My first student, Terry, had a short but informative post. It was called “Curriculum for my classroom”. He basically explained which subjects he would like to teach in the future. They varied from math and science to foreign language. I told him that he should be a high school teacher because he wants to teach a lot of subjects that high schools offer.
My second student is named Kelly. She was blogging through her 3rd class. Each student in her class had their own independent blog, which were all so creative. Kelly titled hers “The Kelly Connection”. It was such an advanced blog for a 3rd grader! She discussed the trips she took with her family or her girl scout group. The post I commented on was about her traveling to visit her brother at USC. She posted a lot of pictures of her trip and told her audience how much she wanted to also attend USC when she graduates. I told her to just keep up the hard work and getting there won’t be a problem.
The third C4K I had was Mrs. Adair’s 3rd grade class. It was set up where Mrs. Adair would write a main posted about a topic they were learning and the students would comment on the post. The one that she posted which I really enjoyed was about similies. It was titled “As White as a Polar Bear”. Mrs. Adair told her audience how the class had been learning similies that week and posted some examples of some. Then the students went on there and posted some similies of they own. The post I had commented on was called “Fun in 2012”. It was a short video of all the activities the class had been doing since the new year had started. Some of the activities included building Lego communities and dissecting owl pellets.I had commented saying how much I enjoyed dissecting owl pellets when I was in the 3rd grade, and it was one of the best things I actually remember doing.
My last C4K for this month was Atifa, a student at Terry Lane Primary School in the UK . On her class blog, she posted a cute poem about joy. In it, she mentions the happiness joy brings and it feels like spring time. I commented back to her saying how I enjoyed her poem and how it was so cool that young student her age were blogging. I also mentioned that when I was in elementary school, we barely used a computer.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Blog Assignment #5
Don’t teach your kids this stuff
I thought the post, Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff, Please? was very informative about what he wanted to happen with children and the Internet. I agreed with Dr. McLeod about not exposing children to the Internet because of all the unsafe features that are out there. Because technology is moving grow at such a rapid pace, children are being exposed to things like Facebook and Twitter at such a young age. But since technology isn't going away anytime soon, future educators should teach their students what is right and wrong on the Internet and ways to protect themselves. Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky.
iSchool initiative
The iSchool is a really great idea. I like how Travis Allen in iSchool Initiative realized what was going on in his high school at such a young age and decided to create a change. The iSchool seems to be a great way to save money and expose students to new and updated technology every day. The only problem I had with the idea was it being created through the iTouch. I think that is a little too small for students of any age. the smaller it is, the bigger chances it has of breaking or getting lost. I think they should consider building it through the iPad, which will have the apps and also serve as a mini laptop. Other than that, everything idea about this was great and will saves school districts a lot of money.
The Virtual Choir was really neat. I cant believe he got 185 people to sing at the same time and through the computer. Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir just shows how great technology is and how it can bring strangers together. These people had probably never seen each other until the video was complete. When they saw the final product, they were probably just as amazed as we were.
I thought the post, Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff, Please? was very informative about what he wanted to happen with children and the Internet. I agreed with Dr. McLeod about not exposing children to the Internet because of all the unsafe features that are out there. Because technology is moving grow at such a rapid pace, children are being exposed to things like Facebook and Twitter at such a young age. But since technology isn't going away anytime soon, future educators should teach their students what is right and wrong on the Internet and ways to protect themselves. Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky.
iSchool initiative
Virtual Choir
Teaching in the 21st Century
This was a long video. Teaching in the 21st Century was full of information and opened my eyes to what I will be faced with when I have my own classroom. I believe Kevin Roberts thinks teaching in the 21st century means guiding students through the technology that is going to surround their everyday lives. Students are being exposed to so much technology at a young age and will be exposed to a lot more when they face the real world. As future educators, we need to introduce our student to this technology as educational, not entertaining. The students need to engage in the technology so the results will last and bring out their creativity. The future learning can still be fun and exciting but we have to remember to have the students engage in their work. This video affected me as an educator because I now have to expose myself to more of the new technology and educate myself so I can educate others.
