To Medicate or Not

picture taken from http://www.harvarddapa.org/drug-ipedia/study-prescription/ritalin/

The other night in my Epsy class we were discussing ADHD and voicing our opinions on whether or not we were for or against giving students medication for it. I feel like I am on the fence about this but could be leaning towards the side of against it. 

In my preinternship there were a couple boys in our class that had been on medication for ADHD. A lot of the time the students seemed like they had no energy and were like zombies in the classroom. I felt like it would have been more beneficial for the students to not be on the medication and maybe be more engaged in the lessons and more active. I felt like it was stopping them from fully learning. I believe that in the class students should be engaged and should be active in their learning. I want students to have hands-on experiences in the class and if they are on medication the experience may not always be as good as it could be. As well, I feel like the long term side effects of medication can be extremely harmful to the students in the future. I feel like these days it is over prescribed and could be harmful to the children who it is prescribed to.

On the other hand, I understand that some kids may need the medication and could benefit from it. Some students are so hyper or don't have any attention span and may need the medication to fully focus on the class and lessons. 

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this they would like to share?

Teach Task #5: All About Identity

Last night I watched a session with George Couros about online identity. It was really informing and I learned a lot. I realized that an online identity can either help you in ways or hinder you in ways, such as helping you get a job or not. It made me think about my own and how I can help create a good online identity for myself. It also helped me realize how important it is to help our future students create a good online identity for themselves from the start.

Part 2:

I googled my first and last name and this was the first few hits that came up.

I clicked on most of them to see where it went, and realized that none of the hits on the first page had anything to do with me. They were all on other people named Marley Riddell. Even on the second page of hits only 2 had to do with me, connecting to my blog and my google account.

It made me realize I don't have much of an online identity which is probably because I have my privacy settings really high. I think this is best for my personal accounts like facebook and realized that this will benefit me. I can now start creating a professional online identity and don't need to worry about my own personal stuff coming up first.

Part 3:

I have created an about.me page and linked my twitter, blog and google account to it.

So excited but so nervous

This week I received my letter for internship. I will be interning in Wapella Elementary school with their grade 1/2 class. I called the school and talked to the principal to set up a meeting. I will be heading there to meet him, my cooperating teacher and hopefully some of the students I will be teaching in June.

I am extremely excited for my internship, but at the same time I'm really nervous. I am extremely excited to meet my students and coop and talk to her about what we'll be doing for the semester and share some of our ideas for things we want to try out but I also keep thinking about all the what ifs. What if my students don't like me? What if I don't do a good job? What if my coop and I don't see eye to eye? and so on.. I know that once I meet my coop and get to the school, some of these nerves will go away but probably not all of them.

My question for everyone else, what are some of the things you're nervous about for internship?

Boy Mama Teacher Mama

Found this blog by a woman named Stephanie who is an elementary school teacher and a mother of two young boys. She posts about different activities for kids at home as well as about education. This is a post of hers that connects to our learning about technology and incorporating it into our classrooms.

http://boymamateachermama.com/2013/03/19/teacher-mama-5-ways-to-incorporate-technology-into-the-classroom/

Tech Task #4: Be a Better Blogger

After listening to Sue Water's session on becoming a better blogger I made some changes to both the setup of my blog as well as to my post Tech Task #3: Why School?.

Blog Setup

To try and make my blog more appealing and easier for others to read I changed a couple things.

1. Background: I changed the design of my background and made it so that it would be white behind my posts rather than being able to see the design. This made it easier to see what the post said. I also made it so that the size of the post was wider, making it so that the design was covering less of the page.
2. Text: I changed the text size of my posts bigger as well as changed them to a darker color on a white background. I also made the title of my blog and the separate posts bigger and bold so they stand out

Post Edits

I also changed some details about my last Tech Task post. 

1. Paragraphs: I separated my post into smaller paragraphs, making it more reader friendly. I also put an extra space between paragraphs so it was less crowded.
2. Headers: I put in headers to help readers follow where my thoughts were going.
3. Links: I added different links to my text. I put in links to our Ecmp page, Will Richardson's blog and video, Khanacademy, Knewton and Mark Klassen's twitter page as I discussed these people or sites in my post.
4. Images: I added an image in to catch readers attention and give it some more appeal.

I hope that these modifications help make my blog and posts more appealing and easier to read! I will definitely try to follow these tips in my future posts as well.

Equality

 

This goes along with calli6c's post about equality and justice. We need to teach our students that although some students may not do as much work or doesn't have to do the same things as the rest of the class or gets more assistance, they are working just as hard as everyone else. Some students can't do what others can and need modifications  and while that may not seem 'fair' in their minds, it is giving the other student an equal chance at learning and succeeding as much as the rest of the class. 

