Blog Post #16 Final Reflection

Last C4T

Each week we are assigned a different teachers blog to comment on, but this week was a little bit different. We were provided a list of teachers blogs, and we had to choose one. I chose David Wees and was very intrigued by some of his recent posts.

The first post that I commented on was titled 20 Things Every Teacher Should Do. This post was very interesting because it gave me as a future educator an idea of what teaching is really like. The most important thing from this list in my opinion was "to believe that all of their students can achieve success". This is important to me because I know how hard it can be to do something when you do not have the proper support. As teachers we will still be learners and needing to improve, and having a list like this of helpful things to keep in mind could be very beneficial.

The second post was called I was not born to teach. This title alone jumped out to me very much. In this post David explained how he was not born to do things like teaching, using technology, and being a mathmetician. However, these talents that he has improved on have developed from hard work and experience. In his post he says: "When we see someone who seems to do something well, we have the tendency to assume that they have special talent, rather than they had a set of experiences that prepared them to be successful". This was important to me because it gave me a new perspective. It allowed me to think differently about how hard those around us work to be good at the things they are doing.

Blog Post #5 Part 2

I mentioned before that a PLN is a Personal Learning Network. This is a network of teachers whom you can call upon when you need advice or assistance in your teaching career. A lot of these teachers will be able to give you different project ideas that have worked for them and maybe you can include in your classroom. At the beginning of this EDM 310 Class I started following many of the EDM staff members on Twitter. Twitter seems to have been my most important tool that I have used for my PLN. Since the beginning of this semester I have completed some field experience for my other classes, and have been able to add those teachers as part of my PLN. Different interactions with people whether it is through social media or real life interactions, they are all opportunities to build your PLN. I am still very early on in building my PLN, but I feel like it will continue to grow and be a helpful tool in my teaching career.

Picture

C4K November

Amelia's Blog Post
This post was describing what happened over her holiday break. She did not say which holiday break it was. She said that she had a slumber party where they made movies and danced to songs like "23". I could relate to her because everyone always enjoys having a break every now and then. Unfortunately her teacher had commented and said that Amelia had transferred schools.

Abby's Blog Post
This blog post was about a project where the students had to write their future reflections. Abby chose to write her reflection as seen through her friends sunglasses. They were the only students in the class that chose this project, and they chose it because she said it was interesting to them. I told her that it was always good to do choose something that is different and interesting. This reflected that she really did care about this project, and that her teacher had done a good job of getting the students engaged and interested.

Grace's Blog Post
In this post Grace told her readers about how they were finishing up their quarter and she was relieved. In her post she named a few of the vocabulary terms that she had learned this year, and even used some of them in a sentence. This showed me that her teacher had done a good job of making sure the students understood the meaning and were even able to remember them throughout the quarter. I told her to keep up the good work!

Picture

Blog Post #14

Joel Klein was asked: If you could wave a wand and change one thing, what would it be?
Mr. Klein gave a list of things he would change, but if he had to choose one it would be "to professionalize teaching, making it like other well-respected professions, such as law and medicine". To make this change he pointed out a few flaws to the education system as well as some possible solutions.
1. Pick from the best
The problem he sees here is that students aspiring to become teachers are not being trained properly. The students who have been trained and recieved their degrees are being hired just because they have a degree, not necessarily because they are the most qulaified. Finally, the teachers who are working are not being rewarded properly.
The solution for him would be to give proper training to aspiring teachers, recruit from the top third of each graudating class, and to not base teacher distinctions on seniority but on performance.

I agree that their is a problem in the qualifications of teachers. I think that the best way to fix this problem is to start at the source. Every teacher learns how to teach in training obviously. So, if the training process was altered to a more appropriate standard then the teachers going into the workforce would be more qualified. If the students in training are more qualified with higher standards before graduation then there will be no need for weeding us out with recruiting from the top third.

I agree that teachers are not being rewarded properly. I think that seniority does mean something and needs to be recognized, but I also think that performance needs to be recognized as well. It is hard to say how to appropriately reward either side without having experienced it before, but I think that it is something that needs to be changed.

2. Seniority Distraction
The problems again begin with seniority and performance not being adequately addressed and professionalizing teaching. The solution for seniority would be removing incompetent teachers regardless of seniority. To create a proffesional learning place it would involve "Everything from education-school admissions, to course work, to
compensation and other employment rules, to self-policing would have to be realigned to this core principle".

I do not agree that seniority is a problem. Maybe this is because I have not been a teacher before, but the teachers that I have had who have "seniority" have always been some of my "better" teachers. I think any teacher that is lacking in performance should be addressed, but I just have not seen teachers with seniority having a problem in their performance. As far as teachers who have less experience, everyone has to start somewhere. Less experience may mean that the teacher is less effective, but it does not mean that this teacher will not become more effective with experience. Mr. Klein said: "high-quality, experienced teachers end up at schools in middle-class communities, while poor kids get lots of inexperienced teachers". I think that every student regardless of social class deserves to have the same opportunities. So, maybe this can go back to the training qualifications of students aspiring to being teachers being altered to meet higher standards.

3. Radical Change
The problem again is how to remove incompetent teachers. The solution was suggested by Albert Shanker and he suggested for teachers to have a board that will have standards and mechanisms for removing incompetent teachers, and to have opportunities for being promoted based off of specialty exams.

I agree again with Mr. Klein that there is a problem. If a teacher is incompetent and not doing their job adequately that the removal process needs to happen. I do not think that the removal process needs to be easy, and it needs to be a very thorough process but not an impossible one. I think having opportunities to be promoted by specialty exams is a very good idea. I think being promoted is always a good incentive and it will encourage teachers to work harder.

