Blog Post #16

My dream classroom that I would want would have to be a fun and safe environment. My thoughts have changed so much since blog post #1. I have learned that technology is very helpful in the classroom. I think that children should be able to understand that technology is very important and will help them succeed in their future. The tools that I would want my class to use would have to be blogs. I have learned that students at any age can use this tool and that it could be very resourceful. I have gotten use to using the Smartboard and I really think that kids could learn better if they have a hands on visual to use. Kids today have grown up with technology like iPads and Smartphones so it would be a disadvantage to them if they came into a classroom and all you gave them to learn with was books and paper. I want to use Project Based Learning in my classroom as well. Using PBL kids would not only learn the material that has been covered but they would understand the objective better. PBL would be real important in my class. I want to use things like Skype or even Google Hangout with my students. I think that podcasts are things I would like to incorporate as well.

Activities that I would use would have to be things that I have found on Smartboard. I can teach a lesson and then have activities that would reinforce what material had been covered that day or week. I think that Padlett would be something I can have the class use as well. I could ask questions and have the class split into groups and have them brainstorm what the possible solutions would be. Then as we did in EDM310 have the different groups explain what their answers were and how they came up with the solution. I want my classroom to be inviting to everyone. If you set up a classroom that the children love and know that they are safe they will enjoy coming to class and learning.

I want to teach fourth graders. I think that each student should start off the school year by creating their own personal blog like we did in EDM310. That way parents and other students around the world can look at these blogs and see all that our class has learned. I want to set up an environment that the kids would love to come in and enjoy learning. PBL is something that I find real important and should be used. This would show that the students are comprehending what we are learning and also letting them have fun. I would like to have my classroom split into groups of no more than four per group. That way the kids can work on things together. I want to incorporate so many different things into the classroom. I can't wait to have a class and show them everything that I have learned and teach them how to us the different types of technologies. I want my future class to have every advantage that is out there to help them succeed in their own personal futures.

Project #16

Blog Post #15

iCurio- Brittnee

In the video that we were assigned Dr. Strange had a Skype session with Anthony Capps a former EDM310 student. Now Anthony is a teacher in Baldwin County. Dr. Strange asked Anthony if he would describe what iCurio was and how it helps teachers. Anthony responds by saying that it iCurio is an online tool that helps students with four main areas while searching the web. First, it allows students to safely search websites that have been filtered. This means that students can look at different things like texts, videos, and pictures and it is all safe for them to look at. Second, it is a storage unit for kids and adults. It allows students to begin learning how to start organizing. Students can create folders and save things that they are working on. It’s more like virtual organization. What I heard that was really neat was that the kids can make timelines by searching for different things that they are learning. He describes it as a directory feature for historical figures. Anthony also mentions that iCurio can be used for any grade level if the teacher is willing to show the children how to use it. I thought that it was interesting that it has a read aloud feature for anyone that has a disability.



Discovery Education- Brittnee

In the video Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps have a conversation about Discovery Education. Anthony compares Discovery Education to the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words but a video must be worth a million." Anthony goes on to tell us that whatever kind of text you give a child, you can back it up with a visual. By doing this you will get back more information from the child. You can research anything that is being taught and there will be some type of video that will bring the text to life. Dr. Strange says that he thinks that there are more listeners and watchers than readers and writers. I agree with him. Anthony also informs us that kids live Discovery Education just as much as reading.



Additional Thoughts About Lessons- Brittnee

In the video Dr. Strange has a Skype session with Anthony Capps and they talk about how a teacher should plan their year with the standards, projects and other things that need to be done through the year. Anthony tells us the lessons should be at least four layers thick. The first layer is the Lesson. This is how it fits in with your year. Anthony mentions that you should have a plan and make sure that you fit in all of your standards that you have to teach. Most importantly is that you make sure that they each get covered. The second layer is the Unit. You should plan on making sure that you start with a certain aspect and by the end of the unit the students should have complete mastery of the task you have given them. Units are usually 6-8 weeks long. The third layer is the Week. Divide up your week so you make sure that everything is getting done. Make sure that you have your week planned so that you can accomplish your goal that you have set. The last layer is the Daily lesson. It is just as important as the other layers. Find something that can grab a student attention and use it while you are teaching your lesson. At the end of the lesson measure what they have learned that day so you know where to start the next day. These four components make up one lesson and all have to be done to have a successful one.



iCurio- Amber

During the iCurio discussion between Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps I learned many useful things. iCurio is a organized way for helping students search things on the web. The unique thing about this is that it is monitored and all of the sites have been uploaded by responsible professionals which make iCurio perfect to use inside the classroom. With Google and other search engines you are taking a risk at children having access to inappropriate things on the web. With iCurio you are almost free from that worry. iCurio was designed for all grade levels and is useful for a number of things. There is no limit. If a teacher feels that her class can handle iCurio then it can be used in any grade for any activity. iCurio is such a great resource and tool for organization. In case of an emergency, as Anthony stated, you can easily close down iCurio and all of your searches and work will still be there. This is a great time saver. iCurio is definitely a good resource that I will use in my classroom. From Anthony Capps I learned that iCurio is safe, productive, and it helps make learning fun.



