REFLECTED GROWTH- CINDY KOHN
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Reflections

Exceeding My Expectations

12/17/2019

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As I sit down to write this last post for my last assignment, I am sad. I have worked hard during the previous eighteen months, and I have loved every moment. I had some disappointing times that I was not able to hang out with friends or go to lunch with the family. I lost some sleep to finish some assignments, but this is something I had to do.
I came into the Digital Learning and Leading program with people who were cheering me on- my brother and his family, Technology Coach, teachers, and administration. I was able to add my small group from the second class- Ann, Brent, and Bryan. Along with some other people who were in every class, the four of us pushed each other to go to the next class and allowed a place to vent when we were frustrated. When we were sick or tired to go on, we would always have an encouraging word for each other.

I did the final representation of my DLL journey in Google Slides. I would suggest that when looking at this, a person looks at the links for each class and then closes the connections. There are so many links and it would become overwhelming on the top of the computer.  Also- open it up to see the whole slideshow.
Here are the rundown or the slides for each class:
1. Class Slide- this tells what the course number is and the title of the class
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2. Big Idea- this is the primary concept that I got out of the class
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3. Great Things that I Learned (with Links)- this page has links to relevant posts from my ePortfolio (there will be 2 to 6 links for each class)
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4. My Takeaways (might be 2 slides)- this will tell the reader what I got out of the assignments (even with some of them 18 months later)
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5. Quote- this is a quote that was taken from one of my posts
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At this time, I am going to use what I have gained from the DLL program and continue as a first-grade teacher. There might come a day when I have a chance to be a coach, but I know that my heart belongs to my students. I am teaching children thinking, as Dr. Harapnuik would tell us, “Changing the world, one learner at a time.”
My quote from my first class was, “I have so much to learn. The growth will continue…” I named my ePortfolio “reflected growth” because I did believe that I was going to grow throughout the time in this program. I was able to do more than I ever thought that I could do. I believe that I got better in writing my reflections. I also remembered that even though I was with other people in the class, I had my own experience. The quote from the last class is now-“This journey in the DLL program has exceeded my expectations!!!” I believe in whoever wants a masters will have their minds blown at the end!
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My Road with Makerspace

12/15/2019

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Eighteen months ago, I was just getting started on my road with Makerspace. I had taken a couple of classes with my district, and I had decided that this would become a part of my course (Teaching Recycling.) As a first grade teacher, I had not gotten a solid rotation (center) schedule before this time. For the first month and a half, I played around with the plan, and I was hooked. My students were too- they loved to create and design things with the reusable materials that I had stored from before and The Welman Project (a place to get free stuff for teachers.) Then we had to decide on an innovation project, and I decided that makerspace would be great to do. Little did I know that I would go into so much depth with all of the classes that I would take in Digital Learning and Leading road.

The Start

I have always loved to go to Pinterest to get ideas for my classroom, and this is where I started my research of makerspace. The opinions in Pinterest gave me the topics that I wanted to research about makerspace (this is the original Literature Review)- ownership of learning and exploring, collaboration, and creating and experiencing the real world. The proposal had some examples of what was going on in the classroom. I loved seeing what was going on in my classroom.  I felt sad that I had not started this project earlier so that each student who was in my class could experience makerspace. That is why I wanted it for the whole school. (See Proposal with the first implementation outline)

