Blog Post 16 (Final Reflection)

Blog Post #5 Part 2

To refresh your memory a PLN is a Personal Learning Network. What is a Personal Learning Network? According to Developing a PLN in EDM 310 by John Strange, a PLN is those people, places, organizations, and activities which enable you to learn. When I first started this class I made a Twitter account specifically for EDM 310. I also have a personal Twitter account for my personal interests. If you think about it, my personal Twitter account can serve just as important on a PLN as my class Twitter. Even though one is for school and the other is for my own personal interests, I am still learning from both. I am learning things every day through my personal account. It may not be as useful as educational learning,  but I follow people such as Fox News and CNN so I am able to quickly see the things happening around the world on the go and learn the conflicts happening everywhere. I follow famous people and believe it or not, a lot of them do other things that can be quite beneficial and educational. For instance, Leonardo DiCaprio is a big environmentalist. He has made a $7 million pledge to save the oceans. He has warned that the oceans are in danger of being destroyed by climate change, illegal fishing and other human activities. These are just a few examples of things I learn every day on my personal Twitter account. I do feel that my PLN won't expand much further than this, but you never know. Anything can change. 

C4T Summary #4

For this first C4T we were able to choose our own teacher to comment on. I chose Elementary teacher Joe Bower. Mr. Bower blogged about he had decided to remove rewarding and punishing students to gain respect and get rid of manipulation. He has said that if any of his students or kids tries to bribe or manipulate him to get their way, he is able to say to them that he doesn't manipulate them so they don't need to do the same to him.

I commented on his blog and told him that my 8 year old nephew currently lives at my house and he has a bad habit of manipulating my sister. The reason being because she does the same to him which is her own fault. I am choosing to adopt his method in my future classroom feeling that it may be very useful.

The second thing Mr. Bower blogged about was you can't judge a teacher by their test scores. He compared this to farming. He said he is a fifth generation farmer and is the first in his family to become a teacher. His father and grandfather taught him a lot about farming which included the best seeds to buy and the best conditions in which to plant them. In order to get the best crop, you want the best conditions in which your seeds can grow. The difference in teaching is that you cannot chose your students like you can choose your seeds. You aren't going to have the best students around. In fact, you are going to have some of the most impossible students out there.

I commented on this blog and told Mr. Bower that I really enjoyed his farming metaphor. It made perfect sense and it's true, we really have to put in more timeand effort on those conditions we want those struggling kids to have in order to be successful, but there's only so much we can do.

Blog Post #14

In the article Teaching Can Be a Profession by Joel Klein, he first states that teaching needs to be professionalized like law and medicine. How would we do this? We would start by beginning with better academic training for prospective teachers, have a new approach to recruiting teachers, and change how we reward teachers. Second he states seniority should not exist. Have teachers take a "National Teacher examination" and also have them work under supervision to evaluate their performance.

I agree with professionalizing teaching. How do you think doctors and lawyers get their degrees? They had to be taught by someone and that someone is a teacher. Teachers are the reason we have so many great doctors and lawyers in this country, but we are not rewarded for it. Also, I too feel as if anyone with a degree can become a teacher. I have seen certain teachers and wonder how it is that they are teaching children. Also, to be honest, in my classes this semester at South Alabama, I wonder how some of my classmates are going to be the future teachers of America. Several of them have the worst grammar I have ever seen, but yet they are going to be teaching children one day? It's sad. We need to advance our teaching programs. We need to select the best candidates to be teachers. Not just anyone should get in a classroom and teach kids just because they winged it through school and got a degree. Teaching should be much more than that.

Also, teachers get lazy. They create their lesson plans and just ramble on to students with a power point that goes over the material, while their students are playing on their phones the whole time. Teachers need a more professionalized training. They need to meet certain and more strict requirements. So instead of just anyone becoming a teacher, you need to have a high GPA (not a 2.0 like now), be able to pass certain examinations and be under supervision to ensure you have the qualifications and a high level of performance required to become a teacher. You see teachers every day on the news having relationships with their students and it's sickening and this probably has something to do with the fact that literally anyone can become a teacher. With these suggested more strict rules, we can reduce these kinds of teaches and get more qualified ones who will change how people perceive teachers.

C4K Summary for November

The first kid I was assigned to is named Naveen. Naveen blogged about how fast he can run and how he is going to be as fast as Usain Bolt. He talked about him and his friend Adeoba and how they are striving to be faster than a cheetah. I commented and told Naveen that I was the fastest person on both my high school Soccer and Basketball team and that if he kept his training up he could maybe be as fast as Usain Bolt one day.

The second kid I was assigned to did not have a blog so I commented on Sebastian's blog instead. His post was about his Halloween costume this year. He said he wore a black cape, black pants, and a black shirt. His mask consisted of two faces. The face on the outside was a not so scary face and the face underneath it was a scary face so when you pushed a specific button it was revealed. He said the button broke so he had to buy a new mask with devil horns. I commented and told him that his costume sounded very cool and I was sorry that his button broke. I told him that I dressed up as Catwoman and had so much fun doing it this year.

The last kid I was assigned to was Jesse from Minnesota. Jess blogged about how there is an average of 7 insect legs in one chocolate bar and that it is used for protein. I told him that I am a chocolate lover but haven't ate a chocolate bar in a while and that information is gross. I also told him that most things that are manufactured have things mixed in it that aren't supposed to be. Makes you wonder what we're really eating.

Project #12 Part B

Blog Post #13

We've discussed the benefits of using technology in the classroom, but how would this benefit or be useful in a class of kids with special needs?

This class has taught me a lot about technology in the classroom, project based learning, among other things. One thing I think this class should offer for at least one week would be how to use these certain things in a classroom with special needs kids. I am currently tutoring at Augusta Evans which is a school for those with disabilities and they provide Smart boards and iPads in their classrooms. Do the kids use them? Not often. The higher functioning students will have a better opportunity to use those particular items but the lower functioning students will not.

