Project #13

"One and Done" did a fabulous job of collaborating on two projects in EDM 310 by using email, text messaging, and google docs to communicate ideas for the last few projects. We used these technologies to share our ideas and thoughts for the SmartBoard lesson as well as the final project, iBook. We did have to meet in order to film the SmartBoard lesson and to voice record a few things for the ibook. All in all, we learned a lot about communicating through other ways instead of meeting face to face. This was a great way for us to get used to using readily available technology as a convenience.

Blog Post 14

Teacher knows if you've done the E-reading
This article is very intriguing. I think it's a bit odd that some professors are so dependent on the E-book. Some students don't open their books through out the semester and do just fine while others highlight every thing they deem important. Every student is different. Luckily, one of the professors realized that grades should not be dependent on how much they open their book. Maybe, their class isn't challenging enough or maybe they take good notes in class. The article talks about a program that rates students on how often they read their E-book. This rating is reported to the professors which allows them to see how well each student is doing in the class in relation to how frequently they use their book.
I personally as a teacher would not use it to a high standard if at all. It would be nice to be able to track how often the students are reading, but I feel like the students could find kinks in the system. Like stated in the article, students could find equivalent excuses like "the dog ate my homework" to justify why they weren't reading as much as they should or why it looked as if they weren't. I personally don't use my books as often as I'm sure my professor would like, so I couldn't require my students to read their's more. I have to write things down to remember them, which doesn't help with the E-book unless they fixed the notepad tool. I like the tool that allows you to track how well each student is doing in comparison to how frequently they use their book.
I would not like this technology to be incorporated into any of my classes. Most of my classes don't even require a book. Plus, lectures typically don't come specifically from the assigned book. Therefore, reading the book isn't really the most important aspect of class. It's more about lecture notes and PowerPoints. If there was a tracker as to how frequently and how long you review chapter notes/PowerPoints and how soon before exams, that would be helpful for the teacher.
I would like to ask them: 1) Do you give a grade based on how frequently they use their E-Books or is it merely optional? 2) Would you change the technology from the book to your specific notes and PowerPoints since your classes are mostly virtual?

1)How do you learn best? (highlighting book, talking about concepts, writing down information, etc.) 2) Do you feel like the more you read the book the better you do on quizzes and in the course overall?
How do find that students do better by reading the book more frequently than those who use other methods of studying for tests?
Is this technology just to see who studies far before tests compared to those who cram the night before?

C4K April

Marisol
Marisol did a character development post. She listed a few characteristics of herself that made her different than others.

Sophie
Sophie is a 4th grader in Australia. She wrote a blog post about her Easter break adventures. She got to watch movies, easter egg hunt, play on a trampoline, see ducks, and even had a sleepover!

Final Report on PLN

My PLN is growing tremendously with the use of C4T's every other week. That alone has allowed me to explore great blogs with very useful information. Sometimes I will even find links to other useful blogs. There are so many ideas to explore and places to go from a single blog post.
I have organized my favorite blogs posted by others in a folder under bookmarks. This way I can access them very easily. I'm thinking about inputting them into an organization website so that I can store them in case I'm not specifically on my computer or need to switch computers all together. Twitter is still my favorite network. I have begun to follow many educational sites and people. Plus, it's easy to tweet directly from my phone! (:

Project 15

Blog Post #13

Brian Crosby's: Back to The Future

In his video, Mr. Crosby talks about how he has a class from 4th to 6th grade. Majority of his students are poverty students and "at risk" as he says. Most of them speak English as a second language. Over half of his students don't know what city, state, or even country they live in though most of them have lived there at least since kindergarten.
His class has 1:1 laptops as well as an interactive SMARTboard. They also have individual blogs that they are required to post in. One assignment is to do a specific experiment at home and blog about what specifically happened during your experiment. They will be asked questions like "why did the can crush?". The kids used wikis which I think is great! Especially since I have done my first wiki this year as a sophomore in college. I laughed when he referred to "explosions" and "butt" during lecture. That will definitely get 4th graders attention for the next 20 minutes like he said!

Paul Anderson: Blended Learning Cycle
First, Mr. Anderson using blended learning in his classroom to enforce the power of learning and the question. I liked how in his video he had a screen that said "Everything is a remix". This is so true because people pull in information from other's blogs, websites, and even lesson plans to accommodate their specific needs and wants. For instance, Mr. Anderson pulled information from an awesome blog by Ramsay Musallam who was one of the first Flipped Teachers. He also pulled information together from a personal trip to China, his own Masters project, Dr. Tae, and Daphne Koller. This proves that his ideas are a remix from others' ideas and suggestions.
There are eight components of his Blended Learning Cycle(Blended Learning): Mobile, Online, and Classroom. Then the learning cycle's five e's: engage, explore, explain, expand, and evaluate. Once you blend all of these components, you have the blended learning cycle! He uses QUIVERS to carry out his cycle. Question Investigate Video Elaborate Review and Summary quiz. The students can not move on to the next letter or activity/assignment until they have successfully completed the task before them. It is a great way to engage the students in the current assignment and allow them to fully learn the material before moving on. Students, now days, aren't pushed hard enough to learn every aspect of the material before moving on to the next lesson. Therefore, students typically won't fully understand the complete range of information on tests and exams because they did not take the time to fully learn the basics that lead up to the more challenging or intricate information.
I personally think he is on the right track to teaching his students and keeping them fully involved in the learning cycle through blended learning. I would love to implement something along these lines in my future classroom!

