Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement
At Vista Magnet Middle School, students are constantly collaborating, which helps keep students engaged. I notice that the more experience that students gain working with one another, the more willing they are to discuss the pros and cons of certain approaches to solving a math problem. While I monitor the room I assess students’ discussions and ask students to clarify certain ideas they are presenting to their peers. As a result, there is plenty of communicating student to student as well as student to teacher, which keeps the students engaged and interested. However, I have found that there are days where students get tired of the same routine. Therefore, I am glad that I read “Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement” because I noted that there are other ways to engage students than working with peers. My goal is to commit to getting students out of their seats, bringing more visuals when teaching new concepts, and allowing students to make choices. The reason that I decided to commit to getting students out of their seat is because middle school students are not ready to sit for 90 minutes without moving. I want students to stay engaged so I will allow them to move during tasks. I decided to commit to bringing visuals to class because I believe that students will be able to solidify concepts by recalling the visuals that were presented in class. Student choice is another approach that I am committing to because I want students to enjoy the way they present the new knowledge they learn. Therefore, I believe that by providing them with a choice they will be more engaged in learning new content.
Instagram ELE Challenge
Students are being prepared to participate in a global society through the Instagram ELE Challenge because students are required to utilize new technology as a medium to learn. The world around us is constantly changing and students need to be aware that social media is not only used for “memes” but as a resource to communicate with others. Students will use Instagram as a way to communicate with others and learn new vocabulary. By exposing students to this way of thinking students are being prepared to participate in a global society.
I believe that these teachers empower collaboration and innovation because they are providing students with an opportunity to collaborate with one another through hashtags on Instagram as well as implementing a new approach to learning vocabulary.
Instagram Scavenger Hunt
I am currently at Vista Magnet Middle School and for that reason I do not believe that I can apply the idea of an “Instagram Scavenger Hunt” in my classroom because many of my students do not have smart phones and we do not have frequent access to iPads. However, if I were teaching at a high school I feel that I would enjoy having my students participate in an “Instagram Scavenger Hunt”. I believe that students would be engaged since they use Instagram frequently outside of class. I would modify the idea a little because I would like to try it with Snapchat as well. Many students are using Snapchat nowadays and I feel that could also be used as a learning tool. I would have students post pictures on concepts that we are learning in class and student presentations.
3 Ways Colleges Use Instagram
The three ways that Colleges and Universities use Instagram are by asking questions, feeding other social networks, and encouraging participation during major events. I believe that these implementations are not restricted to Colleges and Universities because nowadays either the student or the parent (or both) have smart phones accessible to them after school hours. I believe that students would be engaged if Instagram was implemented in a way to increase student involvement in schools. What makes Instagram so appealing to the users is that photos provide a snapshot of an idea or event and one can easily decide whether to engage or scroll past. There is choice and it is a quick way to communicate with many people at once. Schools and classrooms can benefit from the use of Instagram because it creates an interactive culture, which in turn engages students and increases student success.
When I was first exposed to Instagram I used it as a means to share pictures of events and places that I was attending, spending time with family, and yes...my food. I did not see an educational purpose to Instagram; however, after reading the articles above I came to realize that there are indeed methods that one can utilize to help students learn and be connected with their class as well as their school. The teachers in the articles have found ways to leverage Instagram in their lessons to keep students engaged as well as a way to encourage participation and learning. I agree that these approaches of implementing Instagram in the classroom have transformed instruction and engagement. Mathematics is a content area that would require students to think critically about pictures that relate to the unit of study. For example, in my sixth grade class we are studying area and perimeter using algebra tiles. Students would not find algebra tiles outside of the classroom but they could think critically to find objects that could serve a similar purpose. Therefore, I believe that the implementation of Instagram in a math class would have to be restricted for appropriate units of study, such as transformations and volume. The articles do align with my beliefs about education because I strive to be innovative and create new ways for student learning. I strongly believe that creating a way to promote learning through social media networks would be a key component to increase student learning and engagement. Students are already using social media networks, so it is important that we create ways to implement them in our students' learning. My goal for the future is to create lessons that require students to use Instagram as a way to learn the content as well as a way to learn from their peers by creating a class hashtag they can all reference.