Kids enjoy interactive projects and things that allow them to use those tools such as iPads in the classroom, but what kind of projects would be acceptable and appropriate for these types of students?

Yes, last week we covered assistive technology, but the types of technology I found was for those who are blind or dyslexic. In the video Assistive Technology in the Classroom, Kathy explains a few more tools that I was unaware of to use in the classroom with special needs students. She did explain that those who are able to hear and are high functioning will be able to use most of them and those that aren't will not be able to use most of them. 

This is a topic that needs to be addressed because although special education may not be for you, classes all around the world can include at least one students who is slower than others. You need to be aware of your technology and have the appropriate materials necessary to teach with these particular students.

Project #10

Blog Post #12

C4T Summary #3

The teacher I was assigned to is Mr. Ken Halla, a history teacher in high school. His first post really interested me because it was a great way to engage students in the lesson you are about to teach at the beginning of class. It really caught my attention because we were just talking about better ways to engage students in the classroom. He said in his colleagues class, the teacher told the students to tweet him the biggest hurdle facing George Washington when he started his presidential term. This allowed students to be engaged before the lesson even begins and they are using Twitter which is a great PLN. I commented on his post and told him why this post interested me so much and that I would have to pass it along to my class.

Mr. Halla's second post was very short. He said many people do not think about the woman who have served in the wars and that they are overlooked. He then gave a website to show the occupations some woman had and said that this particular website would help you to properly teach about them. I commented and said that I am guilty of overlooking the women in the past and will have to check this website out.

Here is the site:

Women in the Civil War

Blog Post #11

Of course throughout this class we have learned the advantages of technology use in the classroom. In Back to the Future, by Brian Crosby, he gives some pretty scary statistics about second language students and how it is difficult for them to learn our language. It is scary to think about teaching kids who are from a different country and only knowing the language of which they were born into. Watching Mr. Crosby use technology such as blogging, wiki, and other online tools helped them be able to explore the countries and listen to that of their native language while also learning the English language. This was a very clever idea that I would definitely pick up if I was to ever teach a second language student.

Another key thing that I have learned from taking this class is that engaging your students is very important. When trying to get kids to have fun while learning it is important to engage them and get them excited about what it is they are about to do. It also makes it easier on you as a teacher and much more enjoyable for the students. In Making Thinking Visible, Mr. Church gets his students to create headlines about what they are about to learn and after they learn the topic in more depth, they are able to go back and change their headline and explain why they would change it. This allows the students to think ahead and then research the topic and go back and change their headline based on what further information they found out. Also in Sam Pane 4th Grade, Mr. Pane engaged his students to create a superhero to protect and help keep out bullies and hackers on the internet. He engaged them by quoting the movie Spiderman and then had them discuss in groups internet safety. This allowed the students to get excited about the project they were about to do while still learning the different things they need to be aware of on the internet.

We have learned a great deal about Project Based Learning this semester in class. PBL is a great way to keep students interested and be able to work collaboratively on projects that have to do with the subject they are learning. In the video Project Based Learning, that word engage is used again. Clearly it is very important to engage your students before they actually start a project. In this video there are 3 classes that are blended together into one big class (History, English, and Computer). A lot more is able to be accomplished and students are able to work on their work by having more time and improving their skills on PBL.

Overall from these videos I learned that engaging your students is very important. Above I have stated the many ways engaging your students can be successful for your classroom. It draws them in and actually makes them want to be there and learn. It makes them think outside the box and look further for information about the particular topic they are learning.

Project 14 PBL Learning Plan #2

For project 14, we created a lesson plan for second grade English and Language Arts. Each students will be assigned a partner, and after discussing lessons on types of stories, characters, main points, and characteristics, as well as reading Officer Buckle and Gloria, each group will make a Prezi presentation. In their presentation, they must include a summary, pictures, and details about the characters, among other things.



Lesson Plan

Calendar

Rubric

Checklist

Project #12 Smart Board Part A

C4K Summary for October

Katelynn was the first kid I was assigned to for the month of October. She blogged about a picture that her friend Alice painted for her using her favorite color blue. She told Alice that is was the best paining she has ever seen. I told Katelynn that I also liked the painting and that I love the color blue as well. I told her how nice it was for her to compliment Alice the way she did.

The second kid I was assigned to was Riley M. Riley blogged about things she didn't like. She said that she didn't like how teachers made her blog and she wished she could just blog on her own when she felt like it. Along with that, she didn't like not being able to pick what was on the lunch menu or how you couldn't play more sports at recess. The last thing she said was that she didn't like working with people that weren't her friends on group assignments. I commented and told her that I too wish we could have picked what was on the lunch menu at school and play more sports in gym class. I told her how we were assigned random groups for classes, but that some of the people can turn out to be your friends if you just get to know them. Last but not least I wished her luck on her blogs and told her it's not so bad.

The third student I was assigned to was Zachary who is in first grade. Zachary posted that he liked to play with Jacob at school. I commented and told him that I was from Alabama and I too like to play with friends at school.

My last student was Finau from New Zealand. He blogged about the ways you can answer a multiple choice question. He said you should read the question, solve the problem, choose the answer and if it's not correct you can start again. I commented and told him that another way you could answer the question would be to mark out the answers that are least likely to be correct and don't make sense. Just a helpful tip!

Blog Post #10

In the first interview with Ms. Cassidy (Cassidy Pt. 1), she states that she was given 5 computers in her classroom about 10 years ago. She started off with a webpage when she got the computers, she started blogging 5 years ago, and she started using video about 2 years ago and is continuing to add new things. She says that when it comes to the administration being supportive that none of them have ever discouraged her when it comes to using technology in the classroom. Dr. Strange asked her how the parents felt about their kids posting their work to the internet and she said that most parents are happy to be able to see their child's progress on their blogs. They send home information at the beginning of the year which states that the students privacy will be protected. I think it is very interesting and convenient that parents can go online and view their kids progress and work being done in the classroom. They are able to keep up with what their kids are doing all school year so they can help with anything that needs to be improved at home. Another good point Ms. Cassidy makes about blogs is that students enjoy an audience, they like their work to be praised so why write on paper to where just she can see it when they can write on their blog and let the whole world see it. AS for other people in her school adopting her ways of using technology, she said that the other grade 1 teacher has become very interested in the use of technology. As for other teachers, they just don't want to change.

