#9 I'm about to complain for a hot sec

   A flipped classroom is a blended delivery system that allows students to listen to lecture material outside of class and then spend their time in class actively engaging in the learning process. In other words, traditional homework becomes class work and traditional class work becomes homework.

   This method, according to the book, allows for instruction to be delivered in a different way that may reach some learners better.

   As many of us have talked about before, one fantastic source of educational videos is Crash Course. They range in subject from American History to Chemistry and Literature. Here is a link to their YouTube channel: Crash Course.

   Side Note: In high school, I took an AP European History class where the teacher recorded her lectures and posted them to Edmodo. It was our job to listen to the lectures and take notes as homework. That way, when we came in to class, we could discuss the material as a group and ask any questions that we had. I personally LOVED that style of learning.

   Ohhhhhh Power Point, how I detest you!!! While the projects that other people create on you are amazing, that's a task I'll leave to someone else.

   In the Information Dissemination project, I learned how to create a master slide and record the presentation to create a show. Pretty cool stuff! I really like how my presentation turned out in the end.

   But, I struggled trying to present information without using bullet points....like REALLY struggled. That was the part that I disliked the most. I felt like so much of the information that I wanted to present would have been more digestible, at least from a student's perspective, if it had been listed in bullet form.

Here is what a few of my slides look like:

   As far as the Interaction project is concerned, I liked it slightly better than the Information Dissemination one. I learned how to link one slide to another which resulted in a pretty cool practice game!

   In the future, I wish I could have figured out to add different audio clips. I wanted to add in a countdown audio bite on the slide that says, "Ready? Set.....GO!". However, but I couldn't figure it out. Other than that, I'm really happy with how this turned out and I like it better than the first project.

Here is what a few of my slides look like:

No Blog So You Get a Dog

In lieu of our weekly educational posts, I decided that everyone could use a little cuteness in their lives! In other words, there was no blog, so you get to see my dog.

This is Simba and yes I did name him after The Lion King. His favorite activities include chasing birds in the back yard, looking #majestic, eating peanut butter, and snuggling with mommy (aka me). 

I hope everyone had a great weekend full of adventures and that everyone has a not-so-terrible Monday. See you tomorrow :)

Diigo Activity 5

   I like Diigo as a personal tool to help organize the things that we see on the internet every day.

   In the future, I can see myself continuing to use Diigo as a personal tool to help annotate and organize case law. If I can read through briefings online, annotate them, and tag them based on their holdings or the dicta delivered by the courts, it will making finding case law to support my own arguments in court that much easier.

   I don't think that Diigo would be effective for the legal profession as a whole. Every case has so many implications and offers so many different opinions that trying to organize one Diigo woule be impossibly overwhelming. However, within a single practice, it would be a great way for paralegals to research, annotate, and organize case law for the partners of the firm.

   But, that being said, the legal profession is missing out on the most helpful aspect of Diigo: the social learning.

#8 Cool Tools, Cool Teachers, Cool School

   Last week, we toured the FSU Student Disability Resource Center. I'm very lucky to not suffer from a disability, but, they have some really cool stuff in their lab to help put them on a level playing field.

   The coolest tool that I saw at the SDRC was the smart pen. Not only did you take notes in the traditional sense by writing notes on paper, but this resource also allowed you to record the lecture. Should you miss something, you simply need to press on a word and the pen will play back the recording from that particular time in the lecture.

   In schools, I can see every student using this tool to help them take better notes and to study for exams.

   Bloom's taxonomy refers to six levels that are used to classify learning objectives. Powerpoint is a great tool that can be used to hit all six levels.

1. Create - Obviously, students are creating a way to present information simply by creating a Powerpoint.

2. Evaluate - By watching other students present Powerpoints, the rest of the class is silently evaluating and critiquing their peer's work. While they may not be writing down things that their class mates did well or could improve upon, they are still thinking critically about their work.

3. Analyze - Similar to evaluating their peer's work, if students are watching various presentations, they are undoubtedly making connections from one topic to another. Even if the presentations are totally unrelated, the students are bound to make certain connections from one presentation to another.

