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!