Blog Assignment #16- Final Reflection

Final Project - Team Lunchbox

Blog Assignment #5 Part 2

         My personal learning network has grown so much! At the beginning of the semester, my PLN was not so strong. And from then to now I can say I have added a lot of resources to it. From doing C4T, I now have a list saved of all the teachers blogs I have commented on. I also have started following more education based pages. I also follow Mobile and Baldwin county school systems on all social media. My peers as of today have also been added to my PLN because one day, we'll all be educators. My professors, especially in the education building, are a great resource I plan to use in my future years. My personal learning network has grown so much, and I do not think that would have been possible without EDM 310. This class has really opened my eyes.

C4K- Summary for April

Mrs. Lombard's Awesome 7th Graders- Katy K.

          In Katy's post, she discusses tennis! I can definitely tell she loves tennis. She says its a great sport to play because you can play it indoors and outdoors. Katy likes playing tennis because sometimes you can miss school to go play and at the end of her blog she tells us she is actually going to a tennis tournament this weekend. 

         I wished Katy good luck and I hoped she would have fun at her tennis tournament. I told her about my experience playing tennis and how it did not go well. I also applauded her on how well she expressed her feelings about tennis through her blog post.

JHFI Class of 2015- Kamar 

         In Kamar's blog he simply states he has basketball tryouts today. I commented back and asked what position he was trying out for and how exciting it must be. I told Kamar I love basketball, sometimes like to watch it and other times I want to play. My favorite team is the LA Lakers and I wished him good luck at tryouts.

Room Three at Auroa Primary School 

         In Katelyn's post she has pictures of old fashioned cars. She then tells us on March 29th, she went to Kaupokanui beach, and that is where the old fashioned cars were. In my response, I said it looked like she had fun and I told her about Crusin' the Coast in Mississippi. I also asked her if her pictures were from the day at the beach. 

Blog Assignment #13

Share Your Experiences 

Try to think of a time when you personally saw there was a positive impact on the students using technology in the classrooms. What technologies were used? Describe the students interaction, and what were the teachers doing?

         I was observing a kindergarten classroom during a small group time. Some students were writing their sight words while others were reading their library books to each other. Although those students looked like they were having a lot of fun, the students using the Smart Board seemed to be enjoying themselves even more. They were calibrating the Smart Board using the writing tools and studying their geometric shapes. As the students continued their activities the teacher roamed the room, checking on their progress and offering small support when needed before moving on to the next group. 

C4T- Summary for Math Teacher Mambo

Post 1- Half Century

          In Ms. Shireen's Half Century post, she discusses what she has learned from 18 years of teaching. She gives us a list of 50 things she has learned because she is now 50 years old. Ms. Shireen talks about all things associated with teaching. She talks about motivation, other teachers, paperwork and most importantly, she talks about her students and how they have been such an important part in her teaching career.

           In my response to her, I said how much I enjoyed the post and can't wait to be able to have one just like it. I commended her on 18 years in a not so easy profession. And lastly, I pointed out specific things on the list I agreed with. I touched bases on why I agreed that for big projects there should be stepping stone grades, not just one big final project.

Post 2- Fractions?! Still?!
         In this blog post, Ms. Shireen talks about how puzzled her students were when simple fractions are in a math problem. Keep in mind, she teaches an AP Calculus class. To help her students with this problem, Ms. Shireen is going to change up her IR quizzes. Instead of the way she has been doing them, she will now incorporate a review of fractions so her students will be refreshed on them.
         My comment states how much I loathed AP Calculus when I was taking it in high school, and just reading her post takes me back to those treacherous days. While in calculus, I also struggled with fractions so I could relate to her students. I think it's a great idea to review the students on basic concepts because you will always need them to build on. 

Blog Assignment #12

The video Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impaired Students really shed light on how much extra time is needed with special needs children. As a group we never experienced having classes with vision or hearing impaired students and never fully understood the extreme importance of one on one time with each student, but after watching this video we are more educated. These videos and articles informed us about new technologies that are available for vision and hearing impaired students and how teachers can use them in their classrooms. Here is what we learned.

Hearing

HAT Devices

Remote microphone hearing assistance technology (HAT) delivers the speech signal from the microphone to other audio devices so students can have easier access to what the teacher is saying. HAT devices can bring the speech and sound signals from the microphone to your child in a number of ways:

1. Directly to your child’s hearing aid, cochlear implant or other hearing device via a hearing loop;
2. Directly to your child’s hearing aid, cochlear implant or other hearing device via a wireless receiver that your child wears;
3. To a strategically positioned loudspeaker that benefits your child and others in the room;
4. To a single, personal loudspeaker close to your child.

This technology does not only help the hearing impaired, but also others students that may have a hard time hearing from the back of the classroom.

Vision

In the video IPad Usage for the Blind, Wesley Majerus demonstrates how the vision impaired navigate the features on the IPad.