Discovery Education

I love how Anthony Capps starts the video with a friendly quote that I’ve heard many times before. “A picture is worth a thousand words but a video must be worth a million.” This is so true. Discovery Ed is a great tool that carries every subject you can think of. It is a great resource for inside the classroom and is very useful for students as well as teachers. It allows students to search anything and it results with videos and other useful resources to enhance your students search experience. Anthony brings up the fact about it being able to bring experts into the classroom. I think this is awesome. With today’s technology it seems that anything is possible. With the click of a button children can learn many things and be engaged while doing their work. Videos make things much more interesting and they are more productive because they not only give information; they give you a visual of the information to enhance your learning experience. Anthony Capps uses Discovery Ed to bring different texts to life. This is something I wish to do as well.



Dr. Strange’s Tips for Teachers

In this video Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps discuss tips for being a successful teacher. He begins with by saying, “Teachers should also be learners.” I believe in this as well. If you are not willing to learn how can you expect your students to learn? A teacher must also be flexible and creative. Dr. Strange gives the example of Anthony’s class when they could not use their computers because the servers were down. So the whole was on the floor painting. Anthony had to be creative and come up with a backup lesson for that day. As a teacher you can not be committed to one way of teaching and lesson planning. Things are constantly changing. Anthony brings up the fact about teachers being able to reflect on themselves. I believe this is true and needs to be done. Self evaluation is key as well. This is something we all can never get enough of but if we do it often it’ll make our work and the way we learn so much better. I will definitely use these tips while trying to become a successful teacher.



Use Technology Don’t Teach it- Hannah

The video Use Technology Don't Teach It was great! Technology is everywhere and a big part of children's daily lives. Allowing children to use technology in the classroom just enhances their learning experience. Anthony Capps introduces technology in stages. They might not get to the core of a certain piece of technology in one day but they will definitely skim the surface. Technology is an amazing way for children to express themselves and it is also green, mostly affordable, and very shareable. Anthony also emphasized that we should not expect perfection. These children are going to make mistakes because everyone makes mistakes. The most important thing is that we learn from these mistakes. It is also a good idea to try out the technology yourself first. This will make it easier to understand the questions that your students ask. Overall I thought that this a great video that helped me better understand the use of technology in the classroom.

Blog Post #14

What is ABCya.com and how can it help in the classroom?

I'm not gonna lie this had to be the hardest post that Dr. Strange asked us to do. In this post we had to make up our own instructions and answer them. It took me awhile but I finally found something that we have not discussed.

I found an online site that has a ton of educational games that can help kids learn while having fun. ABCya.com is the leader in free educational kids computer games and activities for elementary students to learn on the web. All children's educational computer activities were created or approved by certified school teachers. All educational games are free and are modeled from primary grade lessons and enhanced to provide an interactive way for children to learn. Grade level lessons incorporate areas such as math and language arts while introducing basic computer skills. Many of the kindergarten and first grade activities are equipped with sound to enhance understanding. This site was created eight years ago by an elementary teacher that just started his first year in the public school system. He talks about when he first started he thought that when he turned on his computer that he would find a desktop that had tons of games to enhance the education in the classroom. He was surprised that there were no sites for them to play games. So, he went to the principle first and quickly found out that the school didn't have the funds to use the sites that had fees so he went on a quest to make his own free educational game site. He went to many teachers and asked for their lesson plans and other resources and that's how ABCya came to be made. It now has been online for eight years now and growing increasingly popular with all schools.

I think that this site can be beneficial to my future classroom in so many different ways. First, I can use it as a center for my kids to play. I can let them play a game that goes along with what I taught that week or day. Second, It can be used as remediation for kids whether it be for them to refresh their memory or it can be used for extra help. Third, I can have the kids work in groups on some of the activities and let them write a collaborative blog post on what they learned. There are so many different ways to use this site. I also thought that it was interesting that no matter what grade or subject you needed, this site had games for them all. I want kids to have fun while learning in my classroom so if I have to take the extra mile to find neat ways for them to learn I will.

C4T #4

For my last C4T I was given Hadley Ferguson and her blog Middle School Matrix. She is a Middle School History teacher at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.She builds her Personal Learning Network from Twitter She originally wanted to be an Elementary teacher but was offered a job at an all girls school after she had home schooled her children. She said that it was a dare so she did the home schooling thing. I was real interested in her blog because she had just recently started doing Project Based Leaning in her classroom and that is what EDM310 is all about.

In the first blog post I had read of hers was #ISTE with Students!She took students with her to a showcase that's topic was "Not Your Mother's Research Paper". The students had put together a presentation and used a source I had never heard before called NoodleTools. The girls presenting did really well at explaining the information that they had worked on which was how their way to learn and to categorize,prioritizing and creating new meanings.

My Comment was: " Hello, My name is Brittnee Heathcoe. I am a Student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I was assigned your blog and I have never heard of ISTE before it seems real interesting. I also have never heard about NoodleTools either. I can’t wait to read more!"

My second post that I read was And It Comes Together! #PBL In this post she wasn't she admits that she wasn't to sure of the Project Based Learning way to approach teaching but she was open to try it and now she really likes it. She had students get into groups of 8-9 and work on different projects. The more in the group meant that if one person slacked all the work was not put on one or two people. The finished projects that all the girls did was just amazing. They got to show their creativity and use their imagination. The items that the class made were put up for sale and each group had written speeches that had made others want to buy their creations. I really enjoyed this post because we are learning the exact thing that she is teaching her students.

