Blog Post 10

  In the video, "First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class" (Little kids... big potential), Kathy Cassidy's class talks about all the way they use technology in their classroom. The students enjoy writing their blogs. They love seeing other people comment on their blog and how it improves their own writing skills. One student says to never say mean things on a comment, always say nice things! The students also show how they interact with their classroom webpage, wikis, and Skype. The students use Skype to contact students in other classrooms and in other states.

  In the video, "Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1", Dr. Strange and Kathy Cassidy discuss aspects of technology in the classroom. Cassidy says she is always pushing the envelope when it comes to new technology. She is also adamant on protecting her students identities online by having students post only their first name, not their last. Her students love technology, and she says students and technology go hand in hand. Students won't learn by the same tools that were used to teach 10 or 20 years ago. We are limiting ourselves by not taking advantage of technology. Does every teacher need to be technology literate? Absolutely! Technology is not going away, it is here to stay.

  In the video, "Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 2", Dr. Strange asks Cassidy how teachers should begin the technology process in their classroom. She says the best way to start is with video, photo sharing, blogging, overall creating a network. Both also discuss the importance of Twitter. Following other teachers on Twitter has helped them in their own teaching skills.

  In the video,"Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 3", Dr. Strange's students ask Cassidy questions. One student asked how often Cassidy uses blogging in the classroom and replied by saying once or twice a week, depending on how things are going in the classroom. When asked about cheating, Cassidy says using technology to cheat has not really become a problem. Technology has created a shift to collaboration. To protect students while they search online, Cassidy teaches her students to not use their last name, to not post pictures of themselves, to not say negative things to others on the internet, and to not click on flashy ads or links to other websites.

  The main technique of hers I plan on using is internet safety. It is so important to keep these students safe and on track while they learn with technology. If students are taught internet safety correctly, a whole world of information is in their hands to educate and help them.

 

Blog Post 9

  The article, "Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning", discusses what every good project needs, and how to keep a project from becoming busy work. Students must find the project personally meaningful and it must also serve an educational purpose. The first step is a need to know. Teachers can engage students interest with an entry level event. Students will not want to learn if they don't believe they need the material in their life. They don't want to learn something because they'll need it later in life, for the next course, or simply because "it's going to be on the test." Second is a driving question. A driving question gets the main goal of the project across and gives students a sense of purpose and challenge. It needs to be a question that students can expand upon. A project without a driving question is like an essay without a thesis, students need this to understand why they are undertaking this project. The third is student voice and choice. Students need their own voice and their ability to choose in projects so the project becomes more personal. With their own voice and choice, students become more creative with the endless options they can choose from. The fourth is 21st century skills. The point of a project is to present students with opportunities to exercise 21st century skills such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and the use of technology. These skills are vital in the workplace and life. Letting students be exposed to these skills dives them meaningful work. The fifth is Inquiry and Innovation. With inquiry, students begin with their own questions, search for resources and the discovery of answers, which leads to producing more questions, testing ideas, and finalizing their own conclusions. With inquiry comes innovation, which is a different answer to a driving question, a new product, or an individually produced solution. The sixth is feedback and revision. Feedback and revision lets students know that the work they present needs to be high quality hard work. This is an example of real world work. The seventh is a publicly presented product. Projects are better presented to an entire class of peers, rather than to the teacher only.

  In the video, "Project-Based Learning for Teachers", teachers are given the positives of PBL. With PBL, you can take advantage of what technology has to offer, the classroom will be more student centered, learning will become more meaningful to the students. PBL is a way to reach students of the 21st century, it fosters inquisitiveness, and eliminates busy work. PBL has students working over an extended period of time answering a driving question. The driving question needs to be meaningful and requires students to share their reached end product with peers. PBL is inquiry based, open ended, problem solving, and personalized. Through this process, students learn collaboration skills, communication skills, critical thinking skills, and career and life skills. Think of PBL as questioning, investigating, sharing, and reflecting. Technology plays a major role in PBL. Through PBL, students take the lead in their own learning.

