What will your ideal classroom web site look like? How will the contextual factors of your school influence the content of your web site.

I am SO excited to have my own classroom website. My ideal website would be full of personality and would have a plethora of interesting information. It would include pictures of my students and their work, an updated grade-book, an "About Me" section, webquest links, student forum boards, and assignment lists. It would be easily navigated, clean, and organized. It would be highly interactive and colorful.

As far as my contextual factors document affecting the content on the website,  I will take into account the different learning styles represented in my classroom when building my website. For example, if I have a big percentage of visual learners, I might include graphic organizers or illustrations of concepts that are discussed or explored.

I also want my website to be a place where parents can come to see what we are doing in class. I would love to have an "email the instructor" option so that parents can submit messages in the same place as viewing the classroom content!

How would you use gaming in your classroom?

I've thought the most about gaming in my classroom in regards to cell-phone or Iphone applications tailored for grammar, vocabulary, and poetic device instruction. I think it would be neat if I could find a way to get students to practice concepts and content through a game on their phone or Iphone!

Besides computer games, there are so many in-class games that can be used to aid in instruction. For example, students love to compete. Review games modeled after Jeopardy or any team vs. team game show are perfect to cover material while pulling from students' naturally competitive gaming mindset. It also helps if you have candy to reward the winners! 

There are plenty of other games that a teacher can use in English/Literature classroom. One game I used in my Block III classroom is called "Occupation Shakespeare." In this game, student volunteers take a four-line quatrain of a Shakespearean sonnet (we used Sonnet 18), and read it in a selected occupation. The instructor has audience members pull a card that has an occupation listed on it (for example, a runway model, American Idol contestant, Santa Claus, etc.). So then the student would read/perform the four lines in the style of the selected occupation. It is a riot, and students really seem to enjoy it! I will definitely use it again in the future! 

How would you use blogging in your classroom? How would you use a teacher centered blog? How would you use a student centered blog?

One of the things I will make sure to do in my future classroom is write in a blog. I've had teachers in my past keep blogs, and I always found it a great way to connect to my teacher. It made he/she more accessible and human, while it also helped me stay up-to-date with what was going on in the classroom. 

I plan on writing both personal experiences as well as classroom-related posts. This way students can check the blog to see what we did in class on a particular day, as well as access some helpful web resources I have compiled on a particular topic. I think it is also important to include some personal posts as well; students want to know about who is teaching them everyday. I do believe that the instructor should not share too much of their personal life, but the more you share with your students, the more comfortable they will feel when sharing their own lives.

Another option for using blogs in my future classroom is to request students blog for assignments. I do like this option. Students are more likely to enjoy typing on a keyboard more than picking up a pencil and journaling. I do not, however, want my students to get to the point that they are so tired of writing and responding to blogs that their responses begin to lack in quality of insight. I will have to monitor their reactions to blog assignments to ensure that this does not happen. I know that in my online classes, I have problems with this as a student. I will have to remember that when I am the one giving the assignments!

How would you use BYOD in your content area?

I love the idea of students using their cell phones for instruction in the classroom. For school districts that do not have the funding for individual student laptops, this is a great way to find personalization in technology without a computer. We read an article for that insisted that in order for students to best use technology in the classroom, it must be personal to the student. What is more personal to our young people but their cell phones? By having students bring in their cell phones, each student can have their own device! I am excited to use BYOD in my future English/Literature high school classroom in the following ways:

• PollEverywhere.com 
• Students are polled through text messaging or a smart phone application on a particular question or topic. This is a great way to use their cell phones instead of those expensive classroom set clickers
•  Cell Phone discussion panel
• There are websites that host little "chat room-like" spaces where students can log in through their cell phones and participate in a discussion. It is really neat, and I cannot wait to use this in my future classroom!
• A Dictionary
• A Thesaurus
• An E-reader
• Smart Phone apps for grammar, vocab, and poetic devices instruction!
• A camera/video camera

What are the characteristics of good technology use in your content area?

I think a good use of technology in an English/Literature high school classroom integrates technology in a way that enhances and enriches the instruction. So many times teachers simply throw in a given technology without considering its validity in the curriculum. I have used technology in my Block III classroom, and found that technology works best in the following circumstances:

•  Technology is clean and concise.
• This is so important in presentations. The instructor should not bombard students with an overload of information. Instead, teachers should choose when and where to use technology in the classroom. It shouldn't be sloppy or excessive. A great use of technology is one in which is logical, concisely compiled, and rehearsed.
• Technology is suppliant to instruction.
• This is particularly important during power point or PREZI presentations. Technology should aid in the presentation, instead of be the presentation. The instructor should take control of the information, not let the information control them.

• Technology is innovative and creative!
• One of the reasons instructors like using technology in their classrooms is because it spices up instruction. It is easier to capture the attention of high school students when they are able to interact or manipulate the content. Technology allows this. Therefore, good technology is one that is refreshing and interesting to viewers. 

 Some ideas for use of technology in the English/Literature high school classroom are:

• E-readers (like the Nook or Kindle)
• PowerPoint or PREZI presentations 
• Student Cell Phones 
• Student devices can be a fun way to poll the students or for a discussion of theme set!
• Tangrams 
• Tangrams can be used as a review for vocabulary or concepts. I actually used them in my lessons for Block III. 
• Visual of literature being studied
• This is particularly helpful when analyzing texts for poetic devices, point of view, unfamiliar vocab, or reading strategies.