My Capstone Journey has been difficult so far. I will be honest, I had a heck of a time just linking my pages together for my new website. I troubled my professor twice and even had my daughter sit with me to help. I understand that some of this is shiny and new and not what I am used to, but I will PERSEVERE ya'll! I really will and very soon, it will be behind me and not looming in front of me. I think that we all (Famous Cohort 19) deserve accolades, pats on the virtual back, and some expensive bubbly when this is all said and done. This journey is difficult but exciting! I love making the logo but it is not easy. It is not JUST what I want. I am thinking about how I want my video to look and I feel that the intended audience is for our "up and coming" educators who happen to have kids with special needs in their classes. I want these educators to understand that these students are in most ways, exactly like every other student! I do not, however, want to bank on the fact that there won't be many types of professionals reading and searching and learning. This is nerve-wracking I must admit. There are some GREAT websites out there - wonderful Capstone projects, and insightful and inspirational bodies of work. It is humbling to say the least.
1 Comment
This Blog is short but from the HEART. I adore my students and I feel deeply for persons with special needs. My journey to special education is perhaps a simple one - I see what I love, I feel a calling, and I pursue.
I chose my topic for the same reasons, except it made sense to take it to a different level. It is not always easy to explain one's passion. When we were tasked with coming up with a Driving Question (remember everyone - what is your "passion" - what "calls to you") it seemed so relevant and timely to look at how learning and well-being are related during times of isolation. We can NOT IGNORE the COVID FACTOR. It drives everything! It will continue to drive everything! We are educators and our world imploded about one year ago. I actually HAD to write about it. How are my students with special needs affected? What can I do better? (answer: everything) My research is short - my cycles need another round, and I did not have as much time as I needed. But, I have a beautiful and well-meaning beginning. I wish to take this further but it is my hope that someone else will also see the relevance in what I wanted to seek. And share it with all educators and parents. Logo-ing has been an interesting journey. I started several weeks ago with drawings - cocktail napkins, backs of PG&E bills, and copy paper from my printer. I had three major artistic purges. The first was all rough drawings as I stated, and kind of JUST what I wanted to see. This idea is a combination of well-being, with technology but more focused on the well-being part. I drew a finger with a butterfly on it, a book with a butterfly on it, and variations of this, with embedded fonts in the wings that spell, "wellness". I put these drawings into our homework page. Then I spent a few HOURS on logomaker.com and created what I feel is a very cool logo, but in the end, I am unable to download it without paying a FEE. Disappointing. So now it is just living in that website. If you actually read all the fine print, it does say that you, "can make as many logos as you wish and save them!" But you may not actually download them until you pay. Then, I went to Canva and having used it several times before, was pleasantly surprised. My intention is to show how wellness and leaning are interconnected and the glue that keeps them together is technology. I like this new logo but it is not finished. I like the butterfly idea and what I have not figured out yet is how to get exactly what I want when all I see is clipart. My journey continues!
I decided to explore websites that are very different than the ones I would normally identify with! Take a chance I say. I am learning more from my fellow innovators than almost anything else I am immersed with, so it is fair game. This particular site made me proud. I do not know this teacher - I went in cold and just kind of went for the ride. What Samantha Hull is...is honest. She shares that she created her site for teachers like her, who are sometimes overwhelmed with the every day work but want to refine their teaching practices. She does not quite understand how to integrate technology into her art classes, but she is willing to try. Her theme is that educators should never feel like they have nothing to give just because others might be more tech savvy! She explored. She dug deep into innovative sites and technological practices that left her feeling like a brand new teacher. Art and technology DO mix! TPACK started to make sense. Her audience is clearly the educator - one whom might feel like they are good but wondering how to be BETTER. I think she was quite effective and want to give a shout out to Samantha Hull, Art teacher (and Innovative inspiration) at American Canyon High School. Thank you Sam.
|
Kathy FlynnAlways hoping, learning, and wondering...how am I making a difference in my student's lives? Archives
April 2021
Categories |