about Stacy’s presentation was the slide on “The 10 Drivers of Blended Learning”. I really liked this because I felt like it was a fun and creative way to show how to better blended learning within a classroom! This image just really stands out to me.

Role of EdTech in Cognition

I believe that information and communication technologies really help to expand the way we think. It helps to open our minds more to different ideas. I say this mainly from personal experience. Before this course, I didn't think technology much affected elementary school teachers, I have now found out that I was 100% wrong in thinking that. I now understand that there is so much to be done with technology and learning. We are in an everyday changing environment. I believe that a lot of learning right now is "un-empowered", however, with the way our lives our changing and how technology is being more and more incorporated into schools each day, I believe soon that will be a thing of the past. 

When it comes to technology I believe we have an easier access to our children. With how absorbed we are in technology these days, I see children taking to it and focusing on it more aptly than pen-paper assignments. Just as well, technology is a great tool for adding to children's metacognition because metacognition is your awareness and understanding of your own thought process. Therefore, when finding different outlets online that help better ones learning process you have to be aware of how your mind works in order to find that. A child has to understand how they learn in order to choose the right learning tool for them. There are tons of different learning options online, therefore a student will have to keep in mind their own abilities in order to choose which is right for him. For example, if a child does better with comprehension when someone is reading something to them, then they would need to choose an app/site that allows that. They need to understand as individual learners what will be the best asset for their learning. Another example would be letter recognition, if a student is aware that they struggle with this and know that they need more of an interactive way of learning for it so stick. Then that student needs to be provided with some sort of online activity that allows them to work with letters in a game type setting.

More than anything the increase in technology, connectedness, and tools has increased the way we learn. I say this because we have so many more outlets available to use now that these things have increased. Before there were limited options to what teachers could do in their classroom to accommodate to the different types of learners they had, but now there are endless options of ways to reach your students. Going along with Gardners' Multiple Intelligences, I believe the increase in technology really helps to feed into the different types of intelligences. For example if you are a learner that requires music or visual aid then technology can provide that for you. There are so many different ways of finding these different ways of teaching one subject, with technology that it helps the teachers accommodate to all different types of learners.  

Cool Tools Final Take!

This week I went with something under the Story Telling Tools. The one I choose is called Storybird.
This is a Google Chrome app that is free and you just add it to the apps we all already have on our Google Chrome accounts. The nice thing about this is its right on your computer and since we all had to make Google accounts for the class, we already have a Google Chrome account.

This app is really cool because, as a teacher, you can create your classroom and invite your kids to the classroom. For example I created a classroom called "Miss Lehman's Classroom" and from there I was able to add all of my "students" to that class so that they could see story that have been created by other people on the site, by their teacher, or other classmates.

The way this site works is that you start with the picture rather than the story. You then use the picture to create your story. This can either be a long book (chapter book), short book (picture book), or a poem. I started to make a picture book and it is super easy. All you really have to do is pic the picture and then the text box is right there. It is kind of like a slideshow in the fact that you just keep adding sides for however many pages you want your book to be.

I think this is a great online tool for kids to use. Especially in second-fifth grade. The students are able to create things of their own an use all of their creativity to do that. If I were teaching a third or fourth grade class I might make this a bigger project and have the students take a few months to create a chapter book on this site. I think that would be a great way to see what their imaginations are capable of and see where they take it.

I would really love to use this type of activity in my classroom as a teacher. One of the reasons I love this is because you can take it anywhere. All you need to do is sign on a computer and your work is right there for you to continue to work on.

From what I could tell the app was pretty easy to navigate. I may have to do a tutorial to really show the kids what to do with this and let them play around with it for a while before they fully understand how to work it. However, I think that it could be something really beneficial for both them and I.

Major Project Summary!

Looking back on where I started a few wees ago, I would say, I've come quite a long way. I know I still have a long way to go in order to be considered a "baker". However, I am pretty proud of myself!

I can do much more now than I could before and I don't plan on stopping just because this project is over. I love to bake and create new things. But from everything I've done the past few weeks I realize I really need to master all the basics before I can venture out and start really experimenting. Not only with new recipes but also how I decorate cakes and cupcakes.

More than anything, I am very pleased I took on this project. I now have a whole new appreciation for what bakers do. Especially, after this past weekend. We did three whole days of baking and that took a lot of mental energy. I'm not kidding when I say that I was tired at the end of the day! I guess I didn't realize how much focus some of the things you make takes. I'm sure for someone more conditioned it wouldn't be as trying. However, I am not there yet. I know, especially if I stick with it, that I will be there someday but for now it takes quite a bit of work!

All in all, I feel I have really acquired a few new skills with this project and I hope that that has showed over the weeks. One thing I feel I need to work on is sticking with one task at a time. Over the past few weeks I took on whatever recipe was appealing to me. But I feel if I want to conquer frosting I need to only focus on that for a while and then move on to something else. So that is what I plan to do as I continue my baking career. 

I know that this class is coming to an end, however, over the summer when I have more time to bake, I would really like to continue to post on this blog. So anyone who wants to continue to follow, there will be more posts coming your way!!!

Professional Cupcakes! Major Project

My aunt Brenda is a professional baker. She makes a living, in the town she lives in, selling different cakes and cupcakes for parties and such!

I had the pleasure of baking with her this past weekend. Well I more observed because I didn't to mess them up for the shower, however, she did let me frost a few cupcakes. Also, I helped actually make the cupcakes which was super fun!

She made two kinds of cupcakes:

1. A lemon cupcake with raspberry filling and lemon frosting. These were so good!! and I don't normally like lemon.

2. A chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. These she let me do the chocolate drizzle on and the sprinkles. A very small job, yet still super fun! 

We were a little crunched on time this past weekend, therefore, I wasn't able to spend a ton of time with her baking. But the next time I go there I really want her to help me in my progress with baking and hopefully show me some new techniques. 

