Blog Post #15

After going back and reading my first blog post, I kind of feel like I was on the right track in the beginning, but I am closer to my destination now. I still want to teach first through third grade and I am still a huge fan of books and students reading. But, I am now aware of interactive ways for the students to read their book. SMART boards have the technology that allows you to read interactive books. Students can get quizzed throughout the book and help with reading comprehension. I love how students can play with books and see vivid details of what they’re reading and even brainstorm their own depictions of the story.
Critical thinking is still at the top of my list. After successfully completing EDM 310 I am a huge advocate for group work and critical thinking. Starting this out at a young age can help students in the long run. Many jobs involve collective involvement among coworkers. I believe that teachers of each grade level should collaborate together to effectively teach each student the same valuable lesson. This allows the great teachers to share their thoughts and ideas while the less creative or inexperienced teachers can get help gathering some ideas as well. This would help to find a happy medium with teaching.
When I wrote my first blog post, I had no idea how to work a SMARTboard. Thankfully, we played with them during the semester and I now know how to work one as well as do activities and a whole lesson plan on a SMARTboard. The most important thing I am taking from EDM310 is blogging and how important it is. I feel like blogging is a gateway technology. (: Once you start blogging, you open your mind to so much more! I love blogging. I have found so many useful tools for organizing, gathering information, and networking simply by blogging and exploring a little bit. I now know that the possibilities are ENDLESS!
Thank you Dr. Strange as well as all of your lab assistants. You have all made this class much more bearable than it is made out to be. There may be a lot of work involved, but I honestly feel like it has prepared me, or at least given me an idea, for how much work will be required when I actually become a teacher.

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.

Blog Post #10

Adventures in Pencil Integration

I kind of took a different interpretation of Mr. Spencer's pencil artwork. I feel as though it may have been a way of saying that you don't have to buy the fanciest things in order to get the job done. Papermate pencils make break more than the Ticonderoga pencils, but they are inexpensive and work just fine. They may be of a lower quality but they still get the job done. Also, the higher end pencil could be considered technology. Technology versus old school, to be exact. Pencils versus technology. I believe that hits the nail right on the head.

Why Were Your Kids Playing Games?"
It is very important to engage student's minds in the classroom. Though to some teachers and administrators, the main goal is to get those empty slates full of memorized information for the standardized tests at the end of the quarter. Soon to forget everything that was in the slate. Burp back education at it's finest.
Games should not be pulled from the curriculum. Any thing that allows the students to actively participate in a lesson or activity is great! When students actively participate they have better chances of remembering the knowledge and truly learning it. Not just learn it for the test and soon forget it. 10 Points on Pencils is another one of his blog posts that I read. I really like his view on pencils and new technology. He actually made me chuckle a bit in this post. I believe students should utilize whatever source of technology they choose in order to further their knowledge. Becoming more familiar with any item of technology is great. Students should become more familiar with these items in order to gain knowledge.

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?
To say the very least, Dr. Scott McLeod is one of the leading experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues in the nation. His article about technology and what not to teach your kids has a lot of validity to it, in an opposite kind of way. His post has a valid argument of parent issues and concerns with technology. Though, many parents facilitate their children with cell phones, computers, and other electronic devices, they still have concerns about the use of the internet.
His post states many things that parents say like "they're probably looking at porn" or bring up the issue of cyber bullying. Technology is very important today in collaboration with education. The key to this is proper supervision.

Project #11 Green Screen

Project #14 SMART board basics

Project #12 My First Book Trailer

Blog Post #9

"At the Teacher's Desk"
I loved reading Mr. McClung's reflections of each new year of teaching. Of course, I chose to read his first account because the first year of teaching, or at any new job, you learn the greatest amount of information.
His first year teaching in an Elementary school, he learned that there is no such thing as a perfect lesson and the lesson you prepare and the lesson you present are never the same. He also touched on the subject of teachers losing focus on the most important things, the students. Lessons become more teacher focused and less student centered. It just goes to show you that people tend to get comfortable.
In his most recent blog post, year 4 reflection, he states two things: 1)you must please yourself, students, and superiors- don't worry about your peers. 2)Challenge yourself!
Like I stated earlier, teachers become comfortable in their own ways. This can really hurt your classroom. I'm not saying you can't reuse lesson plans but be sure to keep them interesting, creative, and up-to-date.