Here are the features Wesley uses:

• Voice controlled
• Uses gestures to navigate through all the features of the IPad
• Swipes finger across screen to determine what app to choose and then double taps to select the app
• Swipes three fingers across IPad to flip pages
• IPad reads the books to you and it is the only ereader that does voice control for books

Coming from Ipad owners, we did not know that these features were accessible for the vision impaired, but we believe that IPads are a wonderful tool for teaching through technology.

Teaching math to the blind discusses how reading braille is linear and this tool allows the vision impaired to vertically compute math problems, because number placement is necessary for students to be able to understand more complex math problems. With this technology, the vision impaired students are able to drag their fingers across the board and read the math problem just as any other student would be able to. It would also help non-impaired students be able to clearly visualize math problems.

Blog Assignment #11

                While watching Back to the Future, I really just kept thinking about the word dedication! He is an amazing teacher. Instead of just being mediocre like some of the teachers his current students have had, he is trying to integrate so much into his classroom. Things from Wiki, Flicker, computers for everyone and a class blog help to broaden the imagination of his students. Mr. Crosby really embodies the word innovation. He is trying all of these new technologies in his classroom to make learning fun for his students. I have learned a lot from him, but mostly, I take away that teaching is about making students love learning as much as I do.

                What a great video! Building a Comic was very enlightening to watch. He used PBL to perfection. He first starts off his video by discussing what it means to be a super digital citizen. Then his students were able to discuss what that might mean, and then the project came in. His students were allowed to create a super hero that embodied a super safe digital citizen. Not only are the students able to use new software to create these superheroes, students will then write stories about real life situations using their newly created superhero. This integrates language arts into a technology lesson. Mr. Payne’s students were able to use their own faces in their comics; he says this shows ownership to the student’s’ projects. The biggest thing I took from this video- student’s love to use their imagination in school, and as teachers we should give them outlets to do so.

                Segregated learning is not the way anymore. Three teachers at a high school have worked very hard together to integrate project based learning within history, English, and information processing. PBL is used to help engage students and allow for deeper understanding of the curriculum. The teachers ran into some problems when trying to start this integration. Because students were pretty much learning three subjects at once, daily schedules needed to be adjusted. I am so glad the administration granted the three teachers the opportunity to do this. While watching Project Based Learning, I was able to look at a different side of PBL-the side where the teachers try so hard to integrate PBL into schools, and how much dedication it takes from the teachers to be able to do PBL in schools. 

Blog Assignment #10

            In the video Little Kids…Big Potential, students are discussing what type of technology is used in their first grade classroom with their teacher Mrs. Cassidy. From this video, I can tell these students are totally engaged in technology. Mrs. Cassidy has a blog that her students post to. This allows her students to become better writers and see what people outside of the classroom think of their writing. Another form of technology used in her classroom was the Wiki. When students needed to learn about a certain topic, they used Wiki. Videos were another tool used to learn and teach in Mrs. Cassidy’s classroom. And the one thing they all used that I thought was a little out of the box was their Nintendo gaming systems called DS. These are usually used for playing games for fun, but Mrs. Cassidy has transformed the DS’s into another way of teaching.

            One of the things I would love to use in my classroom is the classroom blog. Before EDM 310, I really did not know a lot about blogs and how great of a resource they are. I would like to use an online class blog as a portfolio for my students. In Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1, she discusses how the class blog allows her students to be in tuned with technology and the blog is used for the betterment of writing skills. Because this blog would be on the worldwide web, the only problem I would run into is if some parents wouldn't want their children to be exposed that greatly. To deal with this issue, I would put emphasis on the fact that the class blog will be strictly for educational purposes and no full names of their children will ever be posted on the blog. Some of the positives this could bring to my classroom-better writing skills, another way to show off work, memories that will be online forever and a sense of unity in my classroom. Students will be able to see how their classmates write and I think this will make them excited to be in class with each other.  

Project #6- C4K Summary for March

Mrs. Maslowski's Moments- Arturo

         In Arturo's post, Plan Testing, he discusses how he felt about Plan Testing. He starts off by giving his opinion of it and then going on to say how he took the test and how he could have improved. Arturo says he only ready the first paragraph of each passage and then went on to answer the questions because there was only 20 minutes allotted for reading. To improve, he will read the questions first and then go back to the passage next time he is tested. He goes on to tell us tips about the test. Some of his tips include skip the question if you are taking too much time on it, remember to bring your wooden pencils because mechanical ones are not allowed, arrive early to find your class and not to make the mistakes he made. 

         When responding to Arturo's post, I first stated how I am not a huge fan of standardized test either, because I read slow and do not like to rush. I took his advice to heart because I pride myself on being on time and well prepared. And lastly, I too have only read the first paragraph of passages and tried to answer the questions, and it did not go well. I wanted to be able to empathize with him on this particular part.

