Blog Post 15

EDM310 Final Reflection

Blog Post 15

I have made a final reflection video for EDM310, but once again having major issues getting it to upload to YouTube. I also had the bright idea to just save it to my jump-drive and take it to the EDM310 lab, but there is an error when saving it as well. Hopefully, I get it figured out soon.

Final Report on PLN

For the final report on my PLN, I would say it is still and always will be a work in progress. The picture above is just one of the pictures of my Symbaloo. I do not have things color-coordinated, but I know where they are. On the left side is miscellaneous things like sports, games, products, travel...etc. The bottom is more-so shopping links. I'm an avid online shopper and like to keep a look out for books and such on Ebay and Amazon. The bottom right starts with Google and social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. The top is dedicated to educational findings. These links change constantly. I also have several other pages in Symbaloo where I have class links, blogs, and other interesting sites I have visited throughout the semester. Another page includes bookmarks, Wordle, picture editors, podcasts, and other projects we have worked with throughout the semester. I still stand firmly by my opinion that Twitter is the best resource for teachers. It is so quick and easy to get results, ideas, and information. For students, blogging is hands-down one of the most awesome things a teacher can do. I plan to having a blogging classroom and continue to expand my PLN.

C4T #4

During this comment for teacher assignment, I visited Dragonsinger - Learning, Unlearning, & Relearning. The 1st post was titled. "iPad in the Classroom." Allanah had been using an iPad in her classroom for a week, and her kids were very excited about it. Through Twitter, Allanah learned several ways she could use her iPad in the classroom. She was able to turn the iPad into an interactive whiteboard. She also believes the iPad could be used quite nicely for math.

In my comment, I explained how I am excited about making my first iPad purchase. I have heard many great things about it, and I believe someone finds a new way to use it in the classroom each day. I also noticed she was using her PLN to get new ideas. I am learning more and more each day how useful and resourceful Twitter can be!

Her next post was called, "Not obsessed at all." She shows a picture of her Macs and states missing from the picture is: the iPad, iTouch, and iPhone. Having so many apple products doesn't make her obsessed, or does it?

I simply love apple products. Each product just keeps getting better. Apple products are also becoming more and more useful in the classrooms. I am slowly but surely expanding my apple product collection. I have 3 iPods, an iTouch, and working on getting an iPad. 

Blog Post 14

Metaphors
1. Why did you miss the metaphor in Tom Johnson's post, or, if you "hit the nail on the head", why do you think you understood the metaphor and why do you think that others in the class missed the metaphor?


Although I somehow completely missed posting about Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home, I most definitely read it. I knew Mr. Spencer's post was about computers from the very beginning. I think it was a combination of reading post about it from previous semesters and these sentences, "Schools in low-income areas often have students who come in with a mentality that pencils are to be used for entertainment.  Their parents don't use pencils in their factory jobs and don't have experience using pencils in schools." He also mentions "networks." Surely, one would realize that their parents would have used pencils in school (right?). It would also make no sense for the students to "go on pen pal networks" if he were not referring to computers. I think anyone who did not realize he was speaking of computers simply did not read carefully.



2. What metaphors have you encountered since I asked you to create a log of them?


I have encountered many metaphors since this assignment was assigned. I believe most of us encounter and use metaphors in our daily life, we just don't realize it. Metaphors I have came across include:

• "You hit the nail on the head."
• "You're the apple of my eye." (My mom's reference to my baby brother.)
• "Don't put it on the backburner." 
• "The ball is in your court."
• "You better batten down the hatches."
• "Don't bite off more than you can chew."
• "I had to bite the bullet."
• "Blood is thicker than water."
• "I have a bone to pick with you." 
• "I'm as busy as a bee."
• "You opened a can of worms."
• "Don't put all of your eggs in one basket."
• "He's throwing gas." (My boyfriends favorite description of a baseball pitcher throwing fast.)
• "....is like a fish out of water"
• "It's as good as gold"
• "Bury the hatchet."
• "She has too many irons in the fire."
• "They jumped on the bandwagon."
• "Don't make a mountain out of a molehill." 
• "Nip it in the bud."
• "...the skin of your teeth" 

So 99% of those metaphors I heard from my mom. Most came from her lectures to my 18 year old brother. (Don't all parents just love those teenage years?) 

3. What other things can we do as educators to help our students to understand and to use metaphors?


I think teaching metaphors is like teaching a child how to ride a bicycle. We should show them how they are used, guide them through several and their true meanings. Then, have them start making up their own. Kids are good with things like, "My _____ is as big as an elephant!" Eventually, they will learn how they are used and their recognition of them will grow as their reading level improves (hopefully). We could also make metaphors mandatory in writing assignments. 



4. Why do we use metaphors?


I think metaphors bring a person's thoughts to life. You are able to create an image in your head. For example, if someone says to not make a mountain out of a molehill...you understand they are saying to not make a big deal out of nothing,  

Final Project #16-Importance of Utilizing the EDM310 Lab

C4K

C4K #7

I visited Mr. McClung's World this week. Under the categories section, I was assigned Lessons Learned: One - Spring Break. I have concluded that the Lessons Learned category is more like Mr. McClung's newsletter for the day. He lets you know what's going on in class, things coming up, and so on. The last day of school before Spring Break, Mr. McClung announced that while his students are out fulfilling their exciting Spring Break plans,  he will be home working on homework for graduate school. 

