PL+Goal+1


 * (Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity)**

Personal Learning Goal: Explore potential digital platforms for my classroom which will facilitate student participation in reflective work both individually and collaboratively.
I have been exploring several online platforms (edmodo, moodle and schoology) for setting up an online component to the classroom in addition to the platforms with which I’ve become familiar through my coursework at Fordham, like wikispaces, Google classroom and wordpress.I like that these platforms allow an easy way for students to access, store and contribute content all in one place. I like the platforms which allow for student creation of content like wikispaces and wordpress, although I feel like this is something that I would have to work students up to. With all of these tools, I worry about the uneven amount of access that students will have. Although I like the idea of a paper free classroom, I think that in order to ensure equal access to the content, I will have to keep much of it accessible offline.  I have also just recently come to realize the potential of platforms that allow you to build and design your own website from the ground up. While this may make access to course content easier or more appealing to some students it may be more restrictive in terms of students participation in the creative process.

Other Evidence: I feel as though much of the coursework that I completed during Dr. George’s class on YA lit really has contributed to my ability to “facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity” specifically in that I gained a broader base of knowledge and experience related to the kinds of tools which I can incorporate into my curriculum to achieve this end.

Below is a portion of a reader reflection that I wrote about this piece. // “Edmonson’s descriptions of using wiki as a platform for lit circles were inspiring, but also a bit frustrating. I can completely see my students becoming this invested in such a project, but whether or not they have the resources to do so is questionable. Our school, bafflingly, lacks a single computer lab, (there’s one, but it’s a graphic arts classroom only) and the laptop cart is basically off limits to non-veteran teachers. So, we have an iPad cart that makes its rounds. While I find the iPads useful, I was consistently frustrated that this was the only way for my students to get online. For many students, the work in this model which is to be completed online at home would have to be done on their smartphones, which seems inefficient almost to the point of counter productivity. I think that the fact that, for many students, the smartphone is the only personal device / means of internet connection needs to be considered when discussing which tools to use and introduce to them. I would love to hear about teachers who have designed homework / group projects with this in mind. Is there a book club app?” //

[|Pinterest:] I set up this pinterest board related to Julia Alvarez' book "Before we were Free," I am really excited to bring this book into the classroom, potentially for whole class use, precisely for the wealth of historical context that leads out of and back into the text.



Book Trailer: When I first saw a book trailer, I definitely wrote it off as a gimmicky marketing scheme, but I was totally won over when we looked at them as a classroom tool and made one of our own. I love how much creative agency that this gives students, making something as boring as a book report into something personalized and, dare I say it, fun. It’s such a great opportunity for students to try their hands at mixing and repurposing media within the classroom space. Book trailers force the student to approach the idea of a book report from a completely different angle not only in form, but also in content. They’re much less about a recitation of key points than the distillation of themes and big questions into a kind of hook. See the book trailer I made for Walter Dean Meyer’s memoir,[| “Bad Boy]."



Grade: A-