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Thursday, October 30, 2014
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Blog Assignment #11
Dr. Stange asked for us to answer, "What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?" I personally saw learned a lot from these videos. They opened my eyes to more new ideas for my classroom.
In Brian Crosby's Back to the Future, he really got your attention with one of his first sentences. He stated," Without imagination and creativity, there will be no passion." Children need to have passion. That is how you know what they are truly interested in. When they have passion for a certain thing, or subject, they will want to do everything to learn about it. when these student get to be hands on with their learning, that makes them even more excited. I really liked how Mr. Crosby let his students set goals for themselves. If they set their own goal, they will be more likely to keep pushing themselves until they reach their goal. I also liked how after the balloon project, they Skyped with other classes. They get to show their work and collaborate with other people, besides the people in their classroom. This Skype session would eventually lead to question which would then cause the students to learn on their own. This was another major point made by Mr. Crosby. One of his last point was that we can't race children through school. i have seen this happen too many times. The pass children along just to keep from having the hassle in their classroom again. They are hurting the students when they do this.
In Mr. Paul Andersen's Blended Learning Cycle, he starts off with discussing the power of the question briefly and comes back to it later. Questions are the most important part of learning. He also talks about the blended learning cycle, which is blended learning and the learning cycle together. These work hand-in-hand. He used the acronym "quivers" for his strategy for the way his classroom works. Qu stands for question, i stands for investigate, v stands fr video, e stands for elaboration, r stands for review, and s stands for summary quiz. Questions are how you hook your students and get them interested. Investigation is the action that caused inquiry. He shows a video, or they watch a podcast. Elaboration is when they talk. Review is where Mr. Andersen ask the students questions. If they pass his questions, they are then allowed to go take the summary quiz. after so many attempts, if they have still failed, they must come back to Mr. Andersen for more instruction. I think this is a good way to make sure that all of your students are understanding what they need to know. I could see myself using some version of this in my classroom, even if it is a shorter version on some days. You want to make sure your students know what they need to know before they leave.
In Making Thinking Visible, Mark Church also talks about how his students work in groups. He uses these groups to have discussions about topics he has provided. Once the students are finished with their work, they share with the whole class. They are asked a similar question a couple of weeks later and will see how their views change. I love the prediction aspect. It gets the students thinking about what they are about to learn and what they think will happen.
In Building Comics, a classroom is asked to come up with a character who is going to help someone who is using the internet wrong. They have to use imagination to come up with the characters and communication between the different characters. This happens in their comic strip and in real life. I would use the idea of the gallery in my classroom. That is a new idea to me. Children getting up and going to another computer to read and see someone else's work is great. I also like how he is using this comic strip to teach how to make safe choices on the internet.
Project Based Learning gave some very helpful tips also. I love how he kept inferring to the students working on poetry that there is always room for improvement. Students want to do enough just to scrape by. They want to be "done." Students need to be excited about learning. I loved how they combined three classes. This way they had more time, which resulted in deeper learning, which resulted in quality feedback. They will feel better about their work with this way of teaching. They will claim ownership and their work will continue to improve.
Rooselvelt Elementary PBL program is one of my favorite programs I have seen so far. The parents get involved. They see their children blossoming, rather than becoming recluses from sitting at their desk, not talking to anyone all day. Roosevelt uses instruction for "real world" problems they will face. They teach their students how to think and solve the problem, not just know the answer. They also present their work a lot. This takes away the fear of public speaking, which almost everyone will have to do in some point in their life. Working together is another thing that they do that will be applied in "real life". Students become self motivated, which pushes them to ask questions, and find out more about the world.
In Brian Crosby's Back to the Future, he really got your attention with one of his first sentences. He stated," Without imagination and creativity, there will be no passion." Children need to have passion. That is how you know what they are truly interested in. When they have passion for a certain thing, or subject, they will want to do everything to learn about it. when these student get to be hands on with their learning, that makes them even more excited. I really liked how Mr. Crosby let his students set goals for themselves. If they set their own goal, they will be more likely to keep pushing themselves until they reach their goal. I also liked how after the balloon project, they Skyped with other classes. They get to show their work and collaborate with other people, besides the people in their classroom. This Skype session would eventually lead to question which would then cause the students to learn on their own. This was another major point made by Mr. Crosby. One of his last point was that we can't race children through school. i have seen this happen too many times. The pass children along just to keep from having the hassle in their classroom again. They are hurting the students when they do this. 
