Podcast for One and Done

Project #10

Finding the Right Tool
When I graduate from South I will be pursuing a job at an Elementary School hopefully grade 2 or 3. With my students I will want to use as many up-to-date technologies as possible. I do not want to merely lecture and require book work. I want my students to engage in their assignments, dig into the curriculum, and enjoy the material covered/learned.
In my classroom, I want to have learning software that links to my computer (or SMARTboard) that allows the students to interact with the unit. For instance, learning vocabulary would become fun. Students can now drag the appropriate vocabulary word and drop it onto the correct picture or definition. You can do the same thing with math, history, english, and reading!
I may be partially stuck in my childhood, but I would show a few lessons from "SchoolHouse Rock". As an adult I still remember some of those songs. They even helped me through high school! "Conjunction-junction, what's your function?" I know the quality is a bit dated, but the lesson learned is still accurate.

Blog Post #6

Networked Student

The networked student searched online about the "american psyche". This student looked through many different scholarly peer-reviewed articles online. Once he found an article he liked, he could bookmark this website or article in a social bookmarking website. From there, he could look at other articles bookmarked by others on the same topic. In a way, it's like Pinterest. You can pin things you have interest in. Others can see what you have pinned in reference to what category they are looking in.
The teacher is still needed because the student must be taught where to look or how to search. There are many things to know about networking and searching the internet for valid information. Not everything you find on the internet is true! For example, the Allstate insurance commercial where the girl found a "French Model" on the internet which she had a blind date with. Prime example that not everything posted is true. Blogs for example are mainly opinion based. Some people may not know that and try to pull information off of a blog and end up with invalid information. Teachers are still vital in networking. They still help students when they become lost, redirect them, teach them how to properly ask for advice or help, or even contact someone about their blog.

A 7th Grader's PLN
I thought the assignment they did was very neat where they implemented video, sound, words, and images in their blog/assignment. But, I do have to disagree and say that it isn't the best thing for me. Though book assignments are very boring and I would much rather do a fun assignment such as this, I always get so sidetracked online. That's where technology gets the best of me. Though I am getting better about getting my work done online, my mind still wanders. For instance, if a video is on YouTube that I have to watch, I am also going to watch another one that comes up on the side of the page as a suggestion. Of course I'll watch a third and a fourth. I can't say that is such a bad thing though, since they usually are informational and educational videos related to what we are covering in class.
I guess my point is, it is a great idea to have fun activities in class or online and utilize technology and the internet. But a downfall to it would be the students, like me, who can't sit still that long or wander off away from the assignment.

My Sentence Video

Blog Post #5

Modernized. My Dream School

Do you remember that episode of Spongebob Square Pants where he goes into the future? Everything was silver, chrome, and shiny. It was very appealing, if I must say so myself. I actually liked the way it looked, very interesting.
But, No. I would not want a school that was chrome inside or even filled with shiny objects. That is not very smart. My dream school is student focused. What is the point of building a school besides to give students a "safe haven" where teachers encourage their classes, and others, to better themselves through educating themselves.
Can someone please explain to me how traditional white cinderblock walls are encouraging? Students should be interested with what they see when they walk through the doors to school every day. Pictures on the walls, art, and colors. I want the walls the scream creativity. Students art work will still be posted in the halls to promote creativity and show off progress. Student artwork, to me, is more creative on the walls than paying someone to paint artwork on the wall or buying paintings to decorate with. Yes, the students should have some pictures or paintings that they can use as inspirations or motivation for their own art work. Most professional artwork is a good guide for where artwork will eventually, progressively, get to in due time.
The halls will be filled with color. Each hallway a different color. Comfortable seating is mandatory as well. Since students do spend most of their day in their chairs they should be quite comfortable. I want stock the library with books that the students are interested in. To do this, I will send out a survey to the teachers to give to their students. In this survey will be a few questions about what the students are interested in reading.
All in all, I want my custom school to be more student oriented. Students are the future. It would be smart to give them the inspiration and drive now to create a better future and learning community.

Virtual Choir
This was phenomenal! It is brilliant to use technology this way. The panoramic view of the different people recording themselves singing the same song. Then, putting it together making an ensemble. The neatest thing to me is that they are so in tune together and on beat. It really is amazing that this many strangers can come together so well in harmony.

Kevin Roberts' Teaching in the 21st Century
I believe he means even though there are so many ways for students to go out there and find information quickly online, teachers can still be more of a source for information and teach. The information may be just a click away but who says the students know how to click? The students have to be taught how to search, what information will yield the best results, or how deep to look into information. I feel as though technology isn't harming our jobs but bettering our jobs and allowing us to be more hands on with the students while following curriculum guidelines/standards. We must be innovative with the technology available and create more outlets: blogging, podcasts, online forums, online presentations, etc.

Flipping A Classroom
I am iffy about the "flipped classroom" concept in an elementary school. I feel like students that young need more reinforcement in the classroom on content covered. Online learning somewhat takes away from the teachers job. They are no longer "teaching" the students but helping them better grasp the information. This does get rid of "burp back learning" because the teachers are no longer force feeding the students information. But, the students don't have to watch the videos nor do they have to complete the online homework or assignments. Obviously that reflects them and their grade. But it is a lot to expect out of a young student, in my opinion. Then, there are always the students who can't afford internet service or does not own a computer. It is not friendly to both low and high income based students. I am steadily thinking of a way to incorporate something along the lines of flipping a classroom without doing so much online work. Some technology incorporation will be necessary though.

