Project #14 - Smartboard Instructional

Sorry, the volume is a little low.

C4T #3 - Summary

The teacher I had for C4T #3 was named Paige Baggett. She is a professor here at USA for the College of education. I believe she teaches Art for Elementary Teacher. She hasn’t posted much since last semester, but her posts are mainly about Art and the artwork her students have done. The first post I commented on was a video called “29 ways to stay creative”. This video showed 29 different ways to maintain your creativity. I thought many of the ways provided in the video could be used in everyday life also like things like get a lot of rest and take breaks. There was one on the ways that really stuck out to me. It was #4 which stated “get away from the computer”. This is really hard to do since technology is so prevalent in our lives. I commented to Paige that I enjoyed to the video and I hope to be able to use some of those creative techniques when I started teaching and even everyday life.

The second post I commented on for Paige was called “EDU 301 Birds Inspired by John James Audubon”. At the time of the post(November 14), John James Audubon had a bird exhibit at the Mobile Museum of Art. After Paige’s class had to take a tour of the exhibit, They had to make a drawing of a bird from the exhibit using only Crayons. She then created a post out of their out work. All of the drawings were very good. I commented to Paige that I thought the idea of the assignment  was a great way for the students to learn about the birds and expressing that they did learn something through art. I really enjoyed have Page Baggett’s blog. I learned ways to use maintain my creativity which will be very helpful as an elementary teacher. I also learned to be proud of your students and display their good work because it will show the good job you are doing as an educator. If you want to check out her blog, go to Pondering Paige.

C4K Summary for March

The student I had this month was named Klaudia. She was participating in her Class 12’s blog like the rest of her classmates. The post I commented on for Klaudia was called “a Poem for Justin Bieber”. It was really an adorable poem, because it brought me back to the days when I used to have celebrity crushes. In the poem, she expresses how talented, cute and kind Justin Bieber is. She also says that she loves him so much. I told her that it’s cool to see that Justin Bieber is loved all around that would and she should try to go to one of his concerts. I also complimented her poetry skills and told her to keep it up since she possesses so much talent. If you would like to check out her poem, go to A Poem for Justin Bieber by Klaudia.

Blog Assignment #8

Dr. Richard Miller - This is How We Dream

Dr. Miller discussed the change in global communication. In This is How We Dream, Everything now is every instant and now we can connect with anyone all around the world through social networks. He discusses an incremental change about people’s workplaces. Now people, are more likely to carry their laptops around compared to using pen and paper. In part 2 of this video series, Dr. Miller discusses how he feels that items on the internet not only  have to help us informationally, but they need to satisfy us visually and auditorily.
This is the new way of the world. Technology is the new way of learning, communicating, and entertainment. I believe I am ready to write in multi-media because it is the way educators are going to have to be. I feel that students will be able to learn it because students are starting to be exposed to technology so young. So, it will pretty much be instilled in them.


Blog Post #12 By Carly Pugh
Carly’s #12 post was really deep! I can tell this took a lot of effort and thought because it was really creative and well written. In Carly's Blog Post #12 The idea of making a playlist is really fun, but it also makes you think of what would be the “perfect” playlist. You want it to express who you are yet show who you will be as an educator. It’s a cool way to open up your creativity. When I checked out Carly’s playlist, I noticed that it was very long, which showed that this would be a very thoughtful process. But it did help that she showed an example of what she was looking for in this assignment, because I definitely wouldn’t know where to start.

EDM 310 is Different
When I tried to watch the The Chipper Series, it wasn’t working on my computer but I did enjoy EDM 310 for Dummies. I felt the exact same way those students felt when I first started the class; frustrated and overwhelmed. I also used to ask my fellow classmates the same questions about what the heck is going on in the class.But of course, as the time went on, the assignments  became a routine.  I think the primary message of this video is to use the videos that Dr. Strange provides because they will help you figure out how to use certain tools and how the tools can be helpful to you.  It looked like this video was really fun to make, and it would be a cool opportunity to take part in something like this. A video I would like to make for this class is a tutorial of how to use one of the programs we use or show how fun it is to use certain tools like twitter, blogger, and others like that.