In Mr. Paul Andersen's Blended Learning Cycle, he starts off with discussing the power of the question briefly and comes back to it later. Questions are the most important part of learning. He also talks about the blended learning cycle, which is blended learning and the learning cycle together. These work hand-in-hand. He used the acronym "quivers" for his strategy for the way his classroom works. Qu stands for question, i stands for investigate, v stands fr video, e stands for elaboration, r stands for review, and s stands for summary quiz. Questions are how you hook your students and get them interested. Investigation is the action that caused inquiry. He shows a video, or they watch a podcast. Elaboration is when they talk. Review is where Mr. Andersen ask the students questions. If they pass his questions, they are then allowed to go take the summary quiz. after so many attempts, if they have still failed, they must come back to Mr. Andersen for more instruction. I think this is a good way to make sure that all of your students are understanding what they need to know. I could see myself using some version of this in my classroom, even if it is a shorter version on some days. You want to make sure your students know what they need to know before they leave.
In Making Thinking Visible, Mark Church also talks about how his students work in groups. He uses these groups to have discussions about topics he has provided. Once the students are finished with their work, they share with the whole class. They are asked a similar question a couple of weeks later and will see how their views change. I love the prediction aspect. It gets the students thinking about what they are about to learn and what they think will happen.
Project Based Learning gave some very helpful tips also. I love how he kept inferring to the students working on poetry that there is always room for improvement. Students want to do enough just to scrape by. They want to be "done." Students need to be excited about learning. I loved how they combined three classes. This way they had more time, which resulted in deeper learning, which resulted in quality feedback. They will feel better about their work with this way of teaching. They will claim ownership and their work will continue to improve.
Rooselvelt Elementary PBL program is one of my favorite programs I have seen so far. The parents get involved. They see their children blossoming, rather than becoming recluses from sitting at their desk, not talking to anyone all day. Roosevelt uses instruction for "real world" problems they will face. They teach their students how to think and solve the problem, not just know the answer. They also present their work a lot. This takes away the fear of public speaking, which almost everyone will have to do in some point in their life. Working together is another thing that they do that will be applied in "real life". Students become self motivated, which pushes them to ask questions, and find out more about the world.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Blog Assignment #10
I really enjoyed seeing the use of technology in Mrs. Cassidy's classroom. It makes your heart feel warm when you see how the students get excited about the comments left by their family, friends, and even people leave from around the world. I like how she used Skype to connect with other classes and people that know about the subjects they are studying. The only thing I could see happening is the students getting off subject, but don't we all at one point or another? You could ask the person or persons on the other side an open-ended question, which may spark the students interest, and their own questions. I also liked how she used technology as a center when she had a larger class. Moving around and to different centers will keep the students more engaged and less likely to become bored. I could see where there would be a problem with students, especially younger students clicking on items and apps they should not be introduced to. Students are curios and we will never be able to change that. I think Mrs. Cassidy handled the problem very well in teaching children how unsafe the internet can be. I think I would take the same approach. Another approach you could take would be to show students how many people see things that are posted to the internet. You could post something asking people to leave a comment of where they are from. This would show students how fast things travel all over the world. There are many benefits to this though. Like I mentioned earlier, students get feedback from family, friends, and people around the world. They may form life-long connections with students, or people, from the other side of the globe. You form a network, especially when you are older, of people that like and enjoy the same things you do. I could see myself using techniques from Mrs. Cassidy's classroom in my own. Watch First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class to see the students at work.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
C4K Summary for October
For C4K #4, I was assigned Steven from Mrs. Morgan's second grade class room in Texas. His post was very interesting. He told about how he made a cactus man. He also posted a picture of him and his cactus man.
Below is the comment I left for Steven:
Hi Steven! I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. I think this is a great post. It is very creative. I love how you told how you made the Cactus man! The Cactus man is very unique! Keep up the good work!
Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
URL for my blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/
Click here to see Steven's blog about the Cactus man!
Here is Steven with his Cactus man:
For C4K #5, I was assigned Taegan B. from Mrs. Ripp's seventh grade class. His post was thoughtful. He explained what he thought was cool that his new school let him do and how in his old school he was not able to do those things. He can now listen to music in class and chew gum. he also states the things he would change, like longer passing time and a longer lunch hour. He asked if we could chew gum or listen to music in our school. at the end of the blog post.