Blog Post #8

This is How We Dream
Technology allows us to visually see things that are occurring right now across the country. You no longer have to explore the world in order to view it. There are so many items shared online that are simply a click away. People compose and share things on the internet. They can share as little as text filled with valuable information to live streaming video of an adventure or documentary.
This allows us to explore our world in ways that were not available previously. Videos can be shared with millions of people. Statistics, graphs, or plots of information can be shown as they rapidly change. The amount of information you can find is phenomenal!
The world around us is rapidly changing. This allows us to actively participate in these changes. We can also, as educators, show and educate our students about how the world has developed into the technologically advanced world it has become.

Carly Pugh's Blog Post
Carly's idea of an assignment was an excellent idea for any grade level! It can be altered to accommodate different grade levels. What I love most about this is it allows students to be creative and use their own personal preferences. Even if the student is indecisive or unorganized, this assignment could work out perfectly for them. Youtube can be suitable for any age group as long as the student is monitored by an adult supervisor. That may be one issue with incorporating youtube videos off of the internet. All in all it is a fantastic way for students to show their individuality or even teachers to show what traits aspire them to be educators and what ideas or practices they would like to follow and incorporate into their own classrooms curriculum.
She comes so close to Dr. Miller's desire for multi-media in the classroom by incorporating student research to collectively bring together videos which they find useful to their personal needs or desires.

Chipper Series
I actually laughed a lot during this series! "I want you to teach me so I don't have to learn…. I'm doing all the work!". I love this. Students literally have the mentality that it is your job to force feed them information and basically wipe their butts for them as well.
Chipper wanted to change the definition of "procrastination" on Wikipedia so that she could turn in her work late and it still count. But there is a reason why a deadline must be met. You must have a reachable goal that still challenges you.
She then creates a school where the student is free to decide when they come to class, how long they stay in class, and how they interact in the classroom. To say the least, her school fails.

EDM310 For Dummies
This made me laugh! This basically tells you how to survive EDM 310 account. It shows the students at the beginning of the course when they are very frustrated with the course load and how unfamiliar they are with each of the different websites and programs associated with the class. "I feel like my 8 year old!"
Once the students worked through the class and became familiar with the different sites and programs they used in the class, they love them. This class introduced them to things they can incorporate into their education careers that are free and quite useful.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn
Students have become so involved with technology outside of school but these specific methods are banned in schools. Students can not email, blog, instant message, or use social networking sites in most schools. This discourages student learning because it takes away from the students desires. It is less student focused which is a deterrent to student learning.
Student's jobs are not to weed out the wrong answer and produce us with the correct one. They will not be given a "vending machine" type test on their job. It is economically incorrect and inadequate. Scavenger Hunt
1. For my social media type tool I decided to use Edmodo. Edmodo is great for sharing resources with other teachers, students, and parents. It is a social networking site and is practically set up just like Facebook with a newsfeed and all. Instead of just statuses and pictures, you can post assignments, alerts, and even notes so everyone or just your parents can see. It is a very useful website and can be used for a plethora of educational ideas!

2. A tool i've never used before would be Smilebox. Smilebox allows you to take your pictures and form sldieshows, collages, scrapbooks, and more! You can make comics for your students, coloring sheets, and invitations. You can even add music!
3.My first poll : My Live Poll

C4T #2

iPads/iPods in PE – Practical Workflow with Edmodo

This PE teacher was using iPads and iPods in PE. You can stream assignments, videos, or pictures on phones or ipads with your classes. You can upload polls and quizzes as well. It is very useful not only in the classroom but also during PE or even sports.

"Hello, my name is Angela and I am a student at The University of South Alabama in EDM 310. I really enjoyed this blog post! It is really helpful to me and such a great tool to use in the classroom as well as in PE or with any sports. I am very eager to use this in my future classroom. Feel free to email me ang.vanvliet@gmail.com Thanks! Goodluck implementing this into your curriculum. I will be sure to keep up with your blog."