In conclusion I think that this article described some very important issues occuring in the education system that need to be addressed. However, in any profession there is always going to be flaws in the systems. The most important thing to me is making teaching a well respected proffesion. I think that teachers lay the foundations in life and it needs to be respected as an important career.

Project #12 Part B

Blog Post #13

What can we learn from other students?

Throughout this class we have discussed how important the use of technology is becoming for teachers to incorporate into their lesson plans. We have heard from other teachers what they have used in their classrooms, but what about students? The internet is a huge place and the list of technology is endless.

I want to know what technology is out there. It can be what my peers are using as tools to help get through college, or it could be what we plan to use in our classrooms once we start our teaching careers.

1. Research and find 3 tools that can be used in the classroom. It can be an educational app, a search engine, educational website, etc.
2. I want a summary of each of your findings
3. Give me a link to where you found your information

The first item I want to discuss is a Free application that is called Bookabi. This app can be downloaded from your students IPad and is very educational. It is geered more towards the elementary school age students. This app helps students to summarize and tell retell the book that they are reading. The app has already downloaded images, as well as the opportunity to add text to go along with these images.
Bookabi

Second, is the app called iBooks. This app can be downloaded from any ipad or apple product. It gives you access to millions of free books that you can read on your ipad. This way you do not have to worry about purchasing the books for all of your students. They can all read along on their ipads that are provided in the classroom.
iBooks

Third is something very similar to what we have been working with in our classrooms at South Alabama. It is an Epson Projector. This projector works very similar to the smartboard in that it is an interactive board. The teacher can manipulate things projected onto the screen, and the students can interact with the board as well.
Epson

Blog Post #12

Assistive Technology Articles
Assistive Technology Videos
Assistive Technology Presentation

C4T Teacher #3

I was given Tyler Rice's blog to comment on over these past couple of weeks, and his blog has not been updated recently. However, I did get a chance to read some of his previous postings and they were very interesting. The first blog post was titled "The curse of the standardized test". In his post he says that he has had to change his teaching methods to adapt to the new standard of testing. Something I found very interesting that he said was: "I have become a standards-driven, assessment focused teacher and it sucks. Sure I still avoid textbooks and worksheets like the plague. Yes, I still strive to bring hands-on, engaging, real-world learning to my students". So although the new methods of teaching has been introduced, he is still teaching the way he enjoys teaching and how he feels is effective. I think I can gain a lot from reading a blog like this because I can see the way things like "standardized tests" are actually affecting current teachers.

The second post that I commented on was about making time for one-on-one conversations. He listed the rewards for having these conversations and I found myself agreeing with him on all of these.

I learn more about each student as a person
I learn more about each student as a learner
I correct important misconceptions
I give valuable feedback to students about their learning
I receive valuable feedback from students about my teaching
I improve my relationships with the people whom I am privileged to teach
My reasons for loving teaching are reaffirmed

In my future classroom I hope to have strong relationships with each of my students, and I plan to do this by setting aside time for these important one-on-one conversations. I plan to teach a younger grade level. At that age teachers can be one of the most influential role models in their life's, and hopefully these important conversations can help my students grow even outside of the classroom.

Picture Link

Project #14 Part B Group 8

PBL Lesson Plan
PBL Calendar
PBL Rubric
PBL Checklist

Blog Post #11

Picture
What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

This week I watched six different videos of teachers and their methods of teaching. Brian Crosby did a project where the students were able to send a ballon into space. They had multiple steps to complete throughout the project, but one of the most important parts in my opinion to this video was when the students had to post videos onto their blog about the project. The students would post the video, have multiple views, and become encouraged that other people were interested in what they were doing in the classroom. At the end of the video the students even skyped with a New Zealand class about the project they performed because another class wanted to do something similar but did not know how. This not only aloud the students to show something they were proud of, but also gave them exposure to another culture. The second video I watched was by Paul Anderson and his steps for the Blended Learning Cycle. The Blended Learning Cycle had six different steps: QUestion, Investigate, Video, Elaboration, Review, Summary quiz. One important things that he said was that there is "power in numbers", and this is very true with PBL. The students working together in small groups allows for the expansion of ideas being put forth towards a project. The third was a video based off of a book called Make Thinking Visible. This was giving an example of how learning can be brought to life in the classroom. How it worked was the students read a little bit about a book and then were formed into small groups to create a headline about this book. The headline was a short few words drawn onto a long piece of paper. The students then presented their headline to the class, and once everyone was finished presenting the headlines were displayed throughout the room. This gave the students the chance to display their creativity, and also learn about their classmates viewpoints about the book. The fourth video was from Sam Pane and his "building a comic" project. This project seemed very interesting to me, and is something that I could see potentially trying to incorporate in my classroom. The teacher opened the lesson with a quote from spiderman. They were learning about how to be a good citizen on the internet. What they meant by being a good citizen is someone who chooses to act safely and respectfully online. The students were each asked to create a superhero through this superhero builder website. Once the superhero was built then they were asked to make a storyline about how their superhero taught a citzen (themselves) to be safe on the internet. Once the project was completed they did a "gallery walk" inside the classroom and walked aroung the room looking at other students completed work. A project like this deals with real life lessons, as well as age appropriate material to keep them engaged. The fifth video was about a classroom which they started incorporating PBL by combining a History and English class. The class counted for 3 credit hours and aloud for a longer period of time to teach in the classroom. Combining classrooms like this is not only beneficial for the students, but the number of possibilities in the classroom also increases for the teacher. Teachers who are trying new learning styles like this and documenting them for others to see is really helpful to see what worked as well as what did not. Finally the sixth video was of Roosevelt Elementary and their incorporation of PBL. They have their students working in groups on a project for a longer amount of time. The benefits are greater in depth learning, the ability to make decisions are their own, learning real world skills, learning to work collaboratively, as well as positive student interaction. In this elementary school they are teaching the students to work and present these projects to the class at a young age. This was something that I thought was important personally. My biggest fear throughout school has been public speaking, and I think by exposing children to this life skill at a younger age will allow them to grow more comfortable with this task.