Below is the comment I left for Taegan B.:
Hi Taegan B.! I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. First, this is an awesome blog. I love how you address real issues in your school. I completely agree that lunches could be longer. I use my short lunches now to try to do my homework, but I barely have time to get anything done. Where I went to high school chewing gum and plating music were a big "no no". Great post! Keep up the good work!
Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
URL for my blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/
Click here to see Taegan B.'s blog about his thoughts in his school!
For C4K #6, I commented on Claire's post. She is in Ms. Essenburg's third grade in Michigan. She told about herself and her family. She said her favorite hobbies were singing, dancing, reading, cheering, and gymnastics. We have a lot in common. When I was younger, Claire and I had many of the same hobbies. She seemed excited to be posting and excited to read other posts.
Below is the comment I left for Claire:
Hi Claire! I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. This is a great blog! It was so easy to read and understand. We have so much in common. I have had two beta fish. One was named Firecracher, because he was red and blue. The other was named Marlin, like the fish off of the movie Finding Nemo. I have two dogs now. I have a weenie dog named Susie Too and a labrador named Benelli. I have cheered for nine years of my life. Those were some of the best years I have lived. I was also a competitive gymnast for four years. Keep up the good work on your blogs!!
Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
URL for my blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/
Click here to read more about Claire on her blog!
For C4K #7, I commented on Trinity's post. She is in Mr. Somerville's sixth grade class in Auckland, New Zealand. In this post she described how she made her movie. She told about the actions that took place and how the movie was made.
Below is the comment I left Trinity:
Hi Trinity! I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. This is a very cool post. I like how you described how you made your movie. You have very good step-by-step details. Keep up the good work!
Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
URL for my blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/
Click here to read more of Trinity's blog posts!
Below is the comment I left for Steven:
Hi Steven! I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. I think this is a great post. It is very creative. I love how you told how you made the Cactus man! The Cactus man is very unique! Keep up the good work!
Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
URL for my blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/
Click here to see Steven's blog about the Cactus man!
Here is Steven with his Cactus man:
For C4K #5, I was assigned Taegan B. from Mrs. Ripp's seventh grade class. His post was thoughtful. He explained what he thought was cool that his new school let him do and how in his old school he was not able to do those things. He can now listen to music in class and chew gum. he also states the things he would change, like longer passing time and a longer lunch hour. He asked if we could chew gum or listen to music in our school. at the end of the blog post.
Below is the comment I left for Taegan B.:
Hi Taegan B.! I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. First, this is an awesome blog. I love how you address real issues in your school. I completely agree that lunches could be longer. I use my short lunches now to try to do my homework, but I barely have time to get anything done. Where I went to high school chewing gum and plating music were a big "no no". Great post! Keep up the good work!
Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
URL for my blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/
Click here to see Taegan B.'s blog about his thoughts in his school!
For C4K #6, I commented on Claire's post. She is in Ms. Essenburg's third grade in Michigan. She told about herself and her family. She said her favorite hobbies were singing, dancing, reading, cheering, and gymnastics. We have a lot in common. When I was younger, Claire and I had many of the same hobbies. She seemed excited to be posting and excited to read other posts.
Below is the comment I left for Claire:
Hi Claire! I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. This is a great blog! It was so easy to read and understand. We have so much in common. I have had two beta fish. One was named Firecracher, because he was red and blue. The other was named Marlin, like the fish off of the movie Finding Nemo. I have two dogs now. I have a weenie dog named Susie Too and a labrador named Benelli. I have cheered for nine years of my life. Those were some of the best years I have lived. I was also a competitive gymnast for four years. Keep up the good work on your blogs!!
Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
URL for my blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/
Click here to read more about Claire on her blog!
For C4K #7, I commented on Trinity's post. She is in Mr. Somerville's sixth grade class in Auckland, New Zealand. In this post she described how she made her movie. She told about the actions that took place and how the movie was made.
Below is the comment I left Trinity:
Hi Trinity! I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. This is a very cool post. I like how you described how you made your movie. You have very good step-by-step details. Keep up the good work!
Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
URL for my blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/
Click here to read more of Trinity's blog posts!
