Ed Tech Pintrest Lesson Plan

For this assignment we were asked to use Pintrest to research lesson plans specific to our core and then come up with our own lesson plan and do a crazy weave of internet blogging to put it back on pintrest! It was a show! Now I'm going to complete the second half of the assignment which is documentation kind of. P.S. I tried to post the picture of each pin on my this blogger but it was sloppy and did not work smoothly.
This is my lesson plan link: Pintrest Assignment, Lesson Plan.

Repins:

1. Parent Involvement- This site shows ways to get parents connected in the classroom. Entails a list of newsletters, parent conference ideas and website tips to keep the family in the loop.
2. Bell Ringers- These are good bell ringers for underclassmen. Bell ringers minimize chaos at the beginning and end of classes.
3. Thesis Statement - This site gives a good idea of teaching how to complete a good thesis statement. Thesis statements are one of the most important skills to learn in writing a paper.
4. About Teaching- Tips, myths and rumors about being in the classroom first hand.
5. English AND Art- In this reading assignment students use pastels or other utensils to change a work of art into their own short poem.
6. English AND Health- Students watch a documentary about current events and write a quick synopsis of the work. Mixes need-to-know-health with English.
7. Reading Comprehension- This pre-made lesson chart shows students the proper steps to better understand literature. This is a great knowledge building chart.
8. SAT Crossword- This crossword generator uses SAT words to help prepare upperclassmen for their final exit exam. This is an awesome exercise, this helped me a lot studying for my SAT.
9. Summer Reads- This selection of books not only grab the attention of English lovers but action fans, adventure lovers, and plain admirers of good books. These will appeal more to male students as well.
10. Descriptive Writing- A great, fun exercise in capturing description in writing. This book gives small parts of several different works of art and encourages students to see description more vividly.

Original Pins:

1. Lesson Content- This website is great for teachers and checking their made lesson plans. This site makes sure you have the correct curriculum in each lesson.
2. Emotion In Reading- This exercise is a fun reading assignment. Students read out loud with emotion as they also act out their given scene.
3. Persuasion- This website gives lots of lesson ideas on teaching persuasion. However, most are essay prompts, I am sure I can alter it to make it a little more fun.
4. Clever Rule- Funny rule about punctuation. Haha couldn't pass it up.
5. Text: Sarcasm and Irony- This is piece of text that is amazing in pulling out sarcasm and irony. Great for teaching the similarities and differences.
6. Details and Settings- This is another assignment that helps students pull out details and settings. However it isn't quite a smooth lesson. Needs work.
7. Greek Literature- This is a short book that involves elements of Greek literature. Great for an introduction assignment into the mythological world.
8. "What If" Box- Fun end of the year activity promoting original ideas and creativity among students.
9. Sentence Structure- This is another activity on grammar and sentence structure. Upperclassmen work. Polishing off learned skills.
10. Define a Hero- This is an awesome assignment to compliment a Greek introduction. Or an intro to The Odyssey.

Yo, It's Halloween!

Now I'm not quite sure if I am allowed to talk about Halloween because its a holiday not everyone celebrates but I think ill talk about it anyways! Now I'm a huge advocate for "never too old for candy" but tonight I'm going to be lame and watch movies with my friends and eat 50 cent corn dogs haha. It's going to be pretty stellar tho. Well.... Be safe classmates!

MY Class!

The other day we got an assignment to review 10 technological tools that we could use in our classrooms when we get into the field. However, the assignment is pretty strict... so I don't really have too much personal creativity. So bear with me, I'm going to attempt to make this as entertaining as possible!
P.S. I am an aspiring English teacher so my lessons should be applied in a high school literature standpoint.

Cool Tool Reviews:

1. Animoto- Animoto is an interactive slideshow tool. It can be used to link your favorite photos and videos together in a single collage. Animoto is easy to use and a great presentational tool. In MY class room I would use this tool as a introduction project into the class! A group of three students will make one slide show compiling photos and good times they had in the previous summer. This will be a good class bonding assignment.
2. Crocodoc- Crocodoc is a document embedding tool. This app allows you to take segments from any given article and compile it into one newsletter. These newsletters are also accessible on line and can be downloaded in any style format making it ideal for information sharing. in MY class room students will use Crocodoc to work in groups on research projects. Students can work individually as well as collaboratively.
3. Audacity- Audacity is a audio editing software that allows you to create, cut, and process any sound files. This tool is a little more difficult to use. Audacity also requires a software download. In MY class room students will be in groups of four and create their own basic simple language. They will record the alphabet of their new language and say a few sentences in context.
4. Comicbrush- Comicbrush is an interactive application that allows you to create a comic strip. This online tool promotes creativity in a fun way. You are also able to publish and sell your work. In MY class room students will individually create a comic strip about a certain Greek figure. The students will then present their work to the class.
5. TikaTok- TikaTok takes any formatted document and allows you to create your own book. This application is good because it lets you steer away from MLA essay assignments and give the students a different experience. TikaTok is very easy to use and is sponsored by Pearson's. In MY class room students will write a short story using word, pdf, etc. and use TikaTok to create their own story book. Students will be required to add pictures as well to make their work pop!
6. Penzu- Penzu is a personal application that is similar to blogging. This tool allows you to write journal entries online that can only be viewed by yourself and those you allow. Penzu is a easy to use site that keeps your memories, pictures and thoughts safe and alive. In MY class room students will use Penzu to write weekly journal entries and add me as a viewer. Every Friday I will check Penzu and grade students on completion. This gives me good feedback on class assignments and gives me a better idea of what's going on in the life of my students.
7. Songza- Songza is primarily a music site that resembles Pandora. Listeners can choose a mood or time of day and Songza will play the perfect music for the moment. However, this application also allows you to play any song on demand. In MY class student will choose a song and write a two to three page analysis paper. They will present paper and using Songza play it for the class.
8. Bubblus- Bubblus is an interactive site that allows you to put your ideas out on the table. This is an effective tool for brainstorming! Users can link ideas and make graphs and charts using Bubblus. In MY class room students will be given a group assignment. To stay organized and show their slow of thought students will use Bubblus to brainstorm and then turn their finished brainstorm into me. Its like showing your work... For English.
9. Hot Potatoes- Hot Potatoes is a quiz generator. This application allows you not only to make multiple choice quizzes but matching, free response and true-or-false. This is an easy to use teacher software. In MY class room I will use this software to quiz the snot out of my students! Haha evil teacher status.
10. What2Learn- What2Learn is another interactive quiz making application. However this tool is easier to use than Hot Potatoes. This allows your to make various quizzes quick and easy and save them to the web. In MY class room students will be in groups of two or three. The students will create quizzes for the other groups! I will check the quizzes to make sure they're reasonable.