Blog Post #4

First Graders Create Their Own Read-Along Audiobook


I read this blog first then read along as I listened to the audiobook. The kids did so well in creating this! The interviewer's voice is so precious! I loved that they chose to do this assignment on dinosaurs. They also depicted some of the dinosaurs as nice. Even though some scared the two of them. The girl, Annie, climbed out of the tree house to pet the pteranodon. She even fed the dinosaurs flowers! 
I liked that they had a little lesson inside of the book. They learned what a colony was and how a colony worked. Also, they learned that some dinosaurs leave the colony to get food for the rest of the family. 
I love their excitement in the audiobook. You can tell that they thoroughly enjoyed doing this podcast. 

Judy Scharf's "What is a Podcast?"
I enjoyed reading her posts about podcasting. I did not know that a podcast was a mix between a broadcast and an Ipod. It makes sense now that it's been brought to my attention. Podcasts are fun to incorporate into the curriculum. Students love being able to create things such as these. They are convenient because they can be very simple and cheap to do, they can last forever, and they are fun to create. Podcasts can help students work together in groups while completing a fun task. I read through some of the ideas for podcast projects and found a handful of fun assignments that I could use in my future classroom. For instance, an interview with Mickey and Minnie Mouse or even with Ken and Barbie. Younger students would have a blast with assignments like that! 

Podcasting with First Grade
The children began by stating how excited about creating a podcast with the Magic Tree House. The drum roll sound effects were cute throughout the recording. The students recorded in different places outside of the classroom. They recorded in the hallway for example.
The students were thrilled that they could be listened to on people's computers and ipods across the world. This probably had something to do with the second graders and how they received comments from teachers across the world. 
I attempted to leave a comment on the blog, but it would not load correctly for some reason. Instead, I subscribed via email to Langwitches.I will definitely keep up with this specific blog in the future and utilize the resources provided to ensure I incorporate such a fun activity as podcasting into my lesson plans.

Project #5

Project #4 C4T

Flip teaching is basically a blended course, which encompasses the use of any technology to help utilize the most amount of class time. Usually students will take home assignments to read then the next day be lectured on the information read the night prior. In flip teaching, students will watch videos made by the teacher. During class time, the teacher will not lecture but help with any questions they may have. The teacher almost then becomes a tutor in a sense.  The classroom is the place where they apply their knowledge by completing assignments and solving problems.

Pedagogy is the first step to flip teaching. Pedagogy is as stated in Ramsey Musallam’s A Pedagogy-First Approach to the Flipped Classrooom “the things a teacher does to help students learn.” Lectures are quite boring therefore lack student interest. There are more innovative ways to draw in students during class or even at home while doing homework for class. Students have to be motivated in order to learn. That motivation starts with interest level in the classroom with the curriculum.
 I told him that I thoroughly enjoyed his blog post. It was actually a big help to me and to my future endeavor. I made a reference to burp back education and how incorporating technology and critical thinking assignments help to reinforce the learning aspect of class.

Ramsey Musallam's most recent post was just a youtube video walking you through the steps of making a template on google docs accessible for all students. It makes it more easily accessible to the students. This way, each student doesn't have to go through and copy the public document.
I did tell him that the quality of the video wasn't the best. It was hard to see exactly what was typed on the screen, as it looked like he was using the skype feature "share screen" in the video. Though it isn't really what he did, it just reminded me of it.  A better quality video would be nice and easier to follow for me because I am a visual learner. But the instructions were also verbal, so it is not impossible to follow.

Blog Post #3

Peer Editing

Peer editing is a huge deal in College. You would think by your Junior year in college that you wouldn't make quite as many grammatical and spelling errors in a post. Not only does a red line appear under an incorrect spelling word but if you make a grammatical error, usually a green line will appear under that sentence. Though the green line depends solely on what program you are using at the time.
It irks me when students make many errors in their blog posts. I understand the occasional slip up. When it occurs in every post it becomes a bit ridiculous. We are training to be professionals. If you are in EDM 310 you are some sort of Education major (I believe). Therefore, you will either teach students directly or be in an administrative position. Both which you need to have proper verbal and written skills. Correcting some issues should be done privately. A post from a peer should not be complete criticism. Through all the errors I guarantee there is something positive you could and should pull out. Don't be rude. Be encouraging even when correcting.

The Mountbatten

This piece of technology helps blind students in the classroom. This new typewriting types in braille but can do many other functions. Just to name a few of these functions: audio feedback, word processing, even memory space. Braille typing machines have come a long way in recent years.

Special Blog Post #1

Misinterpreted Data
While China has the largest population, India is right behind China with the second largest population. The United States is third largest with 309 million. China has 1.3 billion, India 1.2 billion, and the United States has 309 million.
I searched "How many Loch Ness monsters are there?" I was upset with the answer though. "0. For the most part, the scientific community considers evidence of the existence of such creatures to be a combination of misidentifying and deliberate hoaxes."
"When will the sun burn out?" WolframAlpha says" 5 billion years".
I'm sure WolframAlpha could be very useful to myself and students. Though, google has  the same feature to search for things. But this site opens the most useful information pertaining to your specific search. Not only does it bring up definitions when appropriate, but also charts and graphs. There are also searchable categories so you can go out there looking for information or topics.

Social Media Count
WOAH! Just watching these numbers change so rapidly is phenomenal. It shows how technology driven, dependent, and savvy we are these days. The fact that this is all recorded is crazy. It's also odd to see some of the numbers that don't move all that much. For instance, under Games "new US child 3-11 subscribing to a Virtual World" has gone up to 15 hits in the past 305 seconds. I personally don't think kids should be going online into virtual games, but then again, I would rather my child be online in a virtual world than doing drugs to get into a virtual world. I still think there are many risks for children being online. But in most cases the outcome outweighs the risks.
Technology has completely changed this world and my profession especially. Students are now exposed to a lot of technology in the classroom each day. The use of SMART boards are phenomenal in the classroom. I love that you can exchange lesson plans online and edit activities. You can tweak them to your standards.