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.