Brown,+Sarah

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Here's my Voki (I tried to make it look a little bit like me!).

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And here's my Glog on Benjamin Bloom!

[|National Council of Teachers of English]--**Check this site out!**

I chose this site and I really like it because it is completely for English teachers. Not only that, but it is informative for English teachers of all grade and age levels—even college. It is also founded by a professional association so it is a very credible source of information. English teachers from across the nation can become members of the site, contact each other, learn from each other and from the site.

[|My very own HTML page!] --**We made these pages in class as an assignment teaching us how to make a website.**


 * The following are two responses to the learning style assignment and CAST:**

My learning style is visual/verbal learning style. It makes sense because as a child I loved doing puzzles and I still love crosswords and sudoku. Also, when professors lecture without writing anything down I have trouble learning. Lastly, I am an English major so I like to see the visual words on a page--hence my love for reading. Therefore, I was not surprised to learn that I am a visual/verbal learner.

I was not surprised to find out that I am a visual/verbal learner. I study the best by myself. I also retain more information if a professor has a PowerPoint or writes on the board. All this information was listed in the description of the visual/verbal learning style. The suggestions for better study skills included studying by highlighting information in a variety of colors. It also says I should write out sentences and phrases to summarize key information that I need to retain. Flashcards are also good for memorization. Lastly, the website told me to put things on the dashboard of my car to better retain information. I thought this was funny because I do it all the time. //Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age// was an interesting book. I really liked the example and resource links at the bottom of the webpage. I tend to not like reading books or even articles on the computer, but I liked all the links to different information which is a prime example of how students in the digital age will be educated and how it can be helpful. I also think CAST is a great and extremely helpful site. I liked the learning tools section that supplied different learning tool examples for students, teachers and parents. It’s also a nonprofit research and development organization that expands learning opportunities for people. The site also says it’s especially for people with disabilities. My brother is disabled so this makes me really happy that sites and organizations are specific for that. For the first activity, I created a community garden. I have a lot of experience in Horticulture and I work at a Florist. This activity made me realize that my random hobbies and interests are actually strengths and talents that could benefit the community. The second activity I did was the brain networks. The three brain networks it listed were recognition network, strategic network, and affective network. The simple picture viewing showed that all three brain networks are at work while doing something as nonchalant as looking at a photo. This activity made me realize the complexity of the human brain.

As a kid I would get insanely excited to go on field trips. You would spend a whole day going somewhere cool and "learning" while having fun. Mostly I think field trips were awesome because they gave students a break from reality and a change of pace from the monotonous school day. Nothing can replace a real live field trip. Into high school though field trips became virtually non-existant. I was involved in work study too so I usually had to work half the day and couldn't attend all-day field trips anyway. That's when these virtual field trip sites would come in handy. I also liked the virtual site of the art exhibit in Paris, where a school in Maryland would never be able to go to unless it was like a week long, expensive summer trip. All that being said, field trips make school exciting and bring in necessary change. So, if for some reason a real trip cannot be planned or isn't attainable, these virtual programs provide a lot of interactive qualities that can be fun, exciting, and most importantly educational. The only problem I found was that after awhile I got really bored of reading and clicking on all the infomation. It's much more hands-on and exciting to visit an actual place. When sites read aloud or had interesting activities like the dress up option or the whale noises, the site became more realistic. Basically, I would definitely recommend the virtual field trips but only if a real field trip was out of the question.
 * Thoughts on Virtual Field Trips: **

**Questions for reaction/reflection for assistive technology**: 1. From visiting the websites and viewing the videos in Part I of the assignment, what information did you learn about assistive technology for disabled individuals? **I learned so much about the assistive technology for disabled individuals—the biggest and most important thing I learned was that through technology disabled people can communicate and control other electronics around them in order to perform daily tasks that would otherwise be impossible.** 2. Were there any sites, products, or resources that particularly impressed you and that you want to remember as you prepare to become a classroom teacher? **Not just as a teacher, but as a potential parent of a disabled child, I would want to remember the website assistivetech.net because they sell crazy amounts of products from neck cooling wraps that seem kind of silly to really useful things like lifts and home elevators. Randomly searching this site there’s so much technology out there to help a person with all their needs.** 3. What promises/potentials does technology provide for students with diverse learning needs? **Many of the sites provided funding and support and resources to children with disabilities from birth until the age of 21. This is really promising because I learned that with early intervention (the years right after birth) a disabled student is more likely to succeed and reach their maximum potential. Also, with the technology and the funding that the government seems to provide, disabled students have immense opportunities to reach their maximum potential, something they didn’t have before the technology era.** 4. Have you ever had a personal experience with a student or other person who has used some form of assistive technology to help them function in learning or everyday life? If so, describe what you observed from that experience in terms of meeting the special needs of those individuals. **I’ve had tons of experience with a student using assistive technology. First of all, my brother is disabled so we use lifts and ramps and tons of technological items in our house to make getting around easier. Secondly, my brother plays with a lot of technological items and electronics. His favorite thing in the whole world is music so even being able to play music on the iHome really improves his mood and spirits. At his school, the teachers use different walkers and technological items to help with the physical therapy of students and with helping them continue on intellectually as well. In my high school, disabled kids used a lot of computer programs and games to help them learn in a fun and attention grabbing manor.** 5. From this assignment, what will you carry with you as you prepare to become a teacher – one that will, most likely, face the challenge of meeting the needs of special education students along with non-disabled learners? **As a teacher, I want to be able to embrace new technology as much as possible. It is obviously a huge advantage to be technologically aware and technologically capable. Teachers who do not embrace technology at this point are hindering the growth of their classrooms and students. There is so much out in the world that can be explored through technology that was not available to previous generations. Especially when educating disabled children, technology can provide excellent opportunities for students to reach higher potentials.**



This is my reading reflection and article review of "Help Your Students Change the World."

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This is my digital story video; it's a poem by Shel Silverstein. Enjoy!