While my friends were heading to the beach for Spring Break, I went home to work on school work as well. I told Mr. McClung that I like to think I'll have a life again some day. I did feel better once my work was complete knowing I did not procrastinate. I wished Mr. McClung and his class a safe and fun break!

C4K #8

For this C4K, I traveled to Ms. Pike’s Year 6 class blog at Epping Heights in Sydney, Australia. The blog was titled, "The Unicorn Blog." The student's name was Ned. The post I viewed by Ned was, "Ukulele Chords." Here, Ned shows us several different chords on the ukulele, then he plays a song. 

I commented and told Ned that I think he is a very talented young man, and thanked him for sharing it. I also watched his first video post, which also involved the ukulele and I think it was very creative how he made a song to tell about the rainforest. I hope to have students like him in my future classroom.

C4K #9

So this week, we finally got to interact with the infamous Mrs. Yollis's Classroom Blog. Her class blog is very structured and provides so much information. Meet Mrs. Yollis and her class bloggers. View Mrs. Yollis's video of how to comment.  I believe that video has helped not only myself, but many others around the world. She teaches you how to make your comments meaningful and have "quality." Learn html code is also one that has come in handy for we EDM310 students. It amazes me how quick these 3rd graders catch on. Of all the blogs I've viewed, Mrs. Yollis also incorporates family in a whole different way by dedicating a whole month to them, "Family Blogging Month." Even though I have seen that many of the parents comment fairly often anyways, I love that they are involved so heavily. What child doesn't want to impress their parents and have their parents praise their child's hard work? 

We viewed the post, "Quality Commenting During Family Blogging Month!" Here, the class had posted many different examples of quality comments from parents and students. I told Mrs. Yollis that her class  blog is awesome. She is an inspiration to me and I cannot wait to use some of her wonderful ideas in my future classroom. I have visited Mrs. Yollis's class blog many times in my learning of HTML. I also admire how she has involved the families of the students. To the students, I said that I love their quality comments. Blogging is such a wonderful way to improve writing skills and it must be very motivating to know anyone around the world can see and view your work. Also, being chocolate is my best friend, I absolutely loved the Hershey post.

C4K #10

The student's blog I commented on was Jaden, and his blog is titled, "Jaden's Awesome Blog." I read all of Jaden's post and decided to travel back in time to comment on his post, "97th Rose Bowl: My 1st Rose Bowl." In this post, Jaden tell about going to the Rose Bowl with his dad to watch Wisconsin play TCU. He gives us a run-down of the game, where TCU wins 21-13. Jaden posted a few pictures of his experience and concluded with a few questions including, "Have you ever been to a college football game? Have you ever been to a college bowl game? Have you ever been to the Rose Bowl? Have you ever been to any other type of football game? Who was playing? Who won?"

I told Jaden that I am an Alabama Crimson Tide fan and have been to several college football games, but no bowl games. There was a lot more detail in my comment, but that was the gist. I applauded him for having a blog mascot! I think that was the coolest idea. Everyone needs someone to work with and cheer you on. I also asked Jaden if he had considered a career in Broadcast Journalism. I noticed that Jaden made several posts about football games or basketball games, and he done a wonderful job of breaking the game down and communicating it. He was be a great sports reporter!

Blog Post 13

The Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) is a project by the Alabama Department of Education and provides one-stop resources to meet the needs of teachers, administrators, parents, and students. ALEX is a work in progress. Things you can find on this site include:

1. Course of Studies - Here, you can click on a subject, then click on a grade level to view the course of study standards for that grade.
2. Web Links - Teacher resources, administrator resources, and student resources can all be found here. You can also search for a web resource, recommend a web resource, or report a broken link as well.
3. Lesson Plans - This part of the site is pretty cool and would be extremely useful to new teachers who need lesson plans. Here, you can create a "Workspace" and log in to create a lesson plan. You can search ALEX lesson plans by author, title, and school. You can search by subject, area of interest, or by grade levels as well.
4. Search the ALEX database - You can search the ALEX database and can narrow the search by choosing a search category such as, lesson plans and resources.
5. Personal Workspace - As I mentioned in #3, this is where you create an account to log into and create lesson plans and allows a place to store them.
6. Professional Learning - Here you can learn more about ALEX and training opportunities, view presentations, and search for grants. Visit the Alabama Department of Education Program Websites  to find professional development opportunities, teaching and learning tools, see the latest news, and much more! There is also links to other pages to help us find "tips, tricks, and tutorials on a variety of technology tools."
7. Alabama Podcast Treasury - Search for podcasts here by content. View top downloads, featured content, and the Alabama showcase. You can also find ALEX on iTunes U.
8. ALEXville - Here you can visit the ALEX communities and communicate with colleagues, keep up with the latest ALEX news, and follow various ALEX Professional Learning Communities by subscribing.