My comment to her was: "Hadley, Hi, My name is Brittnee Heathcoe. I am a student at the University of South Alabama in EDM310. This post is really interesting to me because the class that I have said above is a Project Based Learning class. At first I had no clue what to expect when I started but it has been really fun to actually do different things and understand them because I did them myself. Your class did an amazing job on all the work in the pictures. I wish that we would have had larger groups in our class to take the place of the ones that were slacking. I can’t wait to read more about your experiences with PBL. Thanks! Brittnee Heathcoe"

Project #9 Final Report on PLN

I have learned so much in this class. I had no clue that I could have my own Personal Learning Network and get to actually save the things like I have done on Symbaloo. I have added some different things I have found throughout the semester. I added things like TED which we have done a lot with TED and I have really enjoyed all the videos. I have added some other educational sources like Itunes U, Moodle, abcteach,and Thinkfinity which are lesson plans. I created an EDM310 blog tile also. I'm glad we can keep up with Symbaloo, because I can come back through the years and look at many sources that I have used in this class. I have found and learned about some really great tools to use and can't wait to share them with my future class.

Project #12 Part B

Part B



Standards:

Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures. [4-G1]

Classify two-dimensional figures based on the presence or absence of parallel or perpendicular lines or the presence or absence of angles of a specified size. Recognize right triangles as a category, and identify right triangles. [4-G2]

Recognize a line of symmetry for a two-dimensional figure as a line across the figure such that the figure can be folded along the line into matching parts. Identify line-symmetric figures and draw lines of symmetry. [4-G3]

Project #15 Project Based Learning Plan #3

Blog Post #13

Shane Koyczan: To this day - Brittnee

The video that I chose was To this day by Shane Koyczan. Wow! This is really an amazing video to watch. Shane Koyczan really had a hard childhood all the way until his late teenage years. It’s never nice to pick on people, even though it gets done on a regular basis to people around the world. He was left by his parents at a young age because he was told that he was not wanted. He was raised by his grandma and still picked on in his late teenage years for being overweight. He had to basically bribe people with his knowledge to have friends. Then one day he came to the realization the he didn’t need to give people the answers on homework. He gave one boy that called him names a paper that had all the wrong answers and he was happy to outsmart the boy. What can we learn from this video? We can learn that just because you are bullied or you yourself is the bully doesn’t mean that you are not worth anything. Ever hear of the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”? This statement is NOT true, words do hurt people and especially children. I work with small kids and no matter what another child has said to them they run and tell on them. Even at a small age kids know when other kids are being mean. This is something I really want to watch for in my future class. I want to be the kind of teacher that the students can trust and wouldn’t mind telling me that another child is bullying them. Kids never forget just like Shane has not forgotten to this day.



Alison Gopnik: What do babies think?- Amber

This video is all about babies! It’s my favorite thing to discuss. I love children. Alison Gopnik does a great job explaining her views on how babies think. I agree with mostly everything she says in the video. She starts by saying that 18 month old babies actually learn quicker than we do. A question that she asks is “How do babies learn so much in such a short period of time”? My theory is because they have to! Right? The way they process information is just amazing to me. If we as adults think as babies then maybe we can learn more than we know. She did some tests on children and it showed that they even know how to experiment using hypothesis. They even test them. Children learn the most during childhood through differents ways. From experiences and playing they can learn many basic motor and mental skills. Babies learn through all of their senses – touch, sight, hearing, taste and smell. They explore things and want to handle objects and put them in their mouths to learn about them. Babies are constantly taking in information when they are awake, which means that they are learning all the time. I learned from Alison Gopnik’s video that a baby’s brain is twice as active as an adult’s brain. The first three years are of special importance. At this time the brain has the greatest potential for learning. An infant’s brain is like a sponge soaking up everything around them.



Arvind Gupta: Turning trash into toys for learning - Hannah

The video I chose was called Turning Trash into Toys by Arvind Gupta. I enjoyed this speaker very much. The reason that I chose this video was because I work at a Montessori school and one of our beliefs is that we should have toys, which we call work, made from natural materials. I know many teachers that have made tons of pieces of work out of recycled materials. Arvind Gupta is an amazing toymaker. He has been making toys for the past 30 years. I could not believe some of the toys he made out of just matchsticks, straws, and some tape. He even made an interactive model of the food chain out of just paper. One of Gupta’s goals is to incorporate this toy recycling into the classrooms. Why buy these things when you can make them for a fraction of the cost? One of the things that Gupta said that really stuck with me was, “ children want to make things, children want to do things, “ and he is exactly right. This is an amazing way for teachers to get their students involved in the lessons. Overall I found this video to be informative and inspiring. It really hit close to home. I know that I will definitely be making some of these toys in the near future.

