Project #16

For our final project, as a group, we had to create either a Prezi presentation or an iBook about our projects we completed in this semester of EDM 310. Our group, Bacon, chose to create an iBook. In our iBook, we have our sentence and passion statements, edited version of our lesson plan, edited version of our podcasts, ten pictures from each of us, and what we think the most important technology tool we would use in the classroom. Our lesson plan was "What's Your Planet?". The lesson has the students choose a planet and create a poster about their chosen planet. At the end of the week the students will present the poster to the class. In addition to our lesson plan, we included ten pictures about ourselves. Alyx put a picture of her and her mom, as well as, pictures of places she liked. I chose pictures of my family. I have pictures of my husband and myself, our kids, my parents, and my siblings. Since both of us are elementary education majors, we mutually agreed that the SMARTBoard is the most important technology tool we would use. The SMARTBoard is a wonderful tool to get and keep our students engaged in the classroom.

Blog #15

C4T #4

For my C4T #4 I was assigned to William Chamberlain's bloodspot. His blog was about what his seventh grade class were working on. His class was working on making Russian nesting dolls for their geography lesson. They could create their nesting dolls to be any character. In a week, the teacher was going to get his students to reflect on why they made their choice of character. He wanted to teach his students that they needed to listen to their inner voice and not give into peer pressure. I left a comment stating that I thought it was a great idea using the Russian nesting dolls as a way to get your students to reflect on their choices. Seventh grade is a grade were students are still finding themselves and they tend to give in to peer pressure. They need to learn how to make choices on their own instead of trying to please people around them.



William Chamberlain's latest blog was about one of his students asking him a question. The question that was asked was, "Why do I have to learn History?" This question threw him for a loop. He said there was no simple answer for this question. He had to Google it and found horrible answers. He does not think anyone can answer this question for him. I left a comment stating that history provides us the opportunity to learn from our mistakes. We can look at our countries history and see what and where we need to improve, if at all. We have to know and understand where we came from in order to understand our future.

April C4K

Maurice

The first C4K I was assigned to, was Maurice's Blog. He is a year six student at Pt England school in Auckland, New Zealand. Maurice's last blog post was about his time at school camp. He had a good time. They went kayaking and ate corn fritters. I left a comment stating that it sounded like he had a good time at his school camp. I enjoy kayaking as well. I am thinking about purchasing a kayak, so I can go kayaking in the bayou. I think it would be a great weekend adventure.



Latu

The second C4K I was assigned to, was Latu's Blog. She is a year four student at Pt England school in Auckland, New Zealand. Latu's last post was a Chromebook Reflection chart. She had questions listed in one column and the answers listed in another column. One question the was listed was "What did I find most interesting?" Her answer was she was more interested in maths. I left a comment stating that math is my favorite subject. I have enjoyed math from learning addition to learning how to solve equations. Math requires a lot of focus and hard work.

Blog #13

What did I leave out?


How could technology be used in teaching mathematics?

It is well known how to integrate technology in literacy, such as blogging. Having students create personal blogs or class blogs get them engaged in literacy. If they are interested in what they are writing about, they will write more and want to learn more. With all the technology at our fingertips, educators have to find creative ways to teach their students. Math is a cut and dry subject that will not change. One plus one will always equal two. Educators have to make this engaging. One way educators can make mathematics engaging is integrating technology. I have found a video, Teaching Math with Innovative Technology. This video shows an educator integrating technology in math. The students watch a video of the lesson at home and begin answering the questions assigned. The next day the students bring questions to the classroom for the teacher. He decided to do this because the students were having problems at home completing the homework. When he was teaching the lesson, the students seemed to understand. When the students went home to complete the homework assignment, they ran into problems. The reason being is that the questions in the beginning are easier and gradually get more complicated. This is a great way to use technology teaching math.

Another video that I found was, Teaching Math With Technology. This video shows that students can learn how to graph, solve linear equations, create number lines and visual verify equations. This is an interesting way for students to learn how to solve math problems. They can come up with the answer to the problem and then verify it on the computer. They can visually see if they solved the problem correctly. The video used apples to visually show the problem, but educators can use any other object. My favorite animation that this video showed was the visual way to remember greater than and less than signs. The birds beak was the sign, the greater than opened up towards the birds body. Children will remember this since it was visually represented. When I was learning greater than and less than, my teacher created a PacMan out of foam that ate the greater number. Still to this day I remember that PacMan always eats the greater number.