  In the video, "Wing Project: Crafting a Driving Question", creating a driving question is tackled. Pairing teachers up with PBL experts greatly improves their own teaching ability. A good driving question frames the task for students. It also sets up a process of inquiry that students are interested in and shows the kind of work they will have to do to produce an answer.

  In the article, "Ten Sites Supporting Digital Classroom Collaboration In Project Based Learning", ten sites are given that best help students and teachers with PBL.
  Titan Pad allows for quick collaboration.
  Wall Wisher is a virtual post it note on a virtual wall.
  Coarkboardme supports a group's collaborative activities.
  Google Docs facilitates live and real time digital collaboration.
  Microsoft Live
  Today's Meet gives teachers & students an isolated room where you see only what you need to see.
  Will you type with me
  Linoit is an online electronic classroom display board.
  Skype in Education incorporates skype into the classroom.
  Quick Screen Share helps to share scrrens i=and info among students.

  In the article, "Project-Based Learning and Physical Education", Andrew Miller describes the correlation between PE and PBL. The first is need to know. A group of high school students were asked to create the best exercise program for middle school students. To do this, they had to engage in research, both online and in person, in order to accomplish this authentic task and present it to a real audience. The second is a driving question. For this exercise, students were attempting to answer the question, "How can we create the best exercise program for middle school students?". All the work was geared toward answering this question. The third is students voice and choice. If students are given voice and choice, they are engaged and empowered to perform the task. The fourth is 21st century skills. Collaboration and presentation are 21st century skills. This is what professionals do in the workforce. These skills are key after graduation. The fifth is Inquiry and innovation. It is not simply a regurgitation of knowledge, but instead using that knowledge and newly created data to design an innovative PE unit. The sixth is feedback and revision. The students from this PE project learned that continuous improvement is possible, and that revision is a great thing to do. The seventh is a publicly presented product. The students shared their findings, demonstrated their units, engaged in persuasive rhetoric, and shared the stage with each other. After the presentations, the students felt relief as well as a sense of accomplishment.

Project 14 Lesson Plan - Digital Scrapbook

  My Group (Group 4) did our Lesson Plan on creating a digital scrapbook on a historical figure. We received our resources from ALEX.

  Google Slides Lesson Plan

  Project Calendar

  Rubric

  Written Lesson Plan

 

Project 9 Video Commentary

Blog Post #8 - What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?

  On September 18, 2007, Randy Pausch gave a rather funny lecture (Randy Pausch's Last Lecture) on his childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and how others can achieve their dreams or enable others to do so. My post is more pointed at his experience as an educator. As a Carnegie Mellon professor, Pausch loved the fact that the teachers had the reigns. He loved that there were no deans to report to, that the mold of everyday class could be broken, his classes were project based, the students loved it, and there were field trips! As I watch his lecture and see how much his students loved this kind of work, it really makes me want to incorporate it into my own lesson plans when I am a teacher. FREEDOM helps a lot when it comes to teaching out of the box.

  One point Pausch makes about teaching, advice that he had received from his own mentor, is to push your students to do better, even if they are already showing great work. If a teacher does not continue to push, students will set a bar and think they never have to go beyond that. He makes a point that we as teachers can learn from our students. He also says to NEVER GIVE UP. We have to learn that it's okay to ask for help, and know that we can't do everything alone. One way to learn is to get a feedback loop and to use it. So tell the truth, be earnest, apologize when you mess up, and focus on other people. His final advice was to be good at something, work hard, find the best in everybody, and to always be prepared!

 

Blog Post 7 How Do We All Become Learners?

  In the video "Using iMovie and the Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten", Mrs. Davis, Mrs. Bennett, and Dr. Strange all discuss introducing technology at the early grade of kindergarten. Mrs. Bennett talks about kindergarteners reading their weekly books and creating trailers with iMovie. She explains that once you introduce technology to the students and give them an example, they take off and learn the technology rather quickly. The kids love to edit and work with the technology. Mrs. Davis talks about AVL (Alabama Virtual Library). She says it is a great way to tech students basic research. She explains that AVL gets the students excited about research and eager to do it.