In the second part of the interview with Ms. Cassidy (Cassidy Pt. 2), Dr. Strange asks her where do you start? She says it depends on where your interests lie. Personally I think you have to start off small and work your way into more complex things. You should maybe start off in a small way such as filming your students read and then work your way up to filming them in groups presenting something. Have them research things on the internet and then have them later make a blog where they can talk about the things they've researched. 

In the final part of the interview with Ms. Cassidy (Cassidy Pt. 3), Dr. Strange has the students with him ask her some questions. The first student asked her how often her classes blogged whether it was daily, weekly, or monthly. She said that it depended on the year and that this year she has a smaller group of kids so they blog once a week. Some of the kids blog from home so if that is the case they blog more often. Another student asked her if she thought that Facebook could be used as a resource in future education. Earlier in the videos she said that she had just joined Facebook a week ago so she doesn't have much experience, but she said that other teachers have had their students set up a completely different Facebook account specifically for their school and has great potential for posting assignments and learning things that are being done in the classroom. 

The one thing that I can see myself using in my future classroom is blogs. I've known about blogs for some time now, but every time I watch a video in this class I seem to learn something new or look at blogging from a different perspective, This time I was able to see that parents can be more involved in their child's progress in the classroom by viewing their work done via their blog page. In improves their writing and reading skills each time they blog in the classroom. It can lead them to blog more at home and think outside of the box.

Blog Post #9

After reading Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning, I was amazed at how much I agreed with the whole article and how much I wish this was used when I was in school. At the very beginning we were asked if we remember the days where our teachers would just hand up papers of directions and tell us we had a project due. I definitely remember those days and I remember those days being terrible. I remember dreading doing any kind of project in school because we were never intrigued by it, we were never interested in doing another project that didn't seem for our benefit. Although, i'm sure it was for our benefit, but at the time it didn't seem like I learned anything from those projects.

There are 7 essentials for PBL: a need to know, a driving question, student voice and choice, 21st century skills, inquiry and innovation, feedback and revision, and a publicly presented product.  In this article I am impressed by the way the teacher introduced this project she was going to have her students work on. She started off by showing them a video which led to an interesting discussion to where she was able to introduce her project. The kids were already intrigued by the video and the discussion that they were looking forward to working on this particular project. They then came up with a driving question and were able to come up with their own questions to feed off of the driving question. After coming up with their own questions they were able to use those questions to research and find information on the given project and work on it. To me, this is how projects in the classroom need to be. The standards were met, they kids were able to learn the material by collaborating and creating a project that was fun and engaging. 

In the video What Motivates Students, several different students are asked to answer the question, 'What motivates you?'. One of the students said that positive feedback motivates him. Even if there is something that needs improvement, just pointing out the positive things and making the student feel good can be real motivational. A few students said that having a successful job is what motivates them. I found that very interesting because I feel as you get older that is the reason most people stay motivated and for them to be so young and already have that reason as motivation is astonishing. Another kid said that if he doesn't do well in school his mom won't let him go to his baseball games which is definitely a reason to be motivated at that age haha! Things that work to keep certain kids motivated is also explained in this video. Kids who do well throughout the day get awarded special prizes or get to eat lunch with the teacher. Those methods can really work to keep kids motivated because at such a young age they like to be rewarded for good behavior and with rewards and compliments comes consistent good behavior. 

After watching the video Students Solve the Case of Watery Ketchup, I came to the conclusion that somewhere in the world some students, like the ones in this video, are inventing things through PBL. The last thing one of the students said was that it was fun to take a class and research one thing year long. With that year long class, they were able to come up with a solution to the watery ketchup by inventing a new top to put on ketchup bottles. 

I've never really thought about the certain classes where it would be difficult to enforce PBL until I read PBL in PE. Even though Project-Based Learning was successful in this class, the more I thought about it the more it dawned on me that it would be difficult to try to use this frequently in a Physical Education class. PE classes are designed to keep kids active and fit, they aren't designed for projects and work, but this teacher made it happen which was very impressive. He got his high school students to come up with a physical fitness program for middle school students. After they did that they would be able to observe and critique their program they created. 

Overall, I think what the students and teachers in these articles and videos are saying is that PBL is a great idea. More people should be looking into teaching this way because it engages the students into wanting to learn and it keeps them motivates. Also, you never know if one of your students could be the next Bill Gates without letting them research and think on their own.

Project #9

Blog Post 8

While watching Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams I really didn't know what to expect. At the beginning he states that he has 10 tumors in his liver and only has 3-6 months to live and he was told this 1 month ago. First, when hearing this all I could think about was how could he be in such high spirits and giving a lecture when he should be spending all of his time with his family. Well anyways, he started out by telling us his childhood dreams. As he was going through and explaining them one really stuck out to me and it was about his dream to play in the NFL. Even though he didn't play for the NFL, he got to play in school. He said that "most of what we learn, we learn indirectly (or"head fake")". By saying this he meant that when your kids play football (or other sports) you don't necessarily want them to learn football. You want them to learn the things that come with it such as teamwork, sportsmanship, and perseverance... Which are the most important things. This really had an impact on me because when I played sports in school I thought that I was going to continue to play further than high school, but when that didn't work out I still think of the things I learned while playing to this day. Little life lessons that all of my coaches taught me are still with me today. At the time I never thought about how much it would impact my future, but after hearing this talk I definitely realized that it had made a great one.

