Blog Assignment 16

Blog Assignment 5 Part 2

For this assignment we are to summarize our Personal Learning Network. My PLN has changed drastically from my first post. Now I have teachers I communicate with and discuss questions and answers. I discuss topics with the teachers I am helping at O'Rourke Elementary School. I have students that are in the same place and classes I am at South Alabama. This is probably my most important part of my PLN to me. We can discuss things and problems that we may be going through together in class or in teaching experience. PLN is something I could see myself teaching in my classroom. Students need to learn how to work together. You very rarely get a job where you work alone. Everyone need to have people to talk to and ask questions. If children get comfortable now, this will help in their future.  Edublogs Teachers Challenges tells different ways to build you personal learning network.

C4T #4

For C4T #4, post 1, I commented on Mr. Fix's blog post Melting Rates. He shows an experiment of putting a cube of ice on blocks of different material. He shows their melting rate and then explains why one melts faster than the other. He also tell examples of other experiments that could be done to show melting rates.

Below is the comment I left for Mr. Fix:
Mr. Fix. I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. This is a great video to get students interested! I really like how you didn't tell much about the project, and just let it happen. By this, you let students make their own predictions. Great post! I could definitely see myself using this in my classroom in the future.

Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
URL for my blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/

For my other C4T post, I chose to comment on Lana Gerin blog post I'm Still Here.She explains how her students are presenting on an animal to the class. She also tells about how she wrote a not to her student and the student writes a note back.

Below is the comment I left for Lana:
 Hello, Lana. I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. I love how your class is presenting! I wish I would have presented more when I was in grade school. Maybe I wouldn't be so nervous to get up in front of a class or group of people now. I also love the fact that you wrote your student a note and that she wrote you one to tell how much she appreciates you! That is a great student/teacher relationship!

Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
URL for my blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/

Blog Assignment #14

In Joel Klien's Teaching our children can be a profession: Column he lists many problems and solution that are in the world of teaching. The first thing that was mentioned that anyone can become a teacher that has a college degree. He states that everyone should recruit from the top one-third of graduates. The way teachers are rewarded also needs to change. Teachers are thought to be interchangeable based on seniority. We must understand no teacher is the same and all teachers vary. Teaching also needs to be professionalized. The more professional teaching is, the more students and teachers will benefit. Teachers will be more successful and will command greater public trust. Teaching can also be more professional by teacher examinations. These examinations will include a mastery of pedagogy and content knowledge. Teachers should also have to complete a supervised internship for three years. The most radical changes to help keep teaching a good profession are: teachers should have their own board to police the profession, standards need to be established, there need to be mechanisms to remove incompetent teachers, promotions should be based on a ladder and to move up on the ladder you must take an exam, fewer teachers need to be aided by teaching assistants, and there should be no mandatory assignments.

I completely agree that it seems way to easy to become a teacher. There needs to be a cut off point, just like in medical school. As teachers, we will be teaching these students who will eventually become our doctors and scientists. I love how he talks about every teachers is different. No teacher teaches the same and no student learns the same. I agree with Mr. Klien completely on this also. I also agree on teacher testing. I think that that is what they are trying to do with the Praxis, but I think we need to have tests after classes on that class to make sure we learned what we need to know. This would make test taking less stressful, than trying to take the test all at one time. I don't agree with the three year internship. This is practically what we will be doing during school. I also agree that teaching should have: a board to police the profession, standards, mechanisms to remove bad teachers, exams to move up on the ladder, and fewer teaching assistants. I don't agree with no mandatory assignments. I think students should have assignments, just maybe not grade every assignment. Let the students do a self-evaluation.

I could see myself using some of these ideas in my classroom, and bringing some of these ideas to the school I work at. Reading this makes you realize teaching needs to have more guidelines and cutoffs. It is a profession that needs to be taken more seriously.

C4K Summary for November

For C4K #8, I was assigned Ravneek in Mr. Wigmore's class. He goes to school at Brampton. In Ravneek's post he is describing what he thinks an object may be. He also states what he thinks it may be and why he thinks that. The picture he was assigned for this post is to the left.

Below is the comment I left for Ravneek:
Hi Ravneek! I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. First, I would to say that this is a great post. I like how you told of all the options the object could be, and then you told what you thought it was and why. 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 Ravneek's blog!


For C4K #9, I was assigned Natania A. in Mrs. Mena's fifth grade class in Chula Vista, California. Natania's post is a narrative of a story. In this narrative she uses many adjectives to describe objects, which makes you visualize them and make them seem real. She tells how she looks into a dogs eyes and it causes her to recall a vision she has with her mother. This vision is a conversation she has with her mom and tells how a family heirloom is passed on. She has a very wide imagination.