Learn to change, Change to learn

This video was an eye opener for future education. Learn to Change, Change to Learn discusses that children today are surrounded by nothing but technology, and it can’t be ignored. Since this is what surrounds these children, then that means their learning environment needs to change. The adults in this video are explaining that classrooms need to start adapting to the new “21st century” learning, which needs to move away from memorizing facts and book work, and gravitating towards being about to find information through the internet and using social medias to connect around the world. Videos like this show me what kind of educator I will have to become when I graduate; technology oriented. It won’t be too hard since I am still young and it is still easy for me to learn about new technology and am still able to improve my skills. But now, I need to change my mind set from always using technology as entertainment to learning it as if I’m going to teach it.

Scavenger Hunt

This scavenger hunt was a really neat idea. Discovery Education Web 2.0 was a fun way to find new and helpful tools on the internet. I chose to numbers 1, 4, and 5.
1) The social networking site I found for teachers is teachade.com. There are a lot of helpful areas on this website that would be very useful to me as a teacher. Of course, there are the typical blogging areas and where you can connect with other teachers. You are also able to search for colleagues or even create your own workspace. One thing on the site that I thought was different was you are allowed to adopt a classroom. This is a program where you can donate money or supplies to different classrooms around the country and it’s free.
4) The video tool I found is called PhotoPeach. This would be an awesome tool to use, especially as a teacher. It is a website where you can upload pictures and create slideshows to present. I love taking pictures and I know I am going to want to take a lot of pictures of my students just because you can capture so many memories. because of this website, I won’t have to print out individuals to give to students. I will be able to upload them for all parents to see in private. A cool feature on this site is they have an area for educators that will allow you to engage with a large group of students at one time.
5)For my poll, I used the website app.zoomerang.com.

Project #11 - Short Movie

Project #12 - Book Trailer

Blog Assignment #7

The Networked Student

This was a pretty cool video about a way of learning that I have never heard of before. The Networked Student describes Connectivism, which is a way to learn through social networking. I’m guessing the teacher encourages her students to make connections with others around the world about the topic they are learning. With this way of learning, the student must create a PLN; just like the ones we have created in EDM. The students also have a social bookmarking sight, where others students share URLs.

When I was learning about this way of learning, I personally had the question of where is the teacher in all of this? But supposedly, the teacher is there as a “guide”. She instructs them on building their PLNs and shows guidance when her students get stuck. She also shows them what would be considered good and bad information and helps organize their PLNs so they will continue to use it in the future.

I feel like this way of learning is still new, but it is growing as the new way to learn. It involves so much technology which is important in the real world. This is the way students can get exposed to what they will be using for the rest of their lives. As a future educator, I like this way teaching. But that means I need to be on top of my technology skills so I am able to show my students how to learn in such a way.

7th Grader’s PLE

It is so different to see middle schools using computers in such an advanced way. Building an PLE for a science class? That is really impressive. This 7th grader's PLE explains how she uses her PLE to guide her throughout her science class. She has her school website that can be referred to at the bottom of the page and the ones that are not for school are at the top. My PLN is similar to this 7th grader’s because we use the same website to make it: Symbaloo.  I have also separated mine into school and not school tiles.

I like symbaloo because of how quick and easy it is. This is a great website for middle schoolers to use because they can start working instantly. Even though I had recently created mine,  I hope that PLN will be as much of a benefit to me as it is for this 7th grader.

Project #10 - PLN Progress Report

My Person Learning Network started out a little rocky because I was completely lost on the whole idea. When I watch some of the videos, my understanding because a bit clearer. I decided to use Symbaloo to set up my PLN. I set it up very basic with only a few categories. The categories are music, news, mail, social networking, and shopping. I like Symbaloo because it was very easy to use and figure out. I also like that when you click on the icons, it takes you directly to the sites. There is also a Google search right in the middle of the PLN so I am able to search anything I want. For the next half of the semester, I hope to grow my PLN with a lot of other titles that I can use throughout my education.