Continuing on

In Creating Learning Environments, I realized that makerspace was something that my parents had my brother and I do growing up (see Learning Philosophy.) It was a natural part of being a constructivist and have the students “learn by doing.” I allowed myself to “let go” and let the students choose their own learning. The “letting go” crossed over to math, where I was able to teach concepts that were beyond a first grade or allowing more time for the students to work on that concept. The 3-column table and UbD lesson plan was a chance for the students to a more deeper purpose when going into the makerspace while working with the theory of design thinking. I was able to use the 3-column table method with my Makerspace Club group as they designed a disaster-proof structure. I loved how the projects turned out. (During the Call to Action in a later class, I have pictures of the projects.) We were also asked to think about Growth Mindset, and I saw how vital makerspace was in this concept (which will lead to my action research plan- 7 months later.)
Leading Organizational Change was the class that made me think “why” in a much deeper way.  Also that I needed to talk to my principal about putting a makerspace in our school. Watching Sinek (2009) made me realize that to get the trust and loyalty from others, leaders need to start with the “why.” I developed a WHY, HOW, WHAT for makerspace. The video of Sinek (2009) has also been shown at other district classes (diversity in equity), and I have realized how important “the why” is for everything. Grenny, Patterson, Maxfield, McMillan, & Switzler (2013) gave me great ideas of influencing people that focuses on motivation and ability in personal, social, and structural level. At this time, I had not talked with the principal.  This assignment motivated me to speak with my principal, where she said that she was excited to have makerspace be a part of our applied learning school. I had been talking to some of the teachers about makerspace. I asked them to be part of the team that would use the 4DX book that McChesney, Covey, and Huling (2012) had written to execute the plan of makerspace. (One teacher changed positions, and another one left the school.)
In the class of Professional Learning, we were asked to make up an implementation plan where I put dates together with links of videos or projects in the different phases of makerspace. I was able to put everything that I had worked on to this point, and this made me incredibly proud of what I had learned up to this point.
In the next class, we extended the Literature Review, and I loved finding more about Makerspace globally. (I also think by this point that I felt like I was an okay writer and felt more confident in my research.) I thought it was refreshing to find out that countries call makerspace a different name like fab labs, hackerspace, Chaihuo, and Makerskola. I was able to have four of the teachers go see another Makerspace room (from a school in my district) with the principal’s small push. This allowed me to start the first phase in the implementation outline from the last class. I had the teachers tell me the positives and ponderings about the room. I was able to put this information in the Call to Action Prezi Video along with pictures of their room and my makerspace club students. This is also the time that I found out that my principal was retiring. I knew at this time that the makerspace probably would not be happening in the timeline that I had started. (See Post)
Earlier in the classes, I realized that the growth mindset was a part of makerspace. So when we were to extend our research for our action research plan, I focused on the impact of growth mindset on the use of makerspace in early learning grades (and added that it would increase math MAP test scores to get the quantitative data.) This led me to add to the literature review, where I got to see the growth mindset in even a better light when thinking about it with makerspace. (See also the outline and the action research paper.)
The next class had us make an online course, and I picked the topic of “Intro to Makerspace.” This allowed me to revisit the videos and articles that I had looked at for the three Literature Reviews. I got more excited about sharing makerspace, and I thought that I probably needed to put this online course in the Professional Learning Plan.  (With the start of school at that time, I did not.) If you are interested in seeing this online course in Google Classroom, please comment on my website, and I will send you the code. (Here is the outline for the course.)
In my last class, we were asked to write a journal article, and I, of course, picked Makerspace and how it would allow more ownership for the students. I have not sent it into the journal...YET.

Traffic has Come

In all my classes, I have learned that I can communicate a better way than I did before. I know that everything has been my own words because it has come through my heart and soul. I have been able to use different ways of presenting like iMovie, Prezi, and Google Classroom. Knowing this makes me also a little scared about pushing to talk to my new principal (who was the Assistant Principal before in our school) about makerspace. I know that there are a lot of new things being implemented by her, and I do not want to add something else. I do know that she likes how I am using makerspace to add to the applied projects in the classroom.  (Example- Marketplace Day: the students designed products and got to “sell” them to parents and other staff in the school.) I know that she has a “buy-in,” but I do need to sit down with her and find a spot in our school to have the makerspace room.  (I should probably use the ideas I learned in Crucial Conversations.)