Mrs. Maslowski's Moments- Josh 

         In Josh's post Job Shadowing, he states that he was allowed to choose a different option from the other students. He went to a racetrack. Here at the racetrack, he saw tons. The students were taken into a VIP room where it cost $50,000 to rent. Josh then proceeds into the calling room, He talks about the cubicles where the business men are working. Josh states being a businessman can sometimes be hard because you can be rejected when trying to sell tickets. He closes his blog with saying he learned a lot from the trip. 

         In my comment to Josh's post, I stated how much I used to love going job shadowing. I used to have so much fun. I reiterated to him for big events like races, there is usually a lot of behind the scenes stuff that must be done. I also stated that I had never been to a racetrack and I was oh so glad he learned a lot from his trip.

Mrs. L's Awesome Students- Pearce 

          Pearce's post 3 paragraph book essay was exactly that. He wrote three paragraphs about his book- Alex Rider: Eagle Strike. In the first paragraph he discussed the logistics of the book-tittle, author, important characters and why he chose this book. Moving on to the middle paragraph, Pearce then gives a plot summary of the main points of his book. Finally, the last paragraph depicts his opinion on the book and more general information, like how the book is actually British. 

         In my discussion with Pearce, I praised him for telling me right off the bat the tittle of the book and author, post organization, and a solid plot summary. I also stated that it is important to give your opinion of the book. I thought 3 paragraph book essay was an overall great post. 

Blog Assignment #9

When reading Seven Essentials forProject Based Learning, I learned how important the process of students thinking is versus the final project being the focus of an activity. Two things are needed in a GOOD project- an educational purpose and meaning for the students. Students should feel some kind of ownership to their projects; this will help motivate them to dive deep into a particular project. I really enjoyed the 21^st century portion of this article. While collaborating students were able to use online presentation tools, task organizers and pod casts to think critically. These tools are essential to project based learning. The last thing I took away from this article was there is a big difference in project based learning now days versus your poster boards used to make science projects.

In the video Project BasedLearning for Teachers, I was taught students should be working over a period of time to answer a big question. These questions will need critical thinking to be answered. Common core standards are the meat of the projects. How students learn these certain standards should be personalized with projects because these projects will allow students’ to be the forefront in decision making. Technology is huge in PBL, we all know this. With project based learning, students can learn collaboration, critical thinking, and life skills.

          While watching PBL: Whatmotivates students today, I learned how important motivation is in school for students. Things like future life goals, weekend events like baseball games, and being praised publicly are some of the things that may motivate students to do well in school. I have learned free time, school supplies and candy are great rewards and these things alone can be used as motivation for students. ProjectBased Learning in PE really opens my eyes to PBL being in every subject! I would have never thought you could do projects in PE, but the fitness program is an excellent example. It once again follows the guidelines of a project. Creating a fitness plan covers the state standards that must be taught and is very relative to everyday life of high school students. This particular blog post goes to show how versatile project based learning can be. It can be used in any subject and for any common core standard. High School Teachers Meet the Challenges of PBL Implementation really embodies the word innovation to me. Changing for the better and looking at what you have been doing for years and trying to change that to keep up with the 21^st century is what these teachers and administrators are trying to do in this video. I learned that having PBL is to help engage students in classrooms. I like this video because it somewhat delves into what the teachers must do to go all the way with project based learning. Teachers are the ones who have to CREATE these projects in order for students to become more engaged and motivated about learning. Using PBL can sometimes be hard in English and math but it is all about showing the students what they are learning in the classrooms can relate to the world outside school walls. 

Project #9 Video Book Commentary

Blog Assignment #8

            Listening to Randy Pausch speak during his last lecture has had a profound experience and impact on the way that I view the education process. In the first few minutes of the video, after he explains his terminal illness, he told a story about his old football coach that opened my eyes. One rough day after his coach had been riding him all day long, telling him what he was doing wrong and just generally giving a young Randy a hard time, one of the assistant coaches informed Randy that the coach was doing him a favor. “When you’re screwing up and nobody’s saying anything to you anymore, that means they've gave up.”  That taught me a valuable lesson about teaching, that I cannot be scared to point out the faults and sugarcoat things for my students. Covering up their mistakes cannot allow them to learn and grow. As such, I realize that it is my duty as an educator to not only learn from my own mistakes, but to also recognize that my true love for teaching should show through how much effort I put into showing students the correct way and not giving up on them when they make mistakes. Later on Randy talks about how ‘brick walls’ are there to prove how bad we want something.

Persistence is key in success, a phrase easily used to describe everything you need to know about teaching and learning as a whole. Referencing the brick wall statement, basically obstacles are there to deter those who are unwilling to work hard to achieve the goals they have set forth. Randy learned this lesson while pursuing a partnership with Disney’s Imagineering project, a top-secret project that Disney was working on that would provide the perfect platform for his virtual reality experience to come in handy. After running into problems with the Dean for the program, he found a Dean over another department who would actually be responsible for his project, thus allowing the project to flourish.

