Emotionally Driven Classroom.

 I know I had mentioned a bit about how powerful using image and sound can be in a classroom setting in my previous post, but I think I want to go back there briefly.

I wanted to share with you why this topic is so important to me. While I was taking a class, called Elucidata: a course in multi-media poetry, we were asked to create an original video which would contain our own poetry being spoken throughout. Prior to this, and even still a little now, I really struggled with technology. I had trouble connecting with it, struggling to build a sense of why it mattered to me. After completing the project however I soon realized the implications of technology.

It allowed me to visually express myself in ways I never could before, making me passionate about something I hadn't really cared about in the past.

That's what I wanted to say, which I had failed to say in my previous post. Regardless of the medium, whether its paint or a computer screen, any outlet which allows a student to find passion is extremely important. People are not proud enough of themselves, so if its possible for me to allow my students to be proud of themselves over something then I will stand behind it.

Here is the video I created in Elucidata, I hope you enjoy it.

 

The Return

 Well that was a phenomenal experience! Its really exciting and scary to think that I'm one step closer to becoming a certified teaching professional. I had some amazingly positive experiences, as well as some negative ones. Regardless of how negative the experiences I had were I did my best to learn from them, its them which will make me the best teacher I can be. I think one of the greatest part about my placement was the amount of technology which I tried to use while in the school. The school were I was placed was rural and quite small, due to this the technology there was limited. Right away I utilized wordle, having my 5/6 students using the program to assist them in a creative writing assignment. I also became more familiar with the smart board, as well as using prezi and powerpoint at multiple points during my placement. I found that technology, especially video, is extremely effective in engaging students. Overall my placement couldn't have gone any better. I'm happy to be back to B.U but I'm missing my students already.

This Thursday we had a guest speaker who was great. He really connected to me and what I value in education. He spoke about the emotional connection which can happen with students when using things such as voice recording dubbed over music. This activity really offers so many possibilities for implementation, whether its as an english or social studies.

Here's a photo of an assignment I did with my 5/6 science class. My students were asked to create mobiles, outlining the three main varieties and five aspects about each one written on a visual representation of the given cloud.