After the Traffic...Thoughts about the Road...So Far

I know that the standstill of getting the makerspace room does not mean that our school will not get one. It just means that I need to sit down with the principal and see how we can work the plan to have a room where all students can participate. It might also be talking to the PTA and see how they could help with this innovation plan. (Most all of the board members have had at least one of their children in my class when it has had the makerspace area.) I need to go back and look at the times that I did the 4DX plan and realized that it is not me; it is TEAM MAKERSPACE. The influencer strategy will let us think about how to get the teachers involved. This will allow us to “think smarter and not harder.” I know that the teachers have a lot on their plate with new things that the district and principal want us to do, but I want them to have makerspace be an outlet that they can go and relax (maybe make something cool.)
References
Grenny, J., Patterson, K., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2013). Influencer: The new science of leading change. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

McChesney, C., Covey, S. & Huling, J. (2012).  The 4 disciplines of execution. New York, NY: Franklin Covey Co.

Sinek, S. (2009, September). Start with why: Simon Sinek TED talk. . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPYeCltXpxw

Sinek, S. (2016, December). The origin of the why. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRaqe9M2DYc
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COVA Reflection

12/8/2019

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Press the square corners on the bottom to get the slides bigger... Enjoy!
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Throughout Learning About Digital Citizenship

9/29/2019

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    These last five weeks were very demanding in the Digital Citizenship course and in my teacher's school work. It was the first part of the school year, so I was trying to get things set up in my classroom. There were so many readings in the Digital Citizenship course.   I had to read a lot to get ready for the assignments and discussions for each week. The first thing that I did each week was to do the quiz. If I did not get a good grade on it, I would save it for later in the week. This allowed me to know what I was going to learn about (like a formative assessment.) I would then download the assignment sheet for the week, and this allowed me to see all the reflections that I was going to do during the week. I thought of the time that I was going to do each of the parts. Then I started to watch the videos and take notes on each of them. Mondays were the class, and I wrote my reflection for the course after I attended or watched the video of the class. I skimmed a lot of the readings and took notes in my journal, so I could go back and look at the articles or books. I would work on my other reflections about case studies and other assignments. The last thing that I would be to write the journal refection that I posted on my ePortfolio.
    Even though it was hard starting off the school year and taking the course at the same time, I am glad that it happened. I was able to see that teaching my first graders to be good citizens were about the same as a digital citizen. I was able to talk about teaching digital citizenship in my class in the discussion boards (because it was fresh on my mind.) I loved to write Ribble’s (2015) nine elements of digital citizenship’s definitions because it made things clear in my mind. For the third week, I enjoyed writing the descriptions of plagiarism, copyright infringement, attribution, and transformation. I was able to think creatively in the examples of these things.  
    There is a couple of things that I am proud of from this course. In the second week, I researched Pinterest and how it was a technology advance in today’s society. I was able to go back to the nine elements of digital citizenship and really think about what factors Pinterest impacted people. This made me think that Pinterest might not be a good site for younger users because “bad” people might be targeting them by seeing what their interests are. I spent about four hours on this part of the assignment because of the research, and I used Powtoon. This was the first time that I used Powtoon, and some parts were challenging. I did love how it turned out. As I was going along in the course, I kept hearing “responsible, respectful, prepared, and safe” in my classroom. I also found out that the school district wanted all schools to be a Common Sense school. This got me thinking about making a presentation that had the aspects of our school and had Common Sense videos in it.
    There was so much reflection during the last five weeks. I would say that it was hard, but I know that it made me think about what we learned about during this time in the class. If I were to change anything, I would actually add the case studies in my reflections. Some of the case studies were hard to understand, but they made me think about being a Chief Technology Officer in the district. I do not want any of my reflections not to be at my fingertips in the future. 

References
Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all

   students should know
. International Society for Technology in 
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   Education.

Click on this picture to see the presentation and all of the reflections on one page...