Reading Rockets
When I first entered the website, It was helpful from the start. Reading Rockets had sections for each type of person that would have an influence on a student’s reading: teachers, parents, prinicipals, and even librarians. They also had a tab for other professionals that may take part like speech pathologist. I liked what was on the home column. They have a section call ABCs of Teaching reading and a section that helps struggling readers.Each section had a lot of information for that certain person to help the child in anyway way they can. This website will help me in the future if I need help teaching my student how to read or if I have students who are struggling with reading. There are also blogs and podcasts on this site that I can refer to and get advise from.
Reading Rockets
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Blog Assignment #4
Podcasting with First graders
This blog, podcasting with 1st graders shows how a first grade class put together their own podcast on a story they were reading in class. It explains step by step how the class made this podcast successful. The class read the story together and planned the podcast out to the tee, with scripting, recording and editing. Their podcast was very popular to its audience, receiving comments from around the world. Not only did it seem to be a fun project for the 1st grade class, but addressed many skills by the students like creativity, comprehension and technology. I felt that this blog would be a great tool for future teachers planning to podcast because it shows great detail and is well planned out.
Judy Scarf Podcast Collection
This website was nothing but informational. Judy Scarf's podcast collection starts out with the basic information of a podcast for anyone who is new to the idea. Scarf also includes the benefits of a podcast and examples that can be referred to.Tips are also included for a successful podcast. I would find this website very helpful if I was a teacher that wanted to introduce podcasting to a classroom, but right now there is too much information on this website that I need to take in. But the beginning part of it was very helpful, especially since I am preparing for the class podcast.
The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
This video was helpful in many ways. Joe Dale's benefits of podcasting explains how podcasts will are great in the classroom for “milenials”, who are students born after the 80’s, and are exposed to technology on a daily basis. Joe Dale also gives various tips on why podcasting would be a good tool for the classroom which include development of creativity and innovation, shows parents their child’s involvement in the classroom and it gets the students involved with the technology that surrounds their everyday life. My take on the video was a good one. I like how it showed how podcasting is not only a classroom project, but a tool for students’ learning. They could access the podcast outside of class and use it for studying.
Judy Scarf Podcast Collection
The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
This video was helpful in many ways. Joe Dale's benefits of podcasting explains how podcasts will are great in the classroom for “milenials”, who are students born after the 80’s, and are exposed to technology on a daily basis. Joe Dale also gives various tips on why podcasting would be a good tool for the classroom which include development of creativity and innovation, shows parents their child’s involvement in the classroom and it gets the students involved with the technology that surrounds their everyday life. My take on the video was a good one. I like how it showed how podcasting is not only a classroom project, but a tool for students’ learning. They could access the podcast outside of class and use it for studying.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Blog Assignment #3
Technology in Special Education
This video, Technology in Special Education really moved me, especially because I want to teach Special Education. It is interesting to think about how much we use technology for entertainment and socially. Special needs students use technology for survival. It helps them to communicate with the world. It also provides ways for them to become more independent adults.
Because technology has become very promising for special needs students, it is being used and taught throughout the day. The student, Kris, were using technology in the classroom to show how it helps him to type words he wants to say. Another student was using a program that helped him see his work better since he was visually impaired. I planned to used technology for my special needs students that will be useful to their futures.
The App I would use on an iPad for my students is called Silly Numbers. It is a way for students to learn how to count. I think this would be a good app for younger autistic children, like Braden in the video.
Gary Hayes Social Media Count
Soon as I clicked the page, I was amazed. Gary's Social Media Count really shocked me and showed me how social networks like Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook have taken over the Internet. Keeping up virtually is so important in our culture now. Another shock to me was the high number of apps that are downloaded by the second. They have become so useful to us that they are almost mandatory to have. E-mail had the highest number on the whole list, which is one of the first virtual communication users had.
The last category on the page was new Internet users globally.
So many new people are using the Internet for the first time, and that scares me. It feels like technology is taking over the world. If you are not apart of it, you become lost and feel lonely from the world. It makes me look at my future career as an educator. Now, I feel like I need to keep up with technology even if I didn’t want to. My career will be about my future students so I have to make it a part of my life just like they do.