Blog #12

What assistive technologies are available to you as a teacher?

The video, The Mountbatten - Assistive technology for the Blind, is a wonderful feature for blind people. The Mountbatten lets you create brail. The system lets you create the brail as it tells you the letter it is creating. It can save files, transfer files to a computer, and receive files from a computer. This is helpful to an educator because it allows immediate feedback. The teacher can teach blind children each individual letter in brail. The teacher can teach the student the phonetics of each letter as they learn to feel the letter in brail.



The video, iPad Usage for the Blind, is a wonderful example of all the technology that is available today to help assist people with disabilities. The iPad is equipped with a Voice Over feature. This feature helps the blind navigate through the iPad. They can drag one finger over the screen and it will tell them what their applications are. When it gets to the application that needs to be selected, the person double taps the screen to select the application. Another useful feature of the iPad is that iBooks has an E-Reader feature. Once you download the book in iBooks, the iPad will read the book aloud, tell you the page number and the chapter. Educators can use an iPad to read to students. This would also be used as a way to assist in research, for example searching the web.



Microsoft also has some assistive technology options for help with input. This allows people with little to severe disabilities use a computer. The Sip-and-Puff system allows you to input by inhaling and exhaling. This would be useful for students with a muscular disorder or paralyzation. They can use their inhaling and exhaling to communicate. Another option Microsoft has is Wands and Sticks. Wands and sticks can be mounted on their head, chin, or in their mouth. It acts as a cursor so they can input information in the computer. There are many more that would be very useful to assist students with disabilities in the classroom.



In my opinion, The Eye-Com EC7T is a very important assistive technology. The Eye-Com EC7T is wearable glasses that detects eye movement and blinking patterns to allow paralyzed individuals to use a computer, move a wheelchair, and use all kinds of electronic devices. This allows people that would normally not be able use electronic devices the freedom to where they can. Special Education Educators can use this as a tool for their students with muscular dystrophy, ALS, or any form of paralyzation to help them communicate.

Project #12 Part B

Project #10

Blog #11

In Brian Crosby’s video, Back to the Future, Crosby discusses the technology they use in class, how they use it, and the impact it leaves on their education. Crosby’s students each have their own computers to use, with which they use for blogging, creating wikis, and posting pictures on the class flikr account. One project that the students did was called “My High Hopes." In this project, students wrote down what their high hopes were in their lifetime. They sent up a balloon with a camera and their high hopes attached. This way they could see the view from the balloon. The students then wrote a story as if they were the balloon. The first half was written before the balloon was sent up, then finished after the the balloon was sent up. I think we can learn is that students can learn through projects like this. It seems like students are just having fun, but at the same time they are learning.

Paul Anderson discusses the Blended Learning Cycle in his video. In blended learning, learning in the classroom, online, and mobile is combined, while the learning cycle involves an engaging question, exploration, explanation, expansion, and finally evaluation. Anderson uses the acronym “QUIVERS" for his blended learning cycle, which stands for question, investigation, video, elaboration, review, and summary quiz. It is important to start with a good question to get students interested in what they are going to be doing. Next you investigate. In investigating, students can experiment. Next is video. With a video, students can watch this on their own, leaving the instructor time to work with other students. Then there is elaboration which is going further into the subject. Students can be assigned further reading material to learn more about the subject. Next is review in which Mr. Anderson meets with students and asks them questions to make sure they understand the subject. Last, students are given a summary quiz that tests them on the things they have learned in the previous steps. I think Anderson has a good system for his students. I think it incorporates all the different styles of learning. It starts off with a good question to get students engaged, but it also incorporates experimentation for students that are more hands on and reading for those kinds of learners. Not only are there these things but there is a video for visual/auditory learners.

Mark Church discusses a great way to make kids think, in Making Thinking Visible. The students watched a video the previous day on early human beginnings. He asked the students to come up with a headline that would capture what they thought it's about. The students were asked to write their headline on a long sheet of paper. They then hung them up on the bulletin board. After a few weeks of the class going over human beginnings in more detail, they would then see if their headline would be the same. The idea is that when you make thinking visible then the students will learn more.

Making Thinking Visible is a great way to show the students how their thinking evolves. Students can view how they thought at the beginning of the lesson and then what they think at the end of the lesson. When students first hear about a topic, they form an opinion before they are knowledgable. After the students learn about the topic, their opinion will most likely change. This teaches students how to think more in depth before forming an opinion.



