Thing 3: Photo Fun

I have had Snapchat on my phone for a year or 2 now and I have friends and get messages, but never check them or use it. I decided that this would be a good time to dig deeper into Snapchat and learn more about it. I decided to do some editing on a picture that I took recently when I got engaged so I could have some fun with it.

I read some articles on Snapchat and learned about filters, geofilters, stickers, adding text and more. I learned that you can add up to 3 filters to each photo. I changed the filter in the above photo. I also looked into geofilters.  I learned that you can create your own to use. The only problem is that you have to do it in advance because Snapchat has to approve it and they cost money. I tried doing an engaged one and it said it would be available within 2 hours, but it was going to cost $7.99. I decided to stick with my own editing and save my money. I also added text in which I was able to change the font, color, size, and move it around anywhere I wanted in the picture. Lastly, I added some stickers to my picture. Stickers were easy to add, there were a lot available, and they are easy to move around and change size. After I was finished with the photo, I saved it and uploaded to my computer from my phone which was very easy!

Overall, I had a lot of fun playing with photos and editing pictures. It was very easy to do so I am sure that it would be easy for 6th grade students to catch onto. The only concern that I have is  that I was looking around and couldn't access it from my work computer. An application has to be downloaded and it is not available in chrome. Could this still be used in the classroom or would students have to edit photos at home for homework and upload them at school? I kind of like the idea of switching up a regular math homework assignment to something more fun and exciting like photo editing. Also, this day in age all students either have a tablet or a phone so we do not have to worry about them having access to technology.

I would like to explore more of Snapchat and eventually begin to use it in my classroom. I envision using it first as away that students con contact me in the classroom in the evening time. I have an app. for parents, but many times kids are on their own and it would be helpful if they had a ways to contact me outside of school hours. If I make a Snapchat account, I could post information for my students to see and it would be likely that the students see my posts because there are already on Snapchat with their friends at home. I think it would be great not only for academics, but also for building relationships with my students. If they know I am available to them, then they are going to be more trusting of me. Solid teacher/student relationships means better behaved students and allows me to focus more on academics as opposed to nonsense!

Thing 2: Student Blogging and Writing

I enjoyed learning more about blogging in my classroom. I don't know how I have gone this long without ever considering incorporating it into my lessons! One of the greatest weaknesses in our district is writing. I think blogging is an excellent way to get students excited about writing. Writing can be difficult for students and therefore, students try to avoid it often in the form of acting out through disruptive behaviors.

After reading the articles, here are a few things that stuck out to me.

      ~ One thing that I wanted to highlight is the idea that blogging gets students excited about writing. I am open to anything that will develop a passion for writing within my students. Many kids find writing difficult and boring and therefore dislike it. I want to find a way to bring back the love and passion for writing. I feel like blogging is an excellent way.

      ~ Another thing that i wanted to highlight is the fact that blogging gives the students freedom to write. Most writing assignments these days are given to students. There is not as much time spent on allowing the students to freely write. This may be uncomfortable to the students because they are not often given the opportunity to write about what they want. They are so used to being given a topic that it will take them awhile to get used to free writing.

      ~ Another thing that I think is a benefit of blogging is that fact that it allows students to write comments on the blogs of their classmates. Many students struggle to edit their own work or their peers work.I feel that with blogging, students can practice the skill of giving constructive criticism, positive feedback, making connections, or even asking questions without even knowing it.

     ~ When students begin making comments, this  is a great time to tie in education on cyber bullying. It is important to discuss this topic and continue to discuss it after so that students are aware of what it is, what to do if you are being cyber bullied, and how to deal with it when you are cyber bullied. Many students do not get this education at home, so it is important that we provide it to our students within the classroom. Students also need to know that there are people that they can go to if they are a victim. We also want to provide an environment to the students were they can come to us for coping strategies that they can use to help them overcome the effects of cyber bulling.

All in all, I am really excited to begin blogging in my classroom. I will definitely have to take my time rolling it out because of all of the aspects of it that will be new to students. As long as I take my time introducing it to my students, I think that we will be able to get into a routine where students could improve and even possible spark a passion for writing that the student didn't even know that that they had.

Thing 1: Getting Started

Hello! I am brand new to Cool Tools and put off getting started until now. My coworker (Kim Lee) introduced me to this PD. I took a long time getting started because setting up a blog is new to me and I was dreading getting started learning something new. Now that I have gotten started, I realize that it is not bad at all and I was silly to procrastinate starting this!

Now to introduce myself. My name is Carinne Mull but I have always gone by Carrie because people have a difficult time pronouncing my name correctly. I am in my 13th year teaching in the RCSD. Most of my years teaching have been in 6th grade at #30 school that changed part way through my years to #54 school. I enjoy teaching 6th graders because I like how the kids are more mature, independent, and they understand my sarcasm. Teaching 6th grade can be difficult because the kids get an elementary version of "senioritis" because in my school 6th grade is the highest grade in the building. Also, it is not always easy to find teachers that are willing to teach 6th grade!

I originally joined this program because I wanted to get PD credit hours through a program that I could do from home. I am a single mom and I have my kids during the week, so it is difficult for me to get PD credit unless it is a program like this. I don't like to miss out on time with my kids during the week and I also cannot afford to keep hiring babysitters for after school. Now that I am learning more about the program, I am excited to dive in and learn more ways to integrate technology into my daily lessons. Kids love technology and it helps keep them engaged on their academics as opposed to fighting and doing other things that take away from academics.