More Shower Fun! Major Project

We did a few other treats that weren't really challenging but still delicious and fun. This is something I've always loved about baking. there are easy ways to make fun stuff that isn't difficult. Some of these things don't even involve an oven!

1. We made some colorful kabobs. These are great because they were super easy but everyone loved them. We bought brownie bites from Sams (kind of a cheat but that's okay!), then fruit and marshmallows. Topping them off with some chocolate drizzle!

2. We made Banana Bites. These were vanilla wafers, vanilla budding (with banana bits mixed in), cool whip, and a banana chunk on the top. These were super yummy and easy to make! A little time consuming, only because they were so little, but not difficult. I wish I would have had more time to do these. If I had had more time I would have made them more appealing to the eye. The next time I make these I'll use one of my pipers (like I would use for frosting) and put the pudding and cool whip in those so that they came out "prettier".

3. Finally, we made apple cinnamon bars. These did use an oven for the crust portion of the dessert and then again one the apple mix was added. Once baked and topped with the apple mix we drizzled with caramel! Although very sweet, these were delicious. 

Sugar Cookies Everywhere!!! Major Project

So my aunt claims that her sugar cookies are the best sugar cookies ever to be made, therefore, we must include them in the shower right??? (They were pretty good!).

We ended up doing a couple different things with these cookies. Although I'm not the best at frosting cookies, for just jumping into it. I would say I'm much better at frosting cookies than I am at frosting cakes! 

The first thing we did was make heart shaped cookies and placed a "P" on them for my cousins soon to be last name. I didn't do all of the frosting, only a few cookies. BUT I did do all the "P"'s on the cookies. Which, if I do say so myself, were pretty good! lol

Next, were the fruit pizzas (which we do not have a picture of). But these were a huge hit!

Finally, and my personal favorite, were the mini wedding cakes. We took 3 different sized cutters and made a tiered mini cake. The hardest part was putting the little pearl beads around the edges of the cookies. We found it easiest to put the pearls on each individual cookie first then layer them. Putting it together and then putting them on made it too difficult. I will say, regardless, these took forever! They were not difficult to do, just time consuming. Even with three people working on them! We only made about 10 of these.

Fruit Pizzas Major Project

So my specialty for these dessert bars is fruit pizza. I make mini fruit pizzas. These are super simple, but time consuming. Unfortunately, with the craziness of the shower, I was unable to take a picture of the them before they were gone. I made 35 and all of them got eaten!!! I was kinda upset I didn't even get to eat one.

So I start off with sugar cookie dough. For the mini ones you can really use anything to cut them out. This past weekend I used a flower shaped cookie cutter. But sometimes I even use the end of a cup and just cut them into that shape. If you are making a big one you would simply use all the dough at once and roll it out. Then use your hands to shape it into a circle the best that you can.

Once you've baked you sugar and let it cool you will add the toppings.

First is the cool whip mix. This is simply a block of cream cheese and a tube of Cool Whip. I would use a hand mixer for this, only because the speed will help to get all the chunks of cream cheese to soften into the mix.

Once you have this spread on the cookie(s) you will add whatever fruit you would like. In any order you'd like. One the big ones I normally make a circular design and work my way to the center of the pizza. I do this so that when I cut them into triangle pieces each person gets all the fruit on their piece. The fruit I normally use is strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and pineapple.

Finally you would top it off by boiling together: 1/2 cup of orange juice, 1/2 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 cup of water, and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Once this has cooled a little you drizzle it over top of the pizza(s).

Such a great dessert, especially for summer! Plus the minis are great for a party because there is no cutting involved. You simply set them out and let people pick what they want.

Major Project News!

This past weekend was my cousins bridal shower in Iowa and being that I am her Maid of Honor I was in charge of the shower. I had tons of help from my mom and aunt, which was a life saver!

We decided that since the shower was in the afternoon we were just going to do a dessert bar instead of food food. We did this for one other shower we were in charge of a few summers ago and it was a huge hit! The thing I really like about a dessert bar is you can have so much fun with it. There's a lot you can put on it and ways you can do it. Also, things don't have to be perfect to go on a dessert bar. There are ways to have fun with it where it can kinda look thrown together and still good!

Here's the dessert bar we made for the shower:

&& then here is the dessert bar we did two summers ago for my other cousins shower. We had a lot more help with this one from my neighbor who is a great baker! She contributed a lot to the treats on this one. Her theme was more elegant, rather than rustic. Still both beautiful!

Major Project Star Frosting

Okay so I haven't had a chance to post in a while with all the traveling I've been doing lately. However, I have still been working on things for my major project and documenting along the way!

About a week ago I made a standard yellow cake and frosted it. This wasn't a fancy recipe or anything, purely just for frosting purposes. I wanted to practice doing stars of frosting around the sides of cakes.

I feel it went pretty well. You can definitely tell where I started on the cake opposed to where I ended! I used a tutorial on YouTube, however, it was an interesting one. The woman did pretty well with it but not like the others I've been watching. The tutorial I watched was called Cake Decorating Boarders Demo.

So Here is where I started on the cake, you see how at first it was kind of difficult to get the hang of.

And then this section was the last part of the cake that I did. Which I was pretty proud of!

Finally here is my cake as a whole! You can kinda tell that the left side was the first side that I did and the the right was where I finished. I have to kind of laugh when I see the whole thing from this angle because of how prominently you can see the difference in the two.

I would really like to try this again! Maybe next time try something different on my cake. I watched a really cool tutorial about creating roses on cakes, which I would love to try. However, I'm not sure if I'm up for that yet! 

Assess Assess Assess!