In the video Super Digital Citizen, Sam Pane was teaching his fifth grade class about digital safety as well as being a good digital citizen. Sam Pane quoted Spiderman "With great power, comes great responsibility." He had his students talk in their groups about what power the internet gives people. After the class discussed the powers of the internet and what a digital citizen was, Sam introduced the assignment of creating a digital citizen superhero and a comic strip showing proper internet safety and incorporating real images of themselves. Sam took about five minutes to show the students how to create their digital superhero. The students then created a digital citizen superhero and their comic strips. Once all the student created their comic strip, the students then did gallery walks. Gallery walks are when the students view and critique their peers work.

Educators can learn a lot from Sam Pane. He incorporates superhero quotes into his lecture to get his students engaged. The quote he uses "With great power, comes great responsibility" makes the students think about the power of the internet and responsibility they must use on the internet. The internet is a powerful tool we can use to learn about anything. Students need to know how to use the internet safely. Creating a comic strip that has self images makes the lesson personal for the students. In the comic strips, the students can come up with unsafe situations and have their digital superhero save them. They are learning through their creativity, without even realizing their learning. The comic strip also helps the students practice writing stories. The fact that he calls the peer review a gallery walk also gives his students a sense of accomplishment. They consider themselves an artist. The students also learn from performing a gallery walk. The students learn by reading their peers comic. They get new ideas as well as reinforcing the idea of using internet safety.



Project Based Learning

This video is about three teachers that worked together to combine three subjects and make serious changes to the structure of the classroom in order to provide a improved learning experience for their students. The teachers expressed in the video that they were faced with some major roadblocks while attempting to make this change. After attempting they soon realized they would have to get their administrators involved to help restructure the class times to make the plan work.

After restructuring their classroom, they took entire morning to teach English, history and information processing. The three teachers worked together and used project based learning to teach students beyond just the curriculum. The teachers in the video talked about how this gave them the opportunity to teach the students not just about the facts but about being a good citizen and poverty. The teachers could take time with the students to critique their work and revise. This allowed more time for feedback and better quality work.

Roosevelt PBL   

This video was basically just a break down of "Project Based Learning" and how this school was using it in their classrooms. The video explained how PBL was a "more in depth learning, based on real world instructions and research based". One of the teachers said something like " the students can really show they understand and not that they just kind of get but they passed the test".

The teachers in this video encouraged students to be involved in public speaking at a young age so that it wouldn't be such a struggle when they got older. The other key points made throughout the video about PBL were about student choice, giving students a sense of power and teaching them to be able to work in a group and communicate with each other.

March C4K

Mamarei

For my first C4K I was assigned to Little Voices, Little Scholars blog. This is Mrs. She's second grade class blog from Pt. England School in Auckland, New Zealand. Mrs. She has integrated technology into her classroom. The students are creating pictures using a Kid Pix program and then making movies using iMovie. These children are only five and six years old. It is remarkable what these children are doing. I was assigned to Mamarei. The latest post was a video of the New England Way. This video was about what they have learned. For example: listening to the teacher, standing in line, taking turns and tidying up. I left a comment on the blogs stating: I enjoyed watching the video that you all created about Pt England way. It looks like you are learning a lot from school, including doing the right thing and how to use technology. I think it is great that you have a wonderful teacher that is able to teach you using technology.



Amethyst

The second C4K that I was assigned to was Amethyst's blog. She is a fourth year student at Pt. England school in Auckland, New Zealand. Her last blog post was a link to her Pirate Map. She created the presentation on Google Docs. I left her a comment stating that she did a great job with her google doc presentation. I liked her pirate map. I tried it without using the solution page and it was a fun way to practice North, South, East and West.



Asena

The third C4K that I was assigned to was Asena's blog. She is a year seven student at Pt Englander in Auckland, New Zealand. The background of her blog is a drawing. I commented that I like the background. Her blog post was demonstrating her reading comprehension. She had question and answers about the book "Big Shift" by Jacqui Brown. The book is about divorcing parents. The family lived on a farm in the country. The mom decided to get a divorce and take the three children (one girl and two boys). They moved to a two bedroom apartment in the city. I left a comment stating that the book was a sad book. I complemented her comprehension skills. From her detailed description, I could paint an image in my head.

