Blog #7

So far, Twitter has been a pretty easy and insightful experience.  Being pretty familiar with it before I felt as though I didn't necessarily have to learn anything new.  Despite being out of touch with it for a few years I immersed myself back into the platform and it seemed like I never left.  Using Twitter has a lot of benefits, personally and professionally.  The one that I feel is the most beneficial are the connections that can be made through it.  This helps a lot of people who are just starting a career in their field and then can learn about companies or people that might interest them and find ways of getting into further contact with them.  Twitter allows you to personally create a brand for yourself based on the content you post and the people you follow and interact with on there.

I had a pretty great time designing my website!  I found it very enjoyable to create something in a really hands on way.  There were times when I found things to be tedious just because things wouldn't align the way I wanted them to or move where I needed it to move.  Learning to be patient and cope with this platform of technology and design is something that can be very beneficial for the future.  I definitely think I could take my website one step further next time.  I'm incredibly impressed with how it turned out but would love to see what else I could do with it!  Possibly embed a video on my "Why This Class?" page or add more blog posts.  I am going into an arts related career and websites are huge and most people in the industry have one.  Being able to create something like this and knowing I have these skills under my belt can assist when I go to create my own professional website to use to connect with people in the business. 


Check out my website here: Ms. Lawlor's 9th Grade Drama Class

Assistive and adaptive technologies can be so beneficial to learners who need that extra assistance.  For example, Braille printers can change the course of a student's educational experience if they are visually impaired.  This allows them to have materials that utilize Braille and will make their experience so much more positive.  A lot of students in my middle school classes actually had extended time on standardized tests.  I wasn't aware what exceptionalities they had that gave them this extra time but I always remember those students being put in a different room to take those tests.  I definitely think utilizing adaptive technologies is a learning process for the student but also for myself as the teacher.  Being able to assist my student(s) with whatever technology they need comes with me learning how to use it, what its functions are, and even how to solve the problem if it is not working.  This can become a huge obstacle at first but once I get into the rhythm of it things will definitely start to get easier for me and then, by extension, my student.