Pinterest in the Classroom

Pinterest is one of the most popular social media sites today, and teachers are falling in love with it. They use it to help put together lesson plans, bulletin boards, newsletters, and activities for their classrooms, as well as share ideas with other teachers and parents. Teachers also encourage students to use it in class for projects and brainstorming papers because Pinterest is a site used for bookmarking. It's a great way to keep all of your ideas as well as information you need all in one place.

In my Educational Technology class, we were required to create a Pinterest board to help us create an assignment that followed one of the frameworks in our specialization, which is Family and Consumer Sciences for me. We had to use ten original pins and ten repins in our assignments. I chose the framework 2.9.1 Match types of family structures with components of each.

Arkansas Family and Consumer Science Framework

Here's a few of the original pins on my board

Here's a few of my repins

I found a great activity on a website that I changed up a bit. In this activity, the students were required to create a diagram on a plate telling about a TV family of their choosing and what family structure category they fall under. Here's the link to my assignment: Plate Us Out Assignment. 

We were also required to finish the assignment as if we were the students, so here is the process of the assignment created. As one of my favorite shows with a unique family structure, I chose Baby Daddy. Students were required to choose a TV family and research the following things: what type of family structure they have, family member names and identities, family challenges, advantages and positive characteristics, and why you think they are what structures they are. 

Research on the TV family.

Items I used

Dividing the plate up

Choosing the family picture with all characters included

Of course all sections will be filled out when the plate is finished, but you get the idea. 

The students will then present their completed plates to the class and tell about their TV family!

This assignment for Ed Tech was a very different approach to organizing and planning a lesson, but I really enjoyed it. I never thought about using Pinterest in the classroom, but now I know! It's a great way to organize all of your thoughts and resources in one place. 

You can follow me on Pinterest here!

Using Web 2.0 Tools in the Classroom

In Dr. Benton's Educational Technology class, we are learning about Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. We were asked to create an evaluation on only ten of these tools. So here it is!

Flickr

Flickr is a great imaging tool. You can upload and share your images with the Flickr community. It is said to enhance your mobile camera so you can take high resolution photos. It can hold all of your photos in one place with 1000 GB of free storage that you get when you sign up! Flickr would be a great way to share photos with your students on something they are learning or for group projects. You can also use it to show parents what their kids are up to in your class with this tool, which the parents would appreciate.

Self-Destructable Text Notes

These text notes are a collaborative work tool. You put in any information that you want to send to someone, including text, pictures, and links. It can be password protected if you choose. You send the link to the recipient; once they open the note, it will be destroyed. This would be a great way to send grades to students and parents without anyone else seeing the grade. This would also be great to help with group work. My only concern is that students would use this in class to do send notes or inappropriate links or pictures.

DROPitTOme

Drop It To Me is a sharing tool. You can create a unique upload address to share files with others who also have the upload address. It also has password protection so that only those you want to see the files will see them. This is a great collaborative work tool for the classroom. Groups can share files between each other and only their group will see it. This would also be a great way to share student's work with their parents as well.

WordPress

Wordpress is a one of the biggest blogging tools. Anyone could create their own personal blog or business site. Best of all, it's free! There are tons of designs and layouts to choose from. This can be used for students to create their own blog for an assignment, or just to introduce blogging to them. It can also be used to blog about what is going on in your classroom for parents to see and for students to keep up with homework assignments and projects.

WizIQ

WizIQ is an instructor-led online learning experience. You can access the virtual experience and class content from anywhere since it's online. It is also another free tool to use. You can put lectures and homework online for students who were absent to gain access to so they don't have to catch up later. This would also be a great opportunity for homeschooling or educating children who cannot come to school due to extreme circumstances like an illness or injury.

Writing Prompts

Writing Prompts is a blog that has 180 or so prompts for students to write about. The author creates new ones to add on request. You can use these as a daily bell ringer for the classroom. You also can use these on tests for a writing portion if you have trouble coming up with your own writing prompts.

Tip of My Tongue

Tip of My Tongue is a website that helps you find that word you're searching for, but can't quite find in your head. It allows you to search for words based on their meaning, partial words, and even letters in the word! (Where has this been all my life?!) It can be very helpful in finding synonyms for words to also mix your vocabulary up a little when writing a paper. Students can use this on homework assignments, projects, and papers to help them find and use words they may not have used instead of repeating the same adjectives over and over. This is also just helpful for every day life when you can't quite figure out that word you're looking for!

The Free Dictionary

The Free Dictionary is a comprehensive dictionary with tons of different languages to choose from. You can find abbreviations, thesaurus, search engine and more on this page! You can also play a fun game of hangman on here when you're feeling bored. This is good for students to look up any words they may not be familiar with. They can also use this when working on assignments to spice up their vocabulary.

Plagium

Plagium is a plagiarism checker. You paste your original text into the box on the page, and it checks and alerts you for plagiarized passages. It searches the web, news and social media. Plagiarism is a big deal and can jeopardize your grade or even get you kicked out of school. This will keep your students from accidentally plagiarizing anything they write. This is also good for the teacher to just check and make sure they are practicing what they preach as well.