C4T #3

For my C4T #3, I was assigned The Ever Evolving Teacher. The last blog post was about persistence. This blog has a poster about persistence. It describes how to be persistent including learning from your mistakes, stay positive, reinforce your goal, check with an expert, reset your mind and check, change and use your plan. This blog explains that persistence is the process of achieving something, not actually achieving a goal. I agree with this statement. People who are able to work full time and be a full time student in a masters program are very persistent. I left a comment stating that I agreed with his explanation of persistent. I think people that are persistent are people who still pursue their goals regardless of the obstacles. There are some students that are in a full time masters program and work full time as well. I have great respect for these individuals. I could only imagine how hard it is, but this is just one example of persistence.



I went to The Ever Evolving Teacher blog again. There was not a new blog post since the previous time I viewed the blog. I viewed the blog that was posted prior to the last blog. This blog post was about a running record app. The teacher has to complete the data entry. The app has embedded formulas to help with the accuracy and self-correction rate. The running record can be saved as a file or an email, as well as, record the student's voice reading. The student's voice and the running records are synced and can be used for daily work and conferences. I left a comment stating that this app seems really useful for educators. I love the fact that it can be saved as a file or email, as well as, the fact the student's voice can be recorded. This would be very useful for teachers that are just starting out and are not very proficient in running records. They could go back and make corrections if needed.

Blog #10

What can we learn from Sir Ken Robinson?



After watching Bring On the Education Revolution, I realized you can learn a lot from Sir Ken Robinson. He brought up the fact that teachers need to enjoy what they do. I completely agree with Sir Ken Robinson. Teachers who enjoy teaching are more engaged in teaching their students. They want their students to achieve. The teachers that do not enjoy teaching are probably just wanting the weekend to come. Students can tell if their teacher is engaged, if they see their teacher is not engaged then why should they be engaged? If the teacher enjoys what they do, then they will try and find innovated ways to teach their students. Sir Ken Robinson also made a comment about teenagers these days do not wear a watch. They do not wear a watch because they are living in a digital day were the time is everywhere. They could just look at the time on the phones or computers. Teachers need to learn from this. We can not teach the children the way we used to teach children. We have to use technology to get them engaged. We have to change the way we teach constantly based on the students we are teaching. Children are all different and do not learn the same. As a future teacher, I already know that I will have to customize my lesson plans every year to teach my students the best way they will learn.

Project #15

For project #15, I created a website, "Why are they important?". Students will research their assigned person or event during the Civil Rights Movement using iCurio. Then they will produce and record a play using iMovie. The students will show their recorded play to the class.

Project #12 Part A

Blog #9

For blog post #9, we were assigned to view four videos: First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class, Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1, Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 2, and Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 3. In my future classroom, I will use the blogging technique that she uses in her classroom. I will have my children create their own blogs. The students can use this as their digital journals. Having the children blogging would benefit them in several ways. First the students will be practicing literacy. They will build communication skills as well. Also they will be able to make friends with children their age around the world. They can learn about the different climates around the world by communicating other students from different areas. Ms. Cassidy talked about collaborating with other classes around the world and have other students assigned to comment on her student's blogs. The students will not only learn that their blogs can be viewed by everyone in the world, but they will also learn online safety. As an educator, it is important to teach our students about online safety. It is our job to protect our students. The impediment I would most likely encounter is parental approval. Parents hear horror stories about predators online. They hack into games to try and get information from children. Parents do not like the thought of their child online without them there to protect them. I like Ms. Cassidy's way of protecting her students. She does not post the child's picture with their name and she has her students use their first name only. In addition to these, I would also make sure that I teach my students not to give any clues about where they live. They should not give out the name of the city or street they live in, school mascot, or the name of a local sports team.

Blog #8

After researching 21st Century learning and communicating tools, I discovered several tools that would be very useful as an educator. The first tool is Etherpad. Etherpad is a tool that allows you to work collaboratively on the same document. Several people can edit the document in real time. It is very similar to Google Docs. Another tool is Animoto. Animoto is a tool that allows you to make videos. This tools is similar to iMovie. Educators can use this tool to make videos to use in their lesson. The most useful tool I found is Khan Academy. This website is a wonderful tool for educators. Khan Academy is a database where you can learn anything about math, science, chemistry, and physics. It also has practice tools that the students can use to practice what they have learned.

C4T #2

I was assigned to Michael Gorman's blog called 21st Century Educational Technology and Learning blog. The blog I read was called Stem Education: Over 25 STEAM links Filled With Resources and Information. It was about integrating the arts in the curriculum or as he put it, turning STEM into STEAM. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. By turning STEM into STEAM you are adding Arts. Michael provide some excellent resources. I left a comment informing him he had provided some excellent resources. I think everyone should look at his resources. My two favorite resources were DIY and Makey Makey. On DIY students can create their own profiles and interact with other student with the same interests. Students are able to express themselves and show case their creativity. My other favorite is Makey Makey. Students would enjoy turning their fruits or other objects into a remote, piano, or even a keyboard. I truly believe students are more engaged when educators integrate the arts in their curriculum.