Project #12 Part A

C4K October

Link to picture

This month for my C4K I was assigned to 4 different students blogs from all over the world. These students names were Heaven, Sarah, Sami, and Amber. Each of these students had very different blogs. Heaven shared a blog that answered the question: "If you could change something, what would it be?". She replied by saying she would not change anything but her hair because she likes for it to be long. Sarah was expressing about how she felt that students who are behaving badly should be punished by losing their recess privledges. She stated that students enjoy recess and in order to learn from their bad behavior that they should be punished by having something they enjoy taken away from them. Sami wrote a very imaginative story. The story was about a little boy who went downstairs in the middle of the night because he was hungry. He smelled something awesome, but it turned out to be a brussel sprout. The imagination and creativity he involved in this post really shined through. Finally Amber, she was posting about how they learned how to use a compass in her class. She showed images of a map they were learning to read with the coordinates in the picture. All of these blogs had different topics, but it was interesting to see their creativity, imagination, and intelligence being applied in posting these. I replied with encouraging words to let them know I enjoyed reading their blog posts. I think it is important to give positive reinforcement to students posting on blogs. Posting blogs can be a scary thing for some students due to fear of rejection to their posts. Everyone likes to hear nice things about the work that they have put forth, and I hope to comment positively to help with that.

Blog Post #10

Link to Picture

Ms. Cassidy teaches in a way that uses technology often, and she believes strongly that the technology is not going away but will continue to grow. I agree with this statement. Technology has grown so much even over the last few years. In her classroom she has a class blog that she uses with her students, a webpage they can visit to find different educational links, they skype with other people from around the world, etc,. In my future classroom I think that an important tool for me to use as I have mentioned before will be my class blog. I think that a class blog is a good way to keep everyone linked together and be able to collaboratively learn from eachother. An interesting way that Ms. Cassidy uses technology is through a blogging buddy. Each student is assigned to another older student from a different school to comment on their blogs. The students get excited that someoone is comenting on their blogs, and it gives them an opportunity to build a relationship with students outside of their own school. I find this to be beneficial for many reasons but most importantly by hearing how the students get excited that someone viewed their post. If the students are excited about something then that makes the learning process better for everyone.

A big concern for using technology in the classroom is often "How do we keep our children safe". Ms. Cassidy tells her students not to ever post their nastname, only your first. She also tells the students that when they post pictures not to refer directly to who is in the picture. These are great ways of keeping the identity of the students safe. Another concern is keeping what they see monitored. The internet allows you to access anything you want, and this is a priveledge that students should learn not to abuse. In my old school at St. Pauls, we all started using our own laptops in the classroom starting in the 6th grade. It was required that we brought our laptops to class every day. The way that they monitored what sites we were visiting was by blocking innapropriate websites. When I was in school there was a game called "Bubble Trouble", and my friends and I loved to play this game. The administration heard of this game that we were all playing (that was not educational), and immediately blocked the website at school. Similar websites were blocked that were not considered to be educational at the time like Facebook and Twitter. I would be curious to know if they still have Facebook blocked for students. I think that Facebook could be beneficial if used correctly. One way of using Facebook could be to have a group page set up for the students in your class. This could be used for the teacher to post reminders, and for students to juist interact with one another outside of the classroom. There are going to be complications with any new technology being introduced, but I think that there are ways to fix everything.

Blog Post #9

PBL
What can Teachers and Students teach us about Project Based Learning?

Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning is describing a scenario in which a project is assigned to students by their teacher Mrs. McIntyre. To introduce the project she "plops down" a packet of information about the project onto the students desk detailing the requirements. This piece is written about how Mrs. McIntyre could have handled the project differently to influence a more positive effect on her students. It gives a list of seven tips on how to effectively use Project Based Learning in the classroom. It talks about a scenario that was based off of a real life project. What I found important in this article is the idea to make the projects more appealing to students. If it is something that students care about then they are going to want to try harder. At the end of the Project they present them to an audience outside of the classroom. This audience contained parents, teachers, govornment organizations, etc., and since the students knew they were presenting in front of a larger audience it inspired them to produce a higher quality of work. I think ultimately the goal for Project Based Learning is to have students more excited about the work, actually learning something from the project, and producing their best work. These tips can be helpful to accomplishing this goal.

Project Based Learning for Teachers by Tony Vincent gave an exciting overview of Project Based Learning. It showed what students will be doing in PBL like: addressing an audience, crafting a driving question, identifying learning standards, creating a rubric, brainstorming questions, meeting deadlines, etc. All of which are important for students to learn how to do not just for school but in the real world as well. Things like meeting deadlines and brainstorming questions are things that students will have to do throughout the rest of their schooling careers and well into their future. Teaching these types of skills to students at an early age will not only be beneficial to them in the classroom but outside of it as well. I think that something important to students is learning relevant things that they can use outside of the classroom, and skills such as these are all examples of that.