My philosophy on assessment is, and always will be, that there is no ONE way to assess. I believe that every student learns and tests differently. I believe that there is no one way to teach a child, just as, there is no one way to assess a child. I know that some children are assessed better in a verbal setting, active setting, traditional setting, or even in a group setting. When I become a teacher I would really like to get to know my students well enough to know what type of assessment works better for them and have all off these different types of assessments open to them.

I really like all the different options that Pear Deck offers in ways of asking the students questions. Just as well, I love how interactive it is. As well, how you are able to expose who answers what or not. I believe this helps to build the children's confidence in their answer because then they wont be afraid to be wrong or ask questions themselves. They will see that other students are confused as they are. I think this is a great interact tool.

When I was in school we had a way of answering interactively like this but not to this extent which I really like! I also think its cool when sites allow you to use your cellphone. Not so much for elementary school students but I think that's a great interactive tool for high school students!

I like eduCanon. I thought it was cool how you could specifically see where a certain number of students need help in specific areas. Especially because now you know what 5 students need help in that area and yhou can help them with it. I also like how easily laid out each questions answer is and how you can see exactly what needs worked on!

Both tools are very cool and I would love to use them in my classroom someday!

I was shocked by the fact that he had us interact to much. I really liked that. I understand a lot of us are just now learning about all of these things so its cool to see I'm not the only one that was clueless before the WebEx. Plus its cool to see how interactive the classroom can be through technology like this! Just as well, I was surprised when he was talking about how the line between formative assessment and summative assessments is not clear to a lot of teachers within the school systems. I feel, still being a student, that there is still so much I don't know about teaching and all the terms. I feel as if its something I am missing and something that all the teachers in the work force know. Its a relief to know that there are still some questions to be answered once I enter the work force!

Cool Tools Take 4!

So this week I decided to go with the website Popplet. This was under the Concept Mapping Tools.

I thought this website was really cool because not only could I use it for presentations in the classrooms but also my students could use it as well. I say this because its easy to use. With step by step instructions. You dont even need an account to use it. You can "try it out" without even signing in or creating an account. 

Once you click "try it out" the site walks you through the 9 steps you use to make your popplet

1.Double-click to make a popple

2.Type a popple

3.Change a popple's color

4.Set a popple's text size

5.Draw a popple

6.Add an image to a popple

7.Click and drag to resize a popple

8.Move a popple by dragging it

9. Move the whole popplet board

While you go through these different steps there is a screen that shows how to do each step. This is the main reason I thought this would be a great tool for children to do.

If I were to use this in my classroom I would make like a spider web diagram. Meaning I would have the main idea in the middle of the board and then from there I would put pictures around that, description words, or facts about the subject. The kids could do this as well as a project to teach the class about a specific topic.

One of my favorite things about these "cool tool projects" is that they are all things that can really be used in the classroom when I become a teacher! I plan to keep these in mind in the future.

Major project thoughts....

Okay! So seeing as it's spring break I thought this would be a great opportunity to do a lot of my major project. However, first I thought I would reflect a little on what I've done so far.

First, I have discovered that yes I LOVE children but I think at some point in my life I would really really love to do something that involves baking. I will need a lot more practice first. But I think it's something I would really enjoy! Even if it's just a side job or for my students.

Second, baking is super expensive! Holy cow. Each time I take a trip to the store it's like $40. And that's per project! I love it, but no wonder bakers charge so much for their treats!

Lastly, I've attempted a few things so far and I feel I'm doing a pretty good job. I've found that they're not all perfect, but after a few attempts I get there and they look pretty good! Which is a great feeling. I'm pretty confident in myself that I keep it up I could be really good. Especially because I stress bake (and I'm stressed a lot) so I feel like if I keep that up I could do pretty well. (I hope that doesn't sound too cocky?! Haha)

Those are just some recent thoughts! Now I'm going to bake(:

Learning Space!

Space can encourage the interaction of students and their learning because it opens up more opportunity. This is because when there is more space for movement and interaction students are free to open themselves up. I loved how in the one video they interviewed teachers to hear their reaction about more of an open space. The one teacher ever said how her students, from day one, seemed more open to one another with the rolly desks. They would be more apt to reach out and pull one another in to work together. Coming from the experience of being a student I know I am much more likely to work with others and use them as help, in a classroom, if we're already in a table together. This is because it takes away the pressure of whether or not we should be moving ourselves to work with others. One of the teachers, in the video, said it perfectly. Students will feel less trapped in a these seats, instead of a standard desk. I know, as a college student, that I have a certain way I ask when I am in a classroom with the "old style" desks. As opposed to more comfortable, interactive seating. On top of the interactive aspect we also need to look at how students feel in a more open environment like this. I really think students will benefit from the openness of these types of classrooms. This really opens up the feeling of the room to feel more homey. This allows students to be more comfortable in the classroom so that they can really focus on what they are learning. GAFE's give students more options to learn but all in one place. This is a great way to incorporate more technology into the classroom while providing a safe environment for the students to learn from. I say this because, the students now have access to thousands of apps already approved by teachers! Plus this can be accessed on so many different types of devices, as well as, at home!

Although I am in LOVE with the idea of this type of classroom. Especially the homey feel it gives to not only the students but to me, as a teacher, too. However, I cannot help but to fear somethings that could happen to my control in the classroom. There's definitely the fear that the students will try not be able to handle it or that they wont be doing anything productive within their groups. But we must get rid of these thoughts. We need to have faith in our students and what they are capable of. I would love to believe that they will take this opportunity to show us teachers how responsible they can really be, regardless of their age or maturity.

At the university one of the ways that I've really seen learning space incorporated is in one of my classes at Central Hower. The chairs are comfortable and were all in groups. At the beginning of the semester it was rows but now they have moved to groups. Which I love! I have two classes in this room and both are a part of my education courses. This way my classmates and I can work together in a subject that is so vital to our major! Another way is the union. The union provides great spaces so you can go and study, alone or together. As well as, enjoy a nice relaxing place that offers the ability to interact with others as well.