A Vision of Students Today
What a powerful message. A Vision of Students Today was hard to watch and not have a student's perspective because I related to the signs they were holding up. I spend a lot of time on my cell phone and computer, a lot of my school work doesn’t relate to my life, and I will probably read more Facebook profiles than books. But when I watched it again through a teacher’s eyes, I saw it as a wake up call. Technology is changing the classroom atmosphere, and since students are still in classrooms that don’t pertain to technology at all times, they lose interest. Students see the subjects as a waste of time because the information will be useless to the in the future. Now they have other devices that with keep them occupied and pass the time in class.
Because technology has become very promising for special needs students, it is being used and taught throughout the day. The student, Kris, were using technology in the classroom to show how it helps him to type words he wants to say. Another student was using a program that helped him see his work better since he was visually impaired. I planned to used technology for my special needs students that will be useful to their futures.
The App I would use on an iPad for my students is called Silly Numbers. It is a way for students to learn how to count. I think this would be a good app for younger autistic children, like Braden in the video.
Gary Hayes Social Media Count
The last category on the page was new Internet users globally.
So many new people are using the Internet for the first time, and that scares me. It feels like technology is taking over the world. If you are not apart of it, you become lost and feel lonely from the world. It makes me look at my future career as an educator. Now, I feel like I need to keep up with technology even if I didn’t want to. My career will be about my future students so I have to make it a part of my life just like they do.
A Vision of Students Today
I am just as guilty as my peers, especially being younger. With this now being the case, I feel that future educators, like myself should pay attention to the visions today, so we can change it for tomorrow. We need to learn the technology so we can relate to our future students and help them get more out of their education. That is why EDM has been really helpful about opening my eyes to the future of the classroom.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
C4T #1 - Summary
The teacher I had, Mr. Kaechele, has a blog called Concrete Classroom. He doesn't post very often, but when he does, it is mainly about his new job as a high school PBL teacher, which he discusses in the first post I commented on. Before teaching, he poured concrete where he received bonuses twice a year. Now that he is a teacher, he gets rewarded by receiving compliments of his teaching style from his bosses. He prefers those better than money bonuses. I told his that I was happy for him and it just shows how teaching is different than the typical 9-5 jobs. It is a reward in itself. Of course the paycheck is nice, but it is also rewarding using your creativity to teach students and somebody recognizing and complimenting your work.
PBL stands for Problem-Based Learning. I had never heard of this style of teaching before but Wikipedia broke it down into 7 main points for me:
- clarifying and agreeing on terms and concepts that are unclear
- define the problem and review terms which need more depth or explanation
- analyze, brainstorm and create potential hypothesis
- discuss, evaluate and organize possible explanations into potential hypothesis
- generate and prioritize learning objectives, divide research workload
- private study time to research objectives
- during next tutorial report back gained information, create an explanation and synthesize new information in relation to the problem.
The second post I commented on pretty much was an example of how the classroom operated. These students are presented with a global problem, Genocide. As a class, they do research and the teacher provides main resources for them. On this project, one of the “Lost Boys” of Sudan went to their class as a guest speaker. They also discussed the Penn State Scandal. Then, the students broke into groups and had to create a mini-documentary. They also had to think of ways the stop this violence. All of his lessons are student-based approaches. I stated to him in my comment that I had never had a class in high school that was like this and it was all new to me. In the post, he stated that his student were getting confused about what actually “to do” and I told him that I agreed because when I was in high school, I never had to think so deeply into my school work.
Mr. Kaechele was very interesting and I hope he continues to enjoy his job and using his creativity for his students.
PBL stands for Problem-Based Learning. I had never heard of this style of teaching before but Wikipedia broke it down into 7 main points for me:
- clarifying and agreeing on terms and concepts that are unclear
- define the problem and review terms which need more depth or explanation
- analyze, brainstorm and create potential hypothesis
- discuss, evaluate and organize possible explanations into potential hypothesis
- generate and prioritize learning objectives, divide research workload
- private study time to research objectives
- during next tutorial report back gained information, create an explanation and synthesize new information in relation to the problem.