I reviewed Michael Gorman's blog again. His latest post was about bringing NCAA into the classroom. He told a story about a classroom doing their National Basketball Bracket spreadsheets. This was a project based learning assignment. Students researched the geography and pros and cons of each college. From the information the students gathered they came up with their spreadsheets. Michael provided fifteen links to bring NCAA into the classroom. I left a comment informing him that the most informative link was March Madness… Reading for information Lesson Plan. The website provided a lesson plan on how to read basketball information. As I informed Michael, I do not know a lot about basketball, so this link was the most informative to me.

Project #9

Project #14

For project #14, I created a website, Chose Your Inventor. Students will research their chosen inventor using iCurio and produce a hanging report. After they completed their hanging report, the students will present their inventor to the class.

Blog #7

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture was a very informative and moving lecture. Randy talks about his experiences and journey to achieve his childhood dreams. He talks about everyone being able to achieve their dreams. He talks about brick walls being put up to stop you from achieving your dreams. He puts real life experiences into his lecture to make an impact on the audience, but the twist at the end made your heart melt. The lecture was not for the audience, it was for his kids.

Educators can learn from Randy by his experience with his brick walls. He gave an example about going and seeing Dean Wormer about getting approval to go work with the imagineering team at Disney. Dean Wormer told him he was not going to let him go work with them. Even when randy told him he was going to take an unpaid leave of absence to go work with imagineering, Dean Wormer informed him he he would not approve the leave. Finally Randy asked him if he thought it was a good idea. Dean Wormer told him he did not know in a way that a leader should not talk to any one. Randy then went to Jean Block, the person with the authority to make the decision on his work with imagineering. When Randy asked Jean if he thought it was a good idea, Jean told him I do not know, but tell me more. Jean show a perfect example of what educators should do when they do not know the answer or simply when a student is asking them a question that their not interested in. Educators need to build the confidence in their students. They can simply do this by listening to their idea, asking questions and encourage their thinking.

The most important thing an educator can learn from Randy is his passion to teach and his positive personality. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006 and given three to six months to live, one month prior to this lecture. Instead of feeling anger and desperate for a cure, he chose to live the rest of his life educating people and staying positive. He had a realistic perspective on life and knows you can not change the cards that are dealt, but you can chose how your going to live your life. Educators should always have a positive attitude on life and be a positive role model for their students. I just hope if I am ever diagnosed with any type of cancer, I will stay as positive and passionate as Randy Pausch.

C4K Summary for February

Jillian
The first February C4K, I viewed Jillian's Blog. She is in the fifth grade. Her blog is tracking the progress of her cats, Adipose and Ewok. She is tracking their length and weight. The background of her blog was animated cats and she had a few pictures of her cats on her blog as well.On January 30, Jillian commented that she had to take her cat, Ewok, to the vet the previous day. She also commented that she was trying to weigh and measure her cats to update their stats to her blog, but she had not done so yet. I left a comment on her blog telling her how adorable her cats were and hoped that Ewok was okay. I also complimented her animated cat blog background.

Najae
The second February C4K, I was assigned to review Najae's Blog. Her blog post was a questionnaire called About You! She asked questions about where you live, gender, age, siblings, pets, and snow. She also wanted to know if you liked school, favorite book, and favorite color. I left a comment on her blog telling her she was asking a lot of great questions to get to know someone else. I also complimented her border of flowers around her questionnaire.

Jillian
The third week of C4K, I went back to Jillian's Blog. Her last blog post was about her cat Ewok. Ewok went to the faucet and started licking it. Jillian turned the faucet on and Ewok started playing in the water, as well as, drinking some. I told her that my sister's cat, Timmy, does the same thing. He refuses to drink from his water bowl. If he wants a drink, he goes to the faucet and meow's until my sister turns the faucet on. Cats do adorable things.