Cool Tools Take 3

Okay! I am very excited about the cool tools I picked this week. The reason I am so excited is because the school I work out uses the website everyday!!! So I know that it is something I can 100% use in my classroom. The website I picked this week is ABCya! Word Clouds. It is a great, easy to use, website designed for children K-5. This website has tons of educational games for children to play that are fun as well! One of the reasons I like this website so much is because once you are on it all you need to do is pick your grade and then the games are all there. Just as well, there are voice controls that help explain what the student needs to do on whatever the game they are on. They also include large print and buttons to make it easy for children to navigate through the website! Also at the top of each game it gives a description on how that particular game works!

The game I choose to play (in the middle of the University Library...) was at the second grade level and called "ABC Slider Puzzle". It really was super easy and oddly entertaining...

You pick if you want to alphabetize lowercase letters or upper case. I chose upper case. Its on a giant puzzle like board and there's little arrows on the board to indicate where each tile is available to move. You then just move them around until they are in alphabetical order!

I will definitely be using this as a tool for children in my classroom. They are learning how to use the computer, as well as, different letter and word games!

Cool Tools Take 2!

So this week I decided to go with the Pic Maker! It's really cook the out together these cool collages that you could really use for anything! You can incorporate text, pictures, background, boarders, emojis. Anything! The thing I really liked about it is that it's connected with google chrome! So all you have to do is added to the apps that are already on your google chrome account! (Which we all have google chrome accounts so this is perfect!). It's pretty self-explanatory. Once you add it, it takes you to the main page and you can get started! It asked to connect through Facebook (so you can share some of the stuff you make with your friends!) so I did that. Then you start on a blank page and you can add any/all of those things I talked about! When you hold your cursor over each icon it tells you what that icon does so there's no confusion!


The reason I really like this for my classroom would be so I could maybe make holiday signs, projects, labels, or even one for my classroom door! I think it would be cool to incorporate pictures of the students if they are being showcased for whatever reason! Like when I was in elementary school we always had a star student! So this would be a great way to showcase the star student by putting in text, icons, and a photo of that student!

I think the students would really benefit from an app like this if they were creating a project and needed to make posters they could on here in a fun and fairly simple way! I do think the kids would be able to handle this, I may have to do a little hands on work to ensure they understand it completely. But I don't think it would take long for them to get it!

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pic-maker/lcmgcbgahjfokkiniknnafmeoaolkfab?hl=en-US&utm_source=chrome-ntp-launcher (here is the link and you just click add to chrome!)


I'm going to tweet a picture of what I made with this app! It's kinda goofy but I was just playing around and I liked it!

Ebooks Ebooks Ebook

I would say Ebooks do improve children's writing. I say this, mainly, because children can create their own Ebooks and have them published on things like ITunes or Kindle. This is a great way for kids to express themsves. It helps kids get their creative juices flowing! I really liked what was said in the article on Mr. Smith, "We truly believe that students will learn more when they realize that people from the global community value their work". This really stood out to me because I think children really benefit from positive feedback. Not just from their families or teachers but from an outside source! It helps build their confidence to say, "I can do this!". I believe creativity and writing go hand and hand with one another and Ebooks go right along with that! When it comes to the writing proccess I believe this will help to really drill that into the children's heads. They will be able to use the writing proccess without even realizing they are doing so! This, fun and interactive, way of learning with help your students use their imagination and improve their ability to write. I think it's so cool that we can call our 2nd graders authors now! Obviously, as a teacher I would need to be fully up to date on these types of apps. It goes right along with TPACK. This would be my "tool" and if I'm not able to use my tool I dont know how my students would! This is like what they talked about in the article about Ebooks and TPACK. They talked about how teachers will have to stay more up to date and teach these new ways of doing things! 


One of the main reasons I think using my own students Ebooks in the classroom is because it makes it so much more personal for the children and it's show the students whose books you're showing that their work is valuable and worth something. It's something they built! Just as well, it helps show the students how much progress they've made. The students are a me to see how their first book looks and how they can improve

What I found the most interesting about Jon's presentation was how he went about telling the kids that they were going to write a book. He told the kids how bad their writing was and then told them that they were going to write a book. This caused a reaction in the kids that they wanted their writing to be better in order to write their book because they wanted to be able to sell it. I really liked this because I feel like, as a teacher, that's something you could really use. I would love to do something with my future class to show them 1. how great they can be! and 2. make them want to do better because they know how many people will be seeing it.

Major Project Week 3

Okay so this week I decided to try a layered cake. I've always wanted to but didn't really know how to. Its actually a lot easier than you would think. For this particular one all I needed was the cake mix, berries, and whip cream. I'm sure others may be more complicated, however, for this week I went with something semi summery to get my mind off the cold! (I've been doing that a lot lately.....)

Overall, I am REALLY pleased with myself! It was easier than I anticipated and in the end it looked really good. Which I was pretty shocked about... haha 

A few things that I will need to keep in mind next time.... Although two layers of cake I will only need one box for the two pans. I ended up cutting the cakes in half to cut down on some of the cake. I thought it was way too thick! I need to take the Whip Cream out of the freezer a little before hand. It was able to spread. However, took a lot of effort and I had to kind of knead it before hand to make it go on smoother. This also make it difficult to spread on top of the berries once they were on top each layer. I pretty got it all over my hands! Also I wanted to use strawberries but they were frozen from being outside. That was very upsetting! All and all a good round, except those few things. 

Here's the recipe I used! http://cupcakesandcashmere.com/food/triple-berry-cake

Cool Tools First Go!

So for my first Cool Tools try, I decided to pick from the presentation tools. I went with Prezi. Which I had heard of people using in the past, but never have myself. Which is why I wanted to see what it was all about! This website is just like a presentation you would make on slideshow. However, there are a lot of different and cool ways you can do this! By cool and different I mean that there a bunch of different templates you pick from in order to make you presentation the way you want it. For instance, since I went through a bunch of different steps to get to my end product I chose the journey template. This template showed different "steps" you take to get to your conclusion.