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Blog Assignment #9
First off, I would like to make the comment that I found most of these videos to be saying similar things. I think project based learning is something that is truly helping students in today's world. Like many of the videos said, "You will use the skills you learn from project based learning for the rest of your life and in your work." I chose What Motivates Students?, Project Based Learning and Physical Education, and PBL- High School Math as my three videos to go along with Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning and Project Based Learning for Teachers. I really enjoyed these sources.
I found that the seven essentials, or most of the seven essentials where listed somehow or someway in each source. The seven essentials for project based learning are need to know, driving question, student voice and choice, 21st century skills, inquiry and innovation, feedback and revision, and publicly presenting a product. A need to know is a topic that students feel is important to them and something they can relate to. A driving question is used to focus the efforts to a specific area, but leave it open ended so they can run with their own ideas. Student voice and choice means to let the student have their own opinion and let them research and work with things that may interest them, compared to other topic that may not. 21st century skills are listed as, "collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and technology." These are the skills you will use for the rest of your life. Inquiry shows how students have questions and when they are researching and finding answers to those questions, how they many come up with other questions. Innovation is when a student "finds a new answer, product, or solution" to a question. Feedback and revision is how you create quality work. You also need feedback from someone besides your teacher, maybe like peers or how we complete C4Ks and C4Ts. I feel like this is a very important part because you can never grow as a writer without critique and fixing what you are doing incorrectly. Publicly presenting your product is where you can get some of this critiquing. Friends, family, and many other people can be invited for presentations. This is where you get the ideas you would never think about and one way to improve. Project based learning is constantly "questioning, investigating, sharing, and reflecting." It is just a continuous circle. Students take charge of their learning. They are more apt to learn material if they find and research it than if it is lectured to them. Project based learning engages the students, keeping them more interested. Not only does it engage the students, but also the teachers. They are constantly coming up with new ideas and revisions to projects to make them a higher quality for the future. It is all trial and error. You never know how students will do with a project until you try it out. I really liked the idea in the math video of the students coming up with their own games. Using that you will see how each student learns a certain standard. This will make it easier for the teacher to help the student with questions, if they know how their brain works.
From my experience in an elementary classroom, I have learned that especially for younger students, motivation is key. There are several ways to motivate kids but not every child is motivated the same. While some kids are motivated by candy, others are motivated by words of encouragement. We must treat every child as an individual.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Implications and Teaching Opportunities for Camera Use in Teaching and Learning
"87% of people's smartphones never leave their side." This was stated by Dr. Stange on theClass Blog. Could you see where this would be a problem in schools? I can. If they rarely put their phone down, how can they pay attention to the teacher? The teacher would just be standing up at the front of the classroom wasting her breath if no one was paying attention. The education they are getting would be less than the best, or at least the best their teacher could give. Students have enough trouble paying attention in class, much less if they are on Facebook and Instagram. There will always be those students that would actually be paying attention to the teacher and their education would suffer because the teacher would be focused on the people with phones out.
Think for a second about how many pictures are taken in classes with phones. Pictures in classrooms show up on Snap chat, Instagram, and Facebook all the time. What if there are notes on the board that a professor has copyrights to? What happens if that just so happens to be in the background of you picture? There are times when cameras come in handy, but not in a classroom when your full attention needs to be on your education. Not to mention that you could get in big trouble for those copyrighted notes.
On the flip side, I can see where having technology in the classroom would be helpful at times. There is an app on iPhones that the kids can download. They pick the answer to the question the teacher reads. The results come up on the board as a percentage of the class for each answer. I love to see students recording themselves for their own good. I think that students could reenact important scenes in history, and then collaborate with the whole class and use those movies in a time line. I loved the book trailer we completed in class. I thought it was a lot of fun. Kids could record parts of the story and then the whole class could put the parts together to make a whole. Even come up with their own story as they go along.
Think for a second about how many pictures are taken in classes with phones. Pictures in classrooms show up on Snap chat, Instagram, and Facebook all the time. What if there are notes on the board that a professor has copyrights to? What happens if that just so happens to be in the background of you picture? There are times when cameras come in handy, but not in a classroom when your full attention needs to be on your education. Not to mention that you could get in big trouble for those copyrighted notes.
On the flip side, I can see where having technology in the classroom would be helpful at times. There is an app on iPhones that the kids can download. They pick the answer to the question the teacher reads. The results come up on the board as a percentage of the class for each answer. I love to see students recording themselves for their own good. I think that students could reenact important scenes in history, and then collaborate with the whole class and use those movies in a time line. I loved the book trailer we completed in class. I thought it was a lot of fun. Kids could record parts of the story and then the whole class could put the parts together to make a whole. Even come up with their own story as they go along.