What Motivates Students Today? This video was interviews of students about what motivates them to do well in school. These students appeared to be different ages, but they all had something that motivated them whether it was food, stickers, pencils, brownie points, anything that shed a positive reflection on the work that they had submitted. Applying this to Project Based Learning is very important so that each student will work harder to put in their best efforts. It is not only beneficial for the students, but can also be benefical to the teacher. In giving rewards to students it allows you to give encouragement to your students and deciding which rewards to give them also will allow you to get to know your students better based on what they like and dislike. So I believe rewarding them will not only be beneficial for the students but for the teachers as well.

Project Based Learning in PE is an article written about a group of High School studetns who created a physical fitness program for Middle School students. This project was beneficial for the students of both age groups, and was something that many students could relate to. It allowed for collaboration, relevant material, and creativity among the students. It was exciting for the High School students to get to see their plans actually put into action which is a great way to engage them, but also exciting for the younger to students to get to interact with older kids. Having a role model in school can be very beneficial to younger students. I think this is a great way to engage students of all age levels, and actually learn something from this type of proect.

Students solve old problem with new ketchup cap is a video of high school students who were partnered up in their software design class. They both discovered their love for ketchup, and decided they were tired of having watery ketchup squirt out of the bottles. So they designed a piece to place inside the cap that will help block the water from coming out. This project was ocne again beneficial because it allowed these students to work on something that interested them and was useful in real life. They were proud of the work that they had completed, and were even able to discover a common interest with their partner. This possibly could have built a new friendship, or even discovered more similarities with an already established friendship. Either way this project allowed students to create something meaningful to them and take away much more than just a good grade from a project. I can only hope that the projects I assign in my future classroom will have impacts such as these on my students.

Watching or reading videos such as these can allow for different ideas on how to use Project Based Learning, and can show different ways that it has actually worked in classrooms. Using PBL is beneficial for the students and teachers because we are all constantly learning together.

Project #13 PBL Plans (Collaborative)

Project Based Learning
Lesson Plan
PBL Calendar
PBL Checklist
PBL Rubric

Project #9

Implications and Teaching Opportunities for Camera Use in Teaching and Learning

1. 87% say their smartphone never leaves their side.
2. 80% say the very first thing they do in the morning is reach for their smartphone.
3. 78% say they spend 2 or more hours per day using their smartphone.
4. 68% say they would prefer to use their smartphone instead of their laptop or personal computer for personal use.
5. 91% say that having a camera on their smartphone is important (61% very important)
6. 87% say they use their smartphone camera at least weekly. 59% use their smartphone camera at least every other day. 44% use their smartphone camera for still or motion picture taking every day

Part A

This information was shown to us on our EdM Classblog and was a recent study done by Zogby Analytics. I myself have recently upgraded to an Iphone 5c, and since then I have started using my cell phone in more ways than I ever thought I would need to use my phone. I spend most of my day with my cell phone no more than 5 feet away from me, and I use it for almost everything. In my use as far as education goes I use my phone in one way or another for every class. Whether I am googling how to do something for a math problem, or looking for a quote in my English paper I am always using my phone. I think the worry for some teachers is that cell phones may be a distraction, and for some students this can be the case. However, with students growing up around new smart phones and different technologies I believe that they will develop the maturity and restraint to use their cell phones during school in a purposeful manner.

We all have to be open and willing to learn new things at all times. The technology is changing, and it is changing rapidly. We as future educators needs to be up to date on the technology in order to keep up with students and keep them interested in our teaching. I think that everyone needs to stay open minded about technology, and work to keep up with the changes.

Part B

The use of the camera on smart phones has opened up a whole new experience to technology and learning. I use the camera on my phone right now at a minimum of once a day. That might be a little excessive, but it is enjoyable for me! Different ways to incorporate the use of cameras in a kindergarten class could be through just taking pictures of different scenery, classmates, etc., in the class. This can help to grow bonds between students, but also enhance their picture taking and editing skills. You can assign different projects such as reading aloud, and having them record themselves while doing so. This can show them what they need to work on in their reading abilities. A fun way to use cameras could be to do a class scavenger hunt. This scavenger hunt could be identifying different objects around the school by taking a picture of it and having the students go find it...while being supervised of course. This will allow them to learn what these objects are by seeing them once they find them, but also is fun to get outside of the room and search for different things. We can all work together to create book trailers so they can be excited about the book and excited about reading! There are endless ways to incorporate smartphones and other technologies into teaching you just have to get creative!



Smartphones

Blog Post #8

What can we learn about teaching and learning?
The video was of Randy Pausch's last lecture. It is called his last lecture because Randy is battling cancer. He has a great outlook on life and you can see this show throughout the video. He proves that you should not feel sorry for him by doing physical activity in front of everyone, and just wants to tell his story. Throughout the video he gives us a list of his childhood dreams. Some of which were more realistic than others, but they were his dreams. Each of these dreams he made strong attempts to accomplish throughout his life, and even did accomplish many of them. He talks about how they were not all easily attainable dreams, and he hit many brick walls in the process of accomplishing them. He says that "brick walls are there to show how bad we want something." I think this was an important thing to mention because in learning we are going to face brick walls where we think we cannot succeed, but for those of us who want it bad enough we will find a way to succeed. He says that Jon Shoddy once said to him that "if you wait long enough then people will impress you". What is important about this as it applies to learning I think is that everyone has something to offer, and not everyone is always bad. If we wait for someone to impress you than we can learn something from them, and even learn patience for ourselves. We as teachers need to be constantly learning as well as students, and I think that keeping patience in mind it will be to our advantage of learning from those around us. In teaching Randy gave an example of one of his classes. He set the class up to have 50 students, paired them into groups of 4, and gave them a project to work on for 2 weeks to present. The students worked and completed the project, and when they were finished Randy was blown away by the work they had done. Something I found to be very intelligent and a great teaching style is that he did not tell the students right away how great they had done on the project, but he told them they could do better. Telling these students that they could do better kept pushing them, and they were able to create even better work. This is an important teaching skill to really push students to their greatest potential. Randy said that someothing that has helped him teach students new software is by making them think that they are learning something else. He does this by making the projects entertaining for the students, but also using the software so the students are actually being taught new technology without realizing how hard the technology is. Randy says that everyone is either a "Tigger" or an "Eeyore", and I think this can apply to being a teacher and a learner. To be a teacher and a learner you want to be more of a "Tigger" because the important part is to keep having fun. To be a healthy teacher and learner you have to show dedication, cherish feedback, show gratitude, work hard, be good at something, find the best in everyone, be prepared, and most importantly HAVE FUN.