Sometime beyond his experience at Disney, Randy started teaching a class called Building Virtual Worlds, a class that would challenge the students to VR projects every two weeks with three other students as partners. Upon presentation of the first project, Mr. Pausch was blown away. He had never seen or imagined the creative genius that was lurking within the students’ potential. Upon speaking with his mentor, he was advised to tell his students that they had done ‘pretty good’ but that he believe they could do better. The class went on to raise the bar for their projects every time after that statement. That was such a powerful lesson for me about teaching. You should always push your students to do better and perform better because once you allow them to settle, they will be wasting their potential. I now see why this video became such an internet sensation. The final lecture of Randy Pausch completely changed the way I view becoming an educator and taught me lessons that would save my future students from not achieving as much as they could. On top of that, I learned how to become a better educator, someone who could someday inspire students to become great individuals of enormous success.

C4T Summary - For the Love of Learning

Post 1- Whom is the Alberta Government for

         This heart of Whom is the Alberta Government for is the shameful performance of a leader in the province of Alberta, Canada. The citizens are taxed at the same rate regardless of income without any guarantee as to where the money will be used in the community. This causes the education and health systems to fail miserably, as the author says “Cutting expenditures while ignoring revenues is like building a house with only a saw”. Furthermore, Mr. Prentice prioritizes the needs of the few wealthy and privileged over the needs of the many hard working middle class Albertans. While this causes some disconcertment amidst the masses, the experienced leader of Alberta manages to sway the votes of the people regardless of the policies he fails to uphold to protect the citizens. Another focus of Joe Bower’s post is coming from the perspective of the teachers of Alberta, being that the author is an Albertan. According to the Bower, teachers have failed to receive any raises or rise in benefits in three years. Perhaps the bigger problem is that along with no promotion incentives, the provincial government also cut 14.5 million from the education even with an increase of 11,000 students this year. In conclusion, the author wraps up the post by stating the hard truth: Albertans need to get their political wits together. Without a united front voting for a different government, one dedicated to the well-being of the patrons of Alberta, the people will always suffer the consequences versus those with affluence.

            The depressing status of the Albertan government provides insight into what it feels like to live under a ruler that is not for the people. With that being said, much of the economic tension between the hard working middle class and the wealthy of the province stem from the lower class’ inability to see through the deception of Jim Prentice. Unfortunately, the decline of the education system coupled with the higher tax against the workers of Alberta provide for an increasingly difficult platform to motivate change in the government. 

Post 2- There is a better way Alberta 

                There is a better way Alberta outlines the true issues the Albertan citizens have with their elected official, Jim Prentice. By cutting spending on the public working sector and lowering taxes for the more wealthy members of the society, Mr. Prentice has successfully wedged a gap between the citizen classes. The situation has steadily become worse; lotteries have to be held just to decide which students get to continue in school. When it comes to the healthcare system, the hospitals are working over capacity every day since Prentice refuses to use the little revenue left to build more hospitals and healthcare facilities, as well as roads and schools. The video finishes the article with a ray of hope, stating that stability of the situation can occur if Albertans vote for a progressive income tax, raise the corporate taxes slightly, and keep an eye on royalties increase so they may be used properly.

               I liked this article for several reasons. The first reason is that the author chose to use an animated video that makes it easier for everyone to understand the issues the Albertans face in the future. Another is that it was made obvious where the holes in the economy were instead of just using a scapegoat like Jim Prentice does in everyday life. Perhaps the most important reason I liked this article was for its optimism. Even though the future of Alberta looks bleak if changes are not implemented soon, the author behind the video obviously believes that the situation can be rectified, giving hope to all concerned citizens of Alberta.

Project #7- Two Movies As a Teacher (Part B)

Blog Assignment #7

         Using iMovie and the Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten was broken down into two parts. First, a media specialists talked about how astonished she was to find kindergartens using such advanced technology. She states that IMovie is what college students are using. I liked her comment about once you show a child how to use technology, children tend to take it and run with it. Editing becomes a huge role in making book trailers with iMovies, most students do not want to present their work if it's not perfect. And with new technology, editing becomes fun. In Ms. Davis's segment, I learned that Alabama Virtual Library is free to anyone in the state of Alabama. Alabama Virtual Library is used for research. This becomes a great way to teach proper researching at such a young age. I feel that you don't have to be in high school to either do research or learn how to do it properly.
         When watching We All Become Learners, Ms. Bennett stresses how much of a learner, teachers can actually be. Students are not the only learners. She tells a story about how a student taught her how to use pad-let in front of his peers. With everyone having appropriate materials and an open mind, teachers and students are able to be apart of each others personal learning network. Learning changes drastically when roles are flipped-students able to teach and teachers able to learn. The only way to progress is to learn. You never stop learning.
          From watching iPads In The Classroom, I took away a lot. I have watched many videos about integrating technology into the classroom. But this video really explained how the iPad is the bridge between the classroom and the 21st century. Content is very important, but so is engagement. In the beginning of the video, the reporter asks if there are any benefits to incorporating iPads into schools? Absolutely Yes. Just the fact of being able to use them so diversely is enough for me. Second graders used them for math, special needs students were able to blend iPads into their daily routines, and then all the way through high school- iPads are benificial in all levels of the school system.
         In the video Top 10 Reasons to Use Technology in Education there were plenty of valuable pros for having technology-based curriculum. One of the examples that I found the most interesting and helpful was that it would help shape the future for students. Since technology is such a growing industry, having students who are tech-savvy will help prepare them for the future of the real world. Another reason that stuck out to me was the ease of instruction for the teacher coupled with the fact that students actually love to learn using technology. It is more fun for the students to learn with an iPad versus reading a passage with no interactivity.