  In the video, "We All Become Learners", Mrs. Davis, Mrs. Bennett, and Dr. Strange explain how we ALL become learners, not just the students, but also the educators. Mrs. Bennett explains that teachers teach their students technology, students teach other students, and then students teach teachers even more about technology. It goes full circle. This way everyone becomes a learner and a teacher. Technology changes the dynamics of learning. The barriers go away and we all learn.

  The first video I chose was, "Interview Rosado How to Get a Job". Dr. Rosado and Dr. Strange talk about the employing of teachers process. Dr. Rosado says a candidate needs to be able to bring something to the table that works with that schools vision. He also says he needs a teacher who does not lecture, who understand technology, and who is a team player. He is very specific on not wanting someone that lectures, but someone who delivers the material in a different way. Real world projects are necessary. This is all very different from the way I and my classmates were taught.

  The second video I chose was, "Interview Rosado Part 1". The main point of this video is that TEACHING AND LEARNING ARE DIFFERENT NOW. Dr. Rosado says that this change can be difficult for teachers to adjust to, due to the way that they were taught. Before, teachers had books and a course of study. Now, they are required to use technology and PBL. It's not about changing the teacher, it's about changing how the teacher reaches the students. He explains that students WANT more than a lecture, they want an experience and practice. Dr. Rosado also talks about how the use of technology in his school reduced the amount of discipline problems, creating a better learning environment.

  The third video I chose was,"Interview Rosado Part 2". Dr. Rosado Discusses that his school is so technology based, that textbooks are almost non-existent. Yes, there are students who do get off task from technology, but there have always been students who get off task. Costs have also gone way down from using less paper. There is a second part of the video that talks about bringing the real world to the students and the students to the real world. Dr. Rosaldo discusses how they have put a cafe, a store, a charging station, and an art wall into the school. This makes the school more like the real world and real colleges. This is very similar to how Google runs their company. These projects have helped the community to get more involved in the school. Students are getting real world application.

  The fourth video I chose was, "Mrs Leslie Welch 2". Mrs. Leslie Welch discusses with Dr. Strange how her students are learning information through the use of technology and how they want to teach it to their fellow classmates. This is a motivator to students, almost like a peer review among the students. They become aware of their own work, excited about their work, and put pride into their work. Students want to show their work and show what they've learned. They have gained a lot of confidence. Students use these projects and go up and beyond when they are not even required to. This reaches all students, both high achieving and struggling students.

 

Project 13

  My Group (Group 4) did our PBL on the water cycle. We received our resources from ALEX.

  LESSON PLAN

  PADLET

  PROJECT CALENDAR

  RUBRIC

 

C4Ta #2 - Part 1 and Part 2 - Tech Intersect

  The first post I read was on the Blog Tech Intersect, by Bill Genereux, an Associate Professor of Computer Systems Technology at Kansas State University at Salina. The post I read was titled "Pineapples Don’t Have Sleeves".

  SUMMARY: In the post, "Pineapples Don’t Have Sleeves", Bill talks about a reading assignment his daughter brought home from school and the reading skills test that came with it. The reading assignment of Pinocchio given to his daughter was worded rather differently from the e-books Bill found online. The curriculum experts seemed to think that “At the sympathetic ring of the money” was an improvement over the original phrase of either “At the jingling of the money” or “At the cheerful tinkle of the gold“. Students, like Bill's daughter are being given poorly written questions. He wondered what the real test for his daughter was like, given that this was only a practice test and reading assignment.

  COMMENT: Hi, I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I agree that standardized tests are worded poorly, and that the change in text took away from the original text. The original text had descriptive vibrant words that made the text more enjoyable, the altered text did absolutely nothing for the mind (in my opinion).

 

  The second post I read was titled: "25 Things Every Young Professional Should Know by Age 25".

