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.