Lillah Marie Johnson
The final C4K for February was Lillah's Blog. Her most recent blog post was an essay of what she believes. She wrote her essay about judging other people. She quoted the bible to emphasis her points. She made it very clear that you do not know what other people are going through, so do not judge them or bully them because of what we see. She also mentioned the tragic story of Phoebe Prince. Phoebe was a 16 year old girl who was bullied and one day she went home and hung herself. Her 10 year old sister found her. I informed Lillah that I was very impressed with her blog post. I agree with her, that no one should judge or bully another person. We do not know what other people are going through. As a society, we should look at what happened to Phoebe Prince and learn from her tragic story. As a future educator, I hope bullying will stop, so we do not lose any more innocent children.

Project #13

Our group consists of Alyx Kellam, Jennifer Vanderhoof, and myself. We created a website "What's Your Planet?" Students will research their chosen planet on iCurio and create a poster to present to the class.

Blog #6

What are personal learning Networks? How can they help you as a teacher? How are they formed? How can you create your own PLN? Who will be the first additions to your PLN?

I have never heard of personal learning Networks (PLN) until this assignment. Personal learning network is a network of people that you interact with. Throughout EDM 310 we have been building our PLN's without even knowing. Dr. Strange has been assigning us teacher's blog to review. I know I have been assigned some great blogs to review. I have learned and will continue to learn from these blogs we have been provided. PLN's help teachers stay connected to other educators and experts. These experts can be brought into the classroom via the web. Also, if the teacher does not know the answer to a students question and they are connected with an expert, they could find the answer quickly.

We can create our own personal learning network by staying connected on Twitter, Blogger, and Facebook. As previously stated, I have already added a few educators to my personal learning network. I am currently following 21st Century Educational Technology and Learning blog, as well as Primary Tech blog. These two blogs are great educational resources. I know as I get further in my education and once I enter my career, I will continue to build my personal learning network.

Project #8

Project #7

Blog #5

What do you learn from these conversations with Anthony Capps?

Project Based Learning Part 1: Experience of a 3rd Grade Teacher
The information that Anthony provided in this video was very informative. I learned that when teachers create a project for students, they must create a project that meets all the criteria. Students need to know the content they need to complete the project. The three goals of creating a project is an authentic audience, student interests, and driven by content. If the teacher allows the students to select their topic, the students will be self motivated. Students will select a topic that they are interested in and they will want top learn more about the topic. The most critical part of project based learning is allowing the students to reflect and revise. Students will reflect on their project and critique each others project. By doing this, the students learn how to do peer reviews as well as learn how to improve their project. After reflecting on their project, the students are able to revise and make corrections.

Project Based Learning Part 2: Experience of a 3rd Grade Teacher
Anthony provided more informative information in this video. He made it clear that teachers need to know that every project does not turn out well. They need to have a plan just in case one aspect of the project does not go well. The most important thing I learned from this video is that teachers should never put a limit on their students. If teachers put limits on their students, they limit their learning. If the teacher gives them free range, then the students will go above and beyond their teachers expectations. Students are excited to share their project because their proud of what they have completed.

iCurio
iCurio allows students to search the web in a safe way for educational material. The web pages are read and reviewed. In addition pictures and videos are reviewed to make sure it is appropriate for the students. The neat thing about iCurio is that it has a directory feature and a read aloud feature.

Discovery Education
Discovery Education is a database of science and social studies. Teachers use this resource to create an interactive lesson. Discovery Education has pictures and video. Students retain more information if they have visual aids such as pictures and videos. It is hard to bring in experts in the classroom, but with discovery Education it is easy. The experts enter the classroom through the web.

The Anthony-Strange List of Tips for Teachers Part 1
The biggest tip that Anthony and Dr. Strange gave was that teachers have to be interested in learning. If a teacher is not interested in learning than they should not go into teaching. Teachers are constantly learning. Teachers engage their students and make them think out of the box. When students think out of the box they can come up with some great questions that the teacher might not have the answer. As a learner, the teacher will want to know the answer. Another tip was when creating a project the teacher needs to start with the end goal in mind. When creating a project know what you want the outcome to be, but do not limit the students. As a teacher you have to be flexible and creative. Projects do not always turn out due to technology malfunctions or other mishaps that can occur. Teachers need to be creative so they keep the students engaged.

Don't Teach Tech - Use It
Technology is everywhere. If someone is not use to using technology then they will have to learn. For children, technology comes naturally. Teachers need to integrate technology within their curriculum. They need to use technology and not teach it. Technology needs to be scaffold within the lesson. It should start out with one basic part and then build on it. For example, students should not go and do a completely animated PowerPoint. They need to first learn how to create a slide and then build on that. By the end of the lesson, the students would have completed an animated PowerPoint.