C4T#2, Post 1
I was assigned Moving Beyond the Personal Narrative for my C4T#2 post 1. It talks about how writing a personal narrative is one of the first things we learn to do in school. It also says that using your imagination doesn't come up until the third grade. We as teachers should push the art of story telling beyond this. Also, tips are given to think beyond the personal narrative.
Below is a summary of my comment I left on this post:
Hi Dr. Needleman! I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class. I really enjoyed your post. I am a visual learner. I hope to help everyone in my classroom learn wither they are a visual learner or any learner.
Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
My Class Blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
My Blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/
I was assigned iTunes U Courses on Innovation and Common Core for my C4T#2 post 2. In the two links he provided, he discusses several topics under each link. He also posted assignments under each topic under the links. In "Technology and the Common Core", he discusses how technology should be used in the schools and how the instructors should help and not hurt the students when they are doing research. He also list three major ways to address Common Core Standards. In "Innovation & Communication" he talks about movements, tips, how to start movements, technology, communities to join, ways to incorporate technology, and apps to help succeed.
Below is the comment I left:
Hi Dr. Needleman! I m a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. I really like how this blog is set up. I like the short paragraphs during the day. I also like how there are assignments under the posts. They help you grasp the concepts! I also completely agree that high school teachers help student extremely too much! My first year of college was spent in our writing center. I enjoy reading your posts!
Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
My Class Blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
My Blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/
Below is a summary of my comment I left on this post:
Hi Dr. Needleman! I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class. I really enjoyed your post. I am a visual learner. I hope to help everyone in my classroom learn wither they are a visual learner or any learner.
Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
My Class Blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
My Blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/
I was assigned iTunes U Courses on Innovation and Common Core for my C4T#2 post 2. In the two links he provided, he discusses several topics under each link. He also posted assignments under each topic under the links. In "Technology and the Common Core", he discusses how technology should be used in the schools and how the instructors should help and not hurt the students when they are doing research. He also list three major ways to address Common Core Standards. In "Innovation & Communication" he talks about movements, tips, how to start movements, technology, communities to join, ways to incorporate technology, and apps to help succeed.
Below is the comment I left:
Hi Dr. Needleman! I m a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. I really like how this blog is set up. I like the short paragraphs during the day. I also like how there are assignments under the posts. They help you grasp the concepts! I also completely agree that high school teachers help student extremely too much! My first year of college was spent in our writing center. I enjoy reading your posts!
Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
My Class Blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
My Blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/
Blog Assignment #8
First off, I would like to say I admire Mr. Pausch for this lecture. He had an impeccable way of making you think about things. You can tell he sincerely loved what he did. In the post we were asked to address "What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?" I believe that teaching and learning go hand in hand. You will come across "walls" in teaching and learning, but if you really want what is on the other side of that wall, you will do everything in your power to climb that wall and leap down the other side. We also must remember that anything is possible for teachers and learners, because learners are teachers and teachers are learners. My favorite quote from Mr. Pausch was "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." We must remember that not everything is going to go as planned and that everyone learns something, even if you think you aren't interested.
Teaching is a job that will never be easy, but it will only be as hard as you make it. You, as a teacher must have something to bring to your students. Everyone has had that teacher that all you remember about them is how mean they were. Most of the problem you see in that teacher is not what they say, but how they say it. Their is a different and criticizing and just being mean. When no one is criticizing you, they have given up on you. Critiquing people is a way to show that you love and care for people. When those being criticized are still angry, they have not had enough time. If you wait long enough, that criticism will sink in and they will surprise you with what they can do. You should never underestimate your students! I found it interesting how Mr. Pausch talked about never setting a bar for your students. If you set a bar, those student that reach it will stop, and will not reach their full potential.
Learning is something in the world that will never end. It is physically impossible to know everything in the world. One of the best ways of learning talked about by Mr. Paush is the head fake. This is learning indirectly. This is everywhere. This is one of the best ways to teach. When you are having fun doing something, you are learning wither you realize it or not. I found that he was a fan of project based learning. He always had small groups working on a project. It was never "do your own" work. When these students got through with the projects, they would have a show to let other people see their work. This became a hit overnight. When students share their work, they immediately become more excited and own up to their work. Other people in the audience are learning indirectly also. One very important aspect that teachers must never forget is to learn from their students, well anyone. Students also took initiative to learn on their own what they needed to do when Mr. Pausch would do self-reflection. They saw where they needed to work and where they stood in the class.
