Coding in the Classroom

There is no doubt that computer technology has increased in the last 30 years. Coding has come a long way as well. It used to be a very niche profession but has started to become more popular. The debate that coding should be taught in schools has risen recently and those who are for it are purely concerned with where the world is headed as far as education and society are concerned. It is reasonable to say that computers are heavily relied on in today's world and that the teaching of coding will prepare students to succeed as our reliance on computers continues to grow. It has been said that learning to read code is like being bilingual. Someone who has experience with coding is becoming more valuable just like someone who knows how to speak more than one language.
Teaching coding in schools has become quite controversial because just a few decades ago it was something that very few people knew. The thought that it should be included into the curriculum so quickly seems hasty to some. The job market is assumed to require knowledge of coding in the near future so teaching this at a young age is considered one of the major pros. The other major upswing to teaching code in the classroom is just the idea of getting students exposed to something that will help them as they grow. Nowadays, with knowledge literally at our finger tips, it is important to put less stress on fact-based-knowledge and start getting students ready for the world that is coming. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't teach standard curriculum but the idea is to guide students into society and learning code in school would be highly beneficial.

http://www.codeconquest.com/what-is-coding/benefits/
I included this link because it contains the need-to-know things about what coding is and how it is beneficial. I think this link is essential because most people have a general idea of what coding is but don't know enough about it to say anything more than it has something to do with computers. If people were more knowledgable about the subject there might not be such a controversy.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/02/20/what-is-coding-431/
I included this link because it also has essential information on coding. I think the main focus of this article/link is that coding is blindly considered to be difficult to learn but these are everyday average people that are learning how to code. Most people wouldn't know the first thing on how to make an app for their phones but they also don't know that it is something that is doable even with no experience.

My Feedly Homepage

Blogging in My Classroom

Blogging in My Classroom

When I have my own classroom I would like to think that I will be one of those innovative teachers who always gets their kids to do amazing work and display growth in all areas. A main focus of mine will be writing and reading as is most other lower elementary school teachers. As far as using blogs in the classroom this could be a fantastic way to assign journal entries to my students. I could post prompts for the students to write on and they would post their responses to my prompt in their own blog. The students could see each other's work and that would be a great way to get students talking and thinking about writing. I also see this as more effective than assigning a writing journal in paper form because the students aren't held as responsible for writing everyday. If the rest of the class as well as myself can see if someone posted a journal that day, I think everyone would be a little more diligent in their posting. 

The other way that I see blogging in my classroom as a useful media for learning is if I were to keep a blog of day-to-day classroom activities as well as upcoming events/projects/assignments. This would erase the need for newsletters that we hope go to the parents and not get crammed into a backpack. Their parents could stay up to date with what is going on in the classroom and it also allows them a way to post questions or concerns to me rather than relying on email. I think blogging could be a great and efficient way of communication between myself, the students, and the parents.

Blog Research

10 Educational Bloggers

1. http://mscassidysclass.edublogs.org Kathy Cassidy is an elementary school teacher in Canada. Her blogs are primarily about what her kids are doing in class and the interesting part is that on the side there are links that document each child's learning.
2. http://theteachingpalette.com/category/blog/ Theresa McGee is a lower elementary teacher who focuses on art and other classroom management strategies. I think this is useful to lower elementary teachers regardless of what subject you teach because crafting can be used universally.
3. http://www.sciencefix.com Darren Fix is a middle school science teacher who posts videos and descriptions of experiments and other classroom activities. The videos are informative, interesting, and in-depth.
4. http://www.principalspage.com/theblog/ Michael Smith is a superintendent from Illinois and he frequently posts about day to day experiences at school. I found this useful to all teachers because it sheds light on things to expect.
5. http://readingyear.blogspot.com Mary Lee Hahn is a lower elementary school teacher and she does children's book reviews. Her posts are helpful to teachers who are deciding which books to have in their classroom. They can look at her insightful review and make their decisions much faster.
6. http://blog.cathyjonelson.com Cathy Jo Nelson is a media specialists who blogs about the importance of incorporating library technology into lessons. With technology booming like it is today, these blogs can be seen as very useful to teachers.
7. http://kauaimark.blogspot.com "Mr. Homework" is a substitute teacher for elementary schools and he blogs about the life of a substitute teacher. This is probably my favorite blog I've found because it basically tells us what to expect when we take our first subbing opportunity.
8. http://learningismessy.com/blog/ Brian Crosby is an elementary teacher and he blogs about how he uses technology in the classroom. Most of his posts are about what his students are doing.
9. http://thejosevilson.com Jose Vilson is an elementary teacher in the inner city. He posts about touchy topics and his blog is something good for inner city schools because it may put some preconceived notions to bed.
10. http://abseymour.blogspot.com Rachel Seymour is a first grade teacher. Almost all of her posts are about classroom activities and how she fosters student's learning and growth in her classroom.