Additional Thought About Lessons Anthony stated that each lesson is at least four layers thick. The first is the year. Teachers need to make sure that they are going to cover all the standards within the year. The second is unit. Teachers need to know if they have created a project that is scaffolded correctly. Then it is broken down into weeks. Teachers need to know if they created a plan for the week in which they will complete their goal. The last layer is daily. Teachers need to make sure they are delivering the material to the students on a daily basis.

Project #3 Presentation

Blog #4

What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?

After watching the video Questioning Styles and Strategies, I learned there are many useful techniques to ask students questions to promote effective learning. Some techniques include: provisional writing and cueing, think and compare, random calling, surveying, wait time, and probing. Provisional writing is when the teacher asks the students a question and have them write the answers down. After the students are writing their answer down they think and compare with a peer. I personally like this technique because every student is thinking about the answer and writing it down. This way not one student is answering the question and the rest of the students are day dreaming. Another technique is random calling. The teacher randomly calls on a student to answer the question. This helps the teacher know if the students are understanding the lesson, but there is a downside to this technique. When a teacher randomly calls on a student, the rest of the students stop thinking about the answer because their name was not called. If the teacher surveys then every student has to answer. Wait time is probably the most important questioning technique because it gives all the students time to think about the question and come up with the answer. Once the student answers the question asked then the teacher can use the technique probing. Probing is when the teacher asks more details from the student. This makes the student think more in depth.

Another video I watched was Questioning Strategies. This video talked about the frequency of asking the students questions over a period of time. The amount of questions you ask keeps the students thinking and engaged. This video also talked about equitable distribution. In the video it showed a popsicle stick strategy. You write your students name on a popsicle stick (one name per stick) and just pick a random stick. The name you draw is the student that answers the question. I think it is a great idea, but not to use as a questioning strategy. The students that already had their name drawn will not pay attention, because they know their not going to get called on. I agree that every student should have the chance to answer a question, but not this way. You can use the popsicle stick for picking students to run something to the office or to do something special. This way it is far and every body has a turn feeling special. This video also talked about wait time. It explained the most important thing you can do after asking a question is to wait three seconds then called on a student.

The most important thing a teacher can do when asking a question is to use a variety of techniques. Different topics use different questioning techniques. For example, if you are asking a multiple choice question, you would want to take a survey and then discuss each answer choice. This would give the student time to think about the answer and then you would be able to explain it in more detail. This will also teach them a learning strategy, process of elimination. No matter a teachers teaching style, the teacher has to know how their students will learn best and adapt their style of teaching.

C4T #1

I read Mrs. Kathleen Morris' blog called "Blogging and the Literacy Curriculum." I recommend that future educators read this Mrs. Morris' blog. She shared what happened when she first started blogging in the classroom. She tried fitting blogging into her curriculum. She would blog whenever she could find a minute; during lunch or whenever the students where transitioning from one thing to another. The problem was that students where not interested, so she decided to integrate blogging into the curriculum. She integrated blogging into her literature block. By doing this, the children practiced using technology as well as practicing correct literacy. The students got more involved and interested with blogging. She even changed the way her students did their daily journal writings. She had her students create student blogs. She used them as a digital portfolios.

After reading Mrs. Morris' blog, I commented on her blog. I informed her that she had inspired me to have my future students create a digital portfolio. Students would be more engaged in learning if they were creating their own personal blogs.

Mrs. Kathleen Morris' next blog post "The 2014 New School Year" was a catch up post, as well as, tips for newly graduated teachers and a guide to get parents involved in the class blog. She is not teaching this year because she is focusing on motherhood, but she is doing some replacement teaching. She brought up a wonderful point, just because your on maternity leave does not mean you have to be out of the educational loop. "Now, with blogs, Twitter and other online resources, the education community is at your fingertips." (Mrs. Kathleen Morris)

Since she has been out of the classroom, she wrote some tips for graduated teachers. She put together some important tips for teachers that are just starting out. She writes that it is important to develop a rapport with your students. This is done throughout the year. She also says that teachers need a two way communication with parents. parents who are involved enhance their child's learning.

After reading her most recent blog, I left a comment congratulating her on motherhood. I also commented that I'm glad she is continuing to blog about education. The tips for recently graduated teachers were very useful. You learn techniques of teaching in college, but you are always nervous when you get your own classroom. It's helpful to hear tips from teachers who have taught for ten years.