Below is the comment I left for Natania:
Hi Natania! I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. First, I would like to say that this is an awesome post! You use so many adjectives and tell the story great! This made me feel like I knew the people in the story and could see them with my own eyes. I love the mystery of the story also. Great job! 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 Natania's blog!

For C4K #11, I was assigned Adam G. in Mrs. Mena's fifth grade class in Chula Vista, California. In Adam G.'s post he talks about how his team will be competing in two weeks. He then proceeds to list the line up for his teammates.

Below is the comment i left for Adam G.:
Hi, Adam G.! I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. This is a great post about your team! It was very cool how you listed your line up for the game. I hope your team does great in your competition! Good luck!

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 Adam G.'s blog!

Blog Assignment #13

Special education is very important in the school system. Without this program schools would be completely different. Special education programs and children use technology in many different ways. Watch the following videos and tell what you have learned about technology in special education.

Introducing iPods into Special Education

Technology in Special Education

Assistive Technology


Special education teachers are one of a kind. You really have to love what you are doing. That is not a job you could just go and do every day. It is a challenge for you and your students. You have to come up with many different ways to teach your special education students. Maybe because they can't communicate, or many other reasons.

There are many different ways that special needs children use technology.
In Introducing iPods into Special Education, teachers use the iPods for many things. They use the iPods for communication between teachers and students, parents, or siblings. They do this by leaving voice memos. The family members can listen to the voice memos and leave one in return to give back to the teacher. They also use the iPods to help students at home. They record sign language used to teach the lesson. This lets the students work at home and even review. They also read book and put the sign language on the iPods. These are just a couple of the ways they use an iPod in Special Education.

In Technology in Special Education, they show actual reactions of student when they are asked about technology. Most of these students use technology to help them communicate with their peers, their parents, and their teachers. The students feel that technology has made their life so much easier. One specific instance, a student has a vision disability. There is an app that makes all the words appear larger. You can really tell that technology has helped them for the better.

In Assistive Technology, many different assistive technologies are used. One is a Seven Level Communicator. They use this to make different choices, retell stories, and also tell what they want. A Partner Four is similar to a Seven Level Communicator, but it has four buttons instead of seven. The example she showed has yes, no, potty, and all done on the Partner Four. She shows videos called "We Sign", even though she only has one child who is deaf. All children need to know this so they can communicate with the deaf child. Higher Function was another tool used. This tool is for children who can't communicate at all. It uses tech speak and pictures for the student to choose what they want ot communicate. She uses two forms of buttons, a Step-by-Step and a Big Mack Switch. The Step-by-Step is used to answer question, along with the Big Mack Switch. One difference is the Big Mack Switch actually has a visual with it.

All of these tools used in special education are used to help to allow the students to make their own choices.

Project 12B

Project 10- Interview Movie

Blog Assignment #12

C4T #3, Posts 1 & 2

For my C4T #3 post one, I was assigned Frank Buck's blog Get Organized. I commented on Happy 10th Birthday, Blog! He explains why blogging is better than other sources of communication. He also tell the Top 10 Reasons to Blog. He explains how you can take many small notes and organized them into one blog post.

Below is the comment I left for Mr. Buck:
Hi, Mr. Buck. I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. First, I would like to say congratulations on 10 years! I know that is an accomplishment. I agree that blogs are one of the easiest ways of communication, that is on the computer. Bosses can post and workers can comment. I could see where this would help in a larger business, where the boss does not know every worker personally, but wants their input on a subject. I also see where it would be easier than a website. You could just change it directly, instead of calling and going through the maze of press 1 and 4 to get to who you need to talk to. I thoroughly enjoyed this post! Good luck in your future endeavors!

Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
URL for my blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/

For my C4T #3 post two, I was assigned Frank Buck's blog Get Organized. I commented on Better Choices, And It’s Easy. In this post, he compares life's to-do lists with restaurant menus. We must be able to see our choices in order to make better choices. He list some ways to help our life's "menu" to be the best it can be: make it digital, keep it simple, make it have search abilities, and make it have repeated tasks.

Below is the comment I left for Mr. Buck:
Hello, Mr. Buck. I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. I really needed to read this post! It makes perfect sense at this point in my life. I have a paper planner, but I take my electronics everywhere with me. I need to convert! This post is great! I love how you give specific tips. This will help tremendously, especially the ways to search! Great blog!


Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
URL for my blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/

Project 14, Project Based Learning Plan #2

Calendar
Lesson Plan
Individual Project rubric
Teacher Project Rubric

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.

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.

Project 12A- How to Work a SMART Board

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!

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.

Project #9 - Video Book Commentary

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.

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/

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.

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.

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

Project #8 Book Trailer

This is my book trailer for Charlie and the New Baby.