I think this would be a great way to present information to children because its different from any other type of presentation that I've seen. Prezi has all these kind of "out there" layouts and when you go to a new slide it jumps all around to get to it. Which for some, older students, may be hard to follow or even annoying. However, for children that are already having struggling to hold their attention, I think this would be great! Even using the template I used today. If I were explaining to the children how we became the new world I could show the journey that took using pictures and videos within the presentation!

Yes! Students could definitely use this to create their own artifacts. Pretty much all ages could use this site. Its easy because every step you take it walks you through what you are doing for that step. For example, once you start it says "Choose your template". So you always know what you're doing. The only thing I got a little confused on was manuvering around the website. I say this because, yes making the actual presentation was easy, to me, I found it difficult to get from my finished presentation back to the home page and to another new one. Once I figured it out it wasn't difficult, however, it was just the initial getting there that I didn't like. I guess as a teacher this is just something I would need to explain. I really think if I was working with third graders this would be something easy to them! a second grade class would probably have more issues with it, or at least some of the students would.

Here is the main website: https://prezi.com

And then the artifact I decided to make this week! I used the pictures I took from my project and made a walk through of my results!
https://prezi.com/he7qtcr4oax_/bumble-bee-cupcakes/

TPACK and Being A Teacher!

TPACK is something I've learned about in more than one class now. Last semester we spent quite a bit of time learning about it in Intro. to Exceptionalitites. There are multiple parts to TPACK that all combine together to make it up. T stands for technological knowledge. This is the partner, what tool you will use. The C stands for content knowledge. This is the what: what subject matter are you teaching. The P stands for pedagogical knowledge. This is the tool, how will you be teaching the students. The videos I found most helpful to explain the 3 parts of TPACK and how they all work together were TPACK 101 and TPACK in two minutes. These were really helpful in showing how the separate parts work together to deliver what the video described as "the sweet spot". This is the center of TPACK where all the parts work together to deliver the product!

Obviously I do not have my own classroom yet, however, I've been in an elementary school classroom from an outsiders perspective and as a student. Now looking at classrooms from an older, somewhat more educated, perspective I understand that everything in a classroom has a purpose. This is why as a teacher, whenever I am considering bringing in new tools, I have to ask myself how this will benefit my students. How can I use this tool to tach the content I need to teach my students. As educators, we want everything in our classrooms to benefit our students in the best way possible. So I guess the number one question I would ask would be how can I use this tool to the best of my abilities, for the benefit of my students.


One of the biggest issues with integrating tools into the classroom is teachers not being prepared to incorporate technology into the classroom. This is due to the fact that, when it comes to technology, there is a lot to know. Especially to teach it. If you are looking to teach something you have to have a pretty big grasp on the subject in order to teach it. However, my biggest issue with some technology is that this may leave come students out. I say this mainly because of the school I work at. At Leggett majority of the students there do not have a lot of the technology, that you and I have. This therefore hinders their ability to use these devices. Not only is the teacher now having issues using it but so is the student. When this happens teachers are now spending more time teaching students how to use these things instead of the content portion. Obviously this is not the case for every school, a lot of children are more technology advanced than I am. But I still think that is something we need to keep in mind! With, what I just said, in mind. When I am a teacher I plan to ensure that whatever I incorporate in my classroom is something I'm fully able to use AND explain. That way I'm not hindering my students because I'm incapable. As well I plan on using what I know will enhance my students learning by things they have access to. This doesn't mean that we aren't able to incorporate things that the children do not have at home. However, I feel we would need to incorporate them as more recreational first and then educational. For example, if we have iPads available to us, but the children have never worked with iPads before, I would want them to have access to them first by playing games and things. That way they become familiar with them before they are expected to use them to learn! On another note, if I am not able to explain a tool I would like to use in my classroom I will learn more about it and ensure I can explain it to my students before introducing it.


I guess my biggest question with TPACK is where do I start. Can I start at any of the three. Or is there a specific place I need to start. I worry about this because what if I have a great tool that I could really use in my classroom but I'm not sure of what subject to pair it with. Should I be starting with what content I want to teach and then decide the tool and the how I will get it across to my students or can I start from any angle. If I were to answer this right now I would say that you could start at any angle. It may be more difficult to start at one or the other, depending on the subject or tool or even how you are trying to convey, but it can be done. Or at least I think it can be done, I guess that is something I will have to look more into and figure out as a teacher!

Major Project Round 2

Okay, I tried again! This week I decided to make some sprin cupcakes to lighten up everyone's mood with this weather! For this week I was more concerned with progressing my frosting than the actual cupcakes themselves. Therefore, I didn't use any special recipe for the cupcakes. I used a box of cake mix for the recipe (funfetti of course!).

For the frosting I used a recipe I found on Pinterest! (http://www.recipegirl.com/2014/09/24/classic-white-frosting-recipe/) it was pretty good! Alittle too sweet for my tastes. I think next time I try and make this recipe I will use alittle less  powdered sugar! I bought a good coloring called "lemon yellow" (because it was all Walmart had for yellow) but I decided that didn't look "bee hive" enough for the cupcakes. Therefore, I went to Joann's and got some "butternut yellow". This was much darker and actually made the cupcakes like like bee hives! 

I was REALLY nervous to start frosting because I wanted them to turn out better than last week... Haha so I watched a few tutorials online first. I found this account on youtube/twitter called "My Cupcake Addiction". And these tutorials are awesome! The lady who posts the videos makes some really cute stuff and it's easy to follow along with her! I already knew I wanted to make bee cupcakes so when I started watching her one tutorial about cupcakes and she had bee cupcakes on it I was ecstatic! 

