Stephanie Feeman Education 776 Blog

photo attributed to The Blogging Adventures of the Awkward Education Major Social Media is in every aspect of the 21st century world, so it was only a matter of time until it reached the public education arena. With the increase in Social Media comes the responsibility to monitor it's use within the school setting. This week we were given the task to find out District Social Media Policy and examine it. My school and district policy is one in the same, as we are the only school in our district. District Internet Policy, see page 42 As you can see this document does exist, but is very vague on its view of social media uses within the district. The district took the time to outline all that is prohibited while using technology and district computers. Every student in jr. high has their own school Google account. They are able to access all of the Google Apps for Education. These terms outlined in the above mentioned document clearly state that the use of all internet resources ...

Professional learning networks are the future of education and professionalism. I believe that there are particular skills required in today's business and school environment that were not necessary in my generation's upbringing. Students need to learn how to actively engage in effective conversation through the use of social media and professional learning networks. The social aspect of learning is what stood out most to me. I have always struggled with normalcy within interactions between colleagues and growing up with classmates who I didn't know very well.  As I began to think about this topic more, I began to think back on my time in college. When I was in college this idea of a professional learning network was at the forefront of learning theories. I had to learn how to participate in these kinds of networks in order to be successful. I have always had an issue working in groups with people who I didn't know personally. I was often able to get out of it in high ...

Hello Everyone! photo courtesy of S. Feeman My name is Stephanie Feeman and I am a third grade teacher in a rural, yet incredibly diverse, elementary school in Southern Illinois. This is my final class at Dominican University to receive my Masters in Education and I am so incredibly excited to learn this semester. I earn my undergraduate degree from Southern Illinois University with a specialization in English and Middle School. I currently teach third grade and coach Jr. High Girls' Basketball, Go Trojan! Professionally, I am the general education teacher in a 3rd grade co-teaching classroom. We believe in teaching our students in a way that best suites their learning styles. Last year, we transformed our classroom into a flexible seating classroom and have seen great success with it.  My first profile picture is from my Instagram page. I really enjoy traveling and try to document my travels and adventures on my Instagram page. The picture at the top shows me hiking Ca...

How has the process been? To be completely honest, this whole process has been a little overwhelming. I have truly enjoyed having the opportunity to go through this process, but I never could've imagined how much actual time and work it takes to get one of these plans off the ground. I was appreciative for the different steps and outlines. As I recently found about my learning style, I learn best when things are outlined for me with very clear steps to follow. That made this huge project a little bit less intimidating. I learned a lot about the process of getting a new technology system going in a public school. It was also really interesting to see what kinds of ideas other teachers around the state had that they thought would benefit their school.  Have there been challenges? Time has been a major challenge. As I said above, I never thought it would take as long as it did to find information about this particular project. I al...

How has the process been? Overall, this process has been challenging yet rewarding. I feel like this is something that will help me in my career and could possibly lead to a successful implementation  of new technology in the classroom. It has been challenging, but by taking it step by step I do not feel to overwhelmed. Have there been challenges? Are you still excited about your topic and believe in its potential? I am still incredibly excited about my topic. I think that I am more excited then I was when I started. After doing research this project seems more doable then before. I have read testimonials during this experience of how beneficial Chromebooks are in the classroom and I know how successful they could be in my classroom if this proposal follows through! What has been the most positive aspect of this part of the journey? The most positive aspect of this journey is taking the time to figure out the details of large projects like this. They organization of this jo...

Getting Started with Snapchat in Your Classroom Okay, so I read the title of this article and was like "No way, no how!" My students are third graders so I don't often have problems with them being on their phones, but I also coach Jr. High Girls' Basketball and it is like pulling teeth to get these girls off of their phones. They are always on Snapchat sending weird pictures and silly things to their friends, and their friends are usually in the same room. I use Snapchat as well and I do exactly the same thing. When I think of Snapchat, the last place I think of it is in the classroom. I use it as a mindless way to de-stress after a long day of work. However, then I read the article, and the same juices that start to flow when I get lesson ideas in my mind began to flow again. There are so many ways that Snapchat can actually be used effectively in the classroom. This was something that I never would've believed, had I not read how successful it has been show...

photo courtesy of learninginhand.com As I look back on the last eight weeks of this class, I feel like I can totally rearrange the way I teach in my classroom. Before this class, I thought I had a pretty good grasp on how to use technology in the classroom and what kind of resources I had available to me. I was pleasantly surprised by how much was out there that I didn't know about. This class allowed me to explore different resources I had never heard of, resources I had heard of but didn't have time to explore, and old resources that had been reborn.  Technology is incredibly important in a 21st Century Classroom. Students in classrooms today have grown up with technology as a 6th sense. Traditional classroom strategies have become outdated and unnecessary. I took this class because I felt that I could learn something about how to use technology in my classroom differently. I had some resources that I used in the classroom that were effective, but the internet is so big...