I think ALEX is a very helpful website. When I accept my first job, I believe it would be important to look up the course of study standards for that grade level. This will help me in the development of my lesson plans. The lesson plan link is amazing. I have already found several I like. As I said above, we new teachers will need lesson plans and this is a good resource. I love that this site offers information and help for technology tools. Technology is something I definitely plan to use in my classroom and I'm sure as more tools are developed, the site will be updated as well. I found the ALEXville link useful as well. This part of the site allows to to stay up-to-date with the latest news.

ACCESS Distance Learning was designed to create equity through additional educational offerings for all Alabama public high school students. It provides classroom courses and Alabama-certified teachers via technology. The Courses link includes: remediation modules for the Alabama High School Graduation Exam, 14 advanced placement courses, 10 AP exam reviews, and look up the courses offered. The Educators link includes: information for administrators wanting to expand their course offerings, brochures for information about ACCESS, information for those interested in teaching for ACCESS, professional development, information for counselors to help a student find a course, ...etc. The Resources link is very helpful. It contains links to the Alabama Virtual Library, ALEX, ChemLab, MathType, Graphmatica...and many more. There are also links for students and parents.

Project #15-The Cat in the Hat Book Trailer

Blog Post 12

Share the Knowledge

Being it is the end of the semester, you have had the chance to work with several different tools in EDM310. For this weeks blog assignment choose a tool you would like to teach someone to use. Tell us why you chose that tool, who you taught, and about the teaching experience. (Did they find it useful, catch on easily..etc)



I chose two tools to teach, Gmail and Twitter. My boyfriend Jeffry Etheridge was my student. I chose Gmail to teach him for several reasons: he only uses his school email account and will soon be graduating, he does not have Microsoft Office on his computer and is constantly needing to borrow mine, and he is always partaking in group projects. Gmail will allow him to have an email after graduation. Google Documents allows him to type papers, spreadsheets, and make presentations (without needing my computer). I also taught him how you can share your work and allow others to edit it, which is perfect for group work. He caught on fairly easily. I believe the main problem was that some of the tools in Google Docs are a little different than Word, so that is still taking some time to get use to.

I think he has been the most thankful for me introducing Twitter. We set him up an account, wrote a bio, changed his background, added a picture, then began following. He started off following people for entertainment just to get the hang of the tweeting, retweeting, replying, ..etc. He has since realized how wonderful it is to follow people in your chosen profession. He is a Chemical Engineer major, and has some of the coolest stuff to show each day that was posted to Twitter. He has also discovered how easy it is to tweet a problem or question and to quickly be flooded with responses. Skype is our next project!

Project #16-Progress Report

For the last and final project of EDM310, I will be working with Jennifer Hackney, Kenneth Nelson, Miranda Tidikis, Jenna Baxter and Ashleigh Skelton. We are doing our project on the importance of using the EDM lab. I truely believe you must take advantage of the lab and the assistance provided by the staff in order to be successful in EDM310. Even though we do not want to give away too many details about our project, I am looking forward with working with this group and seeing how this video plays out. We are excited to make the staff "stars!"  

Special Assignment #2

Mr. McClung's World
This is an in depth examination of Mr. McClung's World.

1. Mr. McClung seems to be very organized and has all of his stuff together. Anything and everything can be found on this blog. You can learn a lot about who Mr. McClung is by clicking on Mr. McClung. He has a link for each class, one for Arkansas history, and a link leading to other useful links. You can also search his blog through archives or category. His Twitter updates can be seen, Google Translate allows for the blog to translate languages, a live traffic feed and map shows all the visitors who come to the blog, you can listen to a song of the week, and even chat with Mr. McClung. Also, after reading about Mr. McClung and viewing the razorback at the bottom of his blog, I realize he is a big sports fan like myself; however, I support that Crimson Tide!

2-3. As an educator, I think Mr. McClung is pretty inspiring to aspiring teachers, and he also seems to be a pretty straight forward guy in his classroom. I also see that he uses many different teaching styles and I think that is wonderful being we live in such a diverse world. As a student, it is very motivating knowing anyone can view your work at any time. I also think it is great parents can see their child's work, what is going on in class, or even chat or contact Mr. McClung. I hope I can form a webpage for my class as good as his. When it comes to class rules, I first would like to say I think it is a great part of classroom management to have a set of rules written out so that students know what is expected of them. Their parents can also view what is expected of their kid(s) in class. The list of rules are something similar to what I would have came up with myself. I think nearly all teachers in school has rules about raising your hand to speak or leave your seat. The last rule was my favorite, "Keep your dear teacher happy!" This should show his class that even though their is a list of rules and he is a teacher...their is still a guy in there with a sense of humor. I love his classroom expectations as well, stay positive and communicate. I honestly believe that people can control how good or bad of a day they have by choosing to be positive or negative. I hope to always have positive students, although I know that will not always be the case. I also think communication is a VERY important skill that students need to learn and progress in, and with communication comes listening skills. Collaboration with others plays a huge part in our learning.