After saying all of that, I can say that this applies to teaching and learning as well. Whether it's sports or in the classroom, teachers are not just there to drill knowledge into kids brains. While yes, we want them to succeed and learn the things necessary to have a successful future, the little things we teach them about life are important too. Working in groups and learning to work with those who are different from you can make a huge difference when you get older. You learn to accept what's different and work with others in situations where you need help in the future. Believe it or not but things your teachers do when you are in elementary school will have an impact on your whole life and can impact the way you teach in the classroom.

C4T Summary #2

I was assigned to Jerrid Kruse and he blogged about "The Dreaded Pendulum Swing". He said that when it comes to teaching new ideas in the schools people think it's always ideas and techniques that we have used in the past and we are never reaching our goal. Kruse gave a great example, he said that if you spin money down the coin funnel you can see it spin around and around until it goes down the tube and hits the bottom. Well if you look at the coin funnel from the side you can see the coin spin back and forth like a pendulum until it reaches the bottom which is the goal. He said that people who complain about teaching ideas going back and forth just don't have enough perspective.

After reading Mr, Kruse's blog I admitted that I had never looked at new teaching ideas in the way like the coin funnel. I told him that at the mall here in Mobile we actually have a coin funnel at the back entrance and I have several times spun coins down it and never looked at the coin from a different angle. The next time I go I'm going to look at the coin spin down the funnel from the side to see it swing like a pendulum. I then left him the link to my class blog and told him he could contact me for any further advice.in

Jerrid Kruse's second blog I read was about how he spends his Friday's each semester for a little over a year. He says that he spends his whole day on Friday in a 6th grade classroom. He brings his students in, about 6 each period, and assigns them to a group of 6th graders. He gets to watch them interact with the kids and then they get to see him teach the 6th graders Science. After they watch Mr. Kruse teach, he sits back and watches his students teach the 6th graders as well. He says that "powerful"doesn't begin to describe the feeling.

I commented on his blog and said that reading it made me really look forward to the time I will be able to be observed by other teachers while teaching a class and maybe one day will be observing students doing the same thing. It sounds like a great experience and hopefully my Friday's will become as "powerful" as his sound to be.

Project 7 Part B

Meet the Students



Meet the Parents

Project #13

Our group chose to create a lesson plan on teaching 3rd graders about the Temperate Forest. We decided to teach them about the location, weather, plans, animals, and humans in that particular environment. We decided to use Project Based Learning in order to keep their interest in the subject alive. Our goal is for them to use technology to research 2 of the 5 topics covered throughout the week and create a learning web to hang around the classroom. Provided below is our checklist, rubric, calendar, and lesson plan used for this project.

Checklist

Calendar
Rubric

Lesson Plan

Implications and Teaching Opportunities for Camera Use in Teaching and Learning

The statistics that were shared on the EDM310 home page were not surprising to me at all. I can honestly say that I am one of those people who never lets their smartphone leave their side. If you asked me what I thought the implications for education, school, teachers, and learners that flow from that particular data before taking this class my answer would be completely different. In certain classes I can see where smartphones are a distraction. People are always texting during lecture and checking Facebook and Instagram instead of paying attention to what the teacher is saying, but doesn't that come back to the teaching style these days?

In a PBL based course technology seems to be a major resource and way to explore one's way of learning. People are always on their smartphones so why not bring the smartphones into the classroom in an appropriate way? You can use technology such as iPads in a way that will make it fun to learn. I've always heard people saying that they don't want to go to class and that class is boring, but what if technology is a way to change those perceptions of how the classroom is run. All of the videos I have seen of technology being used in the classroom seems to be a very effective way to teach. More teachers need to open their mind to this idea and use it in an appropriate way without it being a distraction.

The ideas that I would use in my classroom generate from the videos I have seen in this course. I have to thank this course for showing me so many different way to liven up the classroom. This week I watched a video by Ginger Tuck called Poplet. This video was an excellent way to demonstrate using iPads and cameras in the classroom appropriately. Kids would learn about future jobs and research information and take pictures on their iPad to create learning webs. Once they printed out their learning webs, it includes pictures as well as information on the particular subject so that when you show it to someone who has no knowledge of it they will have an idea from the web. To me it is amazing how many little things you can use in your classroom that allow students to learn the things necessary to pass the class but also have fun with technology.

Blog Post #7

It has been a long time since I have been in an elementary classroom setting. When I was in grade school none of these current media tools were used. Now everywhere you look people are playing on laptops, iPhones (or any smart phone), and tablets. Since this class started, I have learned so much about using new instructional tools to help kids learn effectively, most of these tools being media related. After watching videos and observing in a classroom this semester I have really seen how using such tools such as iPad's and smart boards really help kids learn and it also keeps their attention. Kids are more willing to learn when using an iPad or a smart board. Why is that?

After watching iPad Centers by Ginger Tuck, I got to see a student practice his reading by recording himself on an iPad and then listening to his recording to see if he made any errors. Not only is this an effective way for him to practice his reading and learn his mistakes, but it was fun for him to hear his own voice and watch himself on film. Kids are fascinated with videos of themselves so bringing this concept into the classroom is genius in my opinion. 

Poplet, a video also by Ginger Tuck, is a perfect demonstration of Project Based Learning. Poplet is new to me, but it is an app where students can create learning webs. Mrs. Tuck has a station where students can read books about careers. After they have read the book they can create a poplet to further explain the career book they chose to read. For example, the students in this video chose a book on Veterinarians. They typed the word "Veterinarian" in the center and added pictures and information about that particular job around the outside to create a web. Not only were the students having a fun time creating a project, but they were also learning about a new career and what that job entitles. 

Alabama Virtual Library as a Kindergarten Center was probably the most fascinating for me to watch. Again, on their iPads, the kids would go to the AVL app and sign in like they were taught when they went to the library and then they would then get access to a search bar. The lesson they were currently learning was on transportation so from the list of words they were learning about they would type one into the search bar. Mrs. Tuck gave an example of "bicycle". She typed the word into the search bar and a description of the word came up along with pictures. She pushed play and the website read aloud what there was to know about bicycles. After they research the word that they chose, they have to draw a picture and write one sentence that they learned about it. This is a cool project that allows children to research things on their own but also have a fun time doing it. It also can give the children confidence that they are accomplishing and researching things on their own.