According to Mr. Pasch, we, as students should offer gratitude for help; we should not complain, but only work harder; for us to be valuable, we must be really good at something and never think we know enough; and to wait, eventually the good side of people will come out.
Click here to view Mr. Pausch's Last Lecture.
Not only did I see the values of teaching and learning, but life lessons that will stay with me for the rest of my life can from this video.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Blog Assignment #7
In my past couple of blogs I have talked about Project Based Learning, or PBL. I think PBL is important because technology is everywhere. Why should we as educators wait until students are in upper grades to introduce technology into the school? Younger children's mindsets are different, and they will take in more of the instruction you give them about using the technology. U.S. Department of Education states, "Online learning opportunities and the use of open educational resources and other technologies can increase educational productivity by accelerating the rate of learning..." Technology will help students learn more of what they need to know and learn it faster than if the had a paper book right in front of them. Student won't realize they are learning when they are looking up things on Discovery Ed, iCurio, or many of the other student friendly websites.
I am preparing myself for PBL by actively participating in this EDM class with the use of My Blog, My Twitter, and My YouTube channel. These are not all of my resources I am using, but they are my most frequently visited. I would say that my skill level is moderate, but is increasing day by day. I try to be in a classroom two days out of the week for at least 2 hours a day. Being in the school setting is helping with my nerves of being a teacher at the front of the classroom with all of those little eyes starring at you. I could practice more with the tools used in a classroom, like the Smart Board, Microphones, and Paper-viewing devices to make me even more comfortable.
I feel like I have a couple of strengths for PBL. I am a quick learner. I hope to learn a lot more about PBL and technology in the classroom. The school I graduated from does not have much technology in the classroom. I hope I will be able to go back and tell the board how much it will help the students in learning and maybe be able to start incorporating it into the classroom. Another strength I have is that I will listen to everyone and take everyone's ideas into consideration. Just like how Mrs. Michele Bennett talks about how a student teaches her how to take a picture the correct way in a conversation between her, Dr. Strange, and Mrs. Elizabeth Davis in a later video.
I feel like I have one major weakness. Sometimes technology scares me. It makes me nervous that so many things can go wrong. I am a perfectionist. I can think of one thing that would help my nerves: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!!
There are a couple things I think I need to learn as a future teacher using project based approaches. I need to stand back and let students do the learning. I need to give specific instructions and let them explore. We should never put a lid on learning. Teachers don't know everything. As teachers, we will learn things from our students. From this we will be able to edit our lesson plans for the next year and improve them. When I was in elementary school, there was constantly someone standing over you telling you, "No, we are not on that problem yet, you can not go on." Why hold back a student when they know the answer? It was constantly, "This is your last chance to ask a question." What if you finally got all the information right in your brain an hour after that lesson, and you had a question? My teachers would say, "You should have asked when we were on that subject." That is one BIG thing I am going to try to avoid. I need to also become more immersed in technology. The world is changing and we need to follow. Last, I need to learn that working in groups is not a bad thing. It has been pounded in my head to "Do your own work". There are times to do your own work and times to do group work. Faculty Focus list 5 things students can learn by participating in group work.
How to Make an Audio QR Code
In this movie you are taught how to make an audio QR code. The steps were very simple. First, you need to go to Record MP3 to record your voice. You could read a story and use that in your classroom to play back for your students to listen to over and over again. When you are recording, you need to make sure to not start talking until 1 second is on the time. Once you have recorded the item you wish, you need to save it. Next, you will take the URL at the top of the page and copy and paste it into QR Code Monkey, which is a QR code generator. Once you have pasted the URL, you need to click "Create QR code". You will take the image it gives you and you can copy and paste it anywhere. This is an easy way for parent to get information with their smartphones.
iPads in the Reading Center
In this movie we were shown how iPads are used in the reading centers of the kindergarten classrooms at Gulf Shores Elementary. the student will set up a station where their iPad is recording them. They read a book while they are recording. They can play back the video and follow along in the book and see if they made any mistakes. This is also an audio tool.
