Kelly's Kelley Experience

I have a Twitter account. It still has my maiden name on it. It hasn't posted a tweet in over 3 years. I think it is time for my twitter account to start flapping its wings again.  The main way that a I want to begin using Twitter, in a professional capacity, is as a way to communicate with students.  I am a major advocate for turing work in on time and I have very strict late work policies, especially for my honors students.  This can sometimes be a major difference for students depending on previous teachers they have had. I would love to be able to tweet reminders for upcoming deadlines.  Being able to send reminders to students that they can see in their twitter feeds is a really good way to keep them focused.   Twitter can also allow parents another form of communication to keep up with what is going on in their child's classroom. It is often too overwhelming for me, as a teacher of over 175 students, to keep parents informed.  Parent...

What are we Optimizing? I recently watched a series of videos called "Do Not Track" that covered various aspects of data collection on the Internet. Topics ranged from how internet cookies work to big data and the algorithms used to push data to online viewers.   In episode 6 of this series, "The Daily Me," the content really digs deep into how the information we see on on social media sites end up being what we see.  The experts in the video talked about the different algorithms used and how they vary from different websites.  One expert depicted how different people reacted to the violence in Gaza in the summer of 2014. He explained that people with more supportive views of the Israelis saw content that framed the violence in such a way that it support their views; where as, the people who had oppositional views of the Israelis saw content, of the same event, but framed in a way that was supportive of their views.  I know that this is how social media wor...

Google Classroom is a great tool to use in the classroom for all ages and subject areas. If you aren't familiar with Google Classroom here is a video to give you a quick overview.   Google Classroom has drastically impacted the way in which I run my classroom.  This platform has opened up so many opportunities to make education more effective and efficient.  The main use of Google Classroom that I capitalize on is the ability to read student work WHILE they are still working. When this feature became available it complete blew my mind! I had no idea how much easier teaching writing would become. When students are writing essays in Google Classroom, I am able to monitor their progression online and provide feedback.  This asset has greatly increased student engagement in the writing process.  I am able to have a private conversation to help a student get started or redirect a student who is off track.  Another benefit to using Google Classroom...