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.