4. Apply - With all of the information gathered from watching and creating Powerpoint presentations,  students are preparing themselves to use this information for tests or future assignments.

5. Understand - Powerpoints create an opportunity for discussion. They allow students to ask questions at the same time that they are able to reiterate and reorganize information.

6. Remember - Powerpoints are a great learning tool because they provide both a visual and auditory source of information. This gives students two different sources for recalling and remembering information.

   A link to a page to stay on top of technological trends is this one from Study.com. It is a short video that describes teaching trends and how they apply to technology in the classroom. It discusses flipped classrooms which I think is a really great idea. I had a teacher in high school that assigned Edmodo lectures that we had to listen to outside of class. Then in the classroom, we would go more in depth and discuss the material.

   By staying on top of trends, teachers are not only going to keep up with the times, but they are going to be able to be more effective in catering to students' growing dependence on new technology.

ILP Design - Prezi

GUESS WHO'S BACK!!

That was really obnoxious, but hey, it got you to read my blog! Well, I got some great feedback on my last ILP so I decided to reuse the same information from my Animoto and make a Prezi.

As per your advice, I included some more graphic content to reflect the maturity of the audience. I also changed the format from an Animoto to a Prezi so that I could include more information. Additionally, I swapped out using still images for video clips which I think makes the presentation more powerful. Just as last time, this is directed to high school juniors and seniors*.

I also embedded video clips from three different films that perfectly show what I want to discuss.

As with all presentations, this would serve as a visual aid and an outline for a lecture. The information provided on the slides is not exhaustive, and would serve as more of an outline than an all encompassing version of the lecture.

*Based on the following standards:
          1. SS.912.A.16 - Use case studies to explore social, political, legal, and economic
              relationships in history.
          2. SS.912.A.13 - Utilize timelines to identify the time sequence of historical data.
          3. SS.912.A.1.7 - Describe various socio-cultural aspects of American life including
              art, artifacts, literature, education, and publications.

Diigo Activity 4

   This week, I learned that while assistive technologies in a broad sense are helpful for ESOL learners, the specific tools that each student uses must be individualized.

   What accelerates learning for one ESOL student may slow learning for another. Use tools, but use them wisely.

#7 So much respect for web designers.......

   Alright, alright, alright we're talking about a laws which means "I'm the captain now"!!! (Two quotes in one sentence, I'm such a movie nerd #SorryNotSorry.) In the podcast, I learned a little about how the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to creating teaching materials.

   The ADA makes it illegal to discriminate against anyone based on their handicap. I knew from friends and just being in school that some students were allotted extra time on tests or given special supplemental learning accommodations.

   The podcast provided several other examples of specialized materials provided to disabled students such as brail texts, text-to-speech software, and specially colored papers. The textbook elaborated on these examples by discussing special concept mapping tools, high-interest low-level books, and specialized input/output devices like screen magnification devices.

   While certain aspects of creating specialized materials for students protected by the ADA seems straightforward, it can be extremely complicated trying to accommodate students with disabilities. Nothing in the legal world is simple, and it appears that the same is true in the teaching world.

   Okay so whoever said they "liked" this web assignment was either super tech savvy or simply delusional. Thus far, this was probably my least favorite project. Not only was the website complicated to create, but I struggled to figure out what content to put on my website.

   I have made a website before using Wix and I felt that that software was so much more user friendly for beginners. However, I think that my site turned out okay, all things considered.

   I like the simplicity of my design. I chose a theme of black and white colors which contrast nicely and make it, I think, aesthetically pleasing. #aesthetic.

   I couldn't find a way to change the font and that's the one thing that I really don't like. I'm big on continuity so the fact that my fonts don't match from page to page really irritates me. If anyone knows how to change the font, help a sista out.

   In my future career, I'm sure that whatever law firm/non-profit I work for will have a website. If I'm being totally honest, I hope that I never have to work on it or update it. I would much rather spend my time doing other things. But, if I had to, I think this assignment provided me with some design basics and a little information on how to format an easy to read website.

   Heres the link to my site and a screenshot from the "Homework" tab is included below.