4. Under the syllabus for Mr. McClung's class the first requirement is that everyone needs a daily planner. I think daily planners are a great way to teach organization skills. I know now days, most students have to take their daily planners home and have their parents initial it each day (I am not aware how helpful that is or is not). However, I know as an adult, I would not function from week to week without my planner. I write down everything because I WILL forget something if I don't, and I also like to see how fast dates are approaching so I can get busy.

5. Late work in Mr. McClung's class is punished by a loss of a letter grade each day it is late. In EDM310 you also make a lower grade than if your work had been submitted on time. This is a policy I cannot argue with. In real-life, their are important deadlines that you cannot put off until you decide you want to do it. I am not a person to ever submit work late, at least without a legitimate reason (although those rarely matter.) I always submit something by the deadline, even if it is not right. If it is not correct, it is because of a misunderstanding, not because I did not try. I believe this penalty in grades teaches kids responsibility and again, time management.

6. Mr. McClung uses the class blog as a newsletter to parents and to make available all other resources as well. I would love to be able to update a blog daily for parents. When there is a project, I could post links to give examples..etc. It is also better for our environment rather than printing 30 copies of several handouts on a daily basis to get lost on the way home.

7. I viewed several of the useful links Mr. McClung listed on his blog. Convince Me is one I reviewed in depth. It is basically a free website where you can either debate in groups or go head-to-head with someone. As you argue, you can add evidence and do all you can to "convince" the other party member(s) of your argument. Their are rules: no profanity, no person attacks, no racial slurs, and no threats of any sort. I believe debates are a great way to explore different opinions and to see the pros and cons of an argument from different viewpoints. In school, I hated debates, but I honestly think they allow you to make a more informed decision and that is why this website made Mr. McClung's list. Discovery Education Network is the other website I reviewed in depth. I absolutely love the discovery channel, so of course I wanted to see what all the Discovery Network has to offer. "The Discovery Educator Network (DEN) is a global community of educators passionate about teaching with digital media, sharing resources, collaborating, and networking." There are over 10,000 events that DEN holds that can be viewed. Blogs are available. There are resources for educators, parents, and teachers. Lesson plans (I cannot get enough of them) can be found, too! You can even follow DEN on Twitter and get all of the updates. I've been following them for a while and love seeing 
some of the cool stuff that is posted.

8. I could not find "Internet Safety" anywhere and I looked everywhere! (Maybe I am blind?) So, I dug a little deeper to see how his students actually posted their work to the web. I noticed that they use their first names and only the initial of their last names. I also have not found a picture where a student's name is matched. I would assume the first name, last initial is Mr. McClung's internet safety policy. I agree with him that students should not give away their full names. Being that I did not find the safety policy, I again am just assuming that he also got the permission of the parents to allow the kids to blog and post pictures. Other things I would include (and he might have) is the no bullying policy. 

9. For the C4K assignment, I was assigned to the Lesson One of the Lessons Learned Category. This lesson actually talks about Spring Break. Mr. McClung stated how his students were planning fun trips, yet he would be staying home and working on homework for graduate school. I think the Lessons Learned Category is 
more-so the announcements section.

10. Things Mr. McClung does in his blog I would like to do with Blogger is have the chat capability, but it is a gadget that I am sure could be added to Blogger. Other than that, there is really nothing I don't think I can't do in Blogger with a little more experience at it.

11. Mr. McClung has every little thing categorized and laid out neatly so that it is easily assessable for visitors. As I said before, I think his blog is inspiring. Visitors can view students' work and comment, they can see the announcements, contact Mr. McClung, and again...their are tons of resources he has listed.

12. Mr. McClung's class blog is different for the fact that all of his students post on the same page. Nearly all other class blogs I have visited have a "Blog Roll" that contains a link to each individual student's own blog page. I like both methods myself. The individual blogs allow for students to be creative and personalize it. The  method Mr. McClung uses allows for everyone to see all of this students' work without having to click to different pages, and it does not make one student feel more/less important than another by having more/less visitors.

13. I would suggest following the links to all the different resources he has listed and bookmark them! Some are awesome!

Until next time... 

Project #14: Teach Someone Project

EASY Styrofoam Relief Printing Instructions

This week in EDU301 (Art), we are making different types of prints. I have found that relief printing  is pretty fun and easy and it could really be incorporated into many lessons. 

Materials:

• Paint
• Styrofoam (We are using old meat trays that have been cleaned, but styrofoam plates would work as well.)
• Scissors
• Pencils 
• Paper (or fabric, construction paper, old t-shirts, or any other material you wish to print on)
• Small paint rollers or brushes for applying the paint

Directions:

1. If you are using a meat tray or styrofoam plate, use the scissors to cut the edges off so that you will have a flat surface. (If your styrofoam is flat, move to step 2.)
2. Using a pencil, draw an image into the flat styrofoam. (The end of a pair of scissors will work as well.)
3. Remember, if you write letters or words, the image will appear in reverse once printed.
4. Use a paintbrush or roller and cover the surface of your styrofoam image. 
5. Press the image against your paper (or other material you chose to print on).
6. Clean up your mess while allowing for your print to dry! =)

I chose to make a spiderweb because I liked all of the lines. I will be posting pictures soon of my styrofoam image and my print. In the mean time, here are other examples I found on the web!