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Cyberbullying

9/22/2019

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Click! That is what can get people in trouble. The more it happens, the more that people can comment mean things about people and the more they can lose a reputation, and that turns into depression. I know that Lewinksyś TED talk (2015) was four years, but it does make me think about what I write on social media or even email. She had parents that watched and stood by her when she was into a deep depression. As college students, they can go unnoticed.  They are not seen by their parents all the time, and maybe they do not want their parents to worry about them. I know that Lewinsky did not have a choice in her ̈private ̈ things coming out, but if someone stopped sharing it, it would help the situation. Parents cannot see what is happening to any child in middle school or high school too.
    There are some things that educatorś need to do to prevent cyberbullying, as Hinduja & Patchin (2015) put in their book. It is essential to educate the students and staff by talking about examples and telling them that cyberbullying is a serious topic to discuss with each other. Tell the students to stop and think before they post anything online. They need to realize that what they post could hurt someone emotionally or maybe that someone might want to kill themselves. If the teachers start to see a student begin to have their grades slip or not talk when they usually do, they need to intervene. Ask counselors to come in and talk too.  
Parents should be educated too. In their meeting about cyberbullying, they should see the statistics of it and get different examples, like in the case of Ryan Halligan from 2003. They should be told that it is okay to have apps to monitor their childś social media. A school should make sure they are talking to the parents at least every other month either during a parent conference, electronic newsletter, or a phone call. This hopefully will make the parents talk to their children more about what might happen for cyberbullying.
As I have been reading and watching videos about cyberbullying this week, I have figured out that this is getting to be a significant problem among students. Cyberbullying can be defined as being threatened, made fun of, or posting pictures online. This can happen on different social media sites, or in some instances, a website is put up online. Cyberbullying affects the person being bullied and the people around the site at that time. When kids see things happen and do not say anything, they are called bystanders. Ryan Halliganś father gave the term ¨upstanders¨ as people getting up and telling that something is going online. Cyberbullying needs to be stopped!
References
Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J. W. (2015). Bullying beyond the schoolyard: Preventing and responding to cyberbullying. Corwin.
TED (2015, March 20). The price of shame: Monica Lewinsky [video file].  Retrieved from  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_8y0WLm78U
Ryan's Story Presentation. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ryanpatrickhalligan.org/

Resources


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The Copyrights and Copywrongs

9/15/2019

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     As I have been reading this week's required readings, I have thought about what I use in my classroom. There are things that I have bought through Teacher Pay Teachers (TPT) that have enhanced my teaching from vocabulary to design thinking. They sometimes have a choice of single-use and multiple uses. If I share any of the pages, I need to be buying the multiple-use one because this is a copyright infringement. I can tell the person asking to use it where it is on the TPT site. 
    When I was looking at Creative Common (n.d.) site, I noticed that it mentioned that you could use things from The MET. I remember going into museums as a kid and that it was not allowed to take pictures of paintings or other pieces of art. When I go to museums now, I see people taking pictures, and they are posting them on Facebook or other social media page. Creative Common (n.d.) has let the works of arts be part of the public domain so that many people (including students) can see and be able to study them. This especially since they might never be able to actually to the museum.
    As I think about the videos that I use in my classroom, most of them are for education purposes. I use the "Discovery Education" site that has been approved, and I believe the district bought for the teachers. Most of You-Tube videos have a little teaser sand then it makes you pay for the movie. I know that if you want movies for an incentive, the school has to pay for film licensing. This amount for a film license is about $500- the PTA at my school has put this in their budget. 
    These four words are very important in copyright issues:
  • Plagiarism- writing things that someone else wrote and then not citing it.  This  definition hopefully is not on the web because I “got it” from my head.  If I had written it down on my e-Portfolio and then used it now, I would have to cite it.  We had to do a plagiarism check when we did our Lit Reviews.  
  • Copyright infringement- Bailey (2013) describes this to be any failure to observe ¨the  rights on the copyright holder.¨  An example of this could be writing a sequel to The Phantom Tollbooth without permission.  
  • Attribution-¨To err is human; to forgive divine.¨  Who said this, you may ask- ​ Alexander Pope in his work from 1908.  An attribution is the identification of who  says something first.  Many people quote the Bible or many famous political leaders.
  • Transformation- As I was looking at this definition or examples in places, I came across transformative art.  I thought about how I would love to paint a picture like Monet at a Painting with a Twist event.  I would be using the painting as an example (which is as a copyrighted original) and making it my own so that it would not infringe on the original artist (my favorite artist, by the way.
    As I think about this week, I have to be careful about what I am putting in my classroom curriculum. Even as a first-grade teacher, I must follow the four fair use factors that were found in the TEACH act toolkit (n.d.) The purpose and character of the use must be used for nonprofit and educational and not commercial use. The nature of the copyrighted work should be more factual and not as much for entertainment. The amount of the copyrighted work must be considered by using a smaller amount versus a large portion or of the whole work. The last factor is the effect on the market for the copyrighted work by weighing in who owns the copy or how many copies are going to be made.

