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!

Do you Teach or Do you Educate?

If we go into our careers with the intent to spoon-feed students we will never be successful.  If all we care about is good grades on standardized tests we will not be successful.  I am not suggesting that facts are not important.  Nor am I saying that state tests do not serve a purpose.  I simply believe that in order to truly empower students we have allow them to think for themselves and inspire them to go after the desired information.  There are too many teachers in the United States that are safe in their jobs because of tenure and simply care about good grades on standardized tests.  That is not what our job is as educators.  Our goal should be to motivate students to push their own limits, not constrict their ability by teaching them to a test.  At the end of each year our students will move on to the next level.  After that they will move into a new classroom with a new teacher.  We need to provide them the tools they need to be successful and help build their self-esteem so they are confident that they can continue to succeed.

Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home

Tom Johnson perfectly states the problems that schools are facing in the United States today.  We can continue to try and point to whatever problems we want but for some reason we refuse to try and look for solutions.  There is no question that economics drastically impacts the education system.  Schools in lower income areas will have lower quality supplies and resources.  But that should not mean that that there has to be lower quality education.  The notion that “that’s just the way it is” is crazy.  Education can take place anywhere under many different circumstances.  But people fail to see this and instead we try and force children into taking a path that is simply not working, and we take away potential tools that could be used to force them on this path.

                Pencils are a symbol for education just like an apple is a symbol for a teacher.  The message of this post is that we are stripping students of essential tools they need because we are afraid they will adversely impact standardized test scores, or whatever goals the system has for the students.  It seems silly hearing that students wouldn’t be allowed to have pencils but is it really that far off.  In today’s world we are limiting our students because of the tools we provide for them.  We are teaching with textbooks that are decades out of date and we still have teachers afraid to allow technology into their classrooms.  We are afraid that real education cannot take place if we change the way we do things.  It’s time that we stand up for students as educators and give them the tools they need to succeed.  We are falling behind the rest of the world and we need a competitive education system to reverse that trend.

C4T #3

I commented on Mr. Avery's blog  Mr. Avery is a math teacher who was teaching his kids fractions.  The way he used his blog was to try to simplify the process of dividing fractions so that the student's had a way to look up the process on their own which they would understand.  He also offered extra credit questions for those students who took the time to read the blog.  My favorite part had to be the rap video that he added on how to divide fractions.  It was very funny and made the topic much more interesting!

In the second post I commented on Mr. Avery was teaching his class about circles.  He used technology to enhance his lesson plan on circles.  He used an iPhone app in his class to give his class an opportunity to have a hands on experience learning and dealing with circles.  They were able to find the radius, diameter and center on the iPhone.  The panoramas they created were very cool and I am sure was a very interesting way for the students to learn about circles.

Short Movie Project

Blog Post 9

Mr. McClung offers a lot of great advice that he learned after his first year of teaching in his post.  I think his point on communication is very important.  Simply communicating can solve so many problems in the workplace.  This includes communicating with the boss, your coworkers and also your students.  I believe teachers can learn a lot from their students.  It is important for teachers to listen to the feedback of their students and adjust their classroom and teaching methods appropriately.  In order to get the most out of your students, it is important to listen to them to see what works best.

In Mr. McClung’s most previous end of the year post he talks about the danger of teachers becoming comfortable in their routine and methods.  Teachers need to embrace change and cannot be afraid to continue to try new things in their classroom.  He also stresses that teachers are in the classroom to serve the students, not the administration.  It is important to follow the rules but our main focus as educators should not be to please administrators.  We have to dare to try new things in our classrooms and try again if we fail.  We must strive to go above and beyond as educators instead of settling for mediocrity. 

Blog Post 8

This is How We Dream

Richard E. Miller talked about multimedia.  He states that a big change that we face today is that the place where we work today is very different than in the past.  What used to be done using a library, pencils, and paper is now done using the Internet and a word processor.  He also states that articles and books that used to be used for a period of time and thrown out are now preserved forever online.   Also the information at our fingertips today is instantaneous.  Ideas are no longer individual but part of a culture.  As educators it is important that we distribute this information.  Miller also stresses that we have to make whatever we are putting out on the web compelling to those who will view it.  He believes that a different type of composing is going to come that focuses on the web, and it is clear that it is already happening in today’s world.  I am not sure if I would be ready for this type of multimedia now but if this is what the future will be it is important for students to learn it as soon as they can.

               

Carly Pugh’s Blog Post #12

http://pughcarlyedm310.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-post-12.html

Carly created an assignment that required students to make a YouTube playlist of clips that they felt were important to creating a productive learning environment.  I think Carly’s post is what Richard Miller was talking about when in his video on multimedia.  Carly’s post was more than a word document.  It was an interactive experience that you got to go on.  It was compelling and also beneficial which Miller stated where important characteristics to write in this new way.  There was a good mix of inspirational videos and educational videos.  We got to get to know Carly while learning about what she thought was important for the educational world.  Instead of just stressing literature she offered videos on authors.  And at the end of her post, the video on the 6 questions truly left you wanting more.  That I think should be a true goal of education; to leave students wanting to learn more and be excited about learning.