Blog Post #12

The Importance of Creativity- Brittnee

In the video The Importance of Creativity we listen to Ken Robinson speak about why he thinks that schools kill creativity. Sir Ken Robinson keeps the audience entertained by telling stories and saying quotes that he had heard or read on a random persons shirt. He tells us that “Education is meant to take you into a future that you can’t grasp.” I think that he is trying to say that no matter how much we learn we will never catch up to all the new advancements that are being made. He even points out that in the future jobs that would normally want a regular degree will start wanting a master degree and where jobs that want a master degree will start wanting something higher. I really like that he thinks that creativity is just as important as literacy and that we should treat them with the same status. The arts are at the bottom when it comes to school, of course the main subjects are at at the top but arts should not be thrown to the side. I enjoyed the part where he said that children that have ADHD could learn through others ways like Gillian Lynne did. When she was young she turned to dance to help her. So, her mom put her in dance classes after going to a doctor about why she was not doing her work and paying attention in class. In society today kids would be diagnosed with ADHD and sent home with medicine and that would be it. I really enjoyed Ken Robinson’s video and learned that the Arts are really important and shouldn’t be tossed aside like they don't matter because they really do.



Changing Education Paradigms- Amber

In the video Changing Education Paradigms Ken Robinson speaks about how he would change the current standing of education. He takes every aspect of education and criticizes it. But in a good way! I must say I totally agree with him. For example, he asked why do we still put children in grades according to their age? Who made up the standard that all children of the same age think the same way? I don't think they do. U think if we put children in grades according to their intellectual progress that there will be no more “failing”? (Such a harsh word.) He brought up the issue about ADHD. Who's to say these children are hyperactive and have a problem? I mean what is normal anyway? Ken says, that we should be waking these children up instead of putting their minds to sleep with all the medicine they have to take. We should be waking them up letting them use what's inside of them. I think it’s a ridiculous situation. To me, changing education paradigms could mean no more standardized tests. As our class motto says, “No more burp-back education.” Our current education standard was designed for its day and age. We are past that now! Most children don't even think the same way as children did 50 years ago. But yet education has not changed. Here is a short question and answer I took from Ken's blog: Why don't we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that, “It's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers.” This is so true. We train ourselves and our children to be good workers and shun any creativity. Why? Because creative people aren't normal to us? "We are educating people out of their creativity." Ken Robinson.



How to Escape Education’s Death Valley- Hannah

I was really excited to watch this video because my friend had told me about Ted Talks just two weeks ago. She kept raving about the videos and told me that I have to get on and watch some of them. Well she was right! I have loved most of the videos we have watched in EDM 310 but this one is by far my favorite. Sir Ken Robinson is an educational genius and a brilliant speaker. Robinson said that “children prosper best with a broad curriculum that celebrates their various talents, not just a small range of them.” This statement is huge! One of the reasons that our school systems are so unsuccessful is because we are limiting our curriculum. The school systems have based their curriculum on some cookie- cutter imaginary child and geared that curriculum towards every student. We are doing our students a huge injustice. I also really enjoyed Robinson’s views on standardized tests. He thinks that they have a time and a place, like in a doctors office. He said that when he goes the doctor he wants his results to be compared with with everyone elses but this is not always appropriate for a school setting. Robinson thinks that we have a lot to learn from other countries that actually have successful educational systems. Those schools focuses are individual teaching and learning, recognizing that it is the students who are learning, realizing that you can't improve education if you don’t get great people to teach, and delegating responsibility to a school level so that we can get the job done. Overall I thought this was an amazing video and I am excited to get more involved in Ted Talks and to see what else Sir Ken Robinson has to offer.

Project #14 Project Based Learning Plan #2

C4T #3

Dean Shareski

For my third Comment for Teachers I was given Mr. Dean Shareski. He is a digital consultant and started working for Discovery Education in 2012. In his first blog Professional Development is Not That Complicated he talks about how teachers need to be trusted with more ways to spend their time in the classroom. He says that some things that are done come across as if teachers can't be trusted, even though that is not what is implied. He talked about going to a conference and he say "I want to suggest that we’ve made professional development learning way too complicated. Partly because as leaders we want to be helpful, partly because teachers have little experience in owning their own learning and partly because we don’t trust them." My comment: Mr. Dean Shareski, I'm a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama and was assigned to read some of your blog post. This post is real interesting to me and I can't wait to read more of your blog post. After you post a comment it said that your comment is being reviewed and the comment disappears.

The Second post I read by Mr. Shareski was Whatever Happened to Joy? I absolutely loved this post and glad I got the chance to read it and watch the video of his presentation. This video shows that school can be fun and you can have a good time while learning. The video really shows that if you put time and effort into your students learning and do it in a fun and creative way they will love school and want to come to your class. I commented and told him that I loved the video and when I become a teacher I want to be fun and keep joy in my classroom so my students will want to come in and learn. Again after I commented it said that your comment is being reviewed and the comment disappears.

Project #13 Project Based Learning #1

Blog Post #11

Ms. Cassidy's approach on technology

In the video First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class we visit Ms. Cassidy's class in Moose Jaw, Canada. This group of first graders are introduced to many different technologies at the beginning of the school year and they use them throughout the year. I noticed she used a Smartboard and computers. She lets her kids have a blog and they also used Skype to talk with teachers and all different people in their specific work fields to discuss what subject they were learning about. I loved how the kids were so excited about talking about their blogs and wanting to share what they are learning. I think that that children should be exposed to different types of technology and be able to use them. She uses blogs to let the children write about what they were learning and then they could share the blogs with people around the world. I really wish that we could have done a C4K this summer just so we could have had the chance to look and comment on these kids blogs.