The white parts would be what was drew on the styrofoam.

Look how detailed!

I'm a sucker for flowers...

Blog Post 11

This week in EDM310, we journey to Moose Jaw, Canada to learn from 1st grade teacher Ms. Cassidy and her class. Ms. Cassidy made a video showing the ways she incorporates technology into her classroom. These 1st graders are precious! It also proves, they are not too young to begin learning how to use technology. She also took the time to Skype with the EDM310 class of spring 2010. She gives us insight to her techniques, opinions, how she began using technology in her classroom..etc.

Ms. Cassidy claims technology was not always a part of her classroom; however, about 11 years ago, she had 5 computers placed in it. I think that is wonderful! Two computers is the most I have ever seen in a public school classroom. Even though her class had internet access, programs could not be placed on the computers. Ms. Cassidy began learning how to blog and make web pages because she wanted to make the computers useful. I applaud her for taking the time to learn and having the patience to teach it to 1st graders. Things these students do involving technology include: blogging, teaching others how to get on the internet, using flip cameras, giving tips for keeping identify safe, Skyping with other classrooms and professionals, broadcasting their work (online portfolio)...etc. I did not learn the majority of those things until I was a junior in high school. That year, my class made a web page for the school where we posted announcements,  assignments, staff directory, sports page, a club page, interviews, outstanding work, and so on. It was a really fun process even for we juniors, and being that anyone could access it, we wanted it to look good. I believe for a 1st grader, knowing anyone can view your work would be very motivating! Not only can visitors view their work, but they can also comment on it and motivate the students even further!

Ms. Cassidy has had a webpage for approximately 11 years. She has been blogging with her students approximately 6 years, and she has been making annual videos for the past 3 years. Ms. Cassidy has a wonderful Technology Coordinator at her school that has done all he can to help. Her administration  has not necessarily been interested in the technology, but they have not tried to discourage her from using it in her classroom. I guess everyone can't be blessed with an administration who wants a change, but maybe in years to come, others will follow Ms. Cassidy's lead.

Forms are sent home to parents at the beginning of the school year, asking for permission for students to even get on a computer. In the form they also state the students' work will be posted online and identity will be protected by only using 1st names and never posting a name with a picture. Ms. Cassidy claims most parents like it; they can get online at any time and see their child's work and how their work and writing skills are progressing. Not only do the parents love it, the kids do as well. "Technology is not going away and we cannot use the tools that worked 20 years ago or even 5 years ago to teach them. We have to change because the world has changed." Well said, Ms. Cassidy. I would think getting the parents permission would be the hardest part. Some adults are closed minded a refuse to see the world around them changing. (That is not my business though.)

Another tip Ms. Cassidy gives in the incorporation of technology into your classroom, is to begin with things you love. If you like writing, blogging may be your thing to begin with. If you like taking pictures, allow the students to begin using Flickr. If making videos is your thing, use flip cameras and make a YouTube account. She also (like every other educator I have came into contact with recently) states that Twitter is one of her main tools used for finding resources.

“Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity - not a threat.”

C4T #3

Kelly Hines is the teacher I was assigned to this go around, and her blog is called, Keeping Kids First. Kelly is a 4th grade teacher in Washington, North Carolina. Her latest post is titled, "Read Across America Day." For those who don't know (maybe you do), each year in the U.S. we celebrate Dr. Seuss on March 2. This day dedicated to Dr. Seuss is call Read Across America Day. In Kelly's post, she explains that she thought it would be a great idea for her students to actually read across America. A few weeks before this day, she made a post to Twitter and Facebook (her PLN networks) asking if any teachers would like to have their classrooms collaborate via Skype. Kelly states that she was "overwhelmed" with the amount of responses she received. Chats were scheduled in 30 minute intervals. Kelly helped her students prepare for their conversations and invited all parents to visit the classroom on March 2 to witness the first "read in." On Read Across America Day, the students called the classrooms using Skype, then they read stories to one-another. Using Google Maps, Kelly also charted the "visits" with other classrooms so that the students could see how far they were reaching.

I thank Kelly for her post because I now have a new idea for Dr. Seuss Day! This collaboration could be used for many things, but I think it fits the title of "Read Across America" perfectly. I also think it is wonderful she is keeping her students engaged and trying new things with them. I am sure her students will never forget that experience.

Since Kelly has not made another post recently, I went back in time a bit and read her post, "The Sum of the Parts." Kelly writes about how she was disconnected from her PLN for a few weeks. She states, "The value of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts." Too explain this statement a little further she says, "Have you ever noticed that you can eat way more of those mini-candy bars than you would if it were just one regular sized one? It’s the same idea." (I just love that analogy because I can totally relate!) Even though Kelly was not participating in the conversations of her PLN network, she still had a few teachers contact her personally. Although she usually engaged in conversation with these people daily, something didn't feel right when they contacted her individually. She realized, the power of the group wasn't in the individuals that made it up; it was in the collaboration that stemmed from the group interaction. 

