Pinterest and Education

Pinterest is mostly thought of as a type of social media. Well, it can also be used as an educational gadget! It is absolutely great for teachers as well as students. Pinterest provides endless amounts of lesson plan examples and ideas for anyone in the educational field. It can also help students in research! Because "Pins" are linked to websites students can easily find what they're looking for! It is truly a great tool for educators and students!

Here is a link to Assignment I created by Pinterest:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YKrWcNUh1i7MYYVKZUG7HmAgkapMja2SfuXfV54jIl0/edit

Here is my pinterest page where I pinned a series of lessons:

https://www.pinterest.com/rr195425/ed-tech-semester-2016/

I created this assignment in an attempt to try out new things. Who knew Pinterest could be used for something so important?! The first thing I did was research different types of lesson plans on Pinterest. I pinned the ones that I saw as important and very useful. I then used the ideas I found to create a beneficial high school level lesson on the Civil Rights movement. I learned that sometimes working the lesson yourself is severely beneficial to the student. I had to change some things when working the project myself because I felt that it was too difficult and time consuming.

1. The first thing I wanted them to do in the assignment was research. This is just basic research using either a chromebook or Ipad depending on what resource your school has.

After research was complete I had the students begin their presentations.

This lesson as very informational for me!

Great 2.0 Tools!

Vcasmo 

http://www.vcasmo.com/ 

This tool allows its users to create custom made slideshows with a twist. You are able to include your own videos, pictures, or audio right into the presentation. Vcasmo is very simple and effective. In my classroom this tool would be used for my everyday presentations. It seems really simple to use therefore I would be able to create my presentations much quicker.  

Simple Booklet 

https://simplebooklet.com/index-sb-about.php 

This tool allows you to create professional looking document in the easiest way possible. With this site you can create brochures, newsletters, books, magazines and so much more. And a really cool thing about this is that each document you save has its own web address. I could use this in my classroom for newsletters for myself. I could also use this as a basis for my student’s projects.  

Youtube 

https://www.youtube.com/ 

Youtube can be a very educational website. Basically you are able to search any kind of video you could think of. You can also upload your own videos to your own page. In my classroom I could use this video site to search documentaries as well as historic videos in order to better educate my students. I could also use this site to upload videos of my own teachings in order to give examples to other teachers.  

Quikmaps 

http://quikmaps.com/ 

Quikmaps allows you to create your own map with your own bulletpoints. You can create your own landmarks in order to better teach your class. You can also add Annotations into your map. I could use this in my classroom to depict where certain issues in history took place. It would help my students if they knew the geography of the history being taught to them.  

Slide Boom 

http://www.slideboom.com/ 

Slide boom allows its users to upload their own presentations and delivers them to their audience hassle free. You are able to search other presentations while yours is available to others as well. It also makes it easy to embed your presentations into your webpage or blog. This would benefit my classroom because it would make it easy to upload presentations from each day to my classroom website. This would allow students who were absent to catch up on the material they missed. 

  

EQuizzer 

http://www.equizzer.com/ 

EQuizzer allows you to create your own multiple choice, short answer, or true and false questions. It also offers a printable version or you can give the quiz online. You are able to see your students’ scores and progress on the website. This would be helpful in my classroom considering that most of the schools these days are tech based. I could give my quiz in class on laptops or tablets provided by the school. 

Dropbox 

https://www.dropbox.com/home 

Dropbox is a really great tool for students as well as teachers. It allows you to save documents and access them anywhere, anytime. You can create folders in order to organize files as well. This would be extremely helpful for my students because they could access their work with any computer in case they forgot theirs. I could also use this to save my tests and letters.  

Snap Engage 

https://snapengage.com/ 

Snap Engage is a live chat provider. It allows you to chat with multiple people at one time. You can also send videos to someone. This would be helpful in my classroom because if I wasn't able to make it to class I could have a substitute pull up my video via email. I could also use this as a form of tutoring. If someone needed help with the homework I would only be a step away.  