The technique I would use in my classroom would have to be blogging. I seen the kids in the video and how happy they were to have something to show for their hard work. This would give parents a chance to see how their child has improved throughout the year. To be honest I would have never thought of using a blog in a first grade class, but when I seen how much of an advantage these children have I think it is a great tool to use. The obstacles that could arise would be that we would not have enough computers in the classroom for all the kids. In a Skype interview between Dr. Strange and Ms. Cassidy she said that she did not have the funds for all of the technology that she wanted to use so she got help from the government. Getting financial help could be a way to resolve that problem. A second obstacle would be that a parent would not let their child have their pictures or names posted on the web. Ms.Cassidy tells us that she only posts the students first name and never puts the children in a picture with their names on it. Another obstacle could be when the children use the internet they don't wonder off the site and go play games. I think the only way we can get the kids to actually stay on the site would be to set boundaries at the beginning of the year and make a set of rules of what to do when using the internet. She refers to her sites and links as "safe spots" and that is the only places that the kids are allowed to go online.

There are many benefits when it comes to using Ms. Cassidy's approach to learning. I think that kids need to be technology literate as well as adults. I thought it was interesting that she was the only first grade teacher willing to take her time and teach six year olds how to use all the things she has in her classroom. She mentioned that one other teacher was going to try and start blogging but other than that she was the only one. I liked that she used blogging as a center in her class and even let the kids blog from home. I think it would be great to use a blog even to let the parents know what's going on in the classroom and what they could help their child with. I learned many valuable tips that I can use in my future classroom.

Blog Post #10

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?

Randy Pausch was an amazing man and very talented. The video that we were assigned to watch was Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams at Carnegie Mellon University. In the beginning of the video Randy tells the audience that he had ten tumors in his liver and that he had about six months of good health left. This man did more things in his 47 years on Earth than most people would ever dream of doing. There are three main points that he touched on: First, Childhood Dreams. Second, Enabling the dreams of others. Third, Lessons Learned: How can you achieve your dreams or enable the dreams of others. Randy talked about his many childhood dreams that he had. Most dreams that he had did in fact come true. He did get to fly at zero gravity and be a Disney Imagineer and many others. Some things he dreamed he didn't get to do, like become an NFL football player, but that never stopped him. Unfortunately in July of 2008 Dr. Pausch passed away from Pancreatic cancer, but the many things like the Alice project will never be forgotten.

What can I learn about learning from Randy Pausch? I learned that when I'm a teacher I can't give up. Even when you hit a brick wall like Randy says,"Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how bad we want things". Always help others reach their goal as much as you want to reach yours. He also thought that learning should be fun and I can't agree more with him. Learning should stay fun and interesting, this keeps the kids wanting to learn and excited about doing and learning new things. The one thing that stood out to me that he said was "There is nothing like watching kids have fun learning something hard." I can't wait until I become a teacher and get to help kids have fun while learning something hard.

What can we learn about teaching from Dr. Pausch? One of Dr. Pausch's mentors told him to "Never set a bar with the students when you don't know where to put it, because you will only do a disservice to them by making one." That statement alone make me think that teachers can limit their kids work if they set the bar to low. Always tell students that their work was good, but you know they can do better. Tell the students this even when their work was more than what you expected them to come up with. By telling students that they can do better than what they had turned in will make them want to try and do better on the next project or assignment given.

Smartboard Project #12

Part A

Podcast Project #9

Thom Markham- Project Based Learning

Blog Post #9

Project #10 Green Screen Movie

C4T #2

Comment for Teachers #2

For my second Comment for Teachers I was given Angela Maiers. She is an Author, Speaker, Writer, and a Teacher. Her slogan is "Together we are smarter". I'm so glad to have had the chance to read and explore her blog. I even followed her on Twitter. She has such a big heart when it comes to teaching kids and telling them that they DO matter and that people DO care for them. I watched a couple of her videos and was amazed at how much she put into children. In one of her videos she talks about how she just walked around with a journal and wrote in it what she had seen throughout the day. When the kids had figured out what she was doing with her journal and that she was writing about them they started doing the same thing and kept their own. They would see her in the hallway and tell her things that they had observed, because they wanted her to write it down and keep it for future information. She travels to schools everywhere and talks to students about how they all matter. I'm so inspired by what she does and I hope to one day be an inspiration to others like she is.

The first blog I read by Angela was Two days I'll never forget. In this post she talks about how she went for two days to Downington S.T.E.M. Academy and presented her Choose2Matter speech. In this speech she talked to a bunch of teens that really didn't care to be there at first and then when she talked about how just one person can change the world. Then the students started listening and jumped on board with the whole idea. The kids split off into groups and came up with ways to try and change the world. I commented on Mrs. Maiers blog post saying, "I'm a student from South Alabama in EDM310. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read this blog. I wanted to keep on reading and watching all the videos. Just amazing! I for sure want to use this in my future classroom. All it takes is just for one person to show that they care. Great job!" I received a response from her a couple of days later saying "Brittnee, So thrilled you found the blog and joined the conversation! Way to go for choosing the most awesome, rewarding, and needed profession in the world!"