The second post I commented on pretty much was an example of how the classroom operated. These students are presented with a global problem, Genocide. As a class, they do research and the teacher provides main resources for them. On this project, one of the “Lost Boys” of Sudan went to their class as a guest speaker. They also discussed the Penn State Scandal. Then, the students broke into groups and had to create a mini-documentary. They also had to think of ways the stop this violence. All of his lessons are student-based approaches. I stated to him in my comment that I had never had a class in high school that was like this and it was all new to me. In the post, he stated that his student were getting confused about what actually “to do” and I told him that I agreed because when I was in high school, I never had to think so deeply into my school work.
Mr. Kaechele was very interesting and I hope he continues to enjoy his job and using his creativity for his students.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Blog Assignment #2
Did you know? 3.0 A John Strange 2012 Version
If you want some interesting facts about students and technology? Well, Did You Know? 3.0 A John Strange 2012 Version would be a great video for you to watch. The original series was created by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod. It has really cool facts about the intelligence of students around the world, to the future of technology. The most interesting facts about technology were the ones that discussed what was happening per minute. In one minute, 1,097,220 YouTube videos have been watch, 1,393,519 search are made on Google, and 11,453,577 SMS messages are sent!
One of the facts the really stuck out to me was the one about 7-12th students for spent about 2 hours texting a day. That report was published 2 years ago. I know that fact has changed because teenagers have other options on their cell phones now like Facebook, Twitter, and games.They also found that 85% of students have cell phones now, and with companies making 4G phones more affordable, the option of activities on the cell phones are becoming larger.
Mr. Winkle Wakes
This was a creative video about an old man who is asleep for 100 years but finally wakes up and explore. In Mr. Winkle Wakes , Mr. Winkle goes out for the first time, he goes to an office building where he’s a lot of new technology which makes him very uncomfortable, and leaves. He then ends up at a hospital but sees doctors using more machines that are hooked up to patients. He again becomes uncomfortable, leaves, and ends up in a class room. Here, he sees that the teacher is standing in front of the classroom, and the students were sitting in their desks paying attention to her as she lectured. He noticed a computer in the back of the room that wasn’t being used. He liked the school and was very happy to see that it had not changed.
The video was kind of sad because Mr. Winkle was asleep for so long and so much had changed. When he finally came back around, he couldn’t relate to anything around him. He also didn’t know how to use anything, like computers. I can understand how he became very overwhelmed and wanted to leave. It was like waking up on a new planet.
Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
Ken Robinson is a very eye opening man. In his video Sir Ken Robinson: Importance of Creativity, he explains to his viewers how children are born to not be scared of being wrong. He says “ If your not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.” He feels that students are being educated out of their creative capacities. I agree with Robinson about this because primary focuses in schools are only academic topics. Creative things like art, dance, and drama are only options and not stressed.
The story that I enjoyed the most was the one about Jillian Lyn, a famous choreographer. He discusses how her family thought she had a learning problem because she couldn’t sit still. She was examined and they found that she didn’t have a learning problem, she was just a dance. So, she became one of the most prestegious choreographers in the world, because someone saved her and didn’t just throw some medicine at her and tell her to calm down.
Vision for 21st Century Learning
21st Century Vision of Learning really opened my eyes of what future classrooms are going to be like. The first contact of a computer of game console for children in America is in or before Kindergarten. These devices already play a central role for this generation and now it is very important for students today to be technologically literate to be prepared for the 21st work force. Therefore, The United States is planning to innovate method for teaching, virtual learning and teacher becoming more of mentors compared to old school lecturing.
I think this is a great idea because as a future teacher, I want to know that I am not just educating my students, but preparing them for the future also. Because technology is becoming so prevalent in our society, that would be the best option for the future students to become successful. I’m not really a big supporter on teachers becoming more of mentors because it cuts down on the purpose of the job. They should try to come up with a way that students and teachers can become more virtually interactive.
