Amanda's Education Blog

Why Social Media? I grew up when it was normal to not have a cell phone at 13 and there was no Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat...but there was a MySpace. With that being said to get a hold of friends you would have to call their house phone. This photo always hit home to me because it was so true. The world we live in now relies so much on technology that if you didn't have a cell phone or one of these accounts you probably wouldn't have a social life.  Photo Credit  Social Media Eyes of a Teen The first article I read was the view from a 19 year old. It was very interesting to see that Facebook was not as popular among them as I thought it would be. I loved how he broke down each social media site and gave proper insight to was people use them, how the privacy is and why his age group likes it more. I personal like SnapChat, because it is only my close friends and if I don't want to accept you I don't have too. I like how I can be myself and then the...

Reflection  Photo Credit After taking a course based on technology, I find that no matter what we do to get away from it we can't. The world is changing so much every day with new and faster ways to do things, we need to keep learning to keep up with it. I am only 28 and remember the very first cell phone my parents had and then looking at the cell phone I have now. This is only happening more and more. I mean there is cars that can drive themselves!! My dad was offered a new job which required him to create a resume and presentation. I remember spending all summer helping him create this. (He didn't even know how to turn a computer on!) Same thing with my mom, I had to show her how to upload pictures to her computer (every month). I then created a list of directions for my mom and she just followed the steps and was able to upload the pictures herself. Now my dad on the other hand was terrified of the computer. BUT with repetition and practice is now working at an ...

My Data Mine  It is crazy to think about how everything you post on the Internet stays around forever. As soon as you update something on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram it will always be there. I remember when I was a in high school I would post anything and everything and I never listened to my mother. As soon as I entered into the career world, I realized I wish I never posted things I did before. I know am so caution of what I post because I know that future employers are able to search me and see anything they want. I started to only allow things to be tagged in my name unless I approve it. I wanted to make sure that if parents, students. employers, family and co-workers searched me they would not be disappointed.  Searching I started to Google my name. The things that came up were crazy. Information I found was my name, birthday, address(s), parents names, sisters name, income and also people I Photo Credit could know. At first I was like wow that is a lot of ...

Assistive Technology  Notebookcast Photo Credit When starting to explore assistive technology I have so many tricks in my bag, but I wanted to explore something new to me! I noticed something called Notebook Cast. Once I went to the website I was extremely excited! It looks like SmartBoard....but not! So I went on an interview and talked SOOOO much about how much I love SmartBoard, turns out they don't have one! I was shocked and scared, how many other schools don't have SmartBoards??? How will I ever teach without one??? Notebookcast will definitely help the  transition.  ScreenCast Below is a link to my screencast explaining a little more in depth how to use Notebook cast.  Pros A different way to teach a topic (not a worksheet) Colorful and allows you to use pictures Save board for future use Students can explain their thinking and teach the class "interactive"-to an extent Take photo of board and print as a worksheet ...

Twitter  At first..... Photo Credit When Twitter first came out I had no really idea what is was. All I was hearing was "I  follow  this person" or " I tweeted about it didn't you see". I mean what does 'tweeted" mean. I also  was like ugh, something else to keep up with and follow I don't know about this. My fiance uses Twitter a lot, not to post but more to gain information and knowledge (mainly about sports). I wasn't sure still how I felt about it. I decided to join and 'tweet' around a little. So I Joined and found resources  I created an account which was easy, but how to search and follow was another story. Also came to love retweeting! That was easy and helped me save things to my page that I found interesting. There is actually a lot of people that share their ideas on Twitter and I was able to gain valuable information. Some information I gained was the 1-man down zoning pla n original posted my @ree...

Reaching All As a teacher we want to make sure we are able to help all of our students learn. That means changing our ways of teaching with is hard for most. One thing teachers need to rely on to help them use best practices is the research that backs it up. It is important for teachers to look at data and statistics to make sure they are using best practices to teach. One way to reach many students would be the use of technology, but it is important to make sure the technology is appropriate for the students.  Project Tomorrow Speck Up Photo Credit  This organization provides an easy way for students, parents and educators to participate in  decisions about their school. It offers free online surveys  for your school or district.  I think most would agree that educators and parents feel that communication is important to ensure everyone is working together for the benefit of the students and their futures.  So, what is t...