"Cricket Scoring on Ipad"
I know nothing about cricket. So I was kind of confused when I read this. I thought the scoring application was called "cricket". Instead, it is used for cricket. It allows you to organize everything dealing with the game: runs, strikes, manhattans, etc. I said: "Great post. I love seeing technology running into sports now days. It is awesome to be able to get immediate feedback after a game."

PLN Progress Report

I am using Twitter as part of my Personal Learning Network. I chose Twitter to start off with because I am very familiar with Twitter and it is easy to follow educational tweets in my tweets (or newsfeed). I not only follow some of my professors but also classmates and educators/educational sites. Many tweets have websites attached to them and make exploring that much easier and faster!

C4Ksummary for February

ibshannonm13 C4K #1 the students blog I read, was a for a 9th grade History class. They got to choose a historical topic for their Historical Novel Project. This student wanted to read about the Salem Witch Trials. I enjoyed reading this book and watching the film as well. Therefore, the blog was enjoyable as well.The student has completed the first prologue of the story where the girls go meet with Tituba. Tituba does magic and can see into the future. The girls are not supposed to ever go talk to her. In the beginning of the story, they go see her and she performs some of her witch craft.
 "I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the Salem Witch Trials when I was in high school. We also watched the film in class once we finished the book. I highly recommend you watching it once you complete the book. The beginning of the story is very thrilling and quickly gets you on your toes wondering what is about to happen. The fact that they are breaking the towns rules and going to see Tituba sets up the story perfectly."

Max S C4K #2
Max wrote a short incomplete sentence about being a goalie. It was his very first post! He was very excited about making a few saves during a game. He also enjoyed being cheered on for his accomplishment.


Room 6 C4K#3
I was assigned two students, Lucy and Junior. I looked back at their prior work from 2012 and it was great! They looked like they had fun doing their artwork and assignments that were posted online. I told them both that their work looks great and I hope they enjoy room 6. To the class I said "Hey Room 6! My name is Angela Van Vliet and I am in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. All of your work looks great! It looks like you are all having a lot of fun in class. Enjoy the rest of the school year!"

James C4K #4
James is a 10th grader at Baldwin County High School. He has a fascinating hobby of woodwork. He said that it takes hard work and effort but it relaxes him and makes him very happy.
I said: "Hey James! I am a student in EDM 310 at The University of South Alabama. Does your school offer any woodwork classes? If so, are you taking a class that promotes your desired hobby? I wish I had taken a woodwork class in high school. Do you want to pursue your hobby and possibly make it your future job or career? Best of luck with all of your future endeavors."

Blog Post #7

Randy Pausch said, “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." This quote particularly stands out to me because he did such an amazing job teaching his story to so many people. His "Last Lecture" was based off of his book which he wrote in order to teach his sons how to grow up without having a father figure. His book was to help them when he couldn't physically be there as a parent.  I like this quote because he was told he would not live much longer, something that he could not change, it was out of his control, but he still bettered himself when most people would have become depressed and feeling a bit of worthlessness. Make the most out of the time you have here, because everyone dies, but not everyone lives.

"Failing to plan is planning to fail." and "You can always change your plan, but only if you have one." What can you do without a plan? Planning helps map out your day, week, month, or just short schedule. This will help you stick by a guide and help utilize your free time rather than wasting it. We are too forgetful to go day by day without a good schedule for ourselves. Planning ahead is a great task and teaches you great time management skills. It makes you make time for the important things and manage your time effectively. 

"The key question to keep asking is, 'Are you spending your time on the right things?' Because time is all you have." What are you doing with your time that is bettering you or someone else? You should not waste time, every second can be used in betterment. Achieve your dreams, no one can do it for you. As an educator, I will most likely have some of his quotes in my classroom. Randy Pausch is so motivating to me. His story truly touches me, as I know it does for many others as well. His story can be sad to you or it can be a motivational story. His story can help push you to better yourself for you and others who depend on you. As a teacher you must leave your mark somehow. I hope that I leave mine as the teacher who always challenged her students and encouraged them to be the better person they know they can be. Guide your students in the most positive way you can, encourage them to be individuals, originals, not a copy, and help them achieve their childhood dreams.

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.