Final Thoughts

*Summer, summer, summer, summer*
This mantra has been circling through my head for a few days now, and as finals week begins it's hard to think about much else. However, I do want to take some time to reflect on this last semester. There is a lot of truth to the saying "sophomore slump" but that doesn't mean I haven't learned a lot.
I have to admit, at the start of the semester I was not exactly excited to be taking TEAC 259. It was just another class to cross off the list on the way to getting my education minor. "Instructional technology" seemed like a very specific topic that might not apply to me in my future speech pathology career. I am glad to say that I was wrong. I think the most valuable thing I have learned is what kind of attitude I should have when approaching using technology in my future practice. This attitude should include having an open mind and not getting too stuck in my ways. It should include analyzing what technology so I can use it with a purpose and understand what affordances it can give me, not just using technology for the sake of using it. This also means I should keep up to date on the latest advancements so I can advocate for what may be best for my clients. Previously, I had not thought much about technology as something that a teacher or practitioner needs to give critical thought to, but it really is something that when use correctly can offer amazing affordances.

Me teaching my final lesson for Guided Learning 2.0.
I was much less nervous this time around!

This class has also given me opportunities to try some unique projects, like writing this blog or teaching my very first lesson (see picture)! I also enjoyed the very collaborative feel of the classroom, where we were all in it together, trying to figure out new technology.
This class got me thinking a lot, and while I don't have all the answers, I appreciate the start of the thought process. I enjoyed reading articles about Universal Design for Learning and the prevalence of mobile technologies being used for AAC devices. These are the kind of topics that I would love to explore more and utilize this knowledge as I continue on with my education.

This may be all for my TEAC 259 blog, but I'm just getting started on my educational journey. With four more years of college ahead of me (thanks, grad school...) I have a lot of learning left to do. This has been a great stop in my path to becoming the best SLP I can be possibly be. Thanks to anyone who's taken the time to read my thoughts... xoxo Madison

An SLP in a Teacher's World

"Your assignment is to teach a 20 minute lesson."

Those were my feeling after hearing about our Guided Learning 1.0 assignment. First, I have to admit I was not excited about the assignment, to say the least. I want to be a speech pathologist, why in the world would I need to know how to teach? Add to that the fact that teaching my very own lesson was kind of intimidating, and you can get the feeling that my motivation to do this assignment was very low.
For me, the hardest part of developing the lesson was actually choosing what to teach about. Once I chose my topic, the flow of the lesson came much easier. It is a topic I knew well and thought was important to teach, so that made the lecture part of the lesson go pretty smoothly.

Overall, I think my quiz on socrative.com was the most effective element of my lesson. I think it helped put what I was lecturing about into a real-life perspective for the learners, and it also gave me a really good idea of whether the learners actually understood what I was talking about and could apply the information. While I thought my technology was the more effective part of my lesson, for another group member I thought their ability to lecture was most effective. This group member had great explanations of a pretty complicated topic that I found I was able to (mostly) follow, despite having little to no geology background.
In the future when preparing, I would try to have less fear at the beginning of the planning process. My avoidance of the assignment paralyzed me and prevented me from having adequate time to practice actually giving the lesson. It would have been better to start a bit earlier so I didn't feel so crunched for time at the end. My fear of this project was mostly unfounded, so I feel like now I have more confidence to get started in the future.
I found the overall layout and structure of my lesson to be pretty effective. I also felt like my small bit of technology worked really well. For GLE 2.0, I do not plan on changing any of the major structures of the lesson. There are some smaller elements that I want to try to improve. I think the wording on my PowerPoint could be better, because as I was talking I realized ways I could simplify how I word things. I also want to work on engaging the learners even more. I might come up with a couple more questions to ask during the lecture and make sure I check if they are understanding things. Now that I know the structure of the lesson is solid, I can really concentrate on how I'm speaking and making sure the learners are very engaged.

Basically, after completing this assignment, I'm ready to go out and be a teacher.

Not really, but I do feel more confident in my ability to teach a lesson. And even if that is not exactly what I'll be doing in the future, it is a skill that is good to have, especially if I will be working in a school setting (SLPs co-teaching lessons is becoming more and more popular!)
Stay tuned for how GLE 2.0 goes...

It's Like Going to Class, But I'm in My Bed...

