CAST UDL Book Builder

I was able to explore the website  bookbuilder.cast.org.  This site was designed for users to create, share, publish, and read digital books that will help different kinds of learners.  I was mostly interested to see what kind of books they had available so I can share them with my students.  At first, I was not impressed because I would have like to see some audio used.  However, after playing around with some buttons and scrolling down I was able to find the right button to play the sound.   I was impressed! I was able to find a variety of books under the "Public Library Books" section to use in the classroom to support all learners.  I am not sure if I would use this site to write a book, but definitely a new way to integrate technology into the classroom.

My Personal Learning Network

You may wonder what is a Personal Learning Network? I was not sure of the definition before my last class discussion and came up with a concise definition. It is a network of individuals, organizations, resources that can help you learn, access resources, find experts, achieve mastery, inspire, provide support with any subject matter. Listing all of these ways a network can help I was able to realize I am getting this at Antioch, my current placement, cohort, and professors. But my PLN will continue to grow if I seek opportunities and search for growth. Especially now with the world wide web I am able to access anything on any given time at any given place. We are unstoppable!!!

I have found myself stuck for hours on this new thing called Pinterest. I had heard about Pinterest, but I had always associated with cool arts & craft projects. Now I have found myself looking for projects and lessons to create engaging activities my students. It is also through Pinterest that I discovered different blogs from teachers who have been generous enough to share their ideas and creativity with the world…sometimes for FREE!!!

However, I feel that no website or textbook can provide as much learning as I have gained throughout my time student teaching. Being in front of the students I am able to read their actions and modify my lessons wether its a stretch, singing, or switching the lesson plans. It is through being with my students that I am able to grow personally and professionally. I wish I had the time to explore different classroom around the world to It is through my personal experiences and relationships that I feel I can count on to keep growing professionally.

(I added color to this blog. :) I hope to one day have a cool BLOG!)

First Blog Ever!

Hello everyone!

This is my first blog ever and I hope I can learn and grow professionally from this experince.  I will be blogging about my graduate course TEP 519: Technology for Universal Design at Antioch University Santa Barbara.

-Yessica Rangel