Blog Journal 7

Blog Journal 7

7 March 2019

I've been a tweeter since I was a wee high-schooler, but since it's surfaced, Twitter has changed drastically. It's transformed into a professional, business communication tool from a silly, friendly social media. By using it in school, I've learned that it's a great way to combine the classroom with a comfortable online forum. We are able to keep it light and joke around while still connecting with our classmates and talking about topics related to whatever we're doing in class. Twitter is pretty easy to use with a very simple interface, so I haven't experienced any issues since it's not too difficult to navigate.

This past week, we had to "put on our teacher hats" and create a website for whatever class we decided to teach. I used Wix to create mine, and I found this assignment super fun because I love incorporating creativity into school work and being able to put our own design and flare into projects. I have in fact created a Wix site before, but I learned a few new skills creating my teacher website, such as adding calendars and live events that children can actually add to, and how to add links to other websites. In the future for my real classroom, I will definitely put a little bit more effort into the content of the pages, and really make sure there is every resource my student or their parent might need. Check out my website here: https://hilaryfaye96.wixsite.com/mysite

Today in class we talked about the importance of assistive technologies in education. There are so many types of learners, those with disabilities big and small. Students who are deaf or blind need assistance on activities that many people take for granted. Some people, on the other hand, might just need a little help from technology for things such as anxiety. My sister suffers from social anxiety and her Apple Airpod's help her tremendously by allowing her to feel more confident in a quiet classroom. She is able to play her music or even just calming meditation music during class so she doesn't feel the pressure of the quiet classroom. Sound sensitivity is often one that people forget about or even don't realize it's a big deal. Today I learned about the Smart Traffic Light that teachers are adding to their classrooms. It's able to pick up on sound around it and warn the students to quiet down when it's getting a little too loud. 

It's often difficult to incorporate specific accommodations for each individual in our classroom, and it could even cause problems such as making other students feel left out that they aren't getting special attention too. However, it's important that we meet the needs of every child, because when it comes down to it, everyone deserves a healthy learning environment.