Project 7 Part A

My Sentence Is...


My Passion Is...

C4K Summary for September

I was assigned Ana for my first C4K. Ana’s post is about the lifeguard’s perspective of the waves. She talks about the surfers that are in the waves. She also talks about how a child jumps off a pier and how the waves “swallowed him up.” The waves made the boy struggle. Ten seconds would go by without seeing him and he would pop back up again. Finally the wave “spewed” him up.

Below is my comment I left on her post.

Hi Ana! I attend the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I love your story about the wave from a lifeguards view. I know that I definitely could not be a lifeguard. I could not possibly keep my eye on everyone. Keep up the good work with your blog!

Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
My Class Blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
My Blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/

Below is the link to go to Ana's post:
http://pesanav.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-wave-perspective-of-lifeguard.html#comment-form


I was assigned Cameron V for my second C4K.In Cameron V’s blog his topic was elephants. He talks about how elephants will feel sad about losing their monarch and living on the game reserve. He says that the elephants are sad because of actions that happened earlier. He also talked about how if the elephants were to escape what would happen.

Below is the comment I left on the post.

Hi Cameron V! I am a student at the University of South Alabama. Elephants are one of my favorite animals. I love your blog post! You make some awesome points about elephants and game reserves. It’s great how you thought about the many possibilities for the elephants and told some background information on the herd. Keep up the good work!

Twitter: @sydneybreeves
Email: sydneybreeves@gmail.com
My Class Blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com/
My Blog: http://reevessydneyedm310.blogspot.com/

Below is the link to go to this post:
http://kidblog.org/ElkPelicans_2014/79529b24-5307-4d28-b91a-21d180be6ff7/elephant-whisperer-blog-task-5/#comment-159


I was assigned Lauren for my third C4K. In Lauren’s post she tells a story about three friends. Jake is making a pizza and “chunked” it at the wall. Dani comes to Jake and says that they can’t go to the crocodile festival, and then the doorbell rings. Theo walks in and notices the orange spot on the wall where the pizza landed. He thought his friends forgot him. She ends in a cliff hanger so you never know what happens at the end of the story.

Below is the comment I left on the post.

Hi Lauren! I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Stramge's EDM 310 class. I love your story! You tell it so well. You can see the actions happening. I also love your ending. This was a 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/

Below is he link to go to her blog post:
https://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fkidblog.org%2FMrsGreerELA2%2F

Blog Assignment # 6

First of all, I would like to say I really enjoyed these videos. I learned a lot from them. Project Based Learning, PBL, is what it sounds like it is. It uses projects to help people learn. PBL must have certain things for it to strive: an authentic audience, include a student's interest and choice, involve the community, and should be driven by content. One of the keys to PBL is democracy and reflection. PBL helps teachers in that the teacher can grade as the students review each other's work during the reflection period. Review and reflection are very crucial and we as teachers must realize that things are not going to go as planned. Planned questions are good in the since it is a starting place, but we should never limit our students to just one question, or well anything. We must create opportunity for them to go on. We must be proud of what they are doing. When students see us as teachers proud of them, they will become proud of themselves.

ICurio is something I could see myself and my students using in the classroom. It is an online tool used for safe searches in the classroom. You can search text, audio, and videos. It also has storage for students to place things in folders, so they can go back to it later. Timelines are another feature. The historical feature allows students to enter criteria and search for people who meet it.

Discovery Ed is another tool I would use in my classroom. It is videos that are used to learn. This is used to enhance and bring text to life. If you can see something, you are more apt to learn than if you just hear something. I was am visual learner, and this would have helped me tremendously in grade school.

I found Anthony's Tips for Teaching very helpful. The major factors for you to be a good teacher are as follows, but not limited to: you must be interested in learning yourself; teaching is hard, but you are the one who makes it fun; surprises will always happen so you must be creative and flexible; make sure you aren't leaving a child behind by keeping them motivated; and you must reflect and revise for your audience. These are certainly not all of the factors.

Technology is an important part of education. You can't avoid it, it's EVERYWHERE. It should be involved in your curriculum because of this simple fact. Teachers must introduce how to use technology by scaffolding, or building on concepts. Teachers must introduce technology, not teach it. Technology makes classrooms cleaner and information becomes easier to share.

Anthony also talked about the layers for a lesson. They were how it fits into your year, your unit size, your week, and your day. All of these factors are equally important, and they all have to be considered for a lesson.

I thoroughly enjoyed these videos and I could see myself using these techniques in my own classroom.

Click here for PBL Checklists!

Project # 7 Part B: Parent and Student Videos

Blog Assignment # 5

Dr. Strange said, "Your personal learning network is the set of people and tools that you can call upon for help, consultation, collaboration, or other assistance." There are many different PLN today. Some of the most popular are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogs.

