Going Live!

Things just got real this week because I have officially shared my first song online! Right now, it is only shared on soundcloud, but in the future I hope to create videos to accompany my songs and then I will also share them on youtube. I do not know if I will be able to achieve that before the end of this course, but it is still part of my future plans. Below is an embedded version of the song that I have shared this week, it is called Truer than True. The focusrite recording equipment from the makerspace is going to become available to take out next week, so I am looking forward to being able to take it home, so that I can get a lot more recording done next week and hopefully share a few more songs. Up until now it has been a long process because I am only able to get into the Makerspace a few hours a week, but if I can take the equipment home, I will be able to get a lot more accomplished!

"Truer Than True" is a song that I wrote for my husband when we got married. I came from a broken family and this experience coupled with living in a world where divorce is normalized, love and commitment were something that I was afraid of, but this song represents the realization that love is real, that it can last forever, and most importantly, that ours would last forever.

In class this week, we did a jigsaw activity to learn about a variety of different teaching tools and resources. I learned about a multitude of new technological resources that I can use in my future teaching that I thought were incredibly interesting. A few learning objects that I would like to highlight are Nearpod, Gradecam, and Classcraft.

Nearpod [Online Logo]. Retrieved from
http://gcisdleadwithtechnology.blogspot.com/2017/09/nearpod.html

Nearpod is essentially an interactive presentation platform that allows teachers to create and run lessons that students can watch from a personal device and interact with. During these lessons, teachers can include videos and other multimedia, they can input practice and assessment activities and receive immediate feedback, and they can create a platform for sharing thoughts and ideas as a class. This is a wonderful tool that ensures that students are engaged and participating with the lesson and it would be a phenomenal tool to use in a flipped classroom setting as it allows for the option of letting students work at their own pace.

Gradecam Logo [Online Image].
Retrieved from https://twitter.com/gradecam

Gradecam is an incredibly interesting tool that is essentially like a personal scantron tool. Gradecam allows teachers to create multiple choice assessments that can be graded quickly by taking a picture with their smartphone. Although I do think that this is a really cool tool, I also think that it would be more efficient than effective, especially for elementary grades because scantron tests can be intimidating and they are often not the most effective way to assess students. That being said, I still think it is definitely a note worthy tool.

Classcraft Logo [Online Image]. 
Retrieved from https://www.classcraft.com/

Classcraft is another new tool that I learned about this week that I think is incredibly innovative and useful. Classcraft takes gamification to a whole new level by transforming your classroom and your students' motivation through on online game. The gaming world includes curriculum driven quests, gamified classroom management tools, and student engagement tools. When exploring this resource, I did realize that a lot of the awards revolve around aids and privileges that will give students a leg up on class work and their grades, which I do not believe is the most equitable way to run a classroom. If I were to use Classcraft, I would use privileges and disadvantages that did not affect a student's ability to succeed in class, such as being able to eat in class or have a few minutes of free time, etc.