References
Bailey, J. (2013, October 07). The difference between copyright infringement and plagiarism.  Retrieved from https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2013/10/07/difference-copyright-infringement-plagiarism/

CC0. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0

The Original TEACH Act Toolkit. (n.d.). Retrieved from 
         https://lib.lsu.edu/services/copyright/teach/index


Resources
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Digital Footprints & the Impact of Technology

9/8/2019

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For this week, I have learned about how a digital footprint or tattoo can impact the future of a person.  Last week, I gave a lesson to my first graders on Digital Citizenship. I showed them four things- toothbrush, padlock, permanent marker, and toothpaste- and explained how these things were like digital citizenship.  The permanent marker and toothpaste are examples of digital footprint/tattoos. The video from Common Sense (2013) says that they can be searched, copied, shared, broadcasted, and permanent. The footage that Steve Johnson (2009) states that it is where we’ve been, who we’ve been with, where we’ve wandered, and where we are going.  As I was explaining both examples, I told the students that once they put something on the internet, people could find it again (even if they try to take it down.) I also told them that they should make sure that they do not put anything hurtful to someone else.
I have realized that I have a long line of being on technology.  In elementary school, I have a vague remembering when I was in a class that had basic programming on a big white computer.  In middle school, I had a class that had some more programming on the computer. At my university, I had a Computer math class and an email for the first time, so I spent a lot of time in the library.  As I entered the classroom, I found out that I could get “stuff” (like Elmo or tech things- 2000s) when I went to technology classes. After just substituting for a few years, I went back to the classroom and once again, started to go to the district technology classes.  This time around, I was able to get a Chromebook, two iPads, and lots of other things. I started to find programs like Seesaw and greenscreen that would help teach things in the class. The PD in the PJs in Seesaw introduced me in all sorts of stuff like videotaping myself or the students.  Seesaw has been a great way for me to see what the students know about a specific topic that I am teaching.    
As I have been in the DLL program at Lamar, I have added not only to my e-portfolio but also to my You-Tube account.  An intentional digital footprint/tattoo are things like pictures or statements that “person” put on the internet. An unintentional digital footprint/tattoo are pictures or comments when other people mention the “person.”  I need to remember that there are pictures of friends that being used and I need to get permission from those people.  
This week, I went to the Tech Liaison training for my district and found out that the district wants all of the schools to be a “Common Sense School.”  I found it surprising all the information that is on this site about the impact of technology with different media. There is so much information that talks about apps, games, and websites.  My video of how Pinterest has impacted digital citizenship is below.

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As I finish this week, I will remember that I should always be positive what I put out on the internet.  Everything is public with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and school websites. It is important to think about the pictures and words that will be looked at for years to come.  A footprint might be washed away, but a tattoo is hard to get off.  