Tech Task #3: Why School?

After listening to my Ecmp 355 session with Will Richardson and watching his video Why School?, it is hard not to think about the role of technology in schools and learning today as well as the new role of teachers and schools. 

Technology's Role

I think that technology has a major role in children's learning and that as teachers we need to embrace it. We need to incorporate technology into our teaching and help students learn more than what we can teach them alone. Using technology can also help students see that as a teacher, we're still learning too. Use the internet to find facts that you don't know or find something that a student asked about. We need to show students what they can do with technology that is available to them and show them that they can learn so much from the internet.

Students need to realize that teachers don't necessarily have to be just in their school or classroom. They can have teachers from around the world by going online. They need to know where they can find sites such as Khanacademy or Knewton, that can help with topics or subjects they are struggling with. I think it is important for students to fully understand the opportunities that the internet and other technologies can provide for them.

A Teacher's Role

As teachers, I think that our role is to prepare our students for the real world and show them all their opportunities. We need to build relationships with our students and assist them in their learning, whether it be from a lesson we give or something they have found and learnt through the internet. I feel that our role is to help students with finding who they are and helping them form their morals as well as guiding them on how to use, and act within, the online world. We need to help them learn through their lived experiences and learn alongside them.

I think that we need to invite technology into our classrooms and use it to both ours and our students advantages so they can see it's true potential and know how to use it in a successful way. As Mark Klassen said in Will Richardson's video, "...those connections make it possible for me to gain a bigger audience which means more feedback and greater learning..." By bringing technology into our schools, and allowing students to use it in their learning process we are raising their number of resources and people to learn from and giving them a better chance for more of it.

ECMP

I decided to take this class because I needed and wanted to learn about different ways I could incorporate technology into my classroom in the future. So far I am really enjoying the class and feel like I have already learnt so much within the first 2 weeks. I really think that google drive will come in handy for both my last year of teaching as well as my future teaching careers. I will find so many different ways I can use them that will make life easier for me. 

I'm not very good at writing so the blog and twitter are new to me and I haven't done much with them, but maybe the longer I have it and throughout this course I will become more accustomed to them and feel more comfortable using them.I know that these could potentially become very handy for in the classroom as well.

I am looking forward to learning more ways to incorporate technology into my classroom throughout the course.

Tech Task #2, Part 2: Google Drive

I have only used Google Docs once before for another class. I was with a partner and we couldn't meet so thought we would try that out. I found that it had worked pretty well. It made it possible to work on it together from a distance. For this tech task I thought I would check out the spreadsheet and presentation apps on google drive as well, since I hadn't used them yet. I explored how to make them, and different features you can use while creating them. I feel like they would both be extremely useful when working in a school.
If you collaborate often with others or need to schedule out your week you could use a spreadsheet. They are easy to make and can  be used for both schooling and personally. The presentation app would be very useful if you and another teacher are working on a lesson or something together. Again, you can work on it together from a distance but then you would both also have it when you needed it. It would be good for when students are missing as well. If there are students who aren't there or a student who may have some type of serious illness and has to miss quite a bit of school you can communicate and have someway of showing what you did each day. It may not get them completely caught up but at least they would have an idea and can form questions to ask when they get back. There are so many uses that google can be used for and i'm looking forward to finding them and trying them out.

Tech Task #2, Part 1: Google form

This is my second attempt. Here is my google form. I've linked the URL to the word form. Hope it works this time!

Assessment Flaws

I love this quote and picture. It makes me think of the old schooling system, and even how some teachers still teach today. We need to change this way of teaching and teach in a way that allows everyone to strive in their own ways and allow students to be tested in different ways. Not everyone will be able to show what they have learnt in the same way. We need to find as many ways as possible to assess and evaluate our students.

Tech task #1- Who are you?

Hey everyone!
My name is Marley Riddell and I grew up on a farm in Bethune Saskatchewan. I have a large family consisting of a dad and step mom, a mom and step dad, 2 older sisters, a younger brother and 2 younger step brothers. I love spending time with my family and friends whenever possible, which can sometimes be hard with my busy schedule from work and school. Some things I enjoy doing in my free time are reading, playing volleyball and being outdoors.
I am currently living in Regina while going to university in the Prek-5 Education program (3rd year). I have always wanted to be a teacher and that has only increased since starting the program and doing my pre-internship this year.This summer I will be working at the University of Regina for the Summer Sports School program, I will be working with kids and teaching them how to play different sports both indoor and out.
I am looking forward to, but also very nervous for, this class and learning how I can include technology in my teaching to help enrich and make it better. I know very little about technology so it will be extremely helpful for my teaching in years to come.