GrammarBook

This is a site for rules on grammar and punctuation. You can find rules on anything from capitalization, spelling, commas, etc. You can also use the free online quizzes to test your grammar and punctuation skill. This is obviously important in writing papers because all teachers want their students to have a grammatically correct paper. This would also be great for teaching the rules in class as an extra aid!

Hopefully my input allows you to gain knowledge on what you can use these tools for and how they can make your life in the classroom and for your students a lot easier!

Effects of Social Media

In Social Media: How Does It Really Affect Our Mental Health and Well-Being?, it talks about Facebook addiction and how researchers have developed a new scale to measure this type of addiction called the Berge Facebook Addiction Scale. I personally have never heard of this before reading the article so I thought that was very interesting that people are so consumed by social media that we have developed new diagnoses. I also found it interesting to find that more people who are anxious are more likely to use social media. It also said that those who were socially insecure use it more often, which makes sense to me because the more 'likes' and 'comments' on your post can reassure someone who feels insecure. This article also made me realize how much it can have an effect on someone's self-esteem, and not just through cyber-bullying. While so many people do talk themselves up on social media, some people feel inferior to others just because some may have more accomplishments than they do. This can really have a detrimental affect on one's self-esteem and self-worth. But through all of the negative that social media brings, a study is now developing on how to "spread happiness" through social media. Researchers believe that the more positive things you post on your own pages, the more positive things your friends will post. 

In How Social Media Affects Us: Your Brain on Facebook, Twitter, and More, you learn how certain uses of technology, including texting, status updates, Google, Twitter, and Facebook, affect your brain. People today are like Pavlov's dogs when texting. You hear a notification sound and expect to hear new information. Texting also lights up the same areas of the brain as heroine or cocaine. The release of dopamine when receiving a text allows the act to become more addicting. Texting can also negatively impact an individual's linguistic ability to interpret or accept words. People can now remember more of where they found information rather than the information itself, all thanks to your search engines. Researchers also say Facebook is now a way for people to monitor their reputation instead of communicate. 

In my opinion, we need to change the ways we use social media back to what they were originally meant for: communication. Social media has such a negative connotation now, but we have all allowed it to become an extra evil we have to deal with. We don't need to let it consume our lives. Instead of messaging that person on Facebook about what happened in class, why don't you ask them in person? We are becoming a society that is lacking social interaction. I know I am guilty of it myself. I think we all just need to take a step back and look at what we are using social media for and how we can change it for the better. 

Why am I here?

Hi there! Here's a little bit about myself.

My name is Jordan Gray, but most people call me Jo. I'm a junior Family and Consumer Science Education major at Henderson State University. I graduated from Benton High School in 2012. I have three siblings: Josh, Becca, and Taylor. I also have a niece Mystik and nephew Hayden, plus another nephew on the way! My godson, Jaxson, will be arriving in December. These babies mean the world to me, and are part of the reason I would love to become a teacher. My parents, Treasea and Bill, have been together for over 20 years. My dad and I bond over football games and reptiles. My mom is one of the biggest blessings anyone could ever have. She is an amazing woman, and I hope to be just like her. My family and friends are the most important thing to me.

Family at this past Christmas, minus my brother. From left to right: Taylor, Becca, Mystik, me, mom, Hayden, dad.

Josh and I. Go ahead and ignore the weird face I'm making. 

I am one of those sorority girls, but definitely not the partying type that everyone associates with Greek life. When I joined Alpha Sigma Tau, I found a second family, a home away from home. I hadn't found my place on this campus until I met this amazing group of women. I love Greek life, no matter what others think. If you're interested in going Greek, I am more than happy to answer any questions you have!

Homecoming 2014 with my sisters and President Glen Jones!

I have two best friends who have been there for me no matter what. Haley and I have been friends with since the 6th grade, and she made me the godmother of her son. She drives me absolutely crazy, but I know I will always have a friend in her. She and I have been through a lot together. No matter the length of time we don't talk, whether a few days or a few months, we can always pick up where we left off.

Haley looked great in her maternity photos!

My other bestie, Brittany and I have been friends since the 8th grade. I just call her B usually. She's the one who talked me into going to Henderson. She was my first roommate and she's also my pledge sister. Right now, she's off fulfilling her dream of being in the Disney College Program, and I couldn't be more proud of her. This semester has definitely been a harder one with her being away, but I'll have her back in December to continue our college adventures!

Brittany and I 

I only have one pet, a bearded dragon named Reptar. I did have a few snakes as pets too. I guess you could call me a reptile enthusiast. I promise they're not as scary as you think. And no, I've never been bitten by one of my reptiles.

There's very few hobbies I have, which include crafting and fishing (when I have someone to fish with me). Painting is something I kind of fell into when I joined my sorority. I never considered myself to be very artistic, but I've really grown to love crafting and painting. I try to craft anytime I can when I'm free.

Razorback and Reddie football is about the extent of sports for me. Just never been a big fan of other sports. I can sit down and watch a football game, but other sports are just dreadful.

First nationally televised Reddie game!

This blog was started originally because it was a requirement for a class. Heck, I didn't even have any idea on how to create a blog before this class, but I may choose to actually stick with it! My blog will mainly be about my daily life: college, sorority, things I experience, new things I learn to love, etc.