Miss Nana: Longing to take a Graphic Design Course

Miss Nana: Longing to take a Graphic Design Course: "So... This is strange and unexpected-- I want to learn how to do basic graphic design. I never thought I would say this, but it's true. Eve..."

Longing to take a Graphic Design Course

So... This is strange and unexpected-- I want to learn how to do basic graphic design.

I never thought I would say this, but it's true. Ever since I started working on a PowerPoint math game slide show, I just keep thinking how much more aesthetically pleasing and less frustrating it would be to make one if having the knowledge of basic graphic design.

Let's put it this way, in order to make one slide yesterday, it took a group of 5 of us (teachers/ teachers in training) to figure out basic formatting. 5 of us! For 1 slide! That just doesn't seem right.

If I want to be a creative teacher that can incorporate technology in the classroom and actually have time to make the technology fun and interactive, some basic knowledge of these things must be built.

I loved working on the SmartBoard last year and creating fun math lessons for students. How fun would it be to have interactive quizzes that I can create based off of what I had taught them? I think what has happened is that my standards of what is good keep escalating as I am in my Master's program with constant inspiration coming up left and right from my peers. Now, when I go back to the classroom, my standards will be higher of what I can provide my students. I would really like to be the one who can teach them to be creative with this kind of stuff instead of the other way around.

So, this is the plan: once I get a full-time elementary teaching job, take a Spanish class and a cake decorating class, next on the list is graphic design!

Miss Nana: Social Media in the Classroom... Via Google +

Miss Nana: Social Media in the Classroom... Via Google +: "So... About a week ago, I had no idea what Google + was. I don't think I ever heard it mentioned. Then, my mom (Miss Social Media USA-- *Ser..."

Social Media in the Classroom... Via Google +

So... About a week ago, I had no idea what Google + was. I don't think I ever heard it mentioned. Then, my mom (Miss Social Media USA-- *Seriously, if there was a real pageant for this, she would OWN it*) sent me an invite as one of the first groups of people to pilot this new technology. Within seconds of posting this news on Facebook, everyone I knew wanted me to add them to Google +. I got texts from people whose numbers I didn't even have. I got private Facebook messages from those I haven't seen/talked to in years. People started following me around and I had to hire security guards... I was even offered high monetary bribes for an invite. OK-- those last two/three statements were a slight exaggeration...

However, within three days of having it, I had about 30 contacts on this new site that is a lot like Facebook, except with more privacy options. The point is that this is a new technology which I and most of my contacts hadn't even heard of about a week ago, and now, everyone is begging for an invitation. In addition to showing how quickly can change in this social media world and how unpredictable it can be, this could be the beginning of a social media revolution in the classroom. In addition to the platforms it offers, Google + could change student/teacher interactions via social media websites.

Currently, many schools have policies of teachers "friending" their students on Facebook. Some solutions have been to create different websites for classroom questions, Facebook fan pages for the class, or other more complex means of synthesizing the Facebook experience outside the classroom. Google + offers privacy settings that could offer a new solution. When you add someone as a contact on Google +, there are several options. You could have them as a friend, as someone you just want to follow, family member, etc. This means that teachers could use the same Google + account and just share certain information with their students.

Personally, this could also be kind of hard to juggle. Imagine having a conversation with 50 people in one day and remember who you told what to. Although this is my main concern, I feel like it could eventually be something to get used to. Another way Google + makes this more possible is by offering a "View your profile as _______" feature right on your homepage. When in doubt, you can immediately check which information you shared with each group.

I am excited to see how platforms such as Google + will change student/teacher and employee/employer relationships outside the classroom and office these days and how teachers will be able to use these platforms to help bring learning to students when they aren't in the classroom.

Technology Keeps Learning Exciting

In my 3rd grade student teaching assignment, I was lucky enough to work with smartboards in the classroom. I taught all of my math lessons with the smartboard and many of my language arts lessons. It was fun to incorporate videos, games, and graphics into these presentations, as well as using student involvement. However, I tend to wonder how these students will do when they move on to teachers and or/classes that don't have/don't utilize this kind of technology.