Last week, we did not meet for class. Instead, we had a couple of online discussion boards that we needed to post on before class time was up. I thought this was a good alternative to canceling class altogether since our instructor couldn't be there. It would be a shame to lose out on an entire class period, since we only meet once a week. Posting on the discussions boards caused us to still interact a bit with our classmates while learning new material. And it allowed me to do this without having to leave the comfort of my bed...
The article and video that we viewed were about the concept of universal design for learning (UDL). I think this is a great idea that I want to explore more. It is all about planning learning to make it accessible for ALL students. The article talked about the importance of speech pathologists in this process, so it's definitely something I might encounter in my future career.

March Course Journal

If you haven't heard me talk enough about Maker March, here is a video of me discussing my favorite activity of the month!

As an additional update, last week in class we presented our maker projects. I thought our presentation went really well, and I was proud of my group for coming together and cohesively sharing our idea. Public speaking and class presentations are one of my least favorite things, but it definitely helps to have a group of people up there with you. Now we just need to invent the technology to make the kind of virtual reality world we talked about possible...... but don't hold your breath.

Makey Makey (And Other Fun Technology)

It's the end of March, which means the end of a great 3 weeks in class experiencing the excitement of Makerspaces. Last week we got to play (excuse me, learn) with 3 new technologies: Makey Makey, Little Bits, and Leap Motion. I loved the experience because we weren't told explicitly how they work or what to do with them, it was up to us to figure it out for ourselves. All 3 stations were interesting, but my favorite was definitely the Makey Makeys. My group used them to make a piano out of various fruits. We also created a way to play Tetris by using other people's hands as the directional keys. This was something I had never seen or heard of before, and it was fascinating to learn about what this technology could do.

The time we spent experimenting with and learning about these technologies was, in my opinion, definitely valuable; however, I'm not sure exactly how I could use them in my future practice. One connection my group thought of was using Makey Makeys for people with limitations in their fine motor skills. It may be impossible for people with certain disabilities to press the small button on a laptop, but maybe instead they could instead tap on a fun object connected to a Makey Makey. In this way, more people could have an experience of playing a certain game on the computer or other applications that they might not have been able to do otherwise.

This week has inspired me to give more thought to how the idea of Makerspaces could be applied to my future field of speech pathology. It is a question I will hopefully have more answers to as I continue my education!

Lights and Tape and Circuits, Oh My!

Maker March continues, and last week in class we got to experiment with a variety of Maker space supplies with a guest speaker. The focus was on circuits, and we had several different ways to make them, including alligator clips and copper tape. This was an entirely new experience for me. My extremely limited previous knowledge of circuits (read: I had no idea what I was doing) didn't stop me from experimenting and having a good time, which is the sort of spirit maker spaces are all about.
The experience in class last week was awesome, but it also made me feel kind of stupid. I felt frustrated that I had no idea how any of these things worked, and that some elementary school students can do. Part of this is that I was more interested in how exactly things worked and more afraid of making mistakes when experimenting than a 5 year old might be.

The result of my experimenting in class...  a copper tape circuit

that lights up 2 LED lights. It's definitely not much, but even this 

small start to a project gave me a sense of accomplishment.

I really wish that I had had Makerspace-like experiences before now. I never got to experiment with making things, or building circuits, or some of the other things we have looked at, and I'm jealous of students now who get those opportunities. Looking back on it now, I think it would have been a worthwhile opportunity. at any stage of my education. My high school has a STEM lab with robotics equipment and other interesting new technology, but it was built after I had already finished my science classes. I'm glad that other girls will have the opportunity to have some of the experiences I am now wishing I had had.

Science is by no means my first love (hence why my major is speech pathology), but I had fun learning a little bit about circuits and getting the chance to build my own. And if I, a 20 year old college student who generally dislikes science, enjoyed this activity, then I think there would definitely be a lot of younger students who would enjoy the same activities. This week has convinced me on the value of Makerspaces in schools and classrooms!

Kahoot

Our tech of the week is Kahoot, an online quiz creation website. The site has a multitude of uses in the classroom, including to create quizzes to test students on what they know, to start off a class with an fun, competitive activity, or to assign as a group project for students to create their own quiz.
To test how the site works, I created a quick "About Me" quiz. Go to kahoot.it and use the game pin 262085 to try out my quiz!

Update: If anyone tries to take the quiz, let me know if it worked in the comments! It's a public quiz, but I've been having trouble trying to play it by putting in the game code without going through my account.