Project #6- C4K Summary for February

Mrs. Weil's Fourth Grade Froggies- Carolina O

       When I first read When I am Writing Fiction, it was somewhat hard to understand. I had to reread it a few times to get what Carolina was saying. In her blog post, she says she loves to write fiction but it can be hard. Writing fiction is hard because Carolina finds it difficult to think of a topic to write about. She also says stories can be anything- bad, sad, funny, dumb or good.
       In my response to Carolina's blog post, I stated that I agreed completely with her. Writing fiction is fun, but its hard to find a topic. I gave her my tip on how I like to start with brainstorming, using big web diagrams with circles and lines to write all of my thoughts down.

Ms. Leatherwood's Language Arts Class- Angel 

         In Angel's blog post Kyrie Irving, she sounds like a super fan of Kyrie Irving. She spits out facts about him although the post. Things like his salary, height, and even his debut day in the National Basketball League. 

         When commenting on her post, I told her Dwight Howard was my favorite player and I shared that Kyrie Irving is my brother's favorite basketball player. I told Angel it was a great post with clear information. And I really enjoyed the picture that was added to the post.

Mrs Hartman's Readers and Authors- Isaiah 

          In Isaiah's blog-Spirit Animals (Dreams) he describes his dream about a book he is reading. He talks about Briggan in his post. Briggan is a number of things-packleader, pathfinder and moonrunner. He is also significant, but Isaiah does not understand significant. The author of the blog then goes on to breaking down each thing Briggan is. Also, Isaiah discusses about how this books is slow at first, but you must keep reading. And in conclusion, Isaiah asks his readers to answer if he or she will have a dream about their past or the Great Beast,

        My comment to Isaiah's blog was very positive.I stated he was good at writing down what he thought and his transitions from topic to topic were superb.I tried to clarify what significant might mean in his text. And lastly, I agreed with him about how books may be slow at the beginning but will soon pick up if you keep reading.

Mrs. Maslowski's Moments- Alexis

         Alexis's blog titled Black History Month:  Favorite Black Couple entailed a tribute to her favorite celebrity couple for black history month. She talks about Jay Z and his wife Beyonce, who are both musicians. She tell us the couple is strong, inspirational, and successful. Alexis talks about Beyonce first, stating that she has a flawless face and amazing body. Jay Z is next to talk about- she says he is a good man who takes care of his wife and their child. 

        In my response to Alexis's post, I expressed how well her writing skills were by telling her she listed things in a series with correct comma placing. I then went on to say how much I enjoyed their music too. I was very positive in my comment because not only was the post organized but because I liked the content too. 

Blog Assignment #6

In Project Based Learning Part 1:Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher, I really started to understand the definition of PBL. Mr. Capps discusses how projects are not of mean of just understanding something, but how things can also be taught through projects. Because creating something while learning seems a lot more fun than usual texts book stuff. Authentic audiences, student interest, community involvement and driven by content of lessons are some key factors to consider when developing a project. I learned that integration of different subjects can be used in projects. And students being able to revise and reflect become crucial to PBL.

In Project Based Learning Part 2:Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher, Mr. Capps discussed how sometimes things do not always go as planned. I think this is important to learn because as teachers, we must adapt quickly. I learned that you should never limit your students, allow them to go above and beyond. I now know that project based learning will allow not only your students to appreciate learning, but also parents, administrators and the community as a whole. As Anthony Capps said, student choice is huge in PBL, it will give students the feeling of ownership. The most crucial thing I took away from this video was, I am a learner and I am not allowed to just memorize and burp back. The learning process is important for students and educators.

To reiterate my above statement about learning, when watching The Anthony - Strange list of Tips for TeachersPart 1, the very first tip was new teachers must be interested in learning. Another intriguing thing I learned from this video was learning how to teach becomes your hobby. Outside of the eight hours already done in the classroom, more will come. Learning how to teach will be fun but also hard work. Being able to adapt and engaging at the same time is crucial. No child should be left behind; all students should feel interested and motivated. Learning new ways to motivate are important to classroom instruction. I also learned how reflecting can help make certain lessons and projects better.

