Kickin it with T: Adventures with Technology

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Kickin it With T: Calligraphy Day 7

The video that I decided to use was taught me how to do faux calligraphy; and I must say that this is something I think I can catch on quicker than modern calligraphy. Although it takes more time than modern calligraphy I like that I do not have to focus on how hard or light I pressing my marker when I writing. The only downfall I have with this is that it that it takes longer to get it to look just right. This video along with another one that I watch were both very helpful and again very easy to follow. Although it is still the best (I still have more practice that is needed) I think that faux calligraphy is the way for me. Overall, I enjoyed learning this skill and think that I will still continue practicing and teaching myself so I can improve get better. This will be a great skill to have once I am able to get the hang of it.

Kickin it With T: Calligraphy Day 6

After watching my first video on calligraphy and lettering tips and learning that I could have used crayola markers all along instead of going out and buying calligraphy pens I decided to try those. So I found this video on how "easy" they are to use. This are the markers that I chose to switch over to instead of the pens I got I got my hopes up again to find out that although the video itself was very helpful and easy to follow, I still don't have the calligraphy hand. While some people have a led foot when driving, pressing hand on the gas, I have a led hard and cannot find any grace to my handwriting. I have gotten good at writing in cursive BUT I struggle trying to get my hand to have thin lines going up and thick lines going down. Although I am not proud of what I have attempted from watching the video this is the result that I got. Although I accept this challenge with open arms, calligraphy is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be!

Kickin it With T:Calligraphy Day 5

So for my last three blogs I decided to use YouTube videos for help and advice because I still am unsure of what I am doing. What I liked about this one was that she went over tips that worked for her such as: You can use Crayola markers! No textured paper Practice doing wavy lines to help with your up and down strokes I also learned what the four different lines on practice paper are for After doing this I am realizing how HARD it is to do modern calligraphy, my hands are not used to having to switch back and forth between writing soft on upstrokes and hard on the down strokes. I never noticed that I wrote so hard until I started teaching myself this skill. Once I completed this video I also noticed that the supplies I decided to use were probably not the best and required me to do more work than I really needed to do. Although they are for modern calligraphy they are for the advanced writers not the beginners like myself. Another thing that I am still stru

Blog #11- Productivity

Productivity as an educator is one of the most important things you need to be. Personally, I would like to get a routine going in the start of my teaching career to make things easier in the future than to continue to work hard my whole teaching career. When achieving productivity in the classroom you want to make sure that your students interests are kept while also incorporating high order thinking. After taking this class there are a few productivity tools that I could see myself using in my classroom such as: Reminding Tools - to help me remind myself of test days or important dates and to also help me remind my students and their parents of the homework that is due along with important dates (tests, field trips, permission slip deadlines, picture day, ect). With these tools it also holds the students accountable because they cannot use the excuse of "I did not know what the homework was so I did not do it". This gives multiple ways to communicate these important

Blog #10: Blended Learning

The process of blended learning as of now does not have a definite definition. But blended learning is combining computer based learning, problem base learning and in class learning together. Like you do with a smoothie, you place all the ingredients you want in a blender and you mix it up to create something totally new! Or when you mix different colors together to create a new color! Computer based learning + problem base learning + in class learning = BLENDED LEARNING With blended learning, a portion of the traditional face-to-face instruction is replaced by web based learning (computer and technology). Before taking this Instructional Technology course I really had no idea what Blending Learning even was, I thought it was just an online class day. But something that surprised me about Blending Learning is that it has no real technical definition because it is still in the early stages of creation. Although I am still a little confused about Blended Learn

Assessment in the Classroom

Assessment . The evaluation or estimation of the ability of someone. To me assessment just means a way to check someone's understanding of a concept or lesson. When it comes to assessment, I think that it should be done at the very end of a topic learned such as a test or a culminating activity and also should as be done after every lesson as well to gage how well of an understanding your class has by using items such as exit tickets . When it comes to grading I do not think that the every day assessments should be graded but at the end of the topic covered there should be some kind of grade pinned to it. My impression on the tool EduCanon is that I really like that you can see where the students fell and which problems students struggled with. And my impression on the tool PealDeck is that I enjoyed that you can see answers and read them but you cannot see who said it. This can be both a positive and a negative. This is a positive because students feel comfortable stating