The second blog I read was The Best Ways to Let People Know They Matter. In this blog she talks about how you need to accept that you matter. She gives a link to another blog of hers called People Know They Matter When... This blog goes on to tell different ways people can feel that they matter. I commented saying, "Hello Angela, I'm so excited to keep reading your blog post.They really inspire everyone that reads them. Children and even adults need to know that they matter and by letting them know that they do could change them in some really positive ways. I know that if just one person says a positive thing to me I feel so much happier. I can just imagine what a child feels when they know that someone takes the time out to care for them."

Blog Post #8 Collaborative

What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

"Back to the Future”- Brittnee

Mr. Brian Crosby an Elementary teacher at Agnes Risley Elementary School in Sparks Nevada has came up with some great ways to enhance his classroom. Every student in his classroom has access to a computer at their desk. He has each student create a blog to making them think “outside the box”. He gives a lesson and either makes them take pictures or video of what they learned and then embed it in their blog. Crosby teaches them active learning and in the video Back to the Future he shows us that learning doesn’t have to be boring. We can learn from him by keeping a blog and sharing it to teachers and students around the world. It can help engage students and keep them wanting to learn. This video has taught me that even though it is just an elementary class that doesn’t make them any less important to the way we are teaching and learning. All the projects that he does in his classroom helps to empower, connect, collaborate, motivate, and include children. Something else in his video that I can learn from is that when he talked about the student with Leukemia and how he connects with her every morning by using Skype to let her be a part of the class. It has never crossed my mind of what I should do if I were in that position. He mentioned two different sites that can help him one site is ed.gov and the other is whitehouse.gov. I have learned some very valuable things from Mr. Crosby and I want to use his science examples in my future classroom.

“Bozemanscience”-Amber

Mr. Paul Anderson is a science teacher in Bozeman, MT. He has created hundreds of science videos that have been viewed millions of times by students and teachers around the world. His blog is titled “Bozemanscience.” Coincidently, I subscribed to his YouTube channel a while back before even knowing he would be apart of my next blog post! Mr. Anderson is a teacher that I admire. He is always teaching and learning new things. What can I learn about teaching and learning from him? First of all, I can learn that teaching can be fun and there is nothing wrong with learning with your students. This video, "Blended learning cycle," describes that in every way. Blended learning cycle is taking mobile, online, and the classroom and blending them together. Using them all as ways to have a more productive experience. In the learning cycle students are able to explore, explain, engage, expand and evaluate all within the classroom. Paul Anderson explains the importance of questions. He says that questions are something like the hook in learning. This means to ask questions that grab the students attention. Something that stimulates them to think deeper. He uses different types of technology to engage in the blended learning cycle. I learned from Paul Anderson an amazing skill to use in my future classroom. That is, how to use the blended learning cycle.

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“Making Thinking Visible”- Hannah

Mr. Mark Church is a teacher that promotes visible thinking. Visible thinking is a research- based approach to learning and something that we as future teachers should know about. One of its main goals is to deepen content learning. Getting children to think out loud and in a group is one of the ways that Mark Church shows visible thinking in this video. He wants to get children involved in the subject matter and wants them to care about what they are learning. Visible thinking is about creativity and the strive for knowledge. This is a way to encourage your students to be the best learners that they can be. Visible thinking is something that I had honestly never heard of. I think that Mark Church's book, Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners, would be a very good purchase for those trying to better the overall learning and thinking atmosphere in their classroom. I cannot wait to learn more about it.

PLN Project #9

My Personal Learning Network is composed of many different sites. I used a site called Symbaloo to keep everything in order that I am using. I'm using social networking sites as: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Skype and others. I have Padlet, Blogger, Gmail, Pinterest, Google+ and many more. I have also added some teaching sites on there as well, PBS Teachers, Edmodo, Teacher Tube, Timetoast. All of the things I have added are really great to use for this class.

Blog Post #7

What assistive technologies are available to you as a teacher? Select a few and discuss how they may be useful to you.

FM Systems- Brittnee

Students with hearing problems in a quiet environment can hear really well, but putting them in an environment that is really loud changes everything. Students that are hard of hearing use many different devices, but the one that I found that could help students would be the FM System . Kids of all ages can use these devices, because when they enter a classroom with all sorts of different noises their hearing becomes muffled and they have a hard time making out what is being said by the teacher. FM Systems are devices that uses  radio transmission to send auditory signals. This device is wireless, portable and battery operated. While the teacher is giving a lesson or talking they will have a microphone attached to a transmitter that is hooked to their body and as they talk the student will have a receiver connected to their clothing or an input cable or by connecting it to the actual hearing aid itself. I found that students will be able to hear a speaker from either 30 ft- 200 ft depending on the power of the antenna. According to the  American Speech- Language hearing association they describe the FM Systems as being like miniature radio stations operating on special frequencies. These devices can be used anywhere that has too many loud noises. Ex. movie theatre, restaurants, or even in church.    



Nova Chat- Hannah

Many children in the United States suffer from some form of communication impairment. It is my job, as a teacher, to provide them with some sort of way to better communicate. I have done the research and there are many devices that would aid in the this. My favorite one that I came across was the Nova Chat. The Nova Chat is used by people who have ALS, Autism, Down-Syndrome, and Parkinson's disease. From the outside it looks somewhat like a heavy- duty ipad. It is actually a device made specifically for children and adults with hearing or communication impairments. All you have to do is find the button that best represents what you are trying to say and push it. Nova Chat gives you the option to communicate using simple words, phrases, or even pictures. One thing that I thought was really neat is that on the Nova Chat you can use different voices to communicate. A few of the options would be a child's voice or even a British voice. The Nova Chat is also now available to communicate in Spanish. I was not completely sold on this device until I saw the video Julia Using Her ALT- Chat device. Nova Chat is a device that I would definitely want to use in my classroom.