Social Media Research

Twitter

• @plnaugle: She is a 4th grade teacher from New Orleans. She tweets often about strategies and workshops in the classroom.
• @kellys3ps: She is a 3rd grade teacher and with Mother's Day coming up she has been tweeting a lot about the holiday. I also see pictures of her students doing classwork.
• @lindayollis:She is a 2nd/3rd grade teacher from Los Angeles who describes herself as passionate about educational blogging. She has recently been tweeting about writing and comments.
• @staceymoore: She is a 3rd grade teacher and blogger from Kentucky who has been tweeting about a dance competition and other mother related things.
• @DahlD: She is a 2nd grade teacher from Texas and tweets often about brain related activity as well as things you can use for thinking in the classroom.
• @JasonSeliskar: He is a 4th grade teacher who is often tweeting about strategies for all subjects and most recently touched on fraction solving strategies. 
• @TeacherInMe: He is a 3rd grade teacher who has been tweeting a lot of the things he does in his classroom and testing.
• @frugalteacher: She is a 2nd grade teacher from Texas who very often tweets about reading and writing with her students. She seems very passionate with English.
• @teambond: She is a 3rd grade teacher from Brighton, Michigan. She dedicates most of her tweets to activities done in the classroom with her students.
• @kegluskin: She is a 2nd grade teacher from Chicago. She obviously tweets often about her classroom but recently has been tweeting about the Chicago Blackhawks because they are dominating in the NHL playoffs currently.
• @MrsHallidays4th:She is a 4th grade teacher form Pennsylvania and she mostly retweets things that are what I am assuming are relevant to what she is currently covering in class.
• @cartersh: She is a 2nd grade teacher from Iowa who often tweets about things she does in the classroom with her students to keep them engaged.
• @CYarzy: She is an elementary teacher who posts mostly things that would be of use to teachers like teaching tools.
• @daydreamreader: She is a 2nd grade teacher who tweets about her life as well as her classroom at times.

Instagram

• @TeachingSpecialThinkers: She is a special education teacher who posts inspiring images and bulletin boards from her classroom as well as activities she has her students do.
• @thePinspiredTeacher: She is an elementary teacher who posts funny memes that teachers would enjoy. She also posts pictures of activities and crafts.
• @ApplesandABC’s: She is a kindergarten teacher who participates in teachers helping teachers so she is dedicated to posting things that went well in her classroom such as activities, crafts, and other engaging activities. 
• @TattooedTeacherBlog: She is an elementary teacher who has a lot of personal posts like selfies and pictures of her and her husband but she also has some posts of her in the classroom with her students and some of the things they were doing. Her page seems to portray the life of a teacher because it's not all spent in the classroom.
• @Seusstastic: She is a 1st grade teacher who mainly uses this site to post pictures of her students' work which is very fun to scroll through.
• @4mulafun: She is an elementary teacher who posts a ton of selfies and other personal related pictures but her educational posts are mostly math related activities and strategies.

Educational Organizations

Michigan Association for Media in Education

http://www.mimame.org

• Social Media

MAME has a Twitter account and the few tweets that I scrolled through look like they are talking about their conference and there are videos of workshops. They also have a Facebook group that people can join. I see people posting questions on the wall that are answered by other members which tells me that this group is beneficial.

• Membership

The regular membership for MAME is $50 and that includes: online community resources and information, a monthly newsletter, an annual conference, a spring seminar and summer institute, and support. There are also a lot of professional journals and readings that are included in the membership. 

• Conference

The annual conference that will be held at the Double Tree Hotel in Bay City on November 11th through the 13th will be the 42nd conference they have presented. By the looks of it you would need to be a member to attend the conference.

National Council for the Social Studies

http://www.socialstudies.org/about

• Social Media

NCSS has a Twitter account and most of the posts look to be webinars or video applications of social studies in the classroom. They also have a Facebook group with the same type of postings.

• Membership

A one year comprehensive membership is $82 and that includes: a professional newsletter, conference discounts, access to online publications that provide an in-depth analysis of social studies. 

• Conference

The 95th annual NCSS conference will be held at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on November 13th through the 15th.

About Me

• My name is Branden Atkins. I am 23 years old and I am from Cedar Springs, Michigan. My planned certification is in elementary education with group social studies as my content area. I hold season tickets for the University of Michigan football so it is obvious that I am an avid Michigan fan. I follow sports with a passion but I chose to go into teaching so that sports could remain a hobby. One of my favorite things to do when I'm not watching or going to games is shopping. It doesn't matter what I am shopping for whether it be groceries or clothes, I just love shopping.
• My experience with planning and using technology in a classroom has been interesting. I have helped 1st grade students use iPads during reading workshops. They would play a reading game at their table where everyone would have their own iPad and they would read a short story and their job was to highlight (touch) the words they didn't know. This was a great use of technology that I was able to see because students were just going through the motions and completing tasks. They were expected to participate by presenting the words that they didn't understand. My other example of experience was when I was in charge of a writing workshop in a kindergarten classroom. I used the ELMO projector which displayed what I wrote on the board for everyone to see. We were working on letters and they were filling out the same paper as I was. The great thing about the projector was that i was able to sit and face the students while using the handout and the material was being shown behind me. The benefit of me facing the students was that it allowed me to be more attentive to anyone who was struggling. 
• The picture that is attached was taken by me from where my season tickets are at Michigan Stadium. I chose that because no matter how my week was going I knew that on Saturday I would be at the game.
• I have done a lot of my service hours at Cedar Trails Elementary in Cedar Springs, Michigan. Cedar Trails is the preK-1st grade building in the Cedar Springs Public School District.