I'm very pleased with my progress in frosting this week! Stay tuned for my next blog, I'll have pictures of my cupcakes! 

Digital Citizenship In My Life

Being a twenty year old in today's society I am fully engrossed in the digital age. Personally I have all the accounts. I have since I was in middle school. Professionally I am a student therefore I use the internet all the time. Right now as we speak actually. I use it for research, papers, assignments, Springboard, or blogging! I make sure to monitor everything that is posted of me and what I post. However, I wasn't always this way. In middle school and even early in high school, unfortunately what was posted of me wasn't always a huge priority to me. This is because I was young and uneducated. This doesn't mean anything bad was posted by any means, I wasn't stupid about it. However, I definitely wasn't educated. Luckily, now I know what should and should not be posted.

I have definitely had my feelings hurt online, yes. On multiple occasions actually. This was a common occurrence in middle school mainly. Due to the fact that children are vicious in middle school. I'm sure I hurt a few peoples feelings as well. Whether it be intentional or not. However, unfortunately, it's a lot easier to pick on someone behind a computer screen than it is to face them in person. If I could do anything differently..? hmmm. I probably wouldn't have signed up for any of the accounts I was on until high school. Without being educated, having any sort of an account in middle school isn't a very good idea. Mainly because kids are vulnerable at the time and don't see the consequence in a lot of their actions.

When parents think of Dateline and online predators they worry about their children online. Especially parents of young girls. Not to say that boys couldn't be in danger as well, however, girls are a bit more prone to the danger of online predators. I feel like when I was younger TV shows would always throw in a few episodes about someone being stalked online or something. To inform us of the danger and make it a little more relate-able with our favorite TV show. However, now a days I don't see this happening. I think TV shows now sugar coat things for their younger audience. Which in turn is both good and bad. Parents are always going to assume the worst could happen to their child. In any situation, it comes with worrying and being a parent. Therefore, this might cause parents to see digital citizenship as more of a negative than good. They see the precautions to be not enough. I'm well aware there are a lot of dangers when it comes to the online world. However, as long as students are educated and are aware that they have a place to turn if something were to go wrong then we can avoid the horrible possibilities of online. It's not just the children that need to be educated about online safety, as well as, what to post and what not to post. It's also their parents so they can do what is best for their child and keeping them safe, while also allowing them to explore the many options that the internet has to offer.

First Round!

Okay... So I tried right? The cupcakes themself....great! haha however...my ability to frost is not so great.

It is safe to say that I definitely need to do my research when it comes to frosting.

So here was my first go at it. I kept it simple. Unfortunately, I didn't have any tips for the frosting (which is the first thing that I'm investing in for my next blog!) therefore I used a paper bag and did what I could. I frosted more than these seven, however, these were the only ones worth showing. The others I ran out of ideas on what to do for them. I had my 8 year old sister helping me out and unfortunately, her frosting was better than mine! Apparently, I have more work cut out for me than I thought I did.

I guess we'll see if I can improve next week with a little help from YouTube!

What to expect from my project!

Okay so I decided to post something in regards to our major project! Just a little something to show everyone what my plans are for the rest of the semester and what I want to accomplish!

I decided to do my major project on baking. I would definitely say that baking is one of my passions. I love to bake, especially when I am stressed, I bake a ton when I am stressed. However, this is not something I would say I'm hugely talented at. Especially when it comes to the presentation. I always make sure its appealing of course. That's embedded in my OCD! haha However, I never meticulously sit and ensure its "pretty" or "perfect".

Not that I expect perfection from myself at the end of this project. However, I would really like to master a few baking techniques. I plan on watching tutorials, challenge myself with Pinterest, and even reach out to experts I know. All in order to better myself as much as I can so that by the end of this I can at least call myself a "talented" baker!

One of the things I would really like to master by the end of this, are the different ways to frost cupcakes and cookies. Because this is one of the first things I thought of when I decided to do this for my project. I decided to do a little precursor this week!

I have not watched any tutorials or read anything about frosting yet. However, I thought I would make some cupcakes and see what I'm capable of! I'm aware they probably wont look the best, but I think a great way to see how far you've come is by seeing where you started!

Stay tuned for some pictures and an update on how it went!(:

Copyright Right!

Growing up, in a public school, copyrighting was something that was constantly drilled into my head. Everything could be considered copyright. And this was constantly talked about. However, until I was in high school and had to worry about research papers and plagiarism, I honestly wasn't too concerned with citing my sources. Yes, I would have the occasional teacher that would require where we got our images for a power point. But, for the most part, since everything I was using was only for educational purposes I didn't see it as a big deal to make sure I cited everything.

Other than in research papers I never saw it too important to worry about citing anything else. I mean its just a power point right? Its not like I'm doing anything with it to benefit myself, other than my grades. Whats the big deal? I believe I felt this way because none of my teachers stressed citing in their works, when showing power points or videos. They simply showed them and went about their day! I never connected how important citing was when use ANYTHING from an outside source. Not just in a paper. 

With all this in mind, I plan to make it appoint to start my students young. Obviously, Im not going to have them citing things in first grade. However, in my classroom, I plan to ensure that my students know that citing everything you use is important. As well as, letting them know where I get everything I use so that they can see this first hand. I believe seeing things done, even way before you yourself have to do it, helps to commit it to memory. That way when it comes time for them to actually start citing things and worrying about copyrighting, they'll have already seen it a million times and I hope it wont seem so scary to them!

More or less, I want to avoid what I went through as a student. I don't want my students being introduced to copyright laws in high school and panic that this is some whole new thing that if they don't learn right now they'll flunk everything for not citing properly. Or at all for that matter. I know that new things, whatever age your are at as a student, can be terrifying. Especially if you are like me and are focused on your grades, so the minute you have to worry about your grade and a whole new way to achieve that grade you have a mini panic attack. I don't want my students to have to later on fret this! Therefore, I plan to make it something common to talk about within my classroom!

