Journal 4: Project Plan

Site Name: Introduction to Agricultural Education

Site Developer: Ashley Salsgiver

Rationale or Focus: The purpose of this site is to provide information to new and incoming high school agriculture students as well as parents, other school staff and other members of the public who may be interested in the different aspects of the agriculture programs offered at high schools.  Additionally, this site will be used as a tool in recruiting incoming freshman to the program.

Main Features Outline: The main features of this site include: a home page, site navigation to pages for each aspect of the program (Classroom, FFA, and Supervised Agricultural Experience Projects), and a calendar of all activities and events for the year.  There will also be a link to the National FFA Organization website.

Content: The homepage will provide an introduction to the program as a whole, and welcome to all new students and future students. The classroom page will provide the different classes available at the school within the Ag program and a brief description of each class. The Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) page will provide background information about what an SAE is, what types are available, and other potential project ideas.  The FFA page will provide an overview of the different activities the program is involved in and past and present events.

Target Audience: The target audience of this site is to new and incoming high school students to the program, parents, and other school staff (i.e. counselors) who are involved in the enrollment of students into the agriculture program.

Design Considerations: I will design the site in a way that makes it easy to navigate, and also inviting and fun for students.  Because this site is also meant to be used as a recruitment tool it should be very exciting and welcoming to the potential members. The site will also be designed in a way to gear it towards a wide audience.

Limiting Factors: My own inexperience in web design will be the first limiting factor in creating this website.  The other limiting factor is the sizes and number of pictures I will be able to include in order to keep the downloading speed for being affected. The last limiting factor I foresee is making the site accessible to everyone.

Wire-Frame:


Site Map:

Journal 3: Social Media in Schools

Kessler, S. (2010, September 29). The Case For Social Media in Schools. Retrieved October 20, 2014.

In the article "The Case For Social Media in Schools" the author discusses the several benefits of using social media sites in a school setting.  The benefits she highlights include students being engaged and therefore learning better, the several available free and safe tools available to use social media in the classroom, the collaboration that is created when social media is used in the classroom, as well as the amount of time students spent on the internet doing homework versus the amount of time they spent procrastinating on the internet. The point I found to be the greatest lesson from this article is that no matter what schools and teachers do there is always going to be a risk when using social media in classrooms.  However, the best way to prevent the risk is to teach students how to be responsible when using social media.  When used in beneficial and responsible ways in the classroom, social media can have greater benefits to the students and their learning than the potential risks. 

Q1: In what ways do you, or will you, use social media in the classroom? 

A1: Although I am not currently a person who uses social media widely, I know that my students will be, and it is for this reason that I would use social media as a tool to engage and connect with my students in a deeper level of understanding.  By using the free social media tools mentioned in the article I can see myself creating blogs and discussion boards for my students to post on to share their thoughts and opinions on topics relating to the class. I believe this form of collaboration can have a much greater impact on their learning than the standard group project. 

Q2: How would you teach your students about being a responsible social media user? What topics would you discuss with them?

A2: I think the most important topic to discuss with my students before implementing the use of social media in the classroom would be the aspect of privacy and personal safety.  For example, discussing with them the potential risks and threats that come from providing too much personal information, as well as connecting with, or talking with people they don't know.  Social media is a great tool to connect with people who share interests with you, but you also need to maintain their security. 

Journal 2

Affinity Group:http://communities.naae.org/community/feeds/allcontent
The affinity group I am currently following is the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE).  This is a group geared towards agriculture teachers and FFA advisors.  This group provides not only classroom and lesson plan supports but also support and is a community in which ag educators can discuss, collaborate and help other ag educators with issues that are unique to the profession.  For example, agriculture educators are unique in the way that they not only teach in the classroom but also have things such as school farm sites to manage as well.  I hope that by following this affinity group I can learn the different tricks and tips that more veteran teachers can provide to new and preservice teachers such as myself.  I also think this will be a great source to get lesson plan and project ideas that are new and unique.

