Skyler Huspen's EDU776 Blog

Photo courtesy of twitter.com I joined Twitter in 2009. Like most millennials, I used it to stay in contact with friends, scroll through memes, and share tidbits about my day. It wasn't until my senior year of undergrad that I actually created a professional Twitter account. I took a nutrition communication class that required I create an account and tweet out helpful nutrition tips several times a week. It stressed writing my own tweets over retweeting others. This was great, but I didn't really focus on gaining followers because I didn't interact much with the rest of Twitter. It wasn't until EDU776 that I truly started utilizing Twitter to expand my professional network.  Field trips can be fun and educational, but they can also be expensive, hard to plan, and difficult to chaperone. One resource that I found particularly helpful was originally posted by Kara Wilkins  and shared through Twitter  by  @WeAreTeachers . They post contained a list of 250 "vi

Our world is constantly changing and evolving. Every day, new research pertaining to our fields is published. As professionals, it is our responsibility to be aware of this research. We don't have to necessarily practice everything we read, but being familiar with new and emerging information helps us to be better and more effective educators. And the better and more effective we are, the more beneficial we are to our students. That's why I thought looking over research for this week's assignment was very interesting. Photo courtesy of http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/ speak-up-2016-trends-digital-learning-june-2017.html One statistic that really stuck with me came from Project Tomorrow's  Speak Up Report . It states that, "Technology leaders (67%) say that the greatest challenge they face in implementing digital learning or expanding technology use is motivating teachers to change their traditional practices to use technology more meaningfully with students.

QR Code Mysteries  are a fun and interactive way to bring technology into the classroom. QR codes function by requiring the student to actively scan an image to reveal a missing piece of information. This, by definition, ties into active learning. Photo courtesy of https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/active-learning/ But what is active learnin g ? Active learning is a teaching style that is student centered and engaging. I think this is something teachers should consider when planning lessons on a day to day basis. Allowing students to take control of their learning ensures that they will take more away from each lesson. It is a well known fact that people retain more of what they do compared to what they are told. Students will remember more information if they are actively working with a concept, rather than sitting in class and listening to a lecture. Essentially, bringing active learning into the classroom brings better learning opportunities to our students.  While active learning

Technology has been around me since I was born. As a millennial, I was raised with it. While I didn't have a cellphone until the end of high school, I've been using computers my entire life. I've been so immersed in it that it took reading about David White's philosophy  of visitor vs. resident to step back and evaluate myself. It's the idea that "visitors" do not leave an online record that they were ever there, whereas "residents" are online with the intention of connecting with another human being. Visitors might be doing someone online shopping and surfing the web, whereas residents might be expanding their professional network. Diving further, understanding that we all have a professional and a personal network, we can divide our internet usage into four quadrants.  Below is my digital space map. My Digital Spaces Map Rather than choosing to make some icons overlap into different quadrants, I opted to repeat the logo and

TIP Chart  Teaching Innovation Progression Chart Self reflection is critical for growth. This  The TIP Chart provides modern educators with clear charts that can be used to asses competency in a variety of categories. I went about this exercise evaluating myself in terms of working with a nutrition patient.  http://blogs.henrico.k12.va.us/21/files/2015/03/TIPC_Teaching-Innovation-Progression-Chart.pdf I would say on the communication and collaboration scale, I am a 5. I feel confident in my ability to communicate and work with a patient. I enjoy creating activities and challenges for patients in order to expand their nutrition knowledge. In order to progress on this scale, I feel I need more experience in this field. Graduating with my masters and passing the RD exam are the first steps in the right direction.  http://blogs.henrico.k12.va.us/21/files/2015/03/TIPC_Teaching-Innovation-Progression-Chart.pdf On the critical thinking and problem solving scale, I believ

Design Thinking Check out my video about this educational trend!  Here are some interesting links for more information: 1.  https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_brown_urges_designers_to_think_big/up-next#t-6925  (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. 2.  https://dschool-old.stanford.edu/sandbox/groups/k12/wiki/14340/attachments/e55cd/teacher%20takeaway.pdf?sessionID=c85b670208fde73cab552d4757ad4f368f2[KM,;’\\0d455  (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. 3.  https://web.stanford.edu/dept/SUSE/taking-design/presentations/Taking-design-to-school.pdf  (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. 4.  https://designthinkingforeducators.com/  (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. 5.  https://dschool-old.stanford.edu/groups/k12/wiki/332ff/Curriculum_Home_Page.html  (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. 6.  http://ajjuliani.com/the-beginners-guide-to-design-thinking-in-the-classroom/  (Links to an exter