While viewing Discovery Education, I had no clue what Discovery Ed was. Discovery Ed is used most in science and social studies. Showing pictures and videos, this resource is great for auditory and visual learners. In the video, Dr. Strange states people retain better when allowed the chance to hear or see the material, here's there chance! It also serves as a great compare and contrast tool when bringing light to the same information if a different way. 

Project #7- My Scentence/Passion Is. (Part A)

Blog Assignment #5

Personal Learning Networks consist of those people and tools you can call on when you need help. PLNs are usually always worldwide and able to access at any time. They are there for the teacher’s benefit. I think PLNs will become useful to new teachers when they start to leave what they know and are willing to take in new knowledge. Technology has taken the PLN world, and flipped it. With the internet now, things are limitless. Hundreds and Hundreds of resources are out there waiting to be found, PLNs are important because being able to access those resources is crucial. PNLs are formed by teachers. Teachers must research what they need and compile those searches accordingly.

Personal Learning Networks are new to me. I have always been in an environment where learning was at the fore front. But I never knew it was actually called something, until I read Developing a Personal Learning Network in EDM310. To further my PLN, I would like to broaden the horizons of my Twitter and Facebook accounts. Or maybe even create social network accounts that were just made for educational purposes. I would try to follow educational domains on Twitter and add school systems and universities on Facebook. I would love to be able to keep up with teachers’ blogs, especially some teachers across seas. I think it would be interesting to see what is going on over there and to see if there is anything being done would be beneficial for my undergraduate studies and once I become a teacher.

Some of the things I would add first to me PLN are teachers I have known all throughout the years, and then I would definitely take advantage of EDM 310 finding all of these teacher blogs we have to comment on, I would copy their links into my PLN. 

Project #15- Search Engines

Wolfram Alpha is a new search engine to me. When first pulling it up on my webpage, I noticed how it almost looks whimsical. You can type in a word; input a picture or even a file into the search bar. When I tried to inquire about The Dark Knight, it didn’t really give me what I was looking for. Wolfram Alpha is more of a mathematics and statistics sight. The information that may come up is very basic or sometimes nonexistent. I did find one cool feature on the webpage- the examples page. Here, there were more defined subjects of what Wolfram had to offer.

Dogpile was super interesting to me because it gathers information from Google and Yahoo into one cohesive search. I liked this because now I am a google searcher but when I was growing up everything was about Yahoo. It’s like having the best of both worlds in one. Dogpile works just like Google or Yahoo, once you type in a key word, different webpages can be pulled up, images are present, and lots more. If you’ve ever used Google, Dogpile should be a piece of cake. The mascot of the website is a dog. I think this website would be useful for first time search engines users because it is such an easy site to navigate. Another fun thing I found on Dogpile was the local tab; combining both your hometown and keywords to come up with exactly what you may need is a great tool.

Ask.com has been in my life for a while. I never knew it was a search engine until recently, because when I would search things in google, some answers would come up on Ask.com. This search engine is great for beginners. Words are automatically turned into frequently asked questions on the right side of the page. I feel like Ask.com is question centered.

 Clusty is a great search engine if you are bored. When I searched The Dark Knight, it didn’t show any links to the movie or maybe batman, but the links pulled up were random and nothing you would ever consider at first. I like how on the left hand side there were refined choices with keywords.

Yahoo.com has been the search engine of my life till recently. I always had a ymail and would look at the horoscopes. Yahoo has so much to offer. Email, shopping, and free games are all on the web page. Yahoo also offers the latest news right on its homepage. This search engine would be helpful for those who want an overall/everything done type of search engine. Certain things you wouldn’t have to search because there are already links on the homepage.

Bing.com is Microsoft’s search engine. Their searches are clear and to the point. Offering related searches and images is helpful to learners how aren’t exactly sure what they are searching.  Bing is extremely pleasing to the eyes.  Bing would be useful for everyday searchers, whether that be searching for an address to a restaurant or how to play a guitar. Bing allows users to type in single words, phrases and even keywords, after that, links are pulled up with any correlation to what is typed into the search bar.

Webopedia is a search engine for all of us who do not understand technology terms. This is not an everyday search engine like Bing or Google. Webopedia is very specific. In the search bar, the words “enter term” are in gray. It’s almost like a dictionary type of searching when using Webopedia. Definitions of words are given as soon as you hit enter; no need to click on links. I love this site because I know I always need help decoding computer words.

ChaCha.com is very similar to Ask.com. Both are question based, but the only thing ChaCha is lacking is the actual searching capability of anything that isn’t a question.  This search engine would be useful for answers to specific questions. The way I remember ChaCha is differently from today. I remember in middle school texting a question and then getting a text back with an answer. But these messages would cost a fee. 

