Hello everyone,
Thank you for visiting my blog! Here, I’ll be sharing my experiences in English 495 and reflecting on my journey to become a secondary education teacher. My goal is to teach high school English, with a special focus on supporting newcomer students. As someone who arrived in the U.S. at 15 without knowing English, I understand the challenges of adapting to a new language and culture. This experience drives my passion for teaching and helping students embrace their bilingual identities.
In today’s classroom, media technology plays a vital role. It helps teachers connect with students and provides resources that make learning more diverse, engaging, and accessible. Technology allows for personalized learning, making it easier to meet the individual needs of each student.
As a student, I’ve witnessed both the effective and ineffective use of media technology. For instance, platforms like Remind helped me stay organized by sending reminders for homework and assignments. We also used websites where we could share our writing anonymously, which allowed us to practice without fear of judgment. I also enjoyed interactive games like Kahoot that helped reinforce topics in a fun and engaging way.
However, I’ve also seen ineffective uses of technology, such as when teachers failed to monitor our online activity. In these cases, it was too easy to get distracted by other websites and not focus on the lesson. While social media and online resources can be beneficial, they need to be used thoughtfully to prevent distractions.
Ultimately, I believe media technology is a powerful tool in education, but it must be used purposefully and with careful consideration to maximize its potential.
Hello Hazel! I found your blog post to be very inspiring. There are so many different tools that we as teachers can use in the classroom to benefit students. There are also so many different students in our classrooms, especially here in California, which means that technology is a key factor in making sure that every student has the right tools and resources to do good in class. I also liked that you brought up that there needs to be certain restrictions when it comes to students using technology in the classroom. I feel like one of the main tools we are using in the classrooms is go guardian. However, there's so many students that know how to disable teachers from viewing what's on the screen.This is proving to make monitoring students that much harder and this is why I believe that there should be ways to fix it, and also other tools to help monitor.
ReplyDeleteHi Hazel!
ReplyDeleteI loved your first blog post! While any teacher can do their best to be understanding and accommodating for their students, there is a special connection between people who have gone through similar experiences. The newcomer students that you teach will look up to you and trust your guidance! Students feeling comfortable in the classroom is a huge priority, and I’m glad most teachers understand that. You mention being able to write anonymously for certain online assignments, which I am also grateful for as a student. As an instructor, I have also seen how timid students can get, especially when they need to ask questions. While I will always encourage students to ask me questions, I also want them to be able to write freely without fear of judgment. Kahoot is also one of my favorite ways to utilize technology. The class always gets hyped up, and I get to see their learning progress at the same time! In order to make sure technology is not used ineffectively, teachers should receive more tips about classroom management, so that they know what effective steps to take once these distractions are taking place.