Blog #3

I learned how to complete a peer review by watching the following What is Peer Editing?, Peer Edit With Perfection Tutorial, and Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes. I knew that when writing a peer review you had to be tactful, but I never knew there was a three step process. The first step is compliment. You have to compliment the peer that you are reviewing. You can compliment on anything that you liked about their work, but you have to stay positive. The second step is suggestions. You need to give your peer ideas on how to improve their work. This can be on word choice, sentence structure, or content. Lastly, you have to make corrections. Corrections can be on punctuation and/or spelling.

I know reviewing your peers can be awkward and challenging, but we have to remember that we all make mistakes. If we know what we can improve on, then we will keep improving every chance we can. We can make each day a learning experience. All we have to do is follow the three step process to writing a constructive peer review and stay positive.

Blog Post #2

The central message of the movie Mr. Dancealot is that children learn from doing and observing. Teachers need to get involved so they can learn. If the students are expected to just sit and watch, they will not stay interested and they will not learn. The author made his case by showing and instructor lecturing how to dance with a power point presentation and blocking all the students visibility to learn the dance. He then tested them by watching them dance. This was not the way they were taught. I agree with the author's conclusion that teachers need to get their students involved. Teachers need to know how to teach the students in a way they will learn.

In Kevin Roberts movie Teaching in the 21st Century , he thinks that teachers need to teach the students how to use technology. He says that teachers are filters. I agree with his thinking. Todays children know how to use a computer, iPad, iPhone, and so much more by the age of two or three. If teachers do not teach their students how to use technology responsibly, they will not know how to find reliable information and sources. This changes the way educators teach. Educators must be technologically literate and use different types of technology in the classroom to engage their students.

I watched the movie The Networked Student by Wendy Dexler. This movie was about a student that is learning through networking instead of an instructor led class. During the movie a question was asked "Why does the networked student even need a teacher? My reaction to this question was that the student needs a teacher to teach him how to find reliable information. As the video continued, I learned there were even more reasons for the networked student to have a teacher. The teacher offers guidance and teaches the students how to communicate respectively. The teacher also helps the networked student how to sort and organize all the information the student finds. This strategy helps prepare the student for his future.

The thesis of Vicki Davis' movie, Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts, is that students are empowered by using technology and discover answers on their own. I agree with this thesis. Students feel empowered, accomplished and confident by discovering the answers themselves. She feels that teachers do not have to know how to do something to each it if technology is used in the classroom. If you empower the students to learn on their own, they will be teaching you.

I have never heard of flipping a classroom until I watched the video Flipping the Classroom by Lodge McCammon. I think flipping the classroom would be useful as a teacher. The students would be able to come to class prepared for the lesson for that day. The teacher would not have to go over basic information. The teacher would be able to dive right into the application and move on to the following lesson.

Blog Post #1

I have heard horror stories about EDM 310, including that it consumes all your time and does not leave any time for any other subjects. I can see where other students think this. EDM 310 requires nine hours of work each week outside of the classroom. My biggest fear is that I will not have the nine hours a week to complete the required projects. It will be the most difficult part of this class. The planned solution for setting aside the time is to work on it every night for about an hour and a half. I will try and treat this class like an every day routine. EDM 310 is different from any other class I have taken at the University of South Alabama due to the fact it is project based learning. All the other classes I have taken had a professor lecturing the material to the students. In EDM 310 the students are teaching themselves and the professor is there for the students if they need help. I had questions until I read over the material provided.

Practice Post

My name is Jennifer Dennison. I was born and raised in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. I lived in Charleston, South Carolina for about a year and Las Vegas, Nevada for about a year. No matter where I have moved to I have always come back to my hometown. I absolutely love living in Ocean Springs. I love spending time with my family, whether we are playing a board game or just watching a movie together. I started attending University of South Alabama because it is an excellent university. I live close to University of Southern Mississippi and attended for a semester, but I did not think the university was the right choice for me, so I transferred to University of South Alabama.

I live with my wonderful husband and three of our amazing children. I brought one child to the family and he brought three. Unfortunately one daughter lives with her mother in Virginia. We love spending time together just hanging out having family time. I am thirty-two years old, so I have out grown the going out stage of my life. My life is far from boring though. I am a full-time student and a part-time employee at a local pharmacy. I love working with children and want to make a difference in a child's life. The children are our future and they have the chance to change the world.

My second test post

This is my second test post.

My Test Post Title

This is my first post. I clicked the HTML button which I should always do in EDM310. I am now a Blogger!