Jodi McFarland INST 6213

For this additional participation requirement, I selected Technology Teacher Tribe With Brittany Washburn to participate in. This learning community is based on Facebook and consists of teachers all across the country who are asking questions, sharing ideas and providing support to technology educators in the K-12 setting.

For this assignment (Module 2) I selected the Canvas LMS Community to participate in as it directly correlates to my job as an Instructional Technologist at UAB. For my participation, I joined conversations and answered questions in the community's Q&A. I have provided links to each question I answered or followed up on during my participation, which is ongoing. The Canvas LMS Community provides feedback and support for users of the Canvas Learning Management System that many institutions have in place. Q: I teach JHS Orchestra and have approx. 200 students. We are trying to have students upload videos of their playing as an assignment. Students with iPhones (which is most of them) keep getting an error message (see attached). I checked to make sure their phone permissions were set to allow Canvas to access their files. Android phones were also getting an error message. We've wasted too much class-time trying to troubleshoot.  Our administrator told us we are the only sch...

Social media is a tool teachers can use to connect and share ideas. I have found several resources and listed them below. Alabama Art Teachers is a closed Facebook group. I have joined the group and follow the classrooms of many of my fellow art teachers in Alabama on the social media site. Teachers share their classroom management strategies, systems for organizing supplies, successful lesson plans, seating charts and more. Many of the teachers also share local and state-wide events for professional development. https://www.facebook.com/groups/442207489293632/ The next resource is called the Art Teacher Marketplace on Facebook. Art teachers notoriously need supplies and through this group on Facebook, teachers can advertise and trade supplies with each other. Teachers also share coupons and art supply deals that are currently taking place in local areas. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArtTeacherMarketplace/ Pinterest is a favorite social media source that teachers can use ...

This module has helped me think about self-directed learners and the role of differentiation in the following ways… Classroom environments include a wide and diverse community of students and each child has specific needs and learning goals that must be met. Varying abilities range from special needs, disabilities, gifted students, and students who may require assistance with language barriers and physical limitations. All students should be given the opportunity to excel and may require differentiated strategies to achieve their goals. The classroom must be flexible and accommodate all learners and their unique needs and abilities. Assistive technology can give these students access to additional resources that will help them learn more effectively and purposefully. It is also important that the classroom is student-centered. Student-centered classrooms increase motivation and teach important self-regulation strategies. When students assess themselves, it can make them more aware o...

"This module has helped me think about student-centered assessment in the following ways…" Student-centered assessment helped me think more in-depth about how my students are learning and how to carefully monitor their progress and provide them with meaningful feedback. The most important point of assessment is that the assessment is valid and elicits the kind of learning I want to measure. The kinds of tests I administer can also affect student motivation. I have to think from a student's perspective and create assessments they can understand and interpret. In the art classroom, assessments can vary in many ways, such as in class discussions, quizzes, and peer critiques. When students assess their own work, they are assessing their abilities and products in a more personal way and this guides and motivates them to make progress in the future.

How can the creation of a student sample help me clarify my unit expectations and improve my instructional design? How can I ensure students will achieve the learning objectives when creating their student projects? Creating a student sample will help me clarify my unit expectations and improve instructional strategies by guiding my understanding as a teacher how my students are perceiving the lesson and it's content. It can expose problems with the lesson or unit before it begins and allows the teacher time to edit the lesson to be more effective. A student sample provides me with a clearer understanding of exactly how students will complete tasks and what results I can most accurately expect. Creating a student sample can improve instructional strategies. In Art, a student sample is especially important for the lesson plan. A final project that is already completed by the teacher sets an example for expectations and clarifies to students what the final project should look like ...