References
Johnson, S. (2009, November 09). Digital Footprints - Your New First Impression. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZjmrJvL_eg
Sense, Common (2013, August 12). What's in Your Digital Footprint? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P_gj3oRn8s

Resources

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Digital Citizenship and Its Nine Elements

9/1/2019

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After a week of diving deep into what digital citizenship is, I was able to explain it to my aunt, who had pretty much no clue what it was. I tried to pull the definition from my brain- "the teaching of what is right and what is not right about the digital world." She was a little confused, so I pulled out my new definition- "the ability for a digital citizen to be prepared, responsible, respectful, and safe as they move through the digital world." I was able to explain Ribble's (2015) nine elements of digital citizenship:

  1. Digital Access- This is the way that the students and the parents have access to technology to get in contact or turn in assignments to schools. Teachers need to think about the different groups (like socioeconomic status, disabilities, or physical location.) Schools have helped this situation by giving students in specific grades a laptop or Chromebook. Ribble (2015) includes this in the respect category because all these groups have different access to technology (maybe not the "newest.")
  2. Digital Commerce- This is the buying and selling of things on the internet. Learners should realize that they could get in trouble and that their credit follows them for life. They should make sure that they are safe in creating strong passwords because they might have identity theft. Ribble (2015) includes this in the educate category because people need to be aware of how to protect their personal information while also buying online.
  3. Digital Communication- This is the understanding of the different ways to communicate (or message) others with abbreviations, emojis, or even Bitmojis. There are some terrible things like sexting, cheating on tests, or cyberbullying. Ribble (2015) includes this in the educate category because this gives people choices on how to see how a message would fit on different methods like email or Twitter. 
  4. Digital Literacy- This is understanding what the process is in the teaching and learning about the digital world. Many times, teachers are given a program or app that they have to use in their classroom. They are not explained thoroughly how to use it in their class (or they are told to use it a week before school starts) and so the program usually crashes and burns. If the teachers are allowed to explore or develop the plan, it will be better utilized. Ribble (2015) includes this in the educate category because people can even learn from their peers or family members.
  5. Digital Etiquette- This is the understanding of the conduct that people should utilize when using things "digital." Ribble (2015) calls it the role model to tell the learners what is appropriate or inappropriate when going into the world of digital. This includes the acceptable use policies (AUPs.) Ribble (2015) consists of this in the respect category because what we post, tweet or text can affect others and might be misunderstood. 
  6. Digital Law- This tells what is legal and not legal in the world of digital. This includes file sharing, pirating software, hacking, stealing identities, and illicit photos. It is the electronic responsibility for actions or deeds (i.e., rules or policies.) Ribble (2015) includes this in the respect category because most of the materials made for online are from people that it is their living and that this is like stealing.
  7. Digital Rights & Responsibilities- These are the requirements and freedoms extended to everyone in the digital world. When given these, people are expected to act right by citing sources or reporting behaviors that are inappropriate. Ribble (2015) includes this in the protect category because if something happens online, they need to share what happened and that it is essential to have passwords.
  8. Digital Health & Wellness- This is the physical and psychological well-being of people that use things to get in the world of digital. This includes ergonomics, how high or low the tables are for students, and how much time they are on the computer. Ribble (2015) consists of the protect category because there needs to be a balance on time between being online or not online (includes different types of games that are "mature.")
  9. Digital Security- This is protecting self and others while they are doing things digitally. This includes changing passwords or passcodes, data backup, and protection against hackers, including spyware/ adware. Ribble (2015) consists of this the protect category because people should make sure that their passwords are not given to just anyone.

 I started this week watching videos from CyberWise (2015) and Bbrandino68 (2010.) These videos let me get the necessary 101 on what digital citizenship was and how I was going to put the nine elements of digital citizenship in place. CyberWise (2015) said that digital citizenship was the rules of the road and the collaboration, connection, and learning community information access. I liked that I could find out what the nine elements were in Bbrandino68's (2010) video, and then I went into detail in Ribble's (2015) book.