Honestly, a puzzle is the first thing that comes to mind one reading this post. The individual parts seems "meaningless" until they are put together to form a whole. I am a little more eager to continue expanding my PLN. The more ideas, opinions, and experiences I can learn from...the better teacher I will be for my students.

Blog Post 10

"An Open Letter to Educators" -Morgan Bayda 

Morgan Bayda is a teacher in Saskatchewan, Canada with a degree in Elementary Education. Morgan posted a video to her blog by Dan Brown. This video explains how Dan made the decision to drop out of school because school was "interfering with his education." Yes, I said that correctly. Through this video and blog post, both Dan and Morgan make very true points that I can completely agree with or relate to.

Dan makes the point that a strong education is essential to be successful in today's society. I agree. Simply memorizing facts of information is no longer good enough. Like Dan says, many years ago...people went to universities to learn information because information was valuable. Now days, the value of information is diminishing. We are in the midst of a technology revolution and it is taking full force. Since the creation of the internet, information is FREE and available with a few key strokes. I think this is wonderful, but I also think that means skills are what is needed now days...not the ability to regurgitate facts. We can get on our phones and look up a fact within a matter of seconds if needed.

Morgan and Dan both make the point that they feel "cheated" out of an education at universities. I know many times I have felt cheated. I absolutely hate sitting through two or three hour lectures nearly every day of the week, especially with professors who do not have a clue who I am. I actually had one class in nursing school that was a straight powerpoint lecture from 8:00am-3:30pm twice a week. Can you imagine how sleepy and bored we were? Facebook was my best friend during that class. Also, do you realize how scary that is for a room of nearly 120 nursing students to be struggling to stay awake, taking hour long "bathroom breaks", or sitting of Facebook that will someday being taking care of us? After those lectures, we would then go home and spend the rest of our night studying the book to memorize facts in order to pass a test. After the test, the majority of those "facts" went out the window. I still believe a more hands-on method would have been more beneficial to all. Our school systems are definitely in need of reform. Learning facts is not preparing students for the real world, or preparing them to be successful. Teachers think because they have began using a SMART board rather than PowerPoint that they have embraced this change, when truth be known...to reform our schools, it is going to take a little more than adopting a few tools such as SMART boards and e-mail. Students should be collaborating, creating, and learning skills that teaches them how to become life-long learners.

I can also relate with Dan to how he would spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks that he never opened. I have yet to have a semester where that didn't happen. It is so much easier and quicker to type what you are looking for into a search engine and have an unlimited amount of resources pop up. Also, since enrolling into EDM310, I have found Twitter is an amazing site to find resources.

I guess the one positive point I can agree with is the fact that my Education Computer class has truly embraced the changes in time. EDM310 is not a lecture based course, although Dr. Strange and his staff is available nearly any time of day for assistance. We work with a countless number of tools. We collaborate with classmates, educators, and students from all over the world. We create projects, which in my opinion is better than sitting through any lecture. It also allows us to teach ourselves, which is a skill I feel anyone has to know to be successful. I have also learned more about myself as far as my organization skills and time management. I believe I will take more away from this class than any previous class.

“Every revolution was first a thought in one man's mind” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Project #12-Recorded Skype Interview

Blog Post 9

"What I've Learned This Year" -Mr. McClung

In May of 2009, Mr. McClung completed his first year as an elementary school teacher. As a first year teacher, Mr. McClung says he was young and inexperienced (as most of us will be) so he decided to reflect on that year and share what all he had learned. His thoughts are:
1. Learn how to read the crowd. Mr. McClung experienced what I think most first year teachers would experience, and that is feeling nervous about his superiors observing him. He claims he would lose touch with his students while delivering his lessons because he was not focusing on his students' comprehension, he was focused on himself. "In order to be effective, you have to be able to let your audience drive your instruction." I completely agree with this. Lesson should be student-centered, and their comprehension is key.
2. Be flexible. Mr. Mclung states, "No lesson is ever perfect. The lesson you teach and the lesson you plan are always different." This makes me feel 98% better about my first year of teaching because I am a perfectionist. I think I would definitely be the one to beat myself up over a lesson not going as planned, especially if that day happens to be one I am being observed. I think I will be nervous regardless of the preparation I have before entering the classroom, but this has made me feel better.
3. Communicate. Communication is they key to anything in my opinion: a relationship with co-workers, a personal relationship, a student-teacher relationship, a parent-teacher relationship..etc. Talking out issues is definitely best, rather than letting tension build. I also agree with Mr. McClung that communication skills are one of the hardest skills to develop. I feel that is because sometimes you have trouble reading people and also cautious as how you appear to them. Communication skills develop as you learn more about someone. I believe it is something you just have to do regardless of the awkwardness at first, and let the relationship grow.
4. Be reasonable. Mr McClung says to not set expectations and goals too high for students because it only allows for disappointment for the students along with disappointment to yourself. I definitely don't think a child should be "scolded" for failing or not achieving their max potential. You should encourage them to try again. With that being said, what is their max potential? I don't believe you can learn that without setting the bar high and continuously setting it high. If a student thinks they are doing the best work, they won't try harder. If a student thinks they are a failure, they will also never reach those goals. It is best to keep encouraging all students and all set high expectations. (Let me get off my little soapbox...)
5. Don't be afraid of technology. I think some adults in today's society think computers are taking over the world and going to run us one day. I like to point out that technology is man-made tools that are to assist us, whether is be for speed, for cooking, for documents, for communication...whatever. Technology is essential for living in our society and it is important that not only we use it, but we also teach our students how to use it so that they, too, may become productive citizens.
6. Listen to your students. "You may be the only person that does." That is so true. It is important to build a student-teacher relationship and know the students in your classroom. Let them know you care about their well-being, their feelings, their schoolwork, their future...everything. They should feel comfortable.
7. Never stop learning. It is important for an educator to continue learning throughout their career. How are you supposed to teach a student to become a life-long learner if you are not willing to do the same. Set an example for your students.