BAT Keyboard by Infogrip-Amber

Infogrip's BAT Keyboard is a one-handed, compact input device that replicates all the functions of a full-size keyboard, but with greater efficiency and convenience. The BAT is easy to learn and use. Letters, numbers, commands and macros are simple key combinations, "chords," that you can master in no time. Best of all the BAT's unique ergonomic design reduces hand strain and fatigue for greater comfort and productivity. The BAT is the ultimate typing solution for persons with physical or visual impairments and is proven to increase productivity when used with graphic or desktop publishing software.

Blog Post #6

Asking questions: What questions do we ask? How do we ask?

Dr. Strange asked, What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?

Looking at different sites about asking questions I found many different ways to become an effective teacher. Many teachers either ask open-ended or close-ended questions. In Asking better questions in the classroom Joanne Chesley talks about the differences of open and close ended questions. Open-ended questions are the best to give a class, because they involve more thinking rather than a closed-ended question that only leads to a yes or no answer. Open-ended questions let the children think a little more rather than blurting out a quick yes or no and hoping they got the answer correct. I think children need to be challenged when asked questions and it helps them to better understand the material that is being taught.

In Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom Maryellen Weimer.PhD gives three ways to ask better questions. The first is Prepare questions, always have questions prepared before teaching the lesson that way the teacher nor the students get confused. Trying to fix a question would lead to asking another question and then getting even more confused about the whole thing. Teachers should always be prepared to answer questions that the students have. Lets be honest we do not have all the answers to every question, we are only human. The second tip is to Play with questions, this means leaving the question unanswered for a while for the students to think on it. This causes the children to want to think on the question, because they are not sure which student will be asked for the answer at the end of the lesson. The last point is to Preserve good questions, keep the good questions and save them for later this is so the teacher could ask them on a test later on or just have them for a refresher one day. I really like the three ways that she presented. I think that it would be very helpful in the future.

Project #8 Book Trailer

Blog Post #5

In The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom by Joe Dale, I leaned a lot about why we would even use podcasting. To be honest I have never really known what it was about. I learned that teachers record themselves while teaching and they upload the videos and the kids can know what's going on when they are not in school, or if they want a refresher. I enjoyed this, not only was it very informational, but it helps people understand what's going on in the classroom. It allows for differentiation in the classroom as well.

The Second one was Langwitches, I thought that this was also a very interesting blog post. The fact that children want to learn just so they can talk in the podcast and even showing the emotion in their voices as they talk is a wonderful thing. I would love to do podcasting in my future classroom, just to see how many kids really do become engaged and want to be informed on what is going on in the classroom.

The last one Judy Scharf Podcast Collection is talking about what and how to use Podcasting. Podcasting is a mix between "broadcast" and a "iPod". I really like this site, because it is informative and answers a lot of questions that a person like me would ask, not even knowing what a podcast was. I would have never thought of using it in the classroom, but I have seen that teachers should have the capability to make these for their children. This one site has helped me understand that podcasting should be brought to schools, not just to help students that have been out for personal reasons, but for children to stay engaged. Children should be encouraged in any way to learn, so by podcasting they make learning their own and make it fun for everyone involved.

Project #7- My Passion

MY PASSION IS...



MY SENTENCE IS....

C4T #1

For my first C4T, I was given Steven Anderson. His blog Blogging about the Web 2.0 Connected Classroom was very interesting to me. I really enjoyed reading all the information that he had on his blog. I liked that he was blogging with children around the world he said it's possible and easy to do. I didn't know that teachers could talk to students from different places until I came into EDM310. In his first blog post, Going Global- tips and resources for Global Collaboration he talks about many ways to talk to people across the world. He loves Twitter and talks about all the reasons people should have them especially any type of educator. Skype is another tool that Mr. Anderson uses which is a video chat. Teachers and students should have all different types of resources to get connected with others around the world. I think it's a great idea to have these tools to use, especially since schools are moving to all types of different resources other than just books. Things have changed since we were little, kids are no longer going to school with just pen and paper. Now children are expected to know what a computer is and how to use it and not just for playing games on them. I liked how at the bottom of his blog he inserted links to show and talk about different tools as well. Here are some examples: QuadBlogging, Skype Classroom,Guide Management.

I commented to Mr. Anderson saying "I'm in EDM 310 and I study at the University of South Alabama" I went on telling him that I thought that using Skype in the classroom was a great idea and that I really want to use all the types of technology in my future classroom.

Steven Anderson's second blog post Google Tools to Check Out, was by far the best blog out of the two. Google is an amazing tool to use. He goes in detail about using Google and everything it has to offer. He even goes on to say "that Google is his favorite search engine." I agree with with Mr. Anderson, Google is the best in my opinion. I can type in anything and within seconds it provides hundreds of links that describes what I am looking for. He talks about many different things that Google has to offer like, Google keep, Google Mars and others. The one sight that really interested me was Google for Teachers . I didn't know that teachers had their own site and that no matter what you were looking for, all you have to do was search in Google for Education.