At Vista Magnet Middle School, students are constantly collaborating, which helps keep students engaged. I notice that the more experience that students gain working with one another, the more willing they are to discuss the pros and cons of certain approaches to solving a math problem. While I monitor the room I assess students’ discussions and ask students to clarify certain ideas they are presenting to their peers. As a result, there is plenty of communicating student to student as well as student to teacher, which keeps the students engaged and interested. However, I have found that there are days where students get tired of the same routine. Therefore, I am glad that I read “Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement” because I noted that there are other ways to engage students than working with peers. My goal is to commit to getting students out of their seats, bringing more visuals when teaching new concepts, and allowing students to make choices. The reason that I decided to commit to getting students out of their seat is because middle school students are not ready to sit for 90 minutes without moving. I want students to stay engaged so I will allow them to move during tasks. I decided to commit to bringing visuals to class because I believe that students will be able to solidify concepts by recalling the visuals that were presented in class. Student choice is another approach that I am committing to because I want students to enjoy the way they present the new knowledge they learn. Therefore, I believe that by providing them with a choice they will be more engaged in learning new content.
Instagram ELE Challenge
Students are being prepared to participate in a global society through the Instagram ELE Challenge because students are required to utilize new technology as a medium to learn. The world around us is constantly changing and students need to be aware that social media is not only used for “memes” but as a resource to communicate with others. Students will use Instagram as a way to communicate with others and learn new vocabulary. By exposing students to this way of thinking students are being prepared to participate in a global society.
I believe that these teachers empower collaboration and innovation because they are providing students with an opportunity to collaborate with one another through hashtags on Instagram as well as implementing a new approach to learning vocabulary.
Instagram Scavenger Hunt
I am currently at Vista Magnet Middle School and for that reason I do not believe that I can apply the idea of an “Instagram Scavenger Hunt” in my classroom because many of my students do not have smart phones and we do not have frequent access to iPads. However, if I were teaching at a high school I feel that I would enjoy having my students participate in an “Instagram Scavenger Hunt”. I believe that students would be engaged since they use Instagram frequently outside of class. I would modify the idea a little because I would like to try it with Snapchat as well. Many students are using Snapchat nowadays and I feel that could also be used as a learning tool. I would have students post pictures on concepts that we are learning in class and student presentations.
3 Ways Colleges Use Instagram
The three ways that Colleges and Universities use Instagram are by asking questions, feeding other social networks, and encouraging participation during major events. I believe that these implementations are not restricted to Colleges and Universities because nowadays either the student or the parent (or both) have smart phones accessible to them after school hours. I believe that students would be engaged if Instagram was implemented in a way to increase student involvement in schools. What makes Instagram so appealing to the users is that photos provide a snapshot of an idea or event and one can easily decide whether to engage or scroll past. There is choice and it is a quick way to communicate with many people at once. Schools and classrooms can benefit from the use of Instagram because it creates an interactive culture, which in turn engages students and increases student success.
When I was first exposed to Instagram I used it as a means to share pictures of events and places that I was attending, spending time with family, and yes...my food. I did not see an educational purpose to Instagram; however, after reading the articles above I came to realize that there are indeed methods that one can utilize to help students learn and be connected with their class as well as their school. The teachers in the articles have found ways to leverage Instagram in their lessons to keep students engaged as well as a way to encourage participation and learning. I agree that these approaches of implementing Instagram in the classroom have transformed instruction and engagement. Mathematics is a content area that would require students to think critically about pictures that relate to the unit of study. For example, in my sixth grade class we are studying area and perimeter using algebra tiles. Students would not find algebra tiles outside of the classroom but they could think critically to find objects that could serve a similar purpose. Therefore, I believe that the implementation of Instagram in a math class would have to be restricted for appropriate units of study, such as transformations and volume. The articles do align with my beliefs about education because I strive to be innovative and create new ways for student learning. I strongly believe that creating a way to promote learning through social media networks would be a key component to increase student learning and engagement. Students are already using social media networks, so it is important that we create ways to implement them in our students' learning. My goal for the future is to create lessons that require students to use Instagram as a way to learn the content as well as a way to learn from their peers by creating a class hashtag they can all reference.