Another great demonstration of PBL was in the video Discovery Education Board Builder by Tammy Shirley. In my opinion this is kind of like Power Point for kids. They are able to create a title of whatever it is that they are learning and add facts, photos, and videos. Once they shared their board builders it looked like a Power Point presentation. In this video the student who was sharing her moon project with us was very excited and enthusiastic about showing us the project that she had created. She had done her own research and made a presentation all on her own.

Kids seem to love doing projects in the classroom and really make the most of it. I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy grade school and love learning the way I did when I was younger, but times are changing. Technology is taking over and we need to accept that. I don't necessarily think it needs to be used 100% in the classroom, but it seems to be a helpful way to keep kids interested. Kids are using tools that they love to use such as iPad's or smart boards but yet they are learning the things they need to move on in their future. I would have to say that from watching these videos and taking this class I have come around to accepting these changes more and more. There may be some things that I do not completely agree with, but most things are growing on me. In the next year and a half I am going to have to really pay attention to the teachers in the classrooms I am observing to get ideas on cool new PBL ways to use when I start teaching. I am very creative and knowledgeable when it comes to technology so I feel as if that won't be an issue, but ideas are very helpful. I feel that students should love to learn and this new way of teaching is making that possible. I am really looking forward to using this technique in my classroom and seeing what the outcome will be.

Project #8 Book Trailer

Blog Post #6

After watching Project Based Learning Part 1 and Project Based Learning Part 2 with Anthony Capps, I really got a feel for Project Based Learning. Dr. Strange asked Anthony Capps so give him an example of the things he got his students to do. Anthony said that the kids in his class were writing a letter to Joe Bonner about women being able to serve in open combat. They tied this in with their history, writing and reading lessons by looking up past women or minorities in history that showed success and had to compare it to the women currently being able to serve in combat. They then gave an explanation as to whether or not they agreed with this. What really stood out to me about this was that Anthony said his students were actually really excited and interested in this project and came back to school with tons of information regarding this project. They also critiqued each others letters and the students themselves picked out the top 8 letters to send in to Joe Bonner.

Another project they did was on Afghanistan. They students had been learning about cultures so they were looking at the different things that made up Afghanistan's culture which included the food, fashion, warfare, etc. Anthony said these projects were so good that they put on a show for the parents and it was a huge hit. Anthony also said that it's not always going to turn out the way you want it to and by that he meant that he actually had a parent who served in Afghanistan and didn't want his child exposed to that particular environment. To fix this issue that student did another project that was still amazing for the whole class. These kids seem to really enjoy the things done in class and know that it is meaningful and important. PBL seems to provide students with the tools needed to enjoy the way they learn and that can really help the way a classroom is run.

Discovery Ed was another video where Anthony caps helps make learning in the classroom come alive. Discovery Education helps take kids to places that will make the way they learn more interesting. Anthony said that his class had to learn about plants and Discovery Ed would take them way beyond the picture of a flower. There are videos with experts explaining in detail about all these types of plants that they are learning about.

Watching videos seems to engage students in what they are learning. We live in a world full of technology and kids are now surrounded by it. In Use Technology Don't Teach It, Anthony says that technology comes natural to kids which I completely agree with. My 3 year old niece walks around with my sisters iPad and knows exactly what apps to push to get to her favorite games. Kids love using technology and they are going to be more intrigued if the things they are learning are used through technology. When I was in grade school the only technology we had were the computers in the computer lab and once we finished our class assignments we could play learning games. That was my favorite part of the school day (other than recess of course). Currently there is so much out there that is it hard to teach younger kids how to use it so do you set aside time to teach them the technology or use it as a way for them to learn as they go? I personally think using it as they go is the easiest thing. Anthony said that he has his students use one thing at a time to use and look over before throwing another tool at them, but using these technological tools is a great way to keep their interest alive.

What I took from the conversations with Anthony Capps is that PBL is a very successful way to keep students engaged in the topics being discussed in class. It is a way to provoke thought and makes them want to be involved and participate. When you throw technology into the mix it just makes things easier and more fun. Kids are more involved and actually want to learn when they get to do projects such as these on their own.

C4K Summary for September

The kid that I am first assigned to is named Mosa and he is from New Zealand. Mosa's first blog was about how he shows empathy at his house. He said that he liked to share food with his siblings and let them share his PSP. He also said he helps his siblings out with homework problems such as math or spelling. When I commented on Mosa's blog, I told him that I also liked to share food with my brothers and sisters at my house. I told him that we sometimes help our mom out in the kitchen and then share the food that we've cooked.

The second kid that I am assigned to is named Andre and he is from South Africa. Andre blogged about a "digital passport". He wrote about how you should not walk across the street while talking on you phone. He referred to these people as "twalkers". He also said you should not post any personal stuff on the internet about yourself or your friends. He referred to this as the "share jumpers privacy".I have never heard of a digital passport so I commented on his blog and asked him what it was. After I asked him what a digital passport was I agreed with him about the twalkers and the share jumpers privacy. I told him that both of those can be very dangerous.

Joseph was the last kid I was assigned to for September, but he did not have a blog so I commented on Hedra's instead. Hedra posted how she did not like Writing, but loved Science and Physical Education. I commented on her blog and said how I didn't like Writing either, but I also do not like Science. I told her how I love Reading and like to check out books from the library.

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Is...

My Passion Is...