I am very happy this was assigned to our class. It makes me feel better about my years to come. I love having insight from those with more experience than myself! At The Teacher's Desk is definitely being added to my PLN!

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.  -Clay P. Bedford

C4K

C4K #4

So, I once again got to work with a student from Pt. England School in Auckland, New Zealand. This student's name is Sione, and he is a year 8 student at Pt. England. Sione is in Mr. Mike Harris's Room 19. 

The post I commented on was titled, "My Usual Mornings." This post basically tells about a typical morning for Sione. He says, "As I woke-up with my head dangling on the side of my bed, I heard my Mum ''Roaring'' across the hall-way ''Sione GET UP YOU HAVE SCHOOL TODAY'' as I draged myself out of bed to go wash my face and brush my teeth, looking outside to check the weather, I said to myself ''It's going to be a really hot day today'' as I entered my bathroom half a sleep I dipped my face in freezing water then I was wide-awake. Later after that I walked into the kitchen smelling pancakes almost thinking I was in a pancake shop I dashed to the plate cupboard and then zoomed to the oven for some pancakes I chomped and munched on each pancake it was like heaven on earth soon after that I packed my lunch."

Yes, I realize that post is nearly an entire run-on sentence; however, I liked the story. I left Sione a comment stating that I really like this post because of the verbs he chose to use. "Zoomed" and "dashed" were great choices. I like "chomped" too! He also used a great simile, "each pancake was like heaven on earth." I can just picture how amazing they were!

C4K #5

The next student also attends, Pt. England School in Auckland, New Zealand. This blog is combined of 3 classes of 5 year olds, which is year 1 students. Impressive, right? The teachers at Pt. England are on their game! The student I interacted with is named Somoa, and her post was titled, "Splash!" Somoa dictated to her teacher that she likes swimming in the pool.


I commented on the post by telling Somoa I like swimming in the pool, too! I also told her how much I liked her picture she had drawn.

C4K #6

The next class I worked with is located in Tauranga, New Zealand. (Another class from New Zealand? Yes, indeed!) Rochelle Jenson's class contains years 5 and 6 students.  The first post I made a contribution to is titled, "Exploring Innovation." In this post, they had box where anyone can submit keywords related to innovation. I submitted, "improving."

The second post was titled, "Christchurch Earthquake." The students listed some faces about the earthquake. "The earthquake struck on Tuesday 22nd February. It was magnitude 6.3 and struck at a depth of 5km, 10km south-east of Christchurch CBD. It was shallower and closer to Christchurch than the 7.1 magnitude quake on September 4. The quake has caused devastation. Emergency services are reporting multiple fatalities, serious injuries and extensive structural damage to buildings."


I left a comment saying I had no idea this earthquake had even occurred. I have never personally experienced an earthquake and don't want to. I cannot imagine the devastation they cause. I plan to keep the victims of this earthquake in my prayers along with the victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami. 

Blog Post 8

"This is How We Dreams" Parts 1 & 2 -Richard Miller

During this presentation, Richard E. Miller uses multimedia to show, "what can be done to change from a reading/writing culture to a listening/watching culture and still have our students contribute to the products being listened to and watched."

I love books, so I can definnitely relate to Dr. Miller and I think they are wonderful tools for teaching. I do not entirely agree with his thoughts on becoming what seems to be a paperless world. It seems like a good idea in theory. For example, he says that even when you take something from the web, it's still there for others to access, unlike when you check out a book from the library. That is an excellent point! What I don't agree with is, we shouldn't steer completely away from real books and writing on paper. There are skills kids learn from doing those things. When writing a paper, there is no spell or grammer checks. Kids also improve their handwriting by writing on paper. I know I have become entirely too dependent on things such as spell and grammer checks, and hitting they "synonym" button. I believe it is an injustice to students to have them do all of their writing on computers.