Be a Tigger

C4T Summary

The first Teachers blog in this series that I left a comment for was for a teacher who was expressing his feelings about being judged. He said that in his school, church, etc.., he is often referred to as the "tech-guy". He expresses how being the technology guy is not a bad thing, but he wants for those around him to realize that there is much more to him than just technology. He has different interests and is capable of a lot more than just helping with technology. I see this everyday in the real world, and I found it very bold and applaud him for having the bravery to express how he feels about this issue. The next comment I left was for a teacher who had just been involved with the Oklahoma Technology Assosciation/Encyclomedia Conference. This conference was held in Oklahoma and was a Media Camp. This camp taught different skills like how to use Ipads, and how other teachers are incorporating technology into their classrooms. I found this to be very interesting because I had never heard of a Media Camp like this. Something that was exciting for me to hear in the video on his blog was from a teacher who said that she was able to network a lot during the camp. She said that she normally only has comments on Twitter from teachers outside of the country, but not usually people shese actually met before. At this conference she was able to build her PLN, learn new ways to incorporate technology, and learn how to use the new technology at a more in depth level.

Create, Teach, Share

Project #7 Part B

To Parents


To Students

Blog Post #7

Summary of Videos

#1. The first video I watched was of Michele Bennett showing you how to create an audio QR code. I have never heard of this before this video, and I have to say I think it can be very useful in my teaching career. How it works is you can go to an audio recording website such as: www.recordmp3.org , and then record yourself possibly reading a book to students, giving instruction, etc.. From here you can create a QR code to send to your students or parents using QRcode-monkey. I think this can be very effective since most parens now have smart phones. When the students go home to do the assignment, they can just scan the code and be easily guided through the work. The great part about this is that if you are using it in the classroom, then the sutdents can stop and go back as often as necessary without having to interupt the rest of the class. For those students who are more timid and do not like to ask questions such as "can you reapeat...", it allows them to go back and hear whatever they are asking about without hesitation.

#2. This video was of Ginger Tuck who is a Kindergarten teacher at Gulf Shores Elementary School. At this school they are fortunate enough to use Ipads as part of their teaching and learning programs. They have an Ipad center, and how they have used these Ipads in this video is for reading. The student records themselves reading aloud, and then goes back and replays the recorded video while reading the passage for a second time. This can be useful to students because it gives them an opportunity to hear the mistakes they made. Sometimes when reading you think you are doing it right, until you have a second chance to hear what you said and maybe hearing it will allow your mind to register that maybe you did not say it correctly the first time. This is great for teachers as well because they can walk around and give encouraging words to students and help them however they can.

#3. Ginger Tuck is showing us how to use Poplets in this video. Poplets are essentially a web that you create to outline your students reading. They create them using pictures and text to keep organized what they have read. This is a great tool because the students can print these poplets out or take a picture of them to be able to go back and look on it later when studying, to enhance typing skils, and to enhance picture editing skills as well.

#4. Ginger Tuck is teaching us how her Kindergarten class uses Alabama Virtual Library (AVL). AVL is a search engine that you log into and can search whatever it is you are looking for. The way she used AVL is that she gave her students a topic to research, then they listened to the audio introduction telling them about the topic, once they learned a little about the topic then they drew a picture of it, and finally they had to write a sentence about each picture. This tool is something that I used akk throught middle school, high school, and college. I think this is a great tool for younger students to become familiar with at an early age for research projects to become easier as they continue their schooling careers.

#5. This video was also created at Gulf Shores Elementary School, but in a 1st grade class. Mrs. Shirtley and one of her students shows us how to use Discovery Education to create a board. They search topics and create a board that helps organize the things that they discovered.

#6. Mrs. Tassin had her students create booards for her 2nd grade class at Gulf Shores Elementary School. They used these boards as part of their Project Based Learning. It helped them research topics and organize what they found onto a board to present.

#7. This video was talking about how kindergarteners are using tools like iMovie and AVL in the classroom. They are using iMovie to make book trailer, and AVL to help research different topics. Each of these tools are making kids excited to learn and active in their learning process as well.

#8. This video was a conversation had about Gulf Shores Elementary School and the things they have been able to incorporate into their classroom using the Ipads. These teachers talked about how they can use the Ipad to find a new program, and sometimes the students actually figure out how to work the program before the teacher. When the student has the opportunity to teach the teacher, then they are both becoming learners and growing together.