Project #3 Presentation

Blog Post #5

I have never heard of a Personal Learning Network (PLN) until this week when my teacher asked us to blog on the subject. According to Developing a Personal Learning Network in EDM310 by John Strange, a PLN is those people, places, organizations, and activities which enable you to learn. A good example of a basic PLN is twitter. I joined Twitter about 3 years ago and found it very fascinating. Twitter uses hashtags where you can see the people all over the world talking about the particular subject you are interested in. I have never thought to use Twitter as a place where I could learn and expand my knowledge. I use Twitter as a constant status update of my life and I keep up with celebrities and athletes around the country. It wasn't until today where I learned to start using Twitter as a way to learn new things and contribute my ideas as well.

Michael Fawcett from New Zealand told a great story as to how he started his own PLN. In his video PLN, he explains that he went to a conference and started connecting with teachers who had the same interests and ideas as he did. At the conference they had a live Twitter feed where he joined in and contributed a few ideas. After the conference he explains that he continued on Twitter where he followed more and more people each week (mainly teachers) and started following their blogs and reading their posts. He then ventured out to other social networking devices and therefore created his own Personal Learning Network. As future teachers this video can really give you an idea on how to expand and branch on on social media sites such as Twitter and find new ideas to improve our classroom. We can follow other teachers from around the world and see, watch, read their ideas on particular topics that may be interesting and useful. We can also put forth our ideas and get feedback from a new set of eyes looking at it from a different point of view. Doing these things can be really helpful and fun by contributing and receiving ideas to and from people worldwide.

According to the slideshow Personal Learning Networks, which was posted on Dr. Strange's delicious page, you can start to develope PLN by just having a conversation with a colleague about a lesson that was taught that day. You can discuss ideas and get outside feedback to get a better view on the subject. After discussing ideas with people in person you can then venture out and discuss them online. Whether it be twitter, blogs, or delicious, you can post ideas and give advice on any and every subject you want.

My real PLN started last week when I made another Twitter account specifically for this class. I followed the staff of EDM and classmates that I saw had Twitter accounts. I have searched the hashtag EDM310 and read the posts that are related to that particular subject. I still follow celebrities and athletes, but I also follow pages like Fox 10 News so I can see any current events that would spark my interest. I know there are several other sites that you can join to expand your PLN, but personally Twitter is where you should start. I am only a baby step into my PLN journey and after watching all of the educational videos and reading blogs on the subject I am looking forward to exploring my PLN more in depth.

Project #4 C4T Summary

After reading Matthew Needleman's blog I was able to absorb ideas on how to get students to tell stories beyond the personal narrative. Younger student's tend to always want to write stories based on what they did over the summer or over the weekend and they never seem to venture outside of the personal narrative. Mr. Needleman gave examples on how to help this situation such as using a picture or start with a concrete object. If you give a student a concrete object such as a hat and ask them to tell you where the hat came from or who they thought could have lost it can give them more room to venture out of their comfort zone. Giving them idea such as this improves their knowledge to venture outside of the personal narrative.

Mr. Needleman's blog was a very useful blog to read. I commented and told him how his information was very interesting to take in and gave me great ideas to keep in mind as a future teacher. I told him I was posting on his blog for my EDM310 class and would love any advice he has for me. I left him a link to my class blog as a way of communication. 

The next blog post covered by Mr. Needleman was on the presentation tool Powerpoint. He said people who do not like Powerpoint do not need to try Prezi. Powerpoint is a tool to help support your prepared speech or lecture. People tend to to abuse the tool and use it as away to not engage at all with the audience. 

His second post was short and sweet and I could not agree with him more. Powerpoint is supposed to be a way to help support your ideas when giving a speech or presentation. You are using it so you won't get completely off topic and people who abuse it are using it wrong. 

Project #15 Search Engines

Every time I want to look up something on the internet I have always searched with Google. This week I researched 8 different search engines and tried them out. These are the 8 search engines I found and what they are good for:

1. Wolfram Alpha: this would not be a search engine you would use to look up your every day questions. It is mainly used to compute things. For example, if you type in 3 + 3 it'll compute the answer and give you the result as well as a number line representation, manipulatives illustrations, etc. I personally do not see myself ever using this search engine because I can use a calculator for any problem I need help solving.

Wolfram Alpha

2. Bing: this is a search engine that is identical to Google. It looks up anything and everything you wish to know. A lot of people actually prefer Bing as their search engine over Google. I personally do not. They do they same thing and I have always used Google and never had a problem. However, my overall opinion of Bing would have to be the same as Google since they both do the exact same thing.

Bing

3. Yummly: this search engine is new to me, but one that I am definitely going to start using since it helps you search for food! You can search by recipe, diet, price, allergies, price, etc. For instance, if you type in "chicken pasta" a wide range of pictures will pop up with their ingredients underneath it. If you see one that looks good and you are interested in just click it and you'll see the ingredients, the recipe, the nutrition facts, and how it tastes (salty, sweet, sour, etc). Petty cool huh?!

Yummly

4. Monster.com: this search engine is used to help people find jobs in their area. I have actually used this website before and it is very useful. You just type in the job description you are looking for and in what area you are wanting to work and several job opportunities will come up. If you see some that you are interested in you just click on it and upload your resume. I did this for several different jobs and got several call backs within the next week. I would recommend this search engine for anyone looking for a job.

Monster

5. WebMD: ever feel sick and just Google your symptoms to see what you have to avoid going to the doctor? Well, WebMD is used for exactly that. If you go to the website, it gives you a search tool to look up your symptoms, diseases, prescriptions, etc. It also provides you with news, how to live healthy, information on pregnancy, and other useful medical information.

WebMD

6. Zillow: this search engine is used for real estate, You want to quickly look up the houses on the market and see pictures then this is the search tool for you. You can locate houses that are for sale or just to rent. You can see the location, how much it's going for, and the mortgages. It also provides you with advice on how to use Zillow in the proper manner. My sister has used Zillow to see what the houses go for in the neighborhood she wants to move in to.

Zillow

7. PeekYou: this search engine allows you to look up other people. If your company just hired a new employee and you want to know more about that person you can use PeekYou and it'll bring up their Facebook page, Twitter accound, Instagram page, and other social media sites they may be apart of. I'm not a fan of this particular search engine because I find it a little unusual and creepy.

