Caleb_Essence_SU2012


 * [[image:oceantides.jpg width="266" height="224" align="left"]] I. Introduction**
 * II. My Life as a Tech User**
 * III. NETS Goals**
 * IV. My Journal... Personal Reflections of my tweeting experience! **
 * V. Idea Share- Google tools.**
 * VI. [|Copyright Clarity]**
 * VII. Statement on Digital Literacy**
 * VIII. Final Portfolio**

Hello! My name is Essence Caleb, and I am in love with learning! I went to Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC where I studied the literary classics and Rutgers University where I earned an M.A. degree studying 21st century American novels. I think being a teacher is one way I pursue this love because I learn so many things from my 7th grade scholars at Summit Academy Charter School. I am a native New Yorker who has seen the Fordham emblem all around the city and am excited about continuing my studies here at this prestigious university to learn more about teaching. In my spare time...Ha! I am going into my second year teacher obtaining a dual degree in English and Special Education; what spare time?! But in the couple of hours a week when I am not teaching, meeting, lesson planning, or studying I like to write. Currently I can only spare enough time for a diary entry here and there, but I used to write a column for a fashion magazine and freelance for Time Out New York. I cannot wait to pick up the pen again to write for a brand new audience about our education system.
 * I. Introduction**

A couple of months ago I decided to visit my friend in Atlantic City, New Jersey. I had only been to Atlantic City once before; my sister and I took the bus out there to gamble at the casino- we didn’t win. I was staying for the weekend so I packed a duffle bag, asked my sister to borrow her EZ pass, kissed my mom goodbye and left. I got there in 2.5 hours. What was different about my departure than other trips I have taken in previous years is that my mother was not at the door pestering me: “Essence, did you print the mapquest directions? Do you know how to get there and what highway to take? Do you have money for tolls?” I remember when I relied on mapquest to go places and had to ensure that I had printed directions or at least wrote them down, now I have a GPS on my phone that speaks to me and tells me the quickest route to my destination or if I am about to encounter traffic. It tells me how to navigate when I make a wrong turn or how far the nearest gas station is when I realize that I am running on empty. Sometimes I think like the ignorant kid on the cell phone commercial (a young boy on a plane with elder adults / advertising prepaid cellular phones) and think //what did people do before cell phones and before this advanced technology?//
 * II. My Life as a Tech User**

As far as I can remember I had a computer in the house, but one with the big back and an even larger monitor. In junior high school I thought I was very cool because I had a beeper and a Nintendo. I grew up learning how to use technology in practical, educational and entertaining ways. My mother stressed the importance of learning how to type with the correct fingers because it was important to have a fast typing speed for future employment. I always remember technology being a part of my life and knowing how to use it. No one every “taught” me how to use these things, I was more of the get the gadget and figure it out as I go, with a little help from whatever instructions came in the package, type of girl. Now, I help my parents use what I consider simple forms of technology like email and web-surfing; nevertheless, I need specific instructions and assistance sometimes in using newer technologies like MP3 players and Web 2.0.

My Personal Use Project is to explore twitter and the capabilities that it has. I would love to incorporate a twitter page into my class once I have mastered all of its functions. || Create one computer-based assessment based off of my writing curriculum. PUP: Explore the differences between online writing and formal writing and ways in which I can bridge the gap for my students. || Brainstorm ways in which we can help students strategically navigate through online (basic training type instruction) || Through my PUP I can monitor how citizenship and responsibility looks through twitter and think about ways to uphold it, especially as it relates to what my students have access to when they use twitter. ||
 * III. NETS Goals/Reflections**
 * **Category** || **Current Knowledge** || **Goal** ||
 * Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity || As a writing teacher it is important that my students are able to explore concepts they are writing about through virtual environments. We tackle a lot of real world issues through our writing; it would enhance my students thinking and learning to be able to evaluate the opinions and factual evidence of others external to their classroom and school community existing on these issues. I have used technology in my classroom to facilitate “how” they write in terms of their ability to type/typing speed and formatting. || Create a student-centered classroom where students can utilize technology as a creative space to seek and explore responses as well as help/inspire one another (through the same space.)
 * Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments || With state examinations pushing towards computer-based tests, it is important that we are preparing our students for these exams. One way is to assess our students through technological apparatuses. My students have used various websites to practice their grammar; nevertheless, I have yet to create an entire computer-based assessment. Especially for writing, one of the troubles I have with delivering that exam is to accurately approximate the length of time students should receive on these exams (because my students type extremely slowly and have yet to master all of the functions of the keyboard.) || Put together a proposal for students to practice typing in their writing classroom.
 * Model Digital-Age Work and Learning || Communication with parents and families is something that my school prides itself on. We utilize an online system called Jupiter and have given all parents login information so that both students and guardians can access their grades for each class at any time. I think that as educators we have to be masters of technology, especially the programs that we introduce to our students and families, to assist in their learning and understanding of how to utilize it. I think we have a misconception that our students being able to “play online games” means that they comprehend how to use “more formal” websites and programs as well as that they have access to these online sites at home. It is imperative that we are teaching our students how to navigate through all different types of sites that exist. || Attach to my syllabus instructions for Remind 101 for parents and students to keep engaged communities (inside and outside of school).
 * Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility || I have also had the experience (as Richardson describes) of my students completing online work and an inappropriate ad popping on the screen. Unfortunately, my student chose to click on the ad and several inappropriate ones thereafter. There have been incidents with some of our 6th and 7th grade boys researching inappropriate content on the school computers, and they have received adequate consequences for it. However, we, as a school and within class have yet to model what to do in those situations and have yet to discuss why those sites are inappropriate. The conversations are just as important as the acts themselves. I have modeled the tangible acts of handing and managing a computer; however, I need to model what good behavior looks like during computer instruction. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Create standards and instructions for working with the internet and evaluating sources as it pertains to writing a research paper.
 * Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">I think there is great value in expanding our knowledge in technological instruction. We need to know what is out there and what we can use to help our classroom instruction and communication with students and families outside of class. I have not actively pursued this category; this class is going to help me think about how I think about technology in the classroom (metacognition); I will brainstorm ways in which I can begin that process of researching technological spheres; and I will create actual plans to implement technology into my classroom curriculum. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Complete the Technology Portfolio.Follow-up with my goals weekly to work on incorporating what I have learned in class to my writing curriculum.Through my twitter page I can share ideas with others on the site and hopefully receive feedback. ||
 * IV. Personal Reflections of my Tweeting Experience. **


 * V. Idea Share: Google Tools.**


 * VI. [|Copyright Clarity]**


 * VII. Statement on Digital Literacy**


 * VIII. Portfolio**