Vicki Davis: Harness Your student’s Digital Smarts
Vicki Davis is a innovative teacher is Rural Georgia. Vicky Davis: Harness Your Student's Digital Smarts shows how this teacher uses many types of technology to connect to the world.She mainly focuses on teaching her students new software and making them comfortable with any technology.
I do like her methods of teaching by giving the groups of the class terms to look up and practice. Some of the terms she may not know what they mean, but by the time the students are finished, they are about to teach her, and it proves that the students are actually learning.
If you want some interesting facts about students and technology? Well, Did You Know? 3.0 A John Strange 2012 Version would be a great video for you to watch. The original series was created by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod. It has really cool facts about the intelligence of students around the world, to the future of technology. The most interesting facts about technology were the ones that discussed what was happening per minute. In one minute, 1,097,220 YouTube videos have been watch, 1,393,519 search are made on Google, and 11,453,577 SMS messages are sent!
One of the facts the really stuck out to me was the one about 7-12th students for spent about 2 hours texting a day. That report was published 2 years ago. I know that fact has changed because teenagers have other options on their cell phones now like Facebook, Twitter, and games.They also found that 85% of students have cell phones now, and with companies making 4G phones more affordable, the option of activities on the cell phones are becoming larger.
Mr. Winkle Wakes
This was a creative video about an old man who is asleep for 100 years but finally wakes up and explore. In Mr. Winkle Wakes , Mr. Winkle goes out for the first time, he goes to an office building where he’s a lot of new technology which makes him very uncomfortable, and leaves. He then ends up at a hospital but sees doctors using more machines that are hooked up to patients. He again becomes uncomfortable, leaves, and ends up in a class room. Here, he sees that the teacher is standing in front of the classroom, and the students were sitting in their desks paying attention to her as she lectured. He noticed a computer in the back of the room that wasn’t being used. He liked the school and was very happy to see that it had not changed.
The video was kind of sad because Mr. Winkle was asleep for so long and so much had changed. When he finally came back around, he couldn’t relate to anything around him. He also didn’t know how to use anything, like computers. I can understand how he became very overwhelmed and wanted to leave. It was like waking up on a new planet.
Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
Ken Robinson is a very eye opening man. In his video Sir Ken Robinson: Importance of Creativity, he explains to his viewers how children are born to not be scared of being wrong. He says “ If your not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.” He feels that students are being educated out of their creative capacities. I agree with Robinson about this because primary focuses in schools are only academic topics. Creative things like art, dance, and drama are only options and not stressed.
The story that I enjoyed the most was the one about Jillian Lyn, a famous choreographer. He discusses how her family thought she had a learning problem because she couldn’t sit still. She was examined and they found that she didn’t have a learning problem, she was just a dance. So, she became one of the most prestegious choreographers in the world, because someone saved her and didn’t just throw some medicine at her and tell her to calm down.
Vision for 21st Century Learning
21st Century Vision of Learning really opened my eyes of what future classrooms are going to be like. The first contact of a computer of game console for children in America is in or before Kindergarten. These devices already play a central role for this generation and now it is very important for students today to be technologically literate to be prepared for the 21st work force. Therefore, The United States is planning to innovate method for teaching, virtual learning and teacher becoming more of mentors compared to old school lecturing.
I think this is a great idea because as a future teacher, I want to know that I am not just educating my students, but preparing them for the future also. Because technology is becoming so prevalent in our society, that would be the best option for the future students to become successful. I’m not really a big supporter on teachers becoming more of mentors because it cuts down on the purpose of the job. They should try to come up with a way that students and teachers can become more virtually interactive.
Vicki Davis: Harness Your student’s Digital Smarts
Vicki Davis is a innovative teacher is Rural Georgia. Vicky Davis: Harness Your Student's Digital Smarts shows how this teacher uses many types of technology to connect to the world.She mainly focuses on teaching her students new software and making them comfortable with any technology.
I do like her methods of teaching by giving the groups of the class terms to look up and practice. Some of the terms she may not know what they mean, but by the time the students are finished, they are about to teach her, and it proves that the students are actually learning.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)