Progress Report for the Final Project

One and Done's final project will be coming together this week. We have been working so well together over this whole semester. We are all learning how to put together a presentation together on an iBook. It is very exciting! We have solely been communicating through email, google docs, and text messaging. It shockingly works out very well for us.

C4T April

Ramsey Musallam: "5-in-5" Attempt at a MC hack
This blog post was all about multiple choice tests and a good way to make it challenging but not a trick. It is important for students to be able to scan through options and pick out the best choice. He is against multiple choice questions but he has improvised. Cycles of Learning has a great blog post about the quizzes he gave in order to track how well prepared the students were for each quiz as well as how they ranked amongst the other classes and classmates. This was performed in an AP Chemistry class.

Mr. Musallam has not posted anything current on his blog, so I chose his second to last posting. He spoke about lower Blooms in Basketball. He created a game that you can play in the classroom which still involves learning. Basically, he made single questioned sheets of paper which pertained to the lesson. The students would grab a problem (piece of paper) and solve the problem. Once they solved it, they could wad up the paper and shoot it into the bucket for a point of extra credit. He set up ground rules such as he will be roaming around blocking shots and you can shoot as many times, but each shot must be a new problem. This allows students to think critically while still having fun. I told him that it was a great idea to incorporate into class. I like the idea of students getting up and moving around in a controlled environment. It takes away from the monotony of lecture.

Blog Post #12

We did so many blog assignments in this class over the semester. I have learned a lot and can do so many more things than I could at the beginning of the semester. One thing I would think would be very beneficial for teachers is to explore different websites for teachers and the development of a strong guide to go by for new teachers or even teachers trying to learn more or further their career. We did something like this when we started our PLN. We got to explore different networks that linked lesson plans, guides, teachers, and other helpful tools to building up ones lesson plans and activities.
My blog post assignment, I believe, would be very helpful. Students going through EDM 310 are typically close (kind of) to graduating and pursuing their first job and hopefully career. That being said, I believe students should be required to first research schools in the area in which they wish to work. Encouraging students to choose a county or city other than Mobile. They should write a description of a specific school or counties pros and cons. Such as, do the schools have newer buildings, play facilities, is it a Regional school in conjunction with an elementary school, middle, or high school.
The next thing to look at would be demographics. Who lives there? Is it a young community, family oriented, or an older community. What is the racial/nationality demographic of the area? The school, county, or city Human Resources website would be very helpful for most of these questions.
What is the job outlook in this county/city? Are there a lot of pink slipped teachers? What is the income per capita? Are the schools in this county/city Title IX schools? If so, how many are?
Having to research a school before employment is a very good thing to do. I would suggest typing out the questions you wish to use and allow the students to fill in the details. A specific school (preferably one they wish to interview at and possibly work at in the future) would be a better topic rather than a whole city or county. It is good to research tools to help teachers once they are in a school teacher, but what about the steps leading up to employment? I firmly believe students should research the schools which they wish to begin employment at. Not to mention, it looks great during an interview if you know a little about the school issues as well as some strong points.
Once the research has been complete, they can move on to looking through websites to build a sort of portfolio of helpful websites. For instance, 101 websites for elementary teachers shows many different sites than have interactive activities for students, lessons for teachers, and many other useful tools for teachers. They can build a small list of websites that they may use later in their career and studies.

Blog Post #11

Little Kids… Big Potential

Mrs Cassidy's class uses a lot of technology. They have learned to use computers, skype, nintendo, and others. They can make videos, blogs, and radio scripts. They use their blogs to further their knowledge on how to write quality posts. One of the students said that her grammar actually improved after each post.
I love the high use of technology in such a low grade. Students should be able to comfortably use computers and smartboards as well as the technology that comes with it. Technology can help students learn so much more and help reinforce learning especially at a young age.

C4K March

Kyah
Kyah wrote a short story about going to the moon. Luke, the little boy in the story was actually the first kid on the moon! How cool! He went with his father. Kyah did a great job of being enthusiastic as well as descriptive of the trip. I said: "Kyah, I love your enthusiasm! This was a great illustration of going to the moon. I felt as though I was in the rocket with you both when you said you felt your stomach turning “101 different ways”. Keep up the great work!"

Erika
Erika read a story about a boy who was told that he couldn't accomplish his goals. So the student's assignment was to think of a way they would improve their home. She chose to basically make a laundry chute in her home. How neat! You would hook your laundry basket onto a rope or hook, then drop it down to the first floor! Very cool idea.

Neo
Neo is a Middle schooler in New Zealand. He first wrote a narrative about a surfing dog. He told the viewers about the family that lived by the beach. The young boy got a puppy and named him Wilson. Wilson would go to the beach and surf with the boy, Jack.

Riley B
Riley is an 8th grader who enjoys to wrestle. I told him about how there aren't many schools in Mobile that have wrestling teams. I also told him about how I like to cheer, it's my sport of choice.

C4T #3

Free Technology for Teachers: A Short Guide to Terms Commonly Used in Blogging
WOW! I would recommend Richard Byrne's blog to any and everyone! There are so many helpful pieces of information in his blog. In his most recent post, he recorded lingo commonly used in blogging. This terminology is especially helpful. It is somewhat like "Blogging Terminology for Dummies". He is also accepting any feedback on his short list that he's developed thus far. He plans on printing them in his handouts for his blogging workshop.


About.me now Supports Embedded Video and Audio
Richard Byrne's most recent post was about a website that allows people to upload strengths, weaknesses, and other virtuous information that could possibly help them get jobs. This website allows possible employers to scout out possible prospects for interviews. It also allows people to post their best work (videos/presentations) on their About.me page.