To become a teacher whom incorporates teachnology and Project Based Learning I need to start doing some research on what other teachers have used and been successful with in their classrooms. I also need to research schools who have started using research and hopefully talk to some of their teachers like at Gulf Shores Elementary School. I think my greatest stregnth with this technology is the ability to learn how to use different programs quickly, however my weakness is not knowing how to incorporate these tools into effective lessons. Through my Personal Network I will hopefully add different teachers to use as a reference to help with new ideas, and involvment of Project Based Learning in the classroom.

Link to Picture

Project #8 Book Trailer

C4K Summary for September

Every month we are assigned to comment on different students blogs. These students range in age and come from different places across the globe. The first student whose blog I read was from New Zealand. The blog she had posted about was how it is important to be physically fit. She believed that working out and eating healthy were important things in childrens lives. This was interesting to me, not because I don't think that children should be physically fit but because another young girl from across the world had the same opinions. The blog I commented on seemed to be a letter to the school telling them what they would change. This individual said that it is important to have recess, and the reason for having recess was to keep the children physically active. I found this so interesting because students from all ages, locations, etc.. seem to have a similar focus on health and activity. This could have been a coincidence, but I think that it is something I am going to continue to look out for. I want to know what interests children, and I think that if they want to learn about health and activity then I can incorporate that into my lesson plans as I become a teacher one day.

Blog Post #6

Project Based Learning Videos
Anthony Capps discusses his use of Project Based Learning in his 3rd grade class. He teaches at a Baldwin County school called Gulf Shores Elementary. The schools in Baldwin County are becoming more technologically advanced with the incorporation of new computers like Macbooks. Anthony talks about how involving the community and a real audience really grabs the attention of his 3rd graders. He gave an example of how his students wrote to congressman Jo Bonner about a real life situation. The class all wrote a letter however, only 8 were sent to the congressman. The selection of the letters to send aloud for the students to all work together to come up with something they could all be proud off. This involved the students, and was rewarding to them to be able to work together. Applying Project Based Learning to your classroom he said may not always workout the way you plan for it to. Since things do not always come out the way you plan then you have to be flexible, and make the changes you need to as you progress in your teaching career.

iCurio and Discovery Education
The next video was a discussion on the program called iCurio. This program is very new to me. I have honestly not heard of it before this class however, I was very interested to find out more after watching this. iCurio is a kid friendly program that allows for chidlren to keep their notes organized and even blocks content that are not appropriate for students. This program allows for students to save where they are and come back to it at a later point. I find this could be very useful in the classroom on those hectic days! Discovery Education is a website that Anthony also uses in his classroom. How it works is you can type in what you want to research, and then the website will link you to a video to watch and learn more about the subject. It is hard to try and describe something verbally, so using technology like this can really show your students what you are talking about.

Tips, Don't teach tech - use it, and lessons
Mr. Capps and Dr. Strange discussed 5 tips for new teachers. 1 tip that really stuck out in my mind was being flexible. Teaching younger students you need to always be prepared for things to not go 100% according to plan. When something goes wrong whether it is at fault of the teacher or the student then it is always important to be flexible and positive to improve next time. If you have to cut a lesson short and come back to it at a later time to keep the attention of your students then that is ok! I think the video on not teaching technology but using it is very important. It is important for teachers to continue to be learners as well so that we can keep up with the technology. In my future classroom I plan on practicing with the technology myself before asking the students to use it. The video on lessons was tips on how to arrange your lesson plans. I found this video very interesting and helpful. I have not begun my teaching career yet, and so I have not had to make a lesson plan yet. Something important that he mentioned was that you have your yearly plan, unit plan, weekly plan, and equally as important youir daily plan. I found this video interesting because I have wondered about how creating lesson plans happens. So with these lesson plans ties back into being flexible. Your plan might not always follow through on time, so it is important to stay positive and flexible to your plan!

New Teacher

Project #3 Presentation

Blog Post #5

Personal Learning Networks

A personal learning network is a collaboration of tools for helping you in your teaching career. These tools consist of a list of people whom you can call upon at any time for assistance. There are many ways to obtain this list, one of which is through social media. Twitter is a great source of social media to use for this type of situation, and is the first thing I am going to start with while creating my PLN. I plan to use Twitter by starting out with a small number of teachers to follow through the EDM program, and then expanding based off of their tweets and followers. This list of people can grow as large or as small as you allow for it to. I was able to locate some of my old high school teachers on Twitter, and start following them as well. Some of these teachers have moved to other palces throughout the US, so I can already see my information pool beginning to expand. I think it is important to follow people you do know, as well as people that you do not. The people you do know are likely to have common interests and view points as you do based on where you originally met. However, following someone you are unfamiliar with can open your mind to different opinions and ways of thinking!

Social Media Link

Search Engines

#1 WolframAlpha: This search engine is used mainly for calculations. I played around with it for a little while and have been able to calculate many different algebra equations and things of that nature. It is also used for searching other information as well. I typed in the name "Jacob", and unlike many other search engines it gave me straight to the point facts about the name. The search for "Jacob" also showed me relevant graphs and charts. This search engine does not give you a bunch of different links for you to go through and find what you are looking for. It gives you a straight to the point answer to your questions and searches.
WolframAplha

#2 ChaCha: Chacha is a search engine that can be found on the internet and even downloaded as a personal application on a smart phone. How it works is you type in a question, and chacha gives you relevant articles and websites to lead you to your answer. It pays human guides to answer questions for users also known as social searching.
ChaCha

#3Wink: Wink is used for searching other humans. We all love to be a little nosey about others, so here is your chance. You can get linked in with other people you know by simply typing in their name and city. I tried to search myself on this website but failed to find anything.
Wink