Debate Graph 

http://debategraph.org/Stream.aspx?nid=61932&vt=bubble&dc=focus 

This tool allows its users to create a graph of their debates. It allows you to put every idea into a web side by side. You can also embed your maps into your website. I could definitely use this in my classroom because I will certainly have a lot of debates. This will allow my students to explore every side of an idea.  

Wordle 

http://www.wordle.net/ 

Wordle is an amazing website where you can add your own words to create an image. The generator puts all of your words side by side with some larger and some smaller. It is a great tool for creativity. I could use this for many assignments in my classroom. It would help the students to be creative with their work. 

The Ugly Affects of Social Media

Social networking can seem harmless but the truth is its not. Things such as Facebook and Instagram have taken over the minds of just about every young person. When you see a phone out ninety nine percent of the time that person isn't texting. They are checking statuses, liking posts, or snapping. For some all of this is fun but for others it is a nightmare. Social Media has the ability to ruin families, friendships, and lives.

According to Megan Breitner in her article "Unplug Your Own Good: 5 Ways Social Media is Ruining Your Life" she states, "Is it wrong to share your confidence with the internet? No, it isn't. But, looking for the approval of others is." We post pictures to see how many likes we can get because we want to show off our wonderful lives to other people. We are wanting acceptance of others but, we don't need it! People will beat themselves down because no one likes their posts on Facebook. It just isn't fair that something of this kind is able to completely take over our lives. Megan goes on to talk about the effects of social media on relationships. She says,"I've seen it before and it continually happens to couples. I hear break-up stories ranging from 'She was his best friend on Snapchat' or 'I saw her like one of his photos." Social media is no place for relationships. People can destroy a relationship faster than anything i have ever seen just based off of one post or picture. And then we get to the really sad part. Breitner mentions, "People hide behind computer screens and make nasty remarks or comment about others on social media sites daily. I can't even tell you the last time I scrolled through Facebook without seeing a timeline post shaming another person." It really amazes me how bullying has taken over the world of social media which was created to bring people together. It seems as if something so innocent has turned into something so life destroying.

In another article called "19 Ways Social Media has Ruined Our Lives" by Deborah Cicurel are valid points on how social media has shaped us into egomaniacs. Point number 5 says,"So your friend from work isn't following you back on twitter and hasn't accepted you on facebook. You know you should put things into perspective but it is genuinely upsetting." Are you serious people? Does it really even matter? Why do we rely on social media to label a relationship that we have with a person. Point number three that Deborah makes is that any kind of opinion can be displayed on social media but its the bad ones that tend to show a little more. We constantly hurt each other and we don't even care. What will our kids grow up to? What will it be like for them? This scares me more than anything.

All About Me

Hi, my name is Rachel Robin. I come from a small town south of Arkadelphia. I am currently pursuing an education in Social Science at the wonderful Henderson State University! I feel like I will do great things in my career as a teacher. However, most people who have been in my position have given up. I am more than just a student; I am a mother, an employee, and most importantly a role model to my children. When I was 16 years old I found out I was pregnant. It was a huge shock to us but little did we know it would turn into the biggest blessing we had ever received. Being pregnant in high school wasn’t easy but it pushed me to be a better person. On February 3, 2014 I went to my 39 week check-up. I was sent to the hospital and shortly after I was told an emergency C-section was needed. An hour later I was pushed into the operating room with all kinds of emotions running through my mind. At 5:21 p.m. I heard my 6 pound 2 ounce baby boy let out that first cry. My life was immediately changed forever. Two years later he is the bossiest most independent 2 year old you will ever meet. After having him I graduated high school and went on to college. I have stuck with it all this time and have been quite successful. Although things are going to get a lot harder in September of this year. Two months ago we learned that we will be receiving yet another blessing into our lives. I am currently 14 weeks pregnant with baby number 2. I refuse to give up because I not only have one life depending on me, but two. I am starting this blog because I feel a lot of woman need encouragement when it comes to being successful but also being a mother.