My PLN has developed immensely since I began EDM 310. I had a Twitter, but never got on or commented on it. I have had a Facebook for years. In this class I have created a YouTube account, a blog that I use quite often, and a new Twitter. The internet in general is a PLN all to its own. It provides so many ways to connect with people and ask questions, and maybe even answer questions. I have completed interviews before, but I never looked at them as PLNs.They are just they personal version of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogs. I could see myself using these communications more when I become a teacher. These days, you can get a quicker response because everyone has an iPhone or smart phone within arm's reach.

I am happy with how my PLN has evolved, but I could see things growing even more, class pages, YouTube videos, and maybe who knows, I may even have my own personal blog. Don't expect your PLN to develop over night. Groups of people and tools are what make up your PLN.

Creating a PLN!

Project # 3 Presentation

Search Engines Blog

I chose WolframAlpha, Bing, Gigablast, Soso.com, Yahoo, Youdao, DuckDuckGo, and Baidu as my eight search engines. I will explain what each search engine is used for, how they work, and give an evaluation of them. There will aslo be a like to look at the search engines yourself.

First on my list is WolframAlpha. This site is useful for looking up historical data, probabilities and poker hands, nutritional information, color facts, and words and wildcards. This is mostly numerical data. It works by a computational knowledge engine. It does not scan the web for material, but relies on a database controlled by the employees of the company. I like this site. I wish I would have known about it when I took Statistics 210.

Click here for WolframAlpha!

Second, I chose Bing. It is most useful for shopping, travel, local information, and health. It works by a programming code, also known as an algorithm. It narrows down and filters the results. From my experience out of the search engines I have used, this was my least favorite. I did not like the way information came up after the search was completed.

Click here for Bing!

Next, I researched Gigablast. It provides large-scale information, high performance, real-time information, and has retrieval technology from partner sites. It works by an index. It generates sites with related concepts from your qwerty entry. I don't see myself using this site because it seems so much like Google, which is my favorite.

Click here for Gigablast!

Soso.com was the next site I chose. It is useful for instant messaging, online media, video games, value-added service, and e-commerce. I see this site being a way to be social. It works as a browser hijacker, meaning it promotes other free downloads and changes the homepage on your computer. This site also looked a lot like Google, even down to the color of the word "soso.com".

Click here for Soso.com!

Yahoo was the fifth search engine I chose to look into. I find this site very useful about anything and everything. It has possibilities for e-mail, communication, and even to advertising. It works by providing a listing to users from a variety of sources. This is one of my favorite sites, because I've always used it. I am familiar with how it works.

Click here for Yahoo!

Next, I researched Youdao. It was useful in finding webpages, images, news, music, blogs, dictionary entries, and more. It concentrates mostly on dictionary entries. It works by using a spider and an index. My evaluation for this site was hard. If I could read Chinese it would have been a lot easier to evaluate. Overall, it looked like Google, because of the categories at the top of the page.

Click here for Youdao!

Seventh was DuckDuckGo. This site gets the best resources, rather than all resources. It works by a driven community, servers, and algorithms. It has more privacy, a smarter search, and less clutter. I like this site and could see myself using it in the future. It is so simple.

Click here for DuckDuckGo!

Last, I looked a Baidu. It is a language search engine. It also looks up audio files and images. It works from an index of over 740 million pages, 80 million images, and 10 million multimedia files. This was once again a site that would have been easier to read if it was in English. It looked a lot like Yahoo, as far as it was set up.

Click here for Baidu!

Blog Assignment #4

I chose to answer the question "What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?" be reading and reviewing The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom.

Teachers have a lot to consider for asking questions. For so long teachers were the ones to know EVERYTHING. Getting that wrap as a soon-to-be teacher is scary. To be honest, teachers don't know everything and never will. Teachers should never assume that their students know nothing. Teachers must also accept that students can teach teachers. Everyone learns something new every day.

There are some guidelines to asking questions. Never say this is the end of the question asking time. When you tell a student that this is their last chance for any questions you are shutting them down. They may not have a question yet, and may think of it after the certain part of that course has been taught. by you saying that they do not have any more chances to ask questions, they will, of course, not ask. Also, the students that feel they are not smart will not answer, because they feel that someone who is "smarter" will answer. As a teacher, you must also give sufficient time for a student to answer a question. Don't ask a question and move to the next student if they don't spit it out right away. It will help if teachers use a strategy to question asking. Keep the same strategy throughout the whole school year. One easy strategy would be to ask the question, wait a couple of seconds to give the students time to absorb your question, and then call on a student. It would also help to call on students at random. You do not want the students to think that if they answer one question they are through for the day. You want to challenge them constantly.