#4 indeed: Indeed is a website for those looking to find employment in their area. You can post jobs if you need to hire someone, as well as search for jobs to apply for and hopefully become on employee. The way this works is you create a resume, upload the resume, and then search jobs in your area to send to future employers. I like this website because it keeps up to date on new jobs, as well as seperates the jobs you wish to apply for.
Indeed

#5 Care: Care is a website created to help parents find babysitters in their area. This website allows parents to create a descriptive profile explaining the background of children, hours needed, and pay rate. It gives the babysitters the chance to create a resume, have a background check completed, and talk to potential new families to babysit for. I like this website because I ahev personally used it to get in contact with families to babysit for, and have felt safe with the families I was set up with.
Care

#6 Puppy Find: Puppy Find is exactly what the title of it says. It is a search engine used to find puppies. You can type in the kind of puppy you are searching for and also the area for which you live near to go and get your puppy. I have used this to buy the dog I now currently have, and I like it because it matches you with not only the specific breed you are looking for but also other similar dogs.
Puppyfind

#7WebMD: WebMD searches the web for symptoms and pharmacy information to help you learn more about different illnesses. This can be an interesting thing for people who try and self diagnose themselves everytime you get sick. You could lead yourself into thinking you have developed something a lot worse than just the common cold. But it can very helpful to help you learn more about medical information.
WebMD

#8Kayak: Kayak can be used to search for all of your travel information. You can find flights, hotels, and cars for a discounted rate. It is easy to navigate. This can be helpful when you are trying to book your travel plans.
Kayak

Search Engines

Blog Post #4

Questions
What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?
A lot of teachers begin a class by asking an open ended question to make you think on the material before starting class. However, I find this to be a bit challenging to start a class. I find this challenging because it can sometimes be such a heavily weighted question that personally it discourages me when I cannot answer it. I think asking a few smaller questions with a simple yes or no answer to get the mind thinking about the subject can be more effective before opening up the floor with a critical thinking questioon. After watching the Youtube video "Questioning Styles and Strategies", I discovered better techniques to asking questions to get the students engaged. For example in the video he asked a question and then told the children to discuss their answers with the person sitting next to them. Sommetimes the way the teacher explains something does not always convey to all of the students the same way. This strategy allows for the students to not only have the opportunity to be a leader among their peers, but it also encourages students to have an opinion and really consider the material that is being taught. However something that I disagreed with in his techniques was when he did "random name calling", I do not like this because it can single out children. At younger ages they embarass more easily, and yes calling them out helps the teacher to understand if the students are understanding the material but I feel that there are other more effective strategies.

To be an effective teacher we need to have an organized plan of the lesson, but also the questions we are going to ask the students. We need to have them participating in group discussion. One way of doing this could be to create your questions ahead of class instead of asking them off the top of your head. If you prepare your questions before the class then that gives you a chance to properly word, and even prepare for the answer you are looking for. The more prepared we as teachers are then the more active it will allow for our students to be. If we ask a student a question and they do not know the answer then I think it is important to effectively lead the student in the direction of the right answer. Personally I learn better when I am forced to figure things out on my own, and with the aid of the teacher, the student is still actively participating and figuring things out.

Link to Picture

Blog Post #3

Peer Editing
When peer Editing another classmates hard work it can be a tricky task. You never want to offend, or even be wrong about the editing work you are providing that peer. After viewing the material I learned a few things about how to effectively edit another classmates work. First, you must give a compliment about the work before critiquing it. Second, you can give suggestions about how to make the content stronger. Third, you can make corrections. All of these three tasks must be done in this order because you never want to offend someone else when editing something that they have worked hard on.

Something that I have always struggled with when peer reviewing is that I don't want to offend or make a wrong correction. I am a sensitive person and so I expect for other people to be that same way. I belive in treating others the way you would want to be treated, so that is something I keep in mind while editing. My second struggle is that I don't want to make a wrong correction. I will occasionally go back and brush up on my grammar rules before editing. Grammar is a huge part of editing, and the only critique I would have after watching this material is that I feel like that should have been addressed better.


I want you!

Blog Post 2

1. I believe that the central message to this video was to show the viewers the complications with using technology in the classroom. It seems that this teacher relied too much on his technology, and not enough on his actual abilities to teach and demonstrate. The teacher showed a powerpoint presentation and would not allow the students out of their seats during his lectures. Maybe he could have stepped out from behind the desk to show the students the correct dance moves, or even allowed the class to stand up and participate with him. If the students would have been able to participate more in the class it would have been less "boring" and they possibly could have been more active learners. So yes I do agree with the conclusion that the class was not tought to the best of his abilities. During the final exam the students could not even differentiate the dances from one another to perform because they had never actively participated in practicing them with the teacher.

2. Roberts thinks teaching in the 21st century means for us as teachers to take advantage of the technological advances of society. He made a very strong point when the presentation was directing us towards the use of ipods, cellphones, and computers. He compared it to the use of other tools in the classroom like pens, pencil, and paper. Those are all tools the we use, it is up to us as the teacher to show the students how to use these tools. Students and everyone in general can search whatever they need to find out on the internet as far as facts go. However, the internet cannot effectively teach you how to use these facts. People cannot hide behind technology, it needs to be used as an aid. I think that teaching needs to change and use technology more. There are going to be problems and complications, but that is the only way to advance. You have to try new things even if they don't work in order to see change and possibly improvement. If Roberts is correct about technology and the potential it has then I think it will effect me by helping me. It can help me by linking me to other teachers to ask for help with lesson plans, it can help me stay connected with my students via blogger or other potential websites.