Open Access in the Classroom

Open access in the classroom is the ability to access information, about whatever, from anywhere and anyone. Students are allowed to access online sources entirely unrestricted. These are reviewed scholarly sources. However, in the classroom, students are able to get a lot of the information they need online. This is especially great for students a little older like middle and high school. Students can work on the internet while getting assistance from the teacher, yet doing most of their work on their own.

I like the idea of being able to teach and learn from anywhere and being able to reach all of your students. However, this is coming from me as a college student. I love that I can go somewhere and only have my laptop yet am able to do a lot of my homework without my books and or notebooks. This makes things a lot easier, especially with how on the go I am all the time. Thinking back to when I was in high school. I would have loved to have this as an option. I don’t have to lug my book bag around or freak out when I don’t have one thing out of my bag. I feel I will always be this was about my planner though. I have a panic attack if I don’t have my planner with me at all times.

However, looking at this very same topic but for early childhood students, I’m not sure if I entirely agree with being able to work from anywhere. I love the idea that, anywhere a young child is, and has access to a computer, he can further his education by going on websites that benefit his learning. However, I believe that young students need more of a hands on, in the classroom, experience where they can learn how to independently work on their own, when they are older. Students need to start those core years of learning in a classroom. That’s not to say that open access within an elementary class isn’t beneficial because it is! I just think that a balance of both is what younger students benefit more from, in their learning environment. At least, this is what I’ve seen at the elementary school that I work at. We work in centers, every week the children get a different group of centers to work on. There are four and every day the children are rotating, throughout the week, to the different centers. These include, working on their own, working with one another, working with the teacher, and working online! These centers go for both Math and English. I think this is a great way for the students to work through a new topic in ways that can benefit all different types of learning!

It complete lowers the use of textbooks! Which for a college student, like myself, is great! In a weird way I think it also makes the information more exciting to learn. I say this because textbooks are so boring to read and there’s something about dreading about reading a textbook. When I’m looking at an article online or watching a video on the lesson instead I feel so much more engaged in what I am learning. I say this because it’s different and exciting rather than the same old same old. Don’t get me wrong I do enjoy the having an actual book in my hand to read. However, there’s so many more options for learning when you are using technology instead! I would say that at some point, yes, textbooks will become obsolete! 

Open, Networked, Participatory Community

When looking at today's society and how we go about our everyday life there is one work that comes to mind, that connects it all, this is Technology. Technology is everywhere now a days. There isn't any job that you can have where technology isn't a major component.

As a community we are constantly on our phones. We're sharing ideas, new things we find, things that work, don't work, how we feel, everything and anything you can think of we are doing on the internet. This is because people feel safe putting things out there for all to see. People have thoughts or need something, more often than not it can be found online.

Due to this increasing openness, regarding the internet, we have fully encouraged an opened, networked, and participatory community where we feel safe to share and interact on the internet. I believe this is so popular because the internet and technology is everywhere. Its easy to promote openness and participation when its at the touch of your finger.

When you think of the past and how a couple years ago this wasn't a possibility that insane to me. Just because of how available it is now. I couldn't imagine finding half the information I do without using the internet to assist me. Even when I need a quick question answered I can message and or email them the question. This is communicating about school without actually needing the person or whatever the assignment is, right in front of you.

When Is Teaching Teaching?

I'm posting this question as more of a question to myself and all other teacher. Past, present, and future.

I've been working at an inner city school, Leggett Elementary School, for two years now, as a teachers aid. I work in a second grade classroom three days a week. I know that I can't see everything that goes on within the classroom. However, I am there all day long for three days out of the classroom, the entire school year. I'm able to see where the students are starting and ending in their progress throughout the year. I am able to see this due to the fact that I work with most of the students during their progression.

I personally grew up in a suburban school, Revere Local Schools. This atmosphere is 100% different from the inner city school I work in now.

I love the school I work in now. The teachers I work with are amazing and I love learning from their guidance every time I'm there.

With all of that being said there is a distinct difference in the things that teachers have to deal with within these two VERY different schools. At a school like Revere, most teachers have more issues with parents on their backs for every decision they make. However, at a school like Leggett, the teachers are dealing with more behavioral issues and rarely having parents breathing down their necks about grades.

This is obviously not true in every instance. However, being a part of both school types within my life I find it interesting to look at the two different types of teaching. At Leggett, a lot of the children I work with are at least a year behind what they should be. This is due to the fact that they do not have everything accessible to them that a child in a more suburban school would have.

When going into teaching, I ask myself. Am I more concerned with helping my students through the school year offering as much help as I can but feeling defeated most of the time because of how behind my students may or may not be. Or am I more concerned with a school where I can go throughout the day without anyone storming out of my classroom or possibly doing such things as hurting other students. Days where I can spend most of the day actually teaching to the curriculum I am supposed to. This causes me to think a lot. In reality I would love to do both. I want to help progress all the inner city children to being on the track they need to be on in order to continue a successful life. However, at the same time the luxury some teachers have in suburban schools where they are dealing more with parents also sounds good to me.

I think this is something I will continue to struggle with until I actually experienced both as a teacher.

This blog was more just some thoughts on my mind the past few days!