Overall, I like the concept. Being able to access all kinds of information is completely awesome. I do believe; however, that we just need to be careful to not let it take over. Books, in my opinion, are important. Many may not agree with me, but I don't think we should steer away from making kids learn skills like writing properly.


"The Chipper Series" and "EDM310 for Dummies"
Both of these videos were very informative. I think "The Chipper Series" captivates the minds of many college students. I rarely procrastinate and always like to stay ahead; however, I do like to work on my own time frame. I do think some students believe the "present is the future" and like to procrastinate or let the time get away from them. I have to disagree with Chipper that Dr. Strange is not doing his job because I believe we do get taught in this class, possibly more so than others. I don't think it's completely the teacher's responsibility to do ALL of the teaching; I believe they should be there for guidance. Teaching yourself forces you to learn (if you want to learn). To me...sitting on Facebook while tuning out a lecture is not exactly a quality education and you definitely aren't taking anything away from it besides knowing Jane Doe just ate lunch, your mom misses you, and Billy just went to the restroom. (I love Facebook, just think it should be used outside of class.) Sometimes we students think we know best, and a lot of students want an easy way out and don't want to learn. EDM310 takes commitment and responsibilty to get the weekly assignments complete and submitted on time! If you have questions, it is also your responsibilty to get those answered. It is a fun class if you like to learn and are good at teaching yourself, but there is no "easy" way out.

"EDM310 for Dummies" was a very cute video. I also love the way it was set up as a commercial. I guess when you put it into perspective, it's a lot easier than we think. To begin with, I thought I was in over my head and was confused beyond belief. Now, it is a fun and very interesting class. I am constantly learning new things and expanding my PLN. All students should see this video at the beginning of the semester and hopefully know, there is no reason to "go crazy."

I think someone should make a "Google Docs for Dummies." I know there are tutorials everywhere for it, but I think it could be better explained and learned from students who have encountered the same problems. Google Docs essentially isn't hard to use, the different buttons and tools just are not exactly the same as Word. It is also complicated to figure out how to get the summaries from the forms posted to our blogs. The video that was referenced in the blog instructions no longer works.


"Learning to Change, Changing to Learn"
This video "fundamentally attacks much of 'schooling' as we know it today." I agree with this video that kids have a more stimulating environment outside of school than inside the classrooms. Schools are just one of the many places students learn. A lot of their learning comes from online resources, people in the community...etc. Sadly, most of the tools students use to communicate and collaborate and learn from are banned from schools. I believe the classrooms should change from classroom systems to community systems, where students come to school to work on joint projects while using social collaboration and their resources from the community and possibly world-wide. Technology is needed to better prepare our students for college and life. Our world is a technological world and our students do not need facts crammed down their throats to "burp" up on test. They need skills to: find information, validate that information, synthesize the information, communicate the information, collaborate with others, and develop the skills to solve problems. I totally agree it is "foolish" to teach toward Standardized Tests that essentially will not benefit the students' lives.


"The Secret Powers of Time" -Philip Zamardo
In this video, Philip states there are 6 times zones people live in:

Past- 1. People who focus on the good times (past positive).

         2. People who focus on the bad times (past negative).

Present- 1. Hedonistic people who live for pleasure and avoid pain.

              2. Believers of "fate".

Future- 1. People who work rather than play, hoping for success.

            2. Believers that true life begins after their life here on Earth ends.

Mr. Zamardo demonstrated how time perspective characterizes nations. Here in the United States, cities who have a higher pace of life also contain more men with coronary problems. I believe this is possibly because they do not take the time out of their busy, daily schedules to exercise or eat proper meals. "Waiting is a waste of time." Mr. Zamardo also makes a very interesting illustration concerning boys in todays' society. In the United States, a child drops out of school every 9 seconds. Yes, every 9. This problem occurs more amongst males. Mr. Zamardo believes this is because males spend oodles of time playing video games and their brains become rewired. After this happens, they no longer fit into traditional classrooms that is sadly mostly analogue. Because of this rewiring, school is boring and does not keep their attention. This is another reason why schools should embrace the time revolution and start incorporating more technology into their classrooms. If classrooms are more engaging, I think students are more apt to come to class!


"Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us." -David Pink

This video is also very interesting. Mr. Pink states, "We are not as endlessly manipulabe and predictable as you would think!" He told about a study and has shocking results. He believed (as most all do) that, if you reward something you get more behaviour you want. If you punish something, you get less behaviour you want. They carried out studies all over the world where people were given incentives such as bonuses and more pay for better performance. The shocking results were, they found larger rewards led to poorer performance. For task such as, "If this...then that" outcomes were great. For task that took more cognitive ability such as using algorithms, performance suffered. Mr. Pink list 3 factors that lead to better performace:

1. Atonomy- I totally agree with this because people like to be self-directed.

2. Mastery- People also like to master skills and things they are interested in.

3. Purpose

I wouldn't have guessed that incentives like higher pay would result in poorer performance....interesting stuff!

"Education is what remains after one has

 forgotten what one has learned in school." 

-Albert Einstein