  SUMMARY: Bill Genereux gave a link to this list of 25 things which is on Huffington Post. It's a list of things that graduates should learn when coming into the real world. Genereux points out number 20 from the list: "The days of a college syllabus are long gone. If you’re waiting for someone to give you direction, have a seat. You’ll be there a while." Students need to be able to take the lead on their work without being told every little thing to do. Leaving some things ambiguous is preparation for the real world. Here's the list of 25 things:

  25. It's spelled "definitely," not "definately."
  24. Read an apartment lease before you sign. All of it.
  23. An Excel PivotTable will change your life.
  22. A cover letter should add color and personality. It shouldn't summarize your resume.
  21. Everyone likes to receive praise, but the smartest young adults actively seek constructive criticism.
  20. The days of a college syllabus are long gone. If you're waiting for someone to give you direction, have a seat. You'll be there a while.
  19. Multi-tasking is great, but some moments require your undivided attention.
  18. Take LinkedIn seriously.
  17. Understand the pay-stub that accompanies your paycheck.
  16. There's no such thing as an overnight success. However, people who do "break through" tend to start their day while others are still asleep.
  15. Know the difference between a Roth IRA and Traditional IRA.
  14. Even though college is over, you should still find extracurriculars. Among the many reasons, clubs and organizations are terrific places to network.
  13. You're never too busy to write a thank-you note.
  12. Negotiate your salary.
  11. The ability to follow-through on assignments can take you from 25-year-old newbie to essential team member.
  10. You probably make more money than some of your friends and less than others. The only thing that matters is that you pay your own bills on time.
  9. Bring a lunch to work. It's healthier and cheaper than eating out.
  8. Don't step into an interview room without research on the company and questions for the employer.
  7. Dropbox. Learn it and love it.
  6. Treat interns with respect. They'll provide you with management training and ease your workload.
  5. To impress older business associates, ask about their own career path. You may also learn a thing or two.
  4. Under-promise. Over-deliver.
  3. The less you write, the tighter the message. The less you talk, the stronger the speech.
  2. The only failure in your 20s is inaction. Everything else is trial and error.
  1. You're halfway through the most formative decade of your life. You don't need all the answers, but you must keep asking questions. Start with this one: what's something new that I can learn right now?

  COMMENT: This post really put me into thought mode! At 21 years old, this is helpful advice to myself and my classmates, I believe every one of my classmates would do well from also reading it. When you pointed out number 20, I began to evaluate myself to see if i was dependent on a teacher's every little word. I DEFINITELY (#25) plan to work on that while finishing college before I enter the work field!

 

Blog Post 6

  In this post, Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange discussed many teaching methods involving PBL. They discussed thoroughly the positives of PBL.

 The first video, “Project Based Learning Part 1”, is a two part video. In this first part, one important question that was addressed was addressed to Anthony by Dr. Strange. He asked "How do you approach PBL as a teacher?" Anthony says that as teachers we need to try a different method of teaching our students. PBL is a wonderful method. Let doing the project teach the children, not just doing a project off of what they have learned. Teachers need to create projects that will have the right content to be teaching their students while they do the project. Anthony talks a lot about his third grade class and how he got them interested on government matters through PBL.

 In “Project Based Learning Part 2”, they discuss PBL even more. Anthony and DR. Strange discuss not holding student back by giving exact expectations. Giving exact expectations usually doesn’t turn out like the educator planned. Students need creative exploration in PBL to show their strengths. Dr. Strange is a huge fan of PBL. They both discuss that a project may or may not work, but either way the student is still learning and gaining experience. This video makes me very interested in involving my future students in PBL. Learning through projects and experience is the future of the classroom.

 In the video,”iCurio”, Anthony and Dr. Strange review iCurio. iCurio is a search engine that is safe for children while they research all kinds of material and media online. Students and teachers can store material that they find valuable. This aspect is nice because students often get information, and then forget what website they got the information from. I like the concept of iCurio very much, because teachers as well as parents can have sound mind when their students/children research on the internet.

