Mirela Fejzic

Common Sense Census The Common Sense Media has created a report to take a look at media use of tweens and teens during the pandemic and compare it to previous years. This report even takes a closer look at how kids are spending their time, and which media activities they enjoy most. It is finally time to see how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected kids especially with media use. Image Source The first finding through this report was the increase of media use among tweens and teens. According to The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2021 it is stated that, "Media use in tweens and teens has grown faster since the start of the pandemic than it has over the four years prior to the pandemic" (3). This entertainment screen includes time spent watching television and online videos, playing video games, using social media, browsing websites, creating content, e-reading, and other digital activities. Within the report it is also stated that, "From 2015 to 2019,...

Image Source Active Learning It is extremely important to be active whether that is physically or mentally. Students spend a majority of their day learning. It is important that students are using their knowledge in meaningful ways. Active learning allows students to engage with content in ways that go beyond pen and paper. Through active learning, students are required to master higher order thinking skills such as applying, analyzing, and sythesizing information. The more interactions that students have with academic content, the better they are able to show what they know. This allows students to experience deeper learning to increase knowledge transfer. All students could benefit from active learning because, they're able to take responsibility of their learning through engaging interactions.  Ms. Malhiot Activating Her Classroom An extraordinary example of active learning took place in Ms. Malhiot's classroom . She went beyond a typical assessment which allowed her student...

My Digital Space My relationship with technology has certainly grown over the years. As a child, I only used a computer in school. I had a typing class that helped me type without looking or hitting each key by the same finger. As I started to get older, more assignments and projects were completed online. In college, this only grew more normal. I had finally come to the point in my life where I had to pay for online programs in order to complete homework assignments for courses.Once the pandemic came around, it all changed. We were able to adapt to our daily routines being almost all virtual. I have never really sat down to notice how much my life depends on technology. Image Source About the Quadrants According to David White , Vistors and Residents is the range of online engagement that is created from individual motivation and context at the time. When in Vistor mode, a person is taking on a task that they wish to complete. An example that White uses is going online to find out a p...

  Image Source The Trend Social-emotional learning and cultural competence is extremely important to discuss especially in classrooms. Families all around the world have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Students had to learn from their homes where they lacked the opportunity to have social interactions with peers face to face. They were not able to sit at a desk, walk through halls, laugh in the cafeteria, hug their teacher, or play with their friends outside. They missed out on the memories that they would remember forever. In other words, they were robbed of their educational career and left with negative results such as anxiety and trauma. Once they returned to classrooms, they were expected to know how to interact with peers without having the actual experience. It is this domino effect that teachers have spent much class time trying to fill the gap. A program that has been able to show a step in the right direction is  Second Step . What Is Second Step? Second Step...

  Image Source The Power of SAMR SAMR is a model that has four tiers of online learning. These tiers include substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition. Level one and two are known as as enhancement levels because, they vastly improve the quality of students' learning experiences. Level three and four are known as transformation levels because, they require students to think in meaningful ways that go beyond simple knowledge acquisition. In other words, students are learning in a way that transforms what they ever knew about traditional teaching methods. The SAMR provides a wide range for educators since it ranges from the replacement of traditional tools to changing the way students have viewed technology before. By the end of the spectrum, students are able to experience opportunities that were impossible without the power of technology.  Image Source Substitution The first level is substitution. This is where educators step away from traditional pencil and p...

    Image Source The country that is responsible for creating a comedian AKA me! The Origin of Face Itch Hello! My name is Mirela Fejzic or as my students call me Ms. Face Itch. Let me take you back to second grade where a "friend" of mine completely butchered my last name. I entered elementary school knowing absolutely no English to the point where I sat through the Pledge of Allegiance. As an English language learner, I couldn't pronounce my name any other way than in Bosnian. This only lasted until that very special "friend" introduced me as Mirela Refrigerator. Although my English vocabulary was extremely limited, I knew what refrigerator meant. How she got refrigerator from the six letters of my last name I'll never know, but it traumatized me. Once I decided to be an educator, I knew I had to get my act together in terms of an easy pronunciation for my last name which is where face itch came from. When explaining the pronunciation I get a genuine giggl...