     With all that I have read, internalized, and reflected on, I realize how critical digital citizenship is. Ohler (2012) commented that digital citizenship is like "character education" for things online and needs to be talked openly, so everyone has a buy-in. I have introduced digital citizenship with four items to my first graders for three years. I have four objects in a bag- padlock, toothbrush, permanent marker, and toothpaste. For the padlock, I explain that it is essential to have passwords, and they need to be strong (I give an example of bank accounts for parents.) For the toothbrush, I tell them not to share their passwords (but I say that it is okay for parents and teachers to know.) For the permanent marker, I tell them whatever they post or write online will be permanent. They need to be careful about what they post because it could hurt others' feelings. For the toothpaste, I tell them that what comes out online is hard to get back in (again- don't say mean things.) These four things are in the category of digital etiquette with digital rights & responsibilities and digital security. One boy in my class told his mom what a toothbrush and toothpaste stood for- this is pretty cool that kids do listen to us, teachers.

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References
Bbrandino68. (2010, December 15). The nine elements of digital ditizenship. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87JiUrWaQVk
CyberWise. (2015, June 10). What Is digital citizenship? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=OH6869bD8iU
Ohler, J. (2012, April). Digital citizenship means character education for the digital age. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 47(Sup1), 25-27. doi:10.1080/00228958.2011.10516720
Ribble, Mike. Digital citizenship in schools: nine elements all students should know. International Society for Technology in Education, 2015.

Resources
What is Digital Citizenship? By Common Sense
https://www.commonsense.org/education/videos/what-is-digital-citizenship
How to be a responsible digital citizen?
https://raisingchildren.net.au/pre-teens/entertainment-technology/digital-life/digital-citizenship
https://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Responsible-Digital-Citizen
How to be a prepared digital citizen? (THINK)
https://www.k12k.com/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=416052&type=d&pREC_ID=908919
How to be a respectful, responsible and safe digital citizen? (video with lesson)
https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship/lesson/we-the-digital-citizens

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Reflecting On Online Courses

8/18/2019

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As I have been building my online course these five weeks, I have also been getting ready for a new school to begin. I know that I will probably change things in the course as I usually do with my new group of students. The students in this master class were asked to reflect on these guiding questions:
 
  • What Instructional Design theories lend themselves to the development of online learning environments? Which one did you lean toward in developing your course?
 
As I built an "Intro to Makerspace" online course for teachers and administration, I thought about how they can learn about makerspace and also get to do hands-on things. Bates (2015) says that a constructivism teacher should be teaching thinking skills, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and originality. That is how I strive to teach each day. And that is how I wanted to form my online class. I will have the participants make things and then upload pictures in the fifth module. They will be building their knowledge by doing and then get to reflect and collaborate with their hands-on learning (Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism & Learning and Instructional Theory, n.d.) This will allow the participants to guide their thinking as they develop their Makerspace for either their classroom or school.  
 
  • How did you implement the UbD plan for your learning environment in creating learning opportunities for students?
 
As I worked on this online course, I thought about the end result- the teachers would be so excited to start a Makerspace in their classroom. Wiggins & McTighe (2005) has teachers designing curriculum with beginning with the desired results, then thinking of the evidence and last planning the learning experiences and instructions. I first thought about what was my goal for each module and then evidence of that goal that ended up going into a portfolio in Google Slides. Last was the planning of the learning, in which I found different videos and sites that would teach the participants.  
When we learned about the UbD plan in EDLD 5313 (Creating Significant Environments), we also went over Fink's (2003) 3-column table. This has been the guiding force of most of the courses for "Digital Learning and Leading." I used this as a guide for my online class.
  1. Foundational- Basics of Makerspace
  2. Application- Makerspace with Growth Mindset 
  3. Integration- Materials in Makerspace
  4. Human Dimension- Guidelines in Makerspace
  5. Learning How to Learn- Exploring different Makerspace activities (coding & low tech)
Each week for our master's classes, we are asked questions in which we have to reflect and even comment over our classmates' comments. Then we are asked to do an assignment in which we think about what we have read or heard and put it into the task. This has allowed me (and the other students to feel that we have ownership in what we are doing throughout our masters.) As I have researched Makerspace more and more, I have realized that it is what you or your students make it. I have designed this course to have participants know what Makerspace is.  They will know that "in the end, it can be pretty much anything."
 