Poplet as a Center
Poplet is a good tool for the classroom. It is an app that lets the students create a web with information. The center tile is the title, or main idea, of their book or work. The web they create is the details that they gather from their work. They can save these webs on their iPad by a simple screen shot and keep them for as long as they want.
Alabama Virtual Library as a Kindergarten Center
The Alabama Virtual Library, AVL, is student resources that students can access with a login and password or from any school. It is a search engine that you type in a word and it brings up information, pictures, videos, and even has an audio program that will read everything to you. In schools they use this with a worksheet to draw pictures and put sentences with the pictures to show they understand the information and how to research a topic.
Mrs. Shirley’s 1st Grade Class: How to use and build a Board in DE for a Project Based Lesson
In Mrs. Shirley's classroom the students use videos, pictures, and facts to create boards. They create boards by logging into Discovery Ed and selecting Board Builder. They customize the board by adding a title and facts about whatever subject they have chosen. They can also make a narrative to go along with their board. To add images too your board, you will find the images on Safari and save it. Then you click the plus sign to put it on your board.
Mrs. Tassin's Students Sharing Board Builders- Whales
Mrs. Tassin's Students Sharing Board Builders- The Haven
In these videos Mrs. Tassin's students made a presentation to either inform you or to persuade you. The students found their pictures on Safari. The presentations do not have to be complicated, all they have to do is get the point across. The students found some of their vocabulary from Word Hippo. This site finds vocabulary words that are slightly harder than the one the students enter.
Using iMovie and the Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten
In this video Dr. Strange, Elizabeth Davis, and Michele Bennett discussed iMovie and Alabama Virtual Library. Dr. Strange made an interesting point, kindergarten students are using the same programs as college students. They are also doing the same projects. What does that say about us as college students? The elementary students took some simple directions and ran with it. College students, I hate to say this, but once we think we can't do something, we lock down and stop all work. I think this happens because we have become lazy. If it is not in bold print in a book or highlighted, we don't "see it." They also talked about Alabama Virtual Library. AVL is a search type engine that is free. Like I stated earlier, you can log on at any library or school and teach basic research.
We All Become Leaders
In this video Dr. Strange, Elizabeth Davis, and Michele Bennett discussed how everyone is a learner and a teacher. They use the library to teach the mechanics of something new, so when they get to class they will not be trying to figure it out, they can get to work. Using these devices completely changes the dynamic of learning. They can post on something like Padlet, and everyone can see their work. Students are excited about their work and they want to show you their work. They also want your approval and that they completed everything and it is correct.
I enjoyed these videos and I truly want to bring more technology in the classroom that I want to teach in. Technology helps students learn, and I'm willing to do anything to help my students learn all they can.
I am preparing myself for PBL by actively participating in this EDM class with the use of My Blog, My Twitter, and My YouTube channel. These are not all of my resources I am using, but they are my most frequently visited. I would say that my skill level is moderate, but is increasing day by day. I try to be in a classroom two days out of the week for at least 2 hours a day. Being in the school setting is helping with my nerves of being a teacher at the front of the classroom with all of those little eyes starring at you. I could practice more with the tools used in a classroom, like the Smart Board, Microphones, and Paper-viewing devices to make me even more comfortable.
I feel like I have a couple of strengths for PBL. I am a quick learner. I hope to learn a lot more about PBL and technology in the classroom. The school I graduated from does not have much technology in the classroom. I hope I will be able to go back and tell the board how much it will help the students in learning and maybe be able to start incorporating it into the classroom. Another strength I have is that I will listen to everyone and take everyone's ideas into consideration. Just like how Mrs. Michele Bennett talks about how a student teaches her how to take a picture the correct way in a conversation between her, Dr. Strange, and Mrs. Elizabeth Davis in a later video.
I feel like I have one major weakness. Sometimes technology scares me. It makes me nervous that so many things can go wrong. I am a perfectionist. I can think of one thing that would help my nerves: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!!