Sharing Is Caring

There are a lot of ways that teachers and leaders can share their work. Looking at this from an Early Childhood majors perspective I think of two main outlets for sharing. The first outlet would be a social media site called Pinterest. This is a great way for teachers to demonstrate different activities they've done with their students, creative ways to incorporate classroom posters around the room, ways to organize your classroom more effectively, or even other websites that are helpful to teachers! I have already started an extensive "board", on Pinterest, with ideas and hacks that I can use as a future teacher! This may just be because I am a Pinterest addict. The second outlet that I see to be VERY helpful is TeachersPayTeachers.com. I currently work at Leggett Elementary School in Akron and all the teachers I work with their use this site quite frequently. At Leggett, they focus a great deal on Reading and Math centers. This website is a great way for teachers to share successful centers they have created. Other teachers simply sign on and can then purchase the pdf file of these centers to print and use as their own. They are all copyrighted and unable to be resold so that protects the original creator while also allowing teachers to share among each other. I see this site as a GREAT tool for teachers to connect with one another and share the success they have had doing certain activities with their students. Although these two outlets are great, it doesn't mean that they are the only ones out there. Just as well, not all sharing is only online. The teachers that I work with use these sites and then coordinate together to share what they have found. Especially the team of teachers I work with. I work with the 2nd grade team at Leggett and they use each other as an outlet just as much as the internet. This is especially true for the newer teachers. They utilize the older teachers and how they have handled certain situations a lot. I think this is a great learning tool. Mainly because when people can collaborate together they can brainstorm off of one another to make things even better.

When it comes to what to share or being concerned with being error free, I look at these two the same. I think there should be errors when it comes to sharing. I think other teacher should see when something is ineffective. This way they know not to try an activity like it. I see this on Pinterest a lot. There are tons of activities and hacks out there that work for teachers, however, every once and a while there are some activities that don't work out too well. These activities should be shared! So when it comes to an "error free" media, I don't see this as an effective method at all. We are all humans and we all make mistakes. Acting as if that is untrue merely paints the wrong image. Not only between teachers but also for students. If you are sharing information with students regardless of their age and you put on this facade that as an educator you are "error free" you are sending them the wrong impression. Students will feel more comfortable possibly making a mistake of their own if they see that their teacher is capable of a few their self. When it comes to "what not to share" I believe that sharing failures is a great thing in demonstrating how to do it the right way. However, if a teacher is sharing the failure of a student we, as educators, need to ensure we are not sharing whom that student is. Regardless if they were to ever know that we shared their failures for others to see or not, it is our job as educators to protect our students and help them grow not break them down when they do not succeed. Sharing everything helps to show the good and the bad. It helps teachers to see that not everything is going to work and that is okay. Just as well, things can also be mediocre, which can translate to other teachers taking these things and expanding on them. Brainstorming together to better them. I believe sharing everything can have a positive effect in the fact that you can gain the effect things and learn from the not so much!

This goes along with what needs to be learned "off stage" in order to build children up rather than break them down. Even if a child is is unsuccessful at a lot of things it is very important to keep building them up so that they keep their own confidence, even if they are struggling. This reminds me of a little boy I was working with in the classroom I help out in. He has quite a bit of difficulty reading and therefore his test scores mirror that. When he was taking a reading test last week the teacher asked me to read him the story and questions to see how he did comprehension wise rather than his ability to read the words on the paper. I did so, and he got a 100%. Not because I helped him along in any of the answers but simply because he knew what he was doing he just struggled being able to read the passage. This doesn't mean we aren't continually helping him with his reading skills. But when it comes to tests we're more focused on what he is capable of, rather than what he isn't. I believe this is making sure that what he is capable of doing isn't overshadowed by what he isn't able to do.

As a teacher I hope to do any and everything that I can to better my students. With this comes some downfall and I am okay with that. I encourage criticism so that I am capable of bettering what I am doing as a teacher for the children I am responsible for. This means being involved in the community where I am teaching. Knowing my students and their families. Being able to identify their problem areas and maybe where that is coming from. I want to be personally involved in my students so that if something isn't working or parents aren't seeing progress in their child, I am able to go about it a different way and fix whatever that issue may be. I hope to use all of the resources that I have discussed in this blog. I want to incorporate ideas I've found on Pinterest and from other teacher, either in my community or others a far. That way I can ensure that my students are open to whatever options they need to succeed. All in all, I see sharing as a great tool among teachers and students. Therefore, I plan to fully use sharing in my teaching career as a way to not only better my students learning, but also my own!

Me, Myself, and Social Media

Hello All! I am Makenzie Lehman and I am currently 20 years old. I am from Akron, Ohio. My family is a HUGE part of my life and I have no idea what I would do without them. I am the oldest of 5 kids. Life is pretty crazy at my house and I love it! I am an Early Childhood Education major and I love kids. All I've pretty much ever done in life is work with children. Whether this be with my siblings, babysitting for a multitude of different families, or actually working/volunteering in a school. I would definitely say that I was born to work with children!

When it comes to technology in general I would say I am a little bit challenged in that region. Not as much as my parents are by far but I definitely don't know all the ins and outs. When it comes to social media however, I've got that down pact. I LOVED the article "A Teenager's View on Social Media". I would say his view points on the subject were all very accurate to how kids (including myself) these days use social media. I found myself laughing at his descriptions of how we use the different apps and the purpose of them. Only because his viewpoints were all so very accurate. On my smartphone I have: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest. As he outlined Pinterest is 100% female dominated. I wouldn't say I use it to connect or share with anyone. I just go on for my own personal pleasure. As well as, to get ideas on things. Like my wedding of course, which is all planned out on Pinterest. However, at this point I have no groom! haha

How I represent myself on social media would definitely coincide with how the article described a lot of kids my age. Yes I post all the best pictures of my friends and I having a good time. On top of: A boyfriend picture here or there, family photos, and the necessary weekly motivational quotes. However, all of this, while still keeping in mind that my future employers will most likely see all of this at some point in my life. I ensure that my posts are tasteful and worded appropriately. A lot of this approval comes from my mother. I go by a golden rule that if she doesn't approve of something then an employer probably wont either!

I think that in the older grades, such as high school or college, yes social media makes sense for the classroom. However, since I am in Early Childhood and the oldest I will be teaching is nine years old I don't see social media as something that my students would benefit from.