Okay, that was terrible I know! Thanks for reading yo!

A Little Social Media Rant. Prt. 2

'The Growth And Prominence Of The Social Media Generation'

In this article the growth of social media is linked with our generations. The socially adept is given the classification of Generation C. This means these individuals are a part of the technological spread. Advertisement, as always, has been actively using social media to get their products across; this has been put in the narrow category of Activism Generation. This is effective due to so many online users. "The Internet has changed almost every aspect of modern life. Those who have embraced the social aspects of the digital world comprise a unique segment of the population that is comfortable sharing their location and data with their friends and followers". I think this article was pretty interesting. It really opens your eyes to what's happening in our modern societies. It seems like everywhere you look some kid has their noses pressed to their phone screens. Things have changed, however it is nice to know that technology unites all generations! I feel linking generations to technology shows the full spread of social media and devices. Not only are younger generations into the newest electronics, its not just a teen thing anymore. It has become ageless. I don't want to sound too John Connor but we probably shouldn't get to dependent.

A Littel Social Media Rant. Prt. 1

'Putting A Price On Twitter'

In this article the price of two of the biggest social network sites are discussed, Twitter and Facebook. These two powerhouse media sites have racked up almost 2 billion dollars alone. That's amazing. Social media sites have been collecting massive amount of revenue each year, especially since the rise of mobile usage and what not. This brings about the question of government taxation on social media. Now I am not too educated on the subject so I don't feel comfortable talking about it but looking at the numbers in this article and applying what I know about nation debt and government tendencies it would come as no surprise if the government started to take advantage of that. Taxing the web seems absolutely illogical and unethical but you never know... Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Unfortunate All-Nighter

Last night a few buddies and I were all hanging out, eating junk food, playing games, and talking about which movies have the best fight scenes... ya know... guy stuff. Well anyway, my room mate and I end up leaving to head back to the dorms around 1:30 am. Right before I park my car at the I get a phone call, it's my friend telling me that they just got robbed! I rush over for moral support because there is really nothing I can do. I get there and they're devastated. Their TV, game consoles, and a few other expensive items were taken and one of the thieves tried to make off with their car as well! The police showed up and I left around 5 am. I'M EXHAUSTED! Nap please. Pray for my plas! They're gonna need it!

Meet Charlie Light!

Welcome to my blog! My name is Collin Charlie Reed Lightfoot, and this is where I come to lay all my thoughts out so my brain doesn't explode! Let me give you a peak at who I am so you can follow along a little easier. I am a sophomore at Henderson State University! I'm currently pursuing a degree in English and Physical education, and let me tell you... The struggle is real! I've never been so busy in my life! Balancing studies, swimming and my social life is quite the challenge but I just keep moving forward even if it’s blindly. I've never been a big fan of moving backwards... as a matter a fact its change that keeps me going. The thought of being stuck in one place doing one thing is absolutely sickening. "Why become a teacher then Collin?" I ask myself that all the time! Even though I haven't come up with the perfect answer I do know that I love opening minds! I love changing people’s views about life and what they thought was reality. I believe that if everyone had that one teacher that touched their lives in a positive and constructive way this world would be a better place! So that is my objective, to open the minds of our youth and instill within them the ability to think for themselves and make them into more enlightened individuals!

Okay enough about teaching for a moment! I was on February 5th 1994 in Dallas Texas and have moved around the Lone Star State my entire life! From the most crime infested projects in Deep Elm to the beautiful suburbs of McKinney! I am in love with music! I was raised around a variety of music; I enjoy talking about, playing and listening to all different types of tunes! I am also a part of the HSU Swim and Dive team. I started swimming my sophomore year of high school. I didn't know how to swim at all and had to end up teaching myself. The following year I was the fastest sprinter on the team! Now I am here at Henderson trying to keep it going! But things aren't really going my way.

Okay let’s call this the sad paragraph. This is the recent part of my life that is kind of depressing. Last year I found out that I have a heart disease due to high blood pressure and some other unknown things. Every 45 minutes I have severe heart palpitations that cause me to double over and pain and constructs my air way. Therefore swimming has become a bit harder than it already was. I haven't medically cleared for this semester so it seems that all the hard work I've put in up to this point has been a waste of time! But hopefully... God willing.... I will be able to make a comeback to the sport I love so much!

Okay I think that's enough to give you a feel of who I am! I hope you enjoy my blog! Have a great day!

- Charlie Light