8. MapQuest: i'm almost positive most of you have heard of this search engine. Before smart phones came out with a personal GPS system, search engines like MapQuest were very useful. If you were traveling from Mobile, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia but had never made that trip then you could use MapQuest to print out your directions. You just type in where you're leaving from and then where you want to go and it'll map out different routes for you to take. Other than the fact that we have personal maps on our phones now, MapQuest is a very cool search engine to check out if you haven't already.

MapQuest

Blog Post #4

After reading Ben Johnson's The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom, I found myself actually thinking deeply about this particular topic for the first time. As a student, I am guilty of not always paying attention (I think we all are at some point). Whether we have a lot on our mind with work, other class assignments, or personal drama we tend to let our minds wonder in the classroom. As future teachers, we aren't going to know what's going on in the student's mind during class time.

Here at South Alabama, I find it very rare that a teacher singles out certain students to answer questions about the material being covered in class. I also know that whenever I have teachers that do actually single students out I am more likely to come to class prepared. Is that a good thing? Probably not. In order to succeed we need to be prepared for our classes whether or not our teachers call us out, but in college it may be a little different than let's say high school. In high school I was never prepared for class. I rarely did the assignments and always got help from other, smarter classmates. When the teachers would call out specific students to answer questions and the students didn't have the answer, the teacher would just make a quick remark about how the student needed to pay more attention and then would move on. Maybe in order to get students to pay attention to the questions would be to discipline them further. Just a thought. In my opinion, the best way to ask questions is to call out specific people because even though you'll still have those students who don't care, more people will come to class prepared knowing their name could actually be called.


Watching the video Asking Better Questions in the Classroom by Joanne Chesley, I first noticed how she said that students tend to be unresponsive in the classroom after a question is asked. Do I agree with this statement? Yes I do, but I don't necessarily think it's because the students don't know the answer. I pay attention in all of my classes and I take constant notes whether or not we have power points provided, but I personally do not like answering questions aloud in class. I don't like having all eyes on me, I don't like if I answer the question wrong aloud and everyone notices, it's just something that I personally do not like doing. That doesn't necessarily mean I don't know the answer.

Chesley gave two examples of questions, the closed ended question and the open ended question. What a difference both of these types of questions can make when getting an answer from a student. A simple question that only requires a "yes" or "no" answer is a question that can maybe can reworded to where the student has to think about the answer and then provide it in greater detail. Providing an answer in greater detail can help students think and learn more about the topic of discussion. Explaining the two different types of questions can definitely improve how we ask questions in the classroom.

Another way to improve asking questions in the classroom was very well demonstrated in the video Questioning Styles and Strategies. I really enjoyed watching this video because the teacher demonstrated so many different types of techniques how to answer the questions such as provisional writing and cuing (drawing pictures), think pair share (ask your neighbor), random calling (randomly calling on a student), surveying, and student calling (student calling on another student) just to name a few. These techniques really got the whole class interested in the topic being discussed and made it easier for them to participate. Another thing I think that helped the class gain so much interest was the material they were covering. Bridge to Terabithia is a very good book that will keep younger kids interested and want to participate in the questions being asked in class. 

When it comes to asking questions in class, it really is hard to get your techniques exactly right. You can only do so much to gain a child's attention. The things that stood out to me the most were to ask open-ended questions, those to which require thought and a detailed answer. I also really liked the random calling teachers did. Even though there's only so much you can do, student's are more likely to pay attention when they know they may possibly get called out in front of everyone in the classroom. 

Blog Post #3

According to the video What is Peer Editing?,  peer editing means working with someone your own age to help improve, revise and edit his or her writing. As a student I can admit that, in the past, I would feel a little uncomfortable reviewing another students work. The reason being because as a student I don't feel like it is my job to edit another students work. I feel like that is the teachers job. Being a student and editing someone else's work can be difficult. Like these videos stated, you want to help out your peer and give them advice on how to improve their work, but what if it involves correcting their spelling and grammar? Sometimes it can be hard to correct another student on their spelling without seeming like you are above them intellectually.

After watching these videos it has really helped explain the way peer editing should work. You should give compliments to your peers whether or not it's their best work. Giving compliments makes the writer feel good about their work and then can take your suggestions in a more positive way. After making your suggestions, you can then make corrections to their work. As I stated above it can be very difficult correcting students on things like spelling, grammar and punctuation. These are little things that can easily be fixed and by correcting your peer on those little things, you are actually helping them improve their writing for the future. In the professional world your bosses aren't going to want an employee who can't spell correctly so it is helpful to correct those little grammatical mistakes now. Peer editing is supposed to be helpful, not critical if we only learn the right and positive way to do it.

Blog Post #2

Mr. Dancelot

1. I think the central message of this video was to show people ways not to teach. This teacher was teaching a dance class and had his notes set up on a power point, but the students could't learn the dance steps by only looking at the power point slides. He tried to demonstrate the dance steps to the students, but remained behind his desk to where no on was able to see. One student actually tried to stand up to see his dance steps but was told to sit back down. At the end of the video when the students were taking their final exam, the teacher set up a video camera, left the ballroom and just told them to dance. The students didn't even know what dance they were being tested on because of the lack of instruction given by the teacher throughout the semester. I can agree to a certain extent that media, such as power points, are a very useful way to provide notes and main points to students. Would providing nothing but power points be a good way to teach a dance class? Probably not. The teacher should have stepped out from behind his desk, partnered the kids up, and explained his power points in further detail.

Teaching in the 21st Century

2. Roberts thinks teaching in the 21st century means to use technology. He doesn't expect us to just know how to use all of the new technological resources, he wants us to learn how those resources are used and once we master using them, teach them to the kids in our future classrooms. You see how teaching has already changed so much since we were in grade school. Teachers used chalkboards, then gradually moves to dry erase boards and now what is it? It's smart boards. Smart boards have so many features that are useful for teachers to teach their current students. Do all of us know how to use the smart board? No. Should we be taught? Absolutely, especially if that's what we are going to use in the future when we have our own students. Who knows what will come after the smart board so in order to be equipped with the knowledge of technology we must be taught by those in the classroom, the teachers.