My comment to Mr. Anderson was that I am a huge supporter of Google, but I did ask him a question about Google for Teachers. I'm know that teachers share lesson plans and other things online,but is it okay to use other teachers work like that? I wouldn't want to become a teacher and then been known as plagiarizing. Would this even be considered something like that? You can find all sorts of things online and I think it's a great thing to have and use.

Project # 3 Presentation

Blog Post #4

21st Century Tools

Brittnee- Promethean is a company that is designed to make many different tools to help students learn. They want to take learning to the next level in the 21st Century.Their goal is to bring together data, resources, tools and expertise. I chose this program, because of the major differences they have made in bringing children together to work in groups and learn at their own pace. The more the children are engaged the better they learn. Promethean uses tools like, ActivTablet which is the same thing as an iPad and they also have an ActivBoard, this is similar to a SmartBoard. On the site you can watch videos of children learning with these tools and see that they are really understanding what the teacher is talking about. These children want to be called on to go to the board, because they want to draw or play the games that can be loaded. The tool that is most fascinating and the one that I would want to use is the ActivTable, this table is a multi-user interactive table designed to promote student collaboration, engagement and student-led learning.I chose this tool, because children use this table to help each other learn and it is a great tool to use for students to become more interactive with students. If a child does not understand something while is it being taught, they can go to the ActivTable and get help from other students.

Amber- Flipping the classroom is an amazing 21st century tool. The whole purpose of it is to make sure the teacher addresses each child's academic need. I believe that this tool really helps students learn and grasp the subject before it is taught. The object is to have each student watch a video of their own teacher explaining the lesson for the next day. Many 21st century teachers choose to flip their classroom because only 10% is application and the other 90% is teaching or concept. To me that is entirely ridiculous. That is another great example of burp back education. Also, there is not enough time for differentiation in the classroom today. This great tool allows students to watch, rewind, pause and post questions about the topic at hand if they are confused. Students who have mastered the subject may also work ahead. They are able to watch the video as many times as they want. Many teachers find that after they have flipped their classroom all students become engaged and challenged. This makes for an effective differentiation. Now instead of teaching 90% of the time, teachers realized they have more time to help children apply the skills they have learned. They also have more time to cater to every child's needs. I believe that “Flipping the classroom” is a very effective tool and I hope to use it.

Hannah- Prezi is a presentation and software tool. It allows you to turn boring slideshows into something more captivating for your audience. Many people use Powerpoint to express their ideas through presentation. Prezi is so much more than that. Prezi not only allows you to express your ideas but, but it also lets you share them on the cloud. One of my favorite parts about Prezi is all of the animation and decorative options that it gives you. The templates are really fun and interactive! I would use Prezi to present textbook information to the class. Textbooks can be so boring. This will definitely spice it up! I am also going to make it an option for my students to use Prezi to present information that we are learning in class. I chose this tool because it is great for capturing the student’s attention. I think that the students will enjoy Prezi and actually be excited to make a presentation using it. I found the tutorial on the Prezi website to be very helpful.This is a great tool and I think that every teacher should incorporate it in some way in their classroom.

Blog Post #3

Peer Review

In Paige Ellis' class blog , she is trying to figure out a way to make peer review not seem to harsh. In her blog she says, "Constructive criticism is not always an easy or pleasant task, and it is something that is not always appreciated" I agree with her. Many times people just blurt out whatever comes to mind when reading something, not meaning to be hurtful to anyone. Their peers try to help when someone makes a mistake, but it can also be taken in the wrong way. Paige Ellis is concerned whether or not she should publicly or privately give her critique to her peers. Dr. Strange gets asked the question of "What she should do in her situation?". His response was “Help him/her. You are going to be a teacher. Get in some practice. We are part of a learning community. Privately or publicly. You decide. And then tell me why. That is practice too on making decisions. You will have to make them as a teacher. I think there are arguments for either choice. I have used both approaches.” He is right! We are all going to have to make the decisions on not just this kind of question, but on many others that arise in our future classrooms. She decides that it is best to do the peer review both publicly and privately.



In the video, What is Peer Editing? they talk about three main points. These points deal with what a person should do when editing something for someone else. The first point, is to always compliment the person being reviewed. Compliments should consist of what you liked about the assignment and other positive reactions you might have after reading. Second, the person should give suggestions, for example: changing word choice, giving more details, the topic went off course a bit and the sentences needed to be corrected. Suggestions will help him/her to become more aware of things that need help. Last is Correction, the the person should be corrected in things like: grammar, punctuation and spelling.

In the slideshow, Peer Edit With Perfection Tutorial they showed different ways to help a peer critique something. I think this slideshow is a great tool to use. Not only should it be used for this class, but others as well.

In the video, Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes they showed kids doing a peer reviews and what not to do. I really enjoyed this video, because it was put in terms that no matter what age they could understand what not to do.



In editing my group members blog, I understand that maybe some things for example: punctuation and grammar should be talked about in a comment box. I think that real detailed things that they have to say should be in an e-mail. That way he/she could talk back and forth and give an example of what we can do to make the post correct.