Mrs.K. Another Course Assignment!

In Mrs. K.’s social media class this summer she was asked to discuss her chosen tools (the website and blog) and
how they help support collaboration, make accomplishing things easier than before, or how the technology now makes something more feasible vs the cost you would have had before.

Having a teacher webpage can help organize information and have it available at any time.
While we are likely to lose a sheet of paper coming home from school if the information is posted students
or parents can access it whenever they need. Forgot the address of the dance festival?
Just look it up and you will have it. This saves time and money associated with printing papers.
Having a teacher webpage can support learners to collaborate because I can post information to allow students and or professional working artists to access information from my website.

A blog or website can help give a glimpse into our classroom which is something that was difficult to do before the technology. In dance, we have the end product of a performance so you can see that something went on during
class time, but picture and stories of the process along the way help to make it real. Both a blog and website can help a prospective student find out more about the program and help alumni stay up to date with what is
happening.

I think an obstacle in social media tools in education that I face is the time to keep the different social media outlets
updated. Between teaching over 20 classes a week, choreographing musicals, attending dance performances,
putting on performances, and having a life-it can be difficult to keep up with everything. I find I go in cycles where
I updated one media system like Twitter for a while and then going on an Instagram kick.

Transferring information between different places can be difficult too. My school district uses Google, so I tend to
stick with the Google family of apps because it is easy to share information. In the dance strand, we often have a
difficult time sharing music with each other. I purchased my music from Itunes, someone else will have bought a
CD and recorded it, someone else recorded their own music. Getting all of this music information into one
storage file for a performance can be a very difficult task. I would love to know if there is an easier way to share music, especially music that has been cut specifically for a dance. This would help me overcome the obstacle of not all of the music being compatible when I need to have a playlist ready to go for performances.

Summer letter is going out this week....here are the upcoming dates so you can put them in your calendar!

CAPA PICNIC…at Churchill August 22^nd from 11:30-2:30. Freshmen bring beverages, Sophomores bring chips or beverages, Juniors bring snacks and Seniors bring dessert.

Mentor and Mentee Ice Cream Social…Black Box Thursday, September 6 from 3-4:00.

HANDS ON A HARDBODY …Auditions: September 10 Callbacks: September 11

HANDS ON A HARDBODY SET BUILD: Saturday, September 15^th, Black Box, 9:00 am-6 pm. Every one invited! Please bring a drill! I will feed you!

ACTING STRAND STRATFORD TRIP…October 5^th. We have many seats left for this trip to see To Kill a Mockingbird, they are $40 cash or check to CHS. I will be accepting reservations on the first day of school.

CAPA CLASSICAL CONCERT…Mainstage Theatre. October 24^th 7 pm

HANDS ON A HARDBODY PERFORMANCES: Black Box November 16, 17 @ 7:00 pm and November 18^th at 1 pm

WINTER DANCE SHOWCASE…Mainstage Theatre November 30th at 7:00 pm and December 1^st at 7 pm.

LES MISERABLES AUDITIONS…December 3, Callbacks December 4

CAPA VOCAL HOLIDAY CONCERT…Mainstage. December 12^th at 7 pm

WINTER BREAK December 24-January 6

LES MISERABLES SET BUILD….DURING WINTER BREAK!!!! Saturday, January 5^th, Mainstage. 9:00 am-6 pm. Every one invited! Please bring a drill or two or three and plenty of friends and family! I will feed you! We need a ton of help for this one!

CAPA ARTS CAMP…Saturday, January 26^th at Churchill from 9-3.

LES MISERABLES PERFORMANCES…February 15, 16 at 7:00 pm and 17^th at 1:00 pm.

ACTING SHOWCASE…auditions March 4^th, SHOW on March 15^th Black Box.

VOCAL MUSICAL THEATRE CONCERT…March 27^th at 7 pm. Mainstage.

ANNUAL CONCERT OF DANCE…May 3 & 4 at 7:00 pm Mainstage.

VOCAL JAZZ CONCERT…May 8^th at 7 pm. Mainstage.

SENIOR GALLERY rehearsal: May 13, SHOW May 15^th at 7 pm, Mainstage.

CAPA BANQUET…May 20^th at St. Mary’s Cultural Center. Families welcome.

FROM MRS. K...

Through the social media class I took this summer we were asked to find out more information about different forms of social media and how to utilize them in our teaching. We were then directed to choose at least four different types of social media to use in our teaching.

The first tool I selected to use is a video conference tool-Google Hangout. I selected this tool because Livonia Public Schools uses google already and I am familiar with the platform. This should help also because every student in the district has a gmail address too. By being able to connect with people through google hangouts students could work on a dance even if not at each others house or dance space together. Because there is a video conferencing aspect to hangouts students could connect with dance artists not physically in the same space, this opens collaboration opportunities not possible before this type of resource.

CAPA is already blogging at  http://lightscapaaction.blogspot.com/ so when I was asked to create a blog it made sense to access the blog we are already working with rather than creating a new one. Students in the CAPA program are used to checking into the blog because cast lists are posted to the blog. Posting things like the cast list on the blog allow student access to information without needing to be physically in front of a cast list in the school.  The blog allows past and current students and families to stay up to date with what is happening in CAPA. This helps us to be greener too because we are not sending home paper newsletters.

Googlesites is the webpage platform I chose to work with because my school district is already connected to Google. Parents are always asking for a website and a way to access the information they might have missed in class. This website platform allows me to post important information about showtimes and assignments that all families can access through my teacher website. This allows them to search the information when it is convenient for them rather than waiting for a phone call or email to be returned from me.

The final video platform I chose to work with is Youtube. Youtube has changed the dance world and is helping artists to share their craft. One of the ways that having a Youtube channel has helped my students is by posting videos of dances so they can work on them on their own. This is huge in helping students prepare for auditions, helping a student who was absent or allowing a student to break information down at the rate they need that may not be possible in the classroom setting.

The question I have at this point in my experience with social media is how to best help a student who has already made a mistake or poor judgement on social media? When should the teacher step in if it is personal and does not relate to classwork? How should sensitive issues be discussed within the curriculum to help students truly understand the impact of their digital footprint? Knowing how to better support my students with their digital citizenship will be good for my students.