Skype Interview

Project # 10

For my PLN i used the site Symbaloo.  It reminds me of the bookmark tool on most web browsers.  I think it is extremely convenient and helps me link up very fast to the websites I use most often, both educational and personal.  I have added the teachers blogs that I have commented on so far this year as well as some of our classmates.  I have also connected my Twitter and Facebook so the teachers I follow on those sites I am more connected to as well.  I also added our class blog and some of the teachers that we watched videos on this semester like Sir Ken Robinson.

Project #15: SmartBoard 2

Blog Post 12

Watch this video: Top 10 Reasons to Use Technology in Education
There is a long list of reasons why technology can be beneficial in the classroom.  But teachers are still an essential part of a successful classroom.  All year we have looked at how to use technology in the classroom.  This week we will all make a "Top 10" list of our own.  However, we will split it up.  List 5 essential reasons technology should be used in the classroom and 5 essential reasons traditional teachers should be used.  It is important that we try to find the balance between the two.  After your list write how you feel you can effectively incorporate both styles into your classroom.

Technology:
1) Connects students to the outside world.
2) Teaches students skills they will be required to know in the workforce.
3) The internet contains more information than a teacher could ever hope to know.
4) Provides many different modes of teaching to accommodate the largest group of students.
5) Provides for a fun learning environment.

Teachers:
1) Allows for personal, individual instruction.
2) It is important for kids to interact and learn to work with their peers.
3) Can provide a curriculum that can work for the children (technology can be apart of this)
4) Teachers provide a way to show students how to use resources, technology included.
5) A computer can not run a classroom with emotions, behaviors and personalities.

I have loved learning this year how technology can be used in the classroom.  There are so many great resources out there that can enhance the classroom experience.  It is important as teachers though that we do not just sit back and allow technology to do our job for us.  To achieve the highest success in the classroom I believe it is our duty as educators to use technology as a resource.  We should everyday be actively involved in our classrooms.  I read a quote by Dr. Ray Clifford that said "Technology will not replace  teachers but teachers who do not use technology will be replaced." This quote sums up this assignment very well.  Teachers will always be necessary and helpful I believe, but I do not believe we will be able to be effective educators without using technology in our classrooms.

C4K #10 and November C4K

You can tell that there was a lot of work put into Mrs. Yollis’s class blog but the resources that can be found there are very valuable.  Her class blog has over 75,000 views on in.  EDM310 has just over 51,000 views.  Mrs. Yollis’s blog is educational but also very fun to read and interact with.  I think that is the reason it is so successful.  Some of the fun things she has on her blog are the photo a day link and her classroom tweet thread.  She also has many different links to ensure that her students have successful blogs.  She has blogging resources, videos that teach how to comment and also instructions on to to HTML code.  You can reach all of her student’s blogs through links on the bar on the side of the homepage.  Her posts also vary widely in variety.  There are posts about math, important holidays, blogging, along with a variety of other subjects.  Each post is very well written and has accompanying pictures.  Every post is fun and interesting to read.

I commented on Chloe’s short story, “The Little Witch.”  Her story was about a girl that was turned into a witch after trying on her Halloween costume.  I loved reading her story and went on to read the whole classes stories.  I think it is so cool how talented her class is.  And work like theirs deserves to be shown off which is why I love that Mrs. Yollis posts their work on the class blog.  You can tell that Mrs. Yollis is a teacher that is proud of her class and the world needs more teachers like her.

I also commented on Avoia's blog.  Her class had a video post about swimming which they were doing during the first semester of the school year.  I told her that I swam competitively all through high school for my school and for a private team.  I was glad her class had fun doing it and told her that I hope she continues to enjoy it!

Metaphors be with you!!!

(Metaphors be with you = May-the-force be with you)

The metaphor is one of the most common literary devices used in literature and our culture.  We learn about them at a young age.  A metaphor is the comparison of two things without using the word like or as (that would make it a simile).  So why are metaphors so often misconstrued in our culture today?  Was is sarcasm so often misunderstood?  I do not think it is because students do not know what a metaphor is or can't recognize sarcasm.  I think it is more because the two have become such a regular part of American vernacular in today's culture.  Some common examples of metaphors that we may not even realize we use include someone having a bubbly personality or saying that college is a prison.  We compare two things in order to draw connections.  Another example would be "A mighty fortress is our God."  God is something that people have a difficult time wrapping their head around but we know the strength of a mighty fort.  I found a quote by Aristotle that stated "the greatest thing by far is to have command of metaphor.  This alone cannot be imparted by another; it is the mark of genius, for to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblances."  I believe in order to successfully use language in today's culture metaphors are a must.  We hear them used by politicians, newscasters, sports analysts, comedians and many other people we listen to.  They have become common in our culture and there are a litany of examples that we fail to even recognize because they are used so often.

Blog Post 11

Ms. Cassidy shows in her class video that it is never too early to start using technology in the classroom.  Her students are learning how to not only do something fun in school, they are learning how to become better writers.  They are learning values that children need such as manners and being nice to each other.  They are learning how to use the internet which will be an essential tool for them to be successful in life.  They are learning skills that extend far outside of the classrooms walls.  The interaction these students are receiving from the cyber world is something that can not be duplicated in the classroom.  They are still learning all the skills that the curriculum requires but they are gaining experience much more valuable than just that.  These students are growing up into a connected world and it will require them to be able to interact with all sorts of people.  It is never too early to start that preparation. I also think it is great that they reference the EDM 310 class in their video.

These are tools that can be used in all grade levels.  It is not just young kids that need to expand their use of technology and gain experience interacting with people from the outside world.  I have learned in this class this year that any curriculum can be enhanced through the use of technology.  I have seen almost every subject and grade level covered in class blogs or teachers blogs.  The possibilities are really endless and our classrooms can be enhanced so much if we use technology to our advantage.

October C4K

The first week of this month I left on comment for Ashira on classroom 320's blog page.  I told her that I went to school at South but was actually from the state of New York.  I told her about Niagara Falls and how it is one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

The first blog I commented on in Mrs. Gregory's class was Cayla's blog.  This was the blog I was assigned to.  Her blog was very personal and she had just started with it.  She talked about herself and her the things she liked and didn't like.  I commented on Bryce's blog also.  The random name generator gave me his name.  He talked about what they were learning in science which was emotion.  Mrs. Gregory had a great class blog!

This week I commented on Mrs. Bark's blog post about gravity.  Her students had some fun questions about how astronauts do certain things in outer space without gravity.  They stringed together videos that answered questions like how to astronauts eat and go to the bathroom in space.  It  was a great video and a very fun post to comment on.

The last week I commented on Mr. McCafferty's class blog on his post regarding his classes short stories.  His class wrote short stories about grave robbers and he posted the stories in a book that you could read on the screen.   It was one of the coolest ways I've seen the blog used to show class work.  The stories had cool backgrounds and each one was very unique!