Digg RSS Reader:
Over the past week I have been checking my Digg RSS Feed and have learned several things.  For example, I have found this to be a great way to learn what is going on in my desired field of agriculture through following specific blogs.  However, I have also learned that it is important to follow blogs that are updated on a regular basis. A few of the blogs and newstreams I had originally decided to follow are not regularly updated and have not been updated or had new blogs posted in months.  Because of the blogs that were not updated often I chose to follow and and many new streams onto my reader, which caused me to gain a wider perspective on the blogs I am following.

Q1: How can assigning my future high school students to follow an affinity group or create their own Digg RSS Reader benefit and enrich their classroom experience?
A1: By having students either follow an affinity group, that relates to both their interests and the class  specific subject, or by creating their own RSS reader feed to follow, students can gear the subject to their own interests, as well as gain a deeper understanding of the subject and pursue the specific interests.

Q2: How can using tools such as Digg RSS Reader and joining affinity groups help develop you as a teacher?
A1: Digg RSS Reader is a fantastic tool to use in keeping up to date in the field of your profession, both as an educator and in the specific field you are teaching.  Also, by joining an affinity group of educators who share your grade level, and subject you are able to gain a wider range of resources, both from what the other educators are using within their own classrooms, as well as pose questions to other teachers who may have a different perspective than yourself, as well as more experience than yourself.  Both of these tools can be a great assest to teachers and especially preservice teachers, such as myself.

Chapters 1-3 Journal

Robbins, J. (2012). Learning web design: A beginner's guide to HTML, CSS, Javascript, and web graphics (4th ed.). Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly.

Summary:  The first three chapters of Learning Web Design discusses the some of the most fundamental background knowledge necessary to begin the learning process of web design as well at the several different job positions that go into designing a webpage.  In addition to discussing the several different aspects of web design, such as the equipment and programs necessary to create a website, the author also describes the different types of languages that are necessary to learn in order to first start web design.  The languages discussed in the first part of the book include HTML, CSS and JavaScript, in brief detail. These chapters also provide great insight and history into the interworkings of the internet, the web, and how they have all come to be what we know today and the constant advances being made in technology and how we access the web. 

Q1: How can someone with little or no experience in web design benefit in learning all aspects of web design?

A1: No matter how big or small of a project a person wishes to take on in web design it is useful to have at least a basic knowledge of the different aspects because it allows the person to have a wider range of services available to clients, if web design is being done as a profession. However, even if it is not a profession and is being done more as a personal web design the designer can be more aware of how their site is being run and how users are interacting with the site. 

Q2: How can I, as a future teacher, use a knowledge of web design in my classroom?
A2: By being able to understand and be able to create and design a website I can allow for a wider range of interaction and greater resources for my students.  I could also possibly integrate my knowledge into a lesson plan for my students and have the students create and manage simple sites of their own.  This would be beneficial because it offers a wider range of activity for the students and allows them to integrate their interests into our class and their style of learning. 

About Me Ashley Salsgiver

Hello, my name is Ashley Salsgiver.  I was raised in the small town of Fallbrook, located in northern San Diego County, California.  After graduating from Fallbrook High School in 2006, I attended Mira Costa College and then transfered to Cal Poly Pomona in the Fall Quarter of 2009.  I graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Science.  I am now currently enrolled in the Graduate Degree program at Cal Poly Pomona, where I am working to get my single subject Agricultural Specialist teaching credential as well as a Masters Degree in Agricultural Science.  My plans are to eventually teach agriculture at the high school level.  I was very active in the agriculture program, as well as FFA, when I was in high school and have enjoyed the subject ever since.

Although technology and computers have been part of my daily life since junior high school I would not consider myself to be any kind of computer expert.  Thus far, I have merely learned the basics, and enough to get through my schooling.  I am continually amazed by people who can so easily sit down at a computer and produce amazing things using such a wide variety of programs and applications.  My computer usage is mostly limited to email, performing research for school, and creating word documents. Although I do have a few social media accounts, I rarely use any of them.  

Unlike several of my classmates, I am not actually pursuing a Masters in Educational Multimedia.  I am however pursing a Masters in Agricultural Science (Agricultural Education) while also earning my teaching credential. My goals for this class, as they relate to the program, are to become more efficient and aware of the different types of programs and applications that I will hopefully be able to utilize in my future classroom. I hope to learn several new ways in which technology and the web can enrich my teaching and my future students classroom experiences.