  • With regard to what you have learned in this course, discuss the relevance and importance of providing online learning for our students. What is the enduring understanding you can take from this course and apply in your teaching?
 
All teaching should hit on different learning styles for students- auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and reading/ writing preferences. For this said, UDL (Universal Design for Learning) has action and expression, representation and engagement being the standards for this learning (UDL at a Glance, 2010.) Online learning can provide all of this:
  1. Representation- multiple media, graphics
  2. Engagement- gives a choice, lets participants take risks
  3. Action and Expression- able to model and provide feedback in different ways
Bates (2015) suggests that online learning allows them to use text, give their voice on audio, make a video, or even computing in coding. Sometimes, these courses can have students get out of their comfort zones, and they work on challenges that would hard to do with the actual class.  
As I teach first graders, I have set up my classroom with direct teaching with different technology options to find out if the students understand what they are learning. I know that all children learn differently and also a different speed. This course has let me think about how I should design online courses to guide some of the teachings of my students. As I watched UDL at a Glance (2010), I thought about what goals and barriers are going to be for students and that I should be flexible along the way.
 
References
 
Bates, A. W. (2015). Teaching in a digital age.
 
Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism & Learning and Instructional Theory. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://amara.org/en/videos/EGp9AZspE8hl/info/behaviorism-cognitivism-constructivism-learning-and-instructional-theory/
 
Fink, L. D. (2003). A self-directed guide to designing courses for significant learning. Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 
UDL at a Glance. (2010). Retrieved from https://amara.org/en/videos/8Aygby4OcIcF/info/udl-at-a-glance/
 
Wiggins, G., Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Ascd.
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UDL Means Diversity

8/11/2019

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As I am pondering what 2 courses I could make for my first graders, I thought that this would not work for me.  Then I thought about the video on Universal Design for Learning. I know that I will be getting a very diverse group of students- 2 VI (visually impaired) and one student that is super smart (and very excited to be in my class.)  I want to reach all the students and find out about their interests and needs. Since I have never had a VI student, this will be a big learning curve (they do have VI teachers that will help us.) I am thinking about doing part of my Social Studies curriculum on Google Classroom (and through Seesaw- digital portfolio.)  I might start with just one assignment a week when I get the class set of chrome books. The other online course that I plan to write is for at least one child in my class that needs to be challenged. I want to challenge him to take math to a whole new level. I teach at an applied learning center and all of the things about UDL is something that applies to my school.  I am excited to share all of this with my new principal- action & expression, representation and engagement is so part of who we are!
As I was building my course, I got over-excited about finding videos and articles about makerspace.  I then put 7 resources (that is what they call it on Google Classroom) for the first module. I was overwhelmed by just looking at what the teachers were going to be looking at.  The "2 Minute Teacher Multimedia Principle" video mentioned that people have "limited capacity." (I see that in first graders, but I also get this way on inservice days.) I decided to condense the number to 3 or 4 and then put the other resources in a bibliography for that module. This way, the participant will have a choice to look at the other resources.
References
2 Minute Teacher Multimedia Principle. (2015). Retrieved from https://amara.org/en/videos/Hi6zw91qPqTJ/info/2-minute-teacher-multimedia-principle/
UDL At A Glance. (2010). Retrieved from https://amara.org/en/videos/8Aygby4OcIcF/info/udl-at-a-glance/
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    Cindy Kohn is a teacher who learns by reflecting from her growth.

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