Blog Assignment #4

           As teachers, it is essential for us to know how to ask effective questions. Questions are used on a daily basis in classrooms. According to The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom, teachers will ask questions for understanding. When I ask questions, I usually need clarification, and students can help with that. Questions give students the chance to communicate verbally.
           When watching  Asking Better Questions in the Classroom, I really gained a better understanding of open ended and closed ended questions. As future teachers we should know how to ask more open ended questions to provoke discussion and brainstorming in children. These types of questions allow students to think! And to reiterate how important open ended questions are, I explored the source called Open Ended Questions. In this short video, different types of question starters were discussed. Phrases like make a list, explain in detail and what were the reasons are ways to promote advanced thinking.
           Lastly, I wanted to share some of my philosophies on how to be an effective teacher through asking questions. I think it is important to understand the content, audience, and reason for a question to be asked. To ask an effective question about the Civil War, you must understand the Civil War intensively because students' responses are unpredictable. Audience is important as well; making sure questions are appropriate for first graders is very different from preparing questions for advanced PACE students in the sixth grade. And to conclude, reasons for asking a question seem to get lost in the cycle of question asking. Teachers must know why he or she may want to ask a question on a particular subject. Long gone are the days where questions were just used for understanding. Classroom discussions, provoking emotion and aiding in student thought process are just some of the ways questions are used by an effective teacher.

Project #4 - C4T Summary for Jenny's Learning Journey

Post 1- You Got Snapped!
       On Jenny's Learning Journey blog, Ms. She records some of her experiences as a teacher. The blog post that I read was called You Got Snapped. In her blog post, Mrs. She talks about her classroom blog and how to leave positive comments. Her student then takes a picture of her. Although Ms. She has shown her students how to do certain things, Tatiana has taken things in her own hand to create something. Ms. She is very proud of that. She then says, when Tatiana takes the picture, this reminds her of the saying "you never know who is watching".
       When leaving my comment, I talked about how fun it was that Ms. She let her students decided what to do for the last few minutes of class. And I talked about how I just learned how to be a better peer editor. I thought it was a cool coincidence because she had opened her blog with that very topic.

Post 2- IPads in My Classroom!
       In the blog post IPads in My Classroom, Ms. She talks about how I Pads are an all around learning and teaching tool. She was super excited to find out her classroom was chosen to experiment with them. She says I Pads are so simple; a three year old could use them. Ms. She then goes on to talk about different applications offered through the I Pad, like READ Me or a math app to help with subtraction and addition. Not only  are the I Pads used by the students, but Ms. She also uses them as a behavior management tool. She closes her post talking about how much more there is out there in the world of I Pads.
       In my response to reading IPads in My Classroom, I discussed how happy I was about her classroom being chosen to experiment with I Pads. I shared that when I was growing up in school that technology was not integrated at all in my curriculum. And how I am still a struggling student when dealing with computers or I Pads. I just wished I would have been exposed as early as the students in Ms. She's class were.

Project #2 Three Rubrics

Team Lunchbox's Rubrics

Blog Post 
Individual Performance
Project 

Blog Assignment #3

                In Whatis Peer Editing and Peer Edit With Perfection Tutorial, I discovered there were three steps to peer editing- compliments, suggestions, and corrections- and respectively done in this order. I learned that you must stay positive throughout the entire process. Being specific and careful are extremely important in editing ones work. We first start off with compliments. Always make sure to tell the student what he or she did well. Suggestions follow compliments; suggestions on word choice and the overall flow of the paper are always good things to harp on. It is good to always be specific on the suggestion part.  And lastly, we have corrections. Corrections are the most important part of the process. When editing, certain signs should be used to correct different things. Like three lines under a certain letter mean that letter needs to be capitalized. I think it is cool that there is a whole different language for making corrections.

                I also learned that peer editing can be fun. Helping a peer-someone your age- with his or her work can be rewarding. And you must always think about how you would feel if someone was to edit your work. A big part of the correction part is checking for grammar mistakes. Things like capital letters, misspelled words and missing punctuation are some common mistakes made. I have definitely had some Jean the Generalizers and Picky Pattys as peer editors. I try to be just in the middle of both of them. To be an effective peer editor, students must pay close attention to detail and be attentive when reading someone’s work.

                                                          
                In my own words, peer editing is something very important. Peer editing is where students around the same age can interact with other students. And this interaction becomes very productive because students are talking about their work. The best way to approach peer editing is positively. When critiquing someone's work, I always try to stay positive because different things are sensitive to different people. In EDM 310, I will peer edit my classmates blogs by using the three steps talked about in the above paragraphs. I think the importance of peer editing is the interaction between students and allowing the students to see what their peers have to say about their work, instead of just the teacher. When someone my age tells me something, it tends to resonate better with me. 

Blog Assignment #2

1)      Mr. Dancealot

What a video!? The central message for this video is teachers must be active in their instruction and students should be allowed to interact in the classroom. Mr. Dancealot only wanted to use power points to teach. He only demonstrated closed position with his body, but he expected everyone to know what to do. When he was teaching about foot placement, no one could tell what he was doing because the counter was covering his feet. The students never got the chance to interact with the dances; they all sat there either taking notes or almost falling asleep. The author’s conclusion is made extremely well. He depicts this with the very end of the video. The students are lost at the final exam because they were never really introduced to actually dancing a fox trot or the rumba. Sure they have notes on it, but they were not given the chance to do anything hands on.