 In “Discovery Ed”, Anthony and Dr. Strange discuss the value of this website to teachers and students alike. Discovery Ed gives not only a picture or information about a subject, but gives a video for students to learn from. It brings professionals into the classroom by means of video. Dr. Strange says students are listeners/watchers. Anthony agrees in his statement, ”A picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth a million.”

 The fifth video’s title, “Anthony and Strange: Tips for Teachers Part 1”, is also the description. Anthony and Dr. Strange contribute basic points to instill in the classroom. Be interested in learning yourself, if you are not a learner, you won't be a successful educator. Teachers need to model learning for their students. Work is not separate from play. Let learning be fun again! Be Flexible and creative. Surprises will happen so don’t let anything be set in stone. Anthony recommends to Keep kids Engaged 100% of the time. Dr. Strange joked that this was a high standard. Reflecting and revision is a critical factor and goal.

 In the video, “Use Tech, Don't Teach it”, technology is best learned on your own, by practice. Technology comes natural for students/kids. Teaching technology shouldn't be the goal. Let the students use technology, such as Discover Ed and iMovie, to learn. Constantly using technology is a good way to learn and understand it. Technology is used and shareable in the real world. This is why students should learn it at a young age. Don't expect perfection, it’s impossible. Work and revise, work and revise, over and over. Anthony says “Never teach technology, just introduce it smartly.”

 In the video, “Additional Thoughts about Lessons”, Anthony explains how a lesson is four layers thick: the year, the unit, the week, the day. Following this process is important. Teaching too much at once won‘t be productive in the classroom. All four and their delivery to the students are equally important. It’s a measure of learned material. Following this plan will lead to a successful lesson.

 

Project 8 Book Trailer

  I did my Book Trailer on one of my favorite books from high school, "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle".

 

Project 7

My Sentence

My Passion
Teacher Parent Introduction
Student Intro

Project #3 Presentation

Blog Post 5 - PLN

  In "Developing A Personal Learning Network" , Doctor Strange points out that PLN's are always changing, worldwide, opportunistic, free (typically), and dependent on communication technologies. Communication technologies pretty much means social media websites. Dr. Strange defines PLN's as "...those people, places, organizations and activities which enable you to learn." Here are some PLN's I constantly use:

  Facebook

  Twitter

  Pinterest

  Google Drive

  Skype

  Instagram

  EDM 310 Class blog (and other blogs in general)

  Educators that are thoroughly connected in their PLN networks demonstrate collaboration and eagerness for growth.This takes some time and requires planning, but is helpful in the long run. PLN's help educators to use all the social media channels effectively and strategically. After watching Robert Byrne's presentation on How To Build A PLN , I definitely plan on expanding and improving my PLN network!

 

C4T#1a Post

  In Jeff Delp's post "Empathy and Difference Making Matter" , Delp talks about his passion in helping the Good Neighbor Orphanage in Haiti, fighting poverty, and helping students in poor countries, and even here in America. He understands that he cannot change a whole country, but he can help to change the lives of a few students there. He also talks about the difference possible in the classrooms if teachers act like caring human beings, even when teachers cannot change a students home life.He leaves links to donate to the orphanage and further licks the the orphanage project blog.

  COMMENT: Hi, I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I am inspired by your passion for not only your students, but other students around the world. That is the mark of a good teacher, caring that All students learn, even without funding!

  I also read Delp's post titled "The Marginalization of Children" . Delp discusses same education for all, not just for a few, and if that is how society really treats children that want to learn. Are all students given equal education opportunities? Schools and the government promise this to be true, but it doesn't seem that way. He says that the poorer students who have outside issues are likely to be the students left out. He describes reaching ALL students as nearly impossible and public school as welcoming all, but only because it has to. All children deserve the right for proper education, no matter their financial or home status.

  COMMENT: Hi, I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I agree that all children deserve the right for proper education, no matter their financial or home status.

Project 15 - Search Engines

  I plan on becoming a high school history teacher. Often in history classes, research papers are required. Most research in our technology era is done through search engines. Search engines allow students to access the whole internet for specific information.