Chipper and EDM for Dummies

The Chipper video showed that it is important that students put work into school, not just get taught and respite out information.  Nothing valuable comes without hard work.  A hand on experience is important in the learning process.  EDM for dummies was an overview of the programs we would be using in the class and a funny way of showing that although the class can be stressful, it can also be a lot of fun.  Both videos were interesting and very fun to watch.  There is no doubt that most of us are stressed out because of this class at times and trying many things out that we never have before.  But that is all part of the learning experience.  I would love to make a sarcastic video like this for a project because I feel they express the true emotions I have had during this class at times but also reassure that it is worth the work.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn 

This video states the problem in America today regarding the fact that classrooms lack new technology.  It states that the American classroom is basically “turned off” which shuts out many modern students.  We live in a connected world therefore the classroom should be a connected place as well.  I agree that we need to connect and make global connections.  However, I still think that the classroom is an essential part of education.  I think we need to be teaching kids the skills needed in the classroom, both scholastic skills and technological skills, then encouraging them to use it in the world around them.  There is no doubt that the model of education is changing  in the United States.  The classroom should never be taken away but as teachers we must adapt and prepare ourselves for the modern world we live in.  Allow students to make connections and use the skills we teach them and inspire them to try new things and not be afraid to fail.

Project #13

Blog Post 7

I want to start by saying that listening to Randy Pausch speak given the situation he was in was inspiring.   You know that his message is genuine and truly what he feels is important.  The importance of dreams I feel is often understated.  No matter how far of a reach they may be, it is important for people (especially kids) to have dreams and goals.  I think Randy Pausch’s claim that having specific dreams is important is very accurate.  We need to have something specific we can aim for.

In order for kids to dream, we have to give them permission to dream as teachers.  We cannot stifle the thoughts of our students no matter what age.  I think we can help direct students and guide them to achievable goals but we also have to allow them to dare to push their limits.  That is how we will truly have students that achieve their maximum potential.  They may not become the next rocket scientist but they will hopefully work to achieve things that they would not have otherwise.

Also we cannot be discouraged by roadblocks we meet along the way.  “Brick walls” as Paush puts it are to show us how bad we really want something.  As teachers we are going to run into brick walls while working with students.  Also, students are going to run into brick walls while striving for their dreams.  Brick walls are to show us how bad we really want something. 

Paush’s idea of a feedback loop I think can especially apply to teachers.  People need guidance and insight when making decisions in their life.  Children need this guidance just as much if not more.  I know personally I would take the advice of a few friends very seriously, to the point of trusting almost anything they say.  We need to be this positive feedback for the children in our classrooms.  We need to tell them it is ok to strive for their dreams.  We need to tell them that they need to have dreams.  Without dreams and goals, we have no direction.  We also need to trust in those goals and dreams, and trust that the plan that is laid for us will be accomplished.  God Bless! Thanks for reading.

C4T #2

I commented on Tom Hobson's blog.  Mr. Hobson is an art teacher who recently moved schools and adjusting to the new environment. The post I commented on first showed many of his students art pieces which were really fun to look at.  He is encouraging these students to use their creativity and finds good work in every kids work.  I think it is important that he is encouraging these young students creativity and pushing them to keep trying new things.

 The second post I commented on dealt with extroverted versus introverted personalities. Hobson states that the two are often used to mean outgoing and shy, respectively, but that is not what they actually mean. He says that extroverted people gain energy from being with many people and introverted people gain energy from being alone or in groups. Most people state that I am extroverted because I love interacting and being around other people, but I am most happy when I am with close friends and family. I value alone time and feel most comfortable when I am around the people closest to me. Hobson also states that your personality can have both extroverted and introverted characteristics, they just express themselves in different situations.

Project 9b

Blog Post #6

The Networked Student

I think the idea of making connections with others is extremely important and one of the greatest advantageous to using technology in the classrooms.  I know I have been critical in some posts about how technology is used in classrooms but I think this reason validates its use more than anything.  We are moving towards a global society in which people will have to be connected to and willing to work with people from other places.  Our classroom cannot be a bubble in which students are shielded from the rest of the world.  We must allow them to make connections and expand their horizons. 

Google scholar is also a great resource that I first learned about my senior year in high school.  It helps limit your search to things that will actually be helpful and useful in presenting real, validated research.  It helps you avoid having to read through many pages before finding a scholarly one that you can actually use.  And the idea of sharing research between students is a great idea.  So often I have problems finding helpful websites but having blogs and other students opinions on what they thought was useful would be very helpful.  Networking is a great way to provide learning opportunities for the modern classroom.

PLE

The personal learning network shown in the video is very interactive and engaging.  It allows students much more freedom and independence in their work.  Her learning network is much more technologically savvy than mine is.  I think some of the programs she shows like the note taking one could be very helpful.  Personally for me it may be very confusing because of how I am used to doing things.  I can barely keep track of my online classes and they are all on one site.  But I know that the resources are there and I continue to try and use them and become familiar with them because I know it will be important to know for when I am a teacher. 

September C4K

I commented on Justin's blog. His teacher had the class make a personal history museum. Each kid brought in items from home that they wanted to put into the class museum. Justin brought in items like baseball cards and old toys. I told Justin that I was majoring in history here at South and how important I thought understanding history is. I think it is the key to succesfully planning for the future.

I commented on Racheal's blog.  She had talked about a recent cross country meet that her class had taken part in.  They were all very excited for the meet and had a blast during the actual event.  I commented on the event and told her that I thought it was great that her and her friends were participating in it.  It is great to have young people active and enjoying the activity because our country seriously lacks that today I believe.

I commented on Dani's blog in the last week of September.  Dani had multiple short posts about books she was currently reading.  Her posts were like mini book reports to gather feedback about what other classmates and people thought about the books she was reading.  I think this is a great example of how to use the class blog to enhance the classroom material.  The students have access to the opinions of their classmates and can engage in intellectual discussion through their blogs.

Project 8 Podcast