This makes me wonder whether or not students are getting desensitized to technology. With all of these new applications and tools coming out, including video games and ipads, will classroom technology always be able to keep up?

The smartboards were new at the school I was student teaching in, and the students were very excited to be using them. They brought instructional efficiency, as each transition could be planned ahead of time and slides were already prepared. They involved students through games, questions, and elements of surprise-- like a random cartoon popping up in the middle of a slide asking a question.

As overall technology develops and students expect more, I wonder how much classroom technology will be able to keep up and advance in ways that still fosters student engagement. When I was an elementary school student, I remember being excited when my school got a whiteboard in the 3rd grade and the joys of computer typing class. Today, these standards are much higher and keep changing. With constant budget cuts and higher expectations, I cannot help but wonder if classroom technology will always be able to bring the level of student engagement as it has in the past.

Oh... I just can't wait to be a teacher!

In a horrible economy where everyone is getting laid off, it is quite possible that one of the "worst" fields to go into is education. Teachers are getting pink-slipped and even tenured teachers worry about the stability of their job. Classroom sizes are increasing. In the primary grades, when the foundation of reading and writing is being taught, many students who need the most attention are bring overshadowed by those who have behavior problems. It is safe to say that someone going into a career in this field is adventurous, unusually optimistic, and perhaps even a little crazy.

By the way, I just became a credentialed teacher and am currently pursuing a Master's in Teaching. What was I thinking? I chose teaching because of its stability and how conducive it is to the family life I dream to have. Of course, first and foremost, I love working with children, and it was almost perfect when I decided to devote my life to education. Now, instead of preparing for my own classroom and having this stable job I had worked for, I am competing with laid off teachers and ex-substitutes from all over the country who are interviewing for the same positions as me.

If I ever had a glimmering notion that maybe I was special and my passion for educating our youth would stand out on my resume and cover letters, that thought has quickly been humbled by my "superior" competition. Perhaps if I had more experience I would get hired. Now that's quite a paradox. What came first? The teacher or the student?

This adventure has been full of ups and downs: the excitement of an interview, the crushing feeling of another rejection letter. It's almost like dating (something I have been lucky enough to avoid because of a wonderful boyfriend) or acting (something I used to pursue). As I take my daily vitamin, I raise my glass of filtered water and think "here's to... FINALLY, HOPEFULLY, SOON becoming a teacher!"

I Was Born to Two Computer Programmers...

My parents put together our first few computers in the early 1990's, as that was their trade from the former Soviet Union upon our arrival to the US. They were big, bulky computers with black and white screens. Uninviting. Dull. Obnoxiously hogging a big chunk of space in our small apartment.

I got my first flip cell phone in 1996, which weighed about 2 lbs in 6th grade. It was my mom's old phone that she gave me when she upgraded to a new one. Even though I was only to use it in emergencies and it was so goofy looking with it's long antenna, my friends were all fascinated by it. It made us feel like the girls in "Clueless."

My experience with technology was always advanced, even though that was not my choice. I could have cared less about the latest innovations, but could not ignore them. My parents were on top of it all. For my 18th birthday I got the first version of an iPod. None of my friends knew what an ipod was. My mom had gotten on the wait list for it about a year before it was even available. Ironically, I was one of those people who didn't even need/want one. I was (and still am) perfectly content with the radio and my CD collection.

I could care less and live in an old-fashioned bubble, but technology has influenced my life the same way my parents did. Today, my mother is a Social Media Marketing expert and my father is a Senior Programming Engineer. I am in my mid-twenties and I still ask them to help me with documents, setting up my phone, etc. In this way, I cannot relate to most people my age. However, because of my parents, I am proficient in technology. Hopefully this will help me find a job as a teacher!