There are a couple things I think I need to learn as a future teacher using project based approaches. I need to stand back and let students do the learning. I need to give specific instructions and let them explore. We should never put a lid on learning. Teachers don't know everything. As teachers, we will learn things from our students. From this we will be able to edit our lesson plans for the next year and improve them. When I was in elementary school, there was constantly someone standing over you telling you, "No, we are not on that problem yet, you can not go on." Why hold back a student when they know the answer? It was constantly, "This is your last chance to ask a question." What if you finally got all the information right in your brain an hour after that lesson, and you had a question? My teachers would say, "You should have asked when we were on that subject." That is one BIG thing I am going to try to avoid. I need to also become more immersed in technology. The world is changing and we need to follow. Last, I need to learn that working in groups is not a bad thing. It has been pounded in my head to "Do your own work". There are times to do your own work and times to do group work. Faculty Focus list 5 things students can learn by participating in group work.
How to Make an Audio QR Code
In this movie you are taught how to make an audio QR code. The steps were very simple. First, you need to go to Record MP3 to record your voice. You could read a story and use that in your classroom to play back for your students to listen to over and over again. When you are recording, you need to make sure to not start talking until 1 second is on the time. Once you have recorded the item you wish, you need to save it. Next, you will take the URL at the top of the page and copy and paste it into QR Code Monkey, which is a QR code generator. Once you have pasted the URL, you need to click "Create QR code". You will take the image it gives you and you can copy and paste it anywhere. This is an easy way for parent to get information with their smartphones.
iPads in the Reading Center
In this movie we were shown how iPads are used in the reading centers of the kindergarten classrooms at Gulf Shores Elementary. the student will set up a station where their iPad is recording them. They read a book while they are recording. They can play back the video and follow along in the book and see if they made any mistakes. This is also an audio tool.
Poplet as a Center
Poplet is a good tool for the classroom. It is an app that lets the students create a web with information. The center tile is the title, or main idea, of their book or work. The web they create is the details that they gather from their work. They can save these webs on their iPad by a simple screen shot and keep them for as long as they want.
Alabama Virtual Library as a Kindergarten Center
The Alabama Virtual Library, AVL, is student resources that students can access with a login and password or from any school. It is a search engine that you type in a word and it brings up information, pictures, videos, and even has an audio program that will read everything to you. In schools they use this with a worksheet to draw pictures and put sentences with the pictures to show they understand the information and how to research a topic.
Mrs. Shirley’s 1st Grade Class: How to use and build a Board in DE for a Project Based Lesson
In Mrs. Shirley's classroom the students use videos, pictures, and facts to create boards. They create boards by logging into Discovery Ed and selecting Board Builder. They customize the board by adding a title and facts about whatever subject they have chosen. They can also make a narrative to go along with their board. To add images too your board, you will find the images on Safari and save it. Then you click the plus sign to put it on your board.
Mrs. Tassin's Students Sharing Board Builders- Whales
Mrs. Tassin's Students Sharing Board Builders- The Haven
In these videos Mrs. Tassin's students made a presentation to either inform you or to persuade you. The students found their pictures on Safari. The presentations do not have to be complicated, all they have to do is get the point across. The students found some of their vocabulary from Word Hippo. This site finds vocabulary words that are slightly harder than the one the students enter.
Using iMovie and the Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten
In this video Dr. Strange, Elizabeth Davis, and Michele Bennett discussed iMovie and Alabama Virtual Library. Dr. Strange made an interesting point, kindergarten students are using the same programs as college students. They are also doing the same projects. What does that say about us as college students? The elementary students took some simple directions and ran with it. College students, I hate to say this, but once we think we can't do something, we lock down and stop all work. I think this happens because we have become lazy. If it is not in bold print in a book or highlighted, we don't "see it." They also talked about Alabama Virtual Library. AVL is a search type engine that is free. Like I stated earlier, you can log on at any library or school and teach basic research.
We All Become Leaders
In this video Dr. Strange, Elizabeth Davis, and Michele Bennett discussed how everyone is a learner and a teacher. They use the library to teach the mechanics of something new, so when they get to class they will not be trying to figure it out, they can get to work. Using these devices completely changes the dynamic of learning. They can post on something like Padlet, and everyone can see their work. Students are excited about their work and they want to show you their work. They also want your approval and that they completed everything and it is correct.
I enjoyed these videos and I truly want to bring more technology in the classroom that I want to teach in. Technology helps students learn, and I'm willing to do anything to help my students learn all they can.
Project #13
TT2 Group 2 has decided to do our Project Based Learning lesson on the solar system. Our students are to construct a project on an assigned planet. Below are the components of our unit.
Lesson Plan
Calendar
Project Rubric
Individual Rubric
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