3. "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?" This is the question that I read and thought about as the video played. Having a class where there is no textbook and encouraged learning with the use of a technology enabled the student to explore the internet world and begin networking. The skills he attained networking led him to new discoveries like downloading things to read on his ipod. Although the teacher was not standing in front of him teaching as much, the student was still able to be taught skills, and useful skills at that. If something is always handed to you then it makes the reward not as great, this student went out and did what he needed to do for the class and acquired great skills. The teacher was there to help guide and mentor him, but was not just spoon feeding him information, which I believe can help tremendously in life.

4. Vicki Davis' thesis during this video is that technology can be used and can be self rewarding not only for the students but for the teacher as well. In this video it showed her students learning this virtual reality type website where the students could create their own avatar. She said that when teaching she does not always define words for her students. She chooses to use words knowing that they are going to have to affectively use technology to look up these words and figure out the meaning. It made me think positively about technology when she said that the students were excited when they figured out exactly how to complete tasks. She said that you do not have to know how to do everything at first, and that is the great part of technology that becomes so rewarding once you learn how. In my opinion when I struggle with something and then I figure it out, the satisfaction I get from that is great and I think that is the feeling that she is trying to share with us in this video.

5. Who do I think is ahead in the learning race? Elementary students are ahead in the learning race. I think that these kids are ahead simply because they were born using technology. Students my age and older were in more of the debate generation over technology. It has been my experience being educated that some people like it and others do not. With public schools in Baldwin county all allowing their students to use Mac's and Ipad's they are growing up being more technologically advanced than generations before them. When I was coming into college I had to decide which type of laptop that I was going to purchase. Everyone told me to stay away from apple products because they cannot be used at the University, the same goes true to my sister who is enrolled at Tulane Univeristy. So it is interesting to me to see the differences now in such an early age like an elementary student.

6. Flipping the classroom is new to me. I think the idea of watching a video at home for homework, and then coming in with question is not necessarily new but calling it flipping the classroom is. I do not think this approach will be useful to me as an educator simply because I plan to teach much younger age students. I think this approach could be useful to a high school teacher. I think it would be less useful for younger students because when they watch the videos it is much harder for things to stay in their mind long term at a younger age. So watching the video at home, and then coming to class the next day would not benefit them as much because they would forget the questions they originally needed answering.

7. I can use a collaborative learning approach in my teaching. I think that it is much easier to learn something when you are working with others because that invites other students to have an opinion and you can learn from them and their experiences. If you cannot solve a problem yourself then through collaborative learning the problem can be solved together as a team which can not only be beneficial for the problem being solved but also for the relationships amongst students socially.

Technology in Elementary Schools

Blog Assignment #1

What have I heard about EDM310? I have heard many different things about EDM310. Some things have been better than others, but they always end up saying the class was very helpful. I have heard it will take a little more effort than most classes to get adjusted to the way things are to be done, but once you have done that then the rest will become easier.

What fears do I have about this class? My biggest fear in this class is not spreading the 9 hours of work out enough throughout the week. I have been known to procrastinate, but that is not something that will get me very far in this class.

Compare and contrast this class to others I have previously taken. Compared to other classes the work load for this one in particular is more, however the amount of time spent actually meeting in the classroom itself is less. This class is much more team based and technologically based than any other class I have taken at the University. I think I will find this class to be an experience, and hopefully a good one!

What do I think will be the most difficult thing for me in this class? I think the most difficult thing for me is going to be using my time wisely to complete the projects. I am usually not the person that is ever late. I always get the projects done, however my problem usually is in how well I manage my time. I do not want to cram all of the assignments for the week in at the last minute. I want to take my time and perform well with these projects!

What questions do I have about this course? My questions for this course are little to none so far. If I come across one I will ask and find the answer!

Source: Classroom Technology

Courtney Hall Practice Blog Post

Courtney Hall
Who am I? Why do I want to be an educator? What does an educator do in his or her practice? What are my passions?
Who am I: Courtney Hall, from Mobile, Al, family
Why be an educator: Enjoy helping others and children
What does an educator do: Sets the standards for a persons way of thinking
What are my passions: Cheerleading and children

Hi, my name is Courtney Hall. I was born in South Carolina along with my twin sister named Caroline. Shortly after being born my family moved to Atlanta, Georgia to be closer to my grandparents so they could help with "the twins" while we were still so young. My parents divorced when my sister and I were very young, and when that happened my mom decided to pack us up and move to Mobile, Al. This where her side of the family lives. We have been here and loved it ever since! Growing up as a twin you always have someone there to do things with. It's like having a normal sibling only this sibling does practically everything you do. Senior year it became time for my sister and I to decide what college we were going to attend, and most importantly if we were going to attend the same school. It turned out that she had an incredible opportunity at Tulane University, and that was the direction she chose to go in. I chose to stay at home and create my own path without my sister. Being able to stay in Mobile has been easier for me and I am very happy with the decision I made.

In my family my only sibling is not my twin. I have one other sister named Virginia, and she has a beautiful daughter named Taylor. Part of the reason why I decided to enter into the field of education is because of Taylor. I have been a huge part of her life growing up. She helped me to realize how much I enjoy helping children learn new things, and being apart of that process. I would love to go to work everyday and make a difference in some child's life. I think that the way a child is taught to think when they are young will set the standard for the rest of that child's life. I want to be apart of helping in that process. Children are a passion of mine along with other thing as well. Cheerleading is a major part of my life. I cheered all throughout high school, and unfortunately got injured my senior year. My goal would be to be able to teach as well as coach! I hope that with this class my technology skills and perhaps patience will improve!