The Networked Student

3. Before watching this video I read the instructions for this particular video. It says to "listen very carefully when the question is asked 'why does the networked student even need a teacher?'" The video was about 5 minutes long and up until the last 30 seconds I was thinking in my head that there is no way I can accurately answer this question. This student has very few lectures and seems to be excelling on his own. In the last 30 seconds it reminded me that there is much more to how the student was able to even get to where he was. Who taught him how to even set up his personal learning network? What if the student got stuck and needed help? Who provided the tools necessary for him even to be apart of this class? The teacher.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

4. I think Davis' thesis is that students should also be the teachers. She also thinks students have trouble when they are only given paper and a pen. Students tend to learn better and pay more attention when technology is involved. Now is that a good or bad thing? Davis seems to think it can be a good thing. She showed us where students are started to excel further and are actually teaching her new things when being taught about the technology in the world. I agree with her about students being the teachers as well because there are going to come times when we need to step up and teach ourselves certain things. How do you think people these days take online classes? They get the assignments from their teacher via the internet and have to read and learn the subject themselves. Now, if they struggle and need additional help, they can always contact the teacher and get one on one time.

Who's Ahead in the Learning Race?

5. Elementary, Undergraduate, or Graduate? In my opinion there is not competition. I think the Elementary students are winning the race. Why? Well, in Dr. Strange's study it seemed clear that the Elementary students were more knowledgeable when it came to using technology. They seemed to pick it up rather easy. I mainly think they are ahead in this race because of the age they are being taught. I am in a college undergraduate class and I am just now being taught how to blog and I'm sure that wont be the only new thing I'll be taught how to do. Students who are 7 and 8 years old are learning how to use Macbook and blog so just imagine what they are going to do with that knowledge of technology as they get older and learn even more.

Flipping the Classroom

6. Flipping the Classroom is a method that I have never heard of before. Honestly, I have to say that I don't like it and hope to never have to use it. Whenever kids get done with school for the day they don't want to go home and watch more videos of teachers teaching them problems that they can learn in class. Elementary teachers jobs are to teach kids inside the classroom how to do certain things. To me, it just seems kind of lazy on the teachers part. Kids are too young to have to watch videos and basically teach themselves if they get confused. If this method were to become the new way of teaching, I would hope the kids would spend less time at school to where their time spent at home isn't bombarded with teachers home videos.

Bringing the Locker Room into the Classroom

7. As someone who has experience in this particular area, I can say that the ways we learn in the classroom and the ways we learn in the locker room are the same yet different. I played sports in high school from my freshman year to my senior year and the ways I learned in the classroom and on the court/field were different. For instance, if I was to miss a practice for a sport I played I would have to run for an allotted amount of time. In the classroom if I was to miss an assignment my final grade would drop a certain amount. In the classroom you are able to make up certain points for extra credit and end up with a certain grade and in the locker room you only get a certain amount of chances before you are done. Coaches tend to yell at their players for discipline, whereas teachers give F's for theirs. There are too many rules to really compare the two, but coming from a former student and athlete, the two coincide with each other to make you want to have the best outcome for both so that you can continue on as both a scholar and an athlete.

Blog Post #1

What about EDM310?

When I first heard about EDM310, it was from my math teacher over the summer. He taught the whole summer with a smart board and told us that we were going to have to take an education media class that was all about using the smart board. Hmmm sounds easy right? Quickly I learned that was not the case. I overheard a few students say that it wasn't bad it just required a great deal of time and then I heard others say how awful it was. I'm not going to lie, so far I don't particularly enjoy this class. I'm still confused and don't quite grasp the whole blogging thing. I fear that I'm going to fall behind or not understand something even after it's drilled into my head. I'm afraid that even something as simple as blogging is going to keep me from making a good grade in this class.

EDM310 is not like any other class I have ever taken. I guess the closest it's come to would be my photo shop class in high school and honestly I don't even remember that class because it was a joke. This class is much more serious and requires a great deal of time and work which will probably be the most difficult thing for me. In order to overcome my fears and difficulties, I am definitely going to have to take advantage of the lab times whenever I can and talk to my teacher and classmates for help. I'm going to have to read the instruction manual over and over for any additional help I may need. EDM310 seems like a class that will teach me a great deal, but I never thought on the second day of class I would be so lost and confused about something as simple as blogging. It looks like it's time for me to pull out my thinking cap and get to work.

Practice blog post

Name:
Background:
Why I want to be a teacher:
What does an educators work entail nowadays?
Picture:
Other:

My name is Aimee Perkins and I am a Junior at the University of South Alabama. I am 23 years old and am a native of the beautiful Mobile, Alabama. I have lived in Mobile my whole life. I have 2 sisters and 1 brother. I am the youngest by a 9 year gap. Growing up with siblings 9, 11, and 12 years older than me was hard to do. I attended St. Pius X Catholic school for grade school and middle school and McGill-Toolen Catholic high school after that. I played 3 sports in high school and now just workout to keep myself in shape. I currently work at Springhill Medical Center as a care tech in the cardiovascular lab. Working in the medical field has made me really consider nursing, but I have always been drawn to kids so teaching is the perfect fit. I wanted to stay close to home so I applied to attend USA and have been here ever since. I'll admit I've changed my major 3 times landing back on education, which I do not regret.

I want to enter the field of education because I've been around kids my whole life. I actually live with a 3 and an 8 year old which are my niece and nephew. I babysit an autistic kid before I got into college so being around all kinds of kids has really made me develop a passion for teaching. I feel like being a teacher nowadays requires a lot of work. Kids are learning more and more and as future teachers it is our job to know what these kids are learning and be prepared for it. A fun fact about me is that I absolutely love cats.