2)      Teaching in the 21stCentury 

I.                    Students can find anything, anywhere, anytime.

a.      Ex) Blogs, Google, Wikipedia

b.      Ex) Facebook and Twitter

c.       Ex) Cell Phones, Computer, IPads

II.                  How do we teach students to handle these resources?

a.      Validate, Synthesize, Leverage

b.      Communicate, Collaborate, Problem Solve

III.                Ask your students to ….

a.      Understand, Remember, Apply

b.      Analyze, Evaluate, Create

IV.                Creating means….

a.      Blog posting, pod cashing, animating

b.      Planning, recoding, designing, programming

V.                  Tech Skills needed to be taught to students

a.      Paraphrasing, Attributing, Subscribing

b.      Editing, twittering, experimenting

c.       Etc.

VI.                Who will teach students?

a.      Responsibility, Reliability, Integrity

b.      Professionalism

i.                    Pirating, Plagiarism, Slander, Copyright, Crowdsourcing, Confidentiality

VII.              Classrooms should be focused on…

a.      Discussing data via different types of media

b.      Using reliable resources

c.       Evaluating work using different ways

d.      Collaborating with skype or other

e.      How struggling students will benefit

f.        E portfolios

VIII.            Engaging versus Entertaining

a.      Active vs. Passive

b.      Learning vs. Enjoyment

c.       Long term vs. Short lived

d.      Meaningful vs. No relevance

e.      Solving problems vs. Escaping problems

           I feel like Robert hit the nail on the hammer about teaching changing. Students can so easily look up anything on the internet with their computers or even their phones. So what are teachers supposed to do? We are here to guide students. We are here to teach students those things that cannot be found on the internet. We are here to teach students how to use new technology. Hopefully, all of the things described in the video will be used in my classroom one day. Teaching in the 21^st century will be a challenge for not only the students but also the educators. As an educator, I will have to be able to keep up with the new ways of doing things. Things seem to always be changing.

3)      The Networked Student

            The Networked Student is a very different type of video. I have never heard of Connectivism until I watched the video. It is an interesting concept. I think networking and creating a database with lots of knowledge, being able to communicate with others, and knowing how to use the internet properly for school is extremely important. But when they started talking about why the teacher is there, they completely lost me. Teachers are there for several different reasons. In my opinion, teachers are supposed to be the ones teaching the course material AND all of those other things. I feel like with this approach, there is way too much lead way for the students. Students will need structure, they will need someone to tell them when things are due and what happens to be a good source. If not, student will either not do the work or study wrong material.

4)      Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts

            Vicki Davis’s video totally screams “Teaching in the 21^st Century” at you. She says pen and paper are not the only way to learn. Some students will naturally learn differently. She has integrated so many different types of programs into her classroom. I like that she is incorporating world travels into her class. Davis’s students are able to contact students from all over the world. I love her concepts of almost everything digital. I think she brings a new learning style to the forefront. I thought it was interesting when she said you don’t have to know everything about a subject to teach it. Vicki Davis’s video was the first time I had ever seen “digital everything” done positively.

5)      Who’s Ahead in the Learning Race?

            It clearly seems like all of the students at Gulf Shores Elementary are ahead of either undergraduates of graduate students at the University of South Alabama. I think it is great that all students are exposed to technology at a young age. And that technology not being a single computer in the room, but their very own IPad or MacBook. I understand the students in elementary school are ahead in the race because they are exposed at such a young age. Students retain more at a young age because so many other things are not distracting them. Like Dr. Strange said, one of his graduate students was having problems using her MacBook. Integrating technology this early is what teaching in the 21^st century is all about. Paper, pencils and textbooks are not the only way to neither teach nor learn anymore.

6)      Flipping the Classroom

            Flipping is a completely new thing to me. I think it is a fun and different way of teaching/learning. I think the flipping approach will be useful to me because I like to try new things. I am a firm believer in all students do things differently.  I like how there will be more time for discussion in the classrooms. Teachers are definitely facilitators; we should be guiding discussions and walking around the classroom as the students are learning and possibly teaching other students. I’m glad that there is something out there that allows the teacher to do less lecturing during classroom hours and more of seeing what her students can do. I think flipping could be incorporated in all grades because it’ll give a sense of responsibility to students. Students must watch the videos to be prepared for class the next day.

7)      Bringing the Locker Room into the Classroom

            When reading Bringing the Locker Room into the Classroom, the words “problem solving” kept jumping out at me. Problem solving is very important in either the classroom or in the locker room. It is a lifelong skill that needs to be taught at a young age. When I become an educator, I’d like to use discussion in my class. I don’t really want my students to always look at me for the answers. I think working with their peers will be beneficial in developing proper problem solving skills.