  Wolfram Alpha is known as an answer engine or a computational knowledge engine. People submit questions, and Wolfram responds back with answers from other websites. The first thing I noticed on Wolfram was that directly underneath the search bar, there were 30 example categories already set. When I clicked on the people and history category, for example, it took me to a page where one can find information on people, historical events, historical periods, genealogy, etc.I honestly wish I had known about this search engine before now, due to it's specificity and helpfulness. I will definitely use this search engine while finishing college, and recommend it to my future students for their own research.

  iSEEK is a search engine directed towards students and teachers. They advertise as being safe, authoritative, time saving, and intelligent. It's information comes from universities, government sites, and other noncommercial providers. Once you type something in the search bar and submit, it takes you to a page overloaded with content. My favorite aspect was the map of related terminology that directs you to related pages. I would also reccomend this search engine because it has plenty of content.

  OJOSE is unique in that it compromises only of scientific publications. This includes journals, articles, research papers, books, etc. I probably would not recommend this search engine, considering I will be a history teacher, but also because it's layout and setup is rather outdated and minimalistic.

  DuckDuckGo is a search engine that looks similar to Google, but has a lot less ads. They advertise as "The search engine that doesn't track you" by not collecting personal data. All results are found on the first page and it has a simple aesthetic. You can also change the look of your page.

  Over the years Ask has become as popular as Google. This search engine has a clean and clear setup with search results being more up to date. One nice thing about Ask is that after searching a topic, to the right of the page is often asked questions and answers about the same topic. Users searching typically have the same questions, making the serching process a whole lot quicker.

  Mahalo is different in that it is human powered, hiring employees to physically sift through endless content. You won't get thousands of results, but the results you do get will be extremely valid. This would aid students in getting correct information, not overwhelmed by too much information.

  Yippy is a search engine that gets its information by searching other search engines. This is helpful in finding obscure or uncommon information on a topic. They advertise as family friendly, 100% private, spam free, less duplicates, and having top resources. This is their "Five Star Approach".

  The Internet Archive advertises as a universal access to knowledge. It is a non profit, online library.They stress the importance of having a library even with all of our technology, and this website helps to keep up with that. It is very research based, giving students access to a library from their computers wherever they are.

Blog Post 4 - Asking Questions

  In the article, The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom , Johnson talks about the goal of a question. Often, students don't understand what they don't understand, and become fearful of speaking up. To make sure a student really understands the material, the teachers question have to be specific, like needing an explanation of the students understanding. It is a teachers responsibility to get every student involves so some students don't rely on the "smarter" students to answer all the questions.

  The article Asking Questions to Improve Learning gives general strategies for asking questions, responding effectively to those questions, gives the positives of asking open questions, discusses Bloom's taxonomy, and shows how to refine questions. All of these are to improve student's active learning and participation in the classroom. The article shows how both teachers and students can use these questioning skills.

  The article, Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom , shows educators how to prepare questions, play around with questions, and preserve good questions. Questions force students to think about the topic at hand. Preparing questions before class time can help outline your class teaching and aids in helping to student to not get confused by questions that weren't thought through. Playing with a question means to leave the answer blank and encouraging students to think about it. This includes getting multiple answers from several students, or returning to that question on another day when students have had more time to process it. Preserving questions that are good can help other students, rather than helping just the one that asked it. Preserving good questions shows students the importance pf asking questions and how much questions can clarify a confusing concept.

Blog Post 3 Peer Editing

  Peer editing is a helpful tool to students when it comes to writing papers and doing projects. It helps to get a secondary opinion before submitting your assignment for a final grade. It can involve reviewing content or just looking for grammatical errors. I know from experience that many students are not fond of peer editing. Why? Students can be self conscious about their work. They don't want their work insulted and they don't want their classmates thinking they aren't smart. Educators must teach their students how to peer edit correctly so they are giving advice and a review in a proper manner. Peer editing requires support of the work and also productive criticism. If one student does not go about a peer review the proper way, the other student may be insulted and stop listening all together, resulting in no progress being done.