Project #9b - America's First Ten Presidents

C4T #2- Summary

My Teacher for C4T #2 is named Mr. Chase. His blog is called Autodizactic . From reading a few of his posts, I realized he is a very opinionated but honest man. He had discussions of all kinds, but mainly about college and his opinions on his classes.
The first post I commented on for Mr. Chase was called “Class Blogs should be open spaces”. It was a relatable post and easy to comment on since we blog weekly in EDM 310. In his blog, he discusses how is two colleges class do not all him to have a public blog. In his first class,  few students are assigned each week to post their thoughts on the reading leading up to that week’s class. Each other student is required to reply to one post per week with the option of passing on one week during the semester. In his second class, each person is encouraged to post weekly. The posts’ content might be related to the readings or simply to the topic for the week and comments are not required.  He felt like his classes were in a “Walled Garden” because they were not allowed to receive comments from the outside world. I commented to him about the set up of our class and told him that he may not want his class blog public because that means  people will start to critique you in ways you may not like.

The second post I commented on for Mr. Chase was about a group of students who go to school on South Dakota’s Rosebud Sioux Reservation. The students have had new articles and documentaries made about them that discuss the issues in their lives. Their families deal with a lot of alcoholism and gambling and now the kids are suffering educationally and financially. There was a documentary on ABC called Children of the Plains about these students and their struggles. The documentary opened the viewers’ eyes to their situations but it made their situation look hopeless. I’m guessing these students saw what was being said and portrayed about them and took charge of the situation. They created a video that discusses that they are more than what we have probably seen. They have hopes and dreams. They may have a struggle but they are trying to be successful in their future just like any other American teen out there. I really enjoyed this video and told Mr. Chase all about it. I told him that I had watched the documentary and it inspired me but the students’ video inspired me even more because they endure so much on a daily basis yet they still push forward everyday.

Blog Assignment #6

Randy Pausch is an amazing motivational speaker. Even though he was dying inside, he still makes the time to give his “Last Lecture”. At the beginning, he discusses his childhood dreams and how he accomplished them. Most of them were so out there that they didn’t even seem like they could be accomplished. Because he has much motivation and determination, he was able to succeed at everything on his list. One of his dreams was to become a Disney Imagineer. After he graduated, he applied for a job there twice but was turned down. He had the chance to have lunch with Jon Snoddy, and got the chance to write a paper about the Aladdin Project which let him complete his dream.

One lessons I learned from this video is never set the bar for your students. When Pausch was teaching Building Virtual Worlds, his students were presenting really amazing projects. So Pausch went to his mentor, Andy Van Dam, for advice and he said “Tell your class guys, that was pretty good, but I know you can do better”. Andy told him that he obviously didn’t know where to set the bar, and it would only be a disservice if you put it anywhere. This will be useful in my teaching because I want my students to give me their all at all times. Setting the bar will only limit their work and I may not get their full potential.

Another lesson I learned is to remember to have fun. One of Pausch’s bosses named President Cohon gave him this advice. Pausch felt like the advice was like a fish discussing the importance of water because he is always having fun. His personal advice is to decide if you want to be a Tigger or Eeyore. He also told us to never lose your child like wonder because it’s very important and it drives us. This will help me when teaching because having fun is very important when it comes to learning. It have to be enjoyable or else the students are not going to want to learn.

Toward the end of the speech, Randy Pausch gives a lot of advice to his audience about how to get people to help you. He says to tell the truth, be earnest, and apologize when you are wrong. When going through my life journey, this advice will be very useful to me because I will need as much help as I can get. The things he says to do are not difficult at all. It will just be a challenge to remember to do them. Randy Pausch opened my eyes to being successful, being determined, and having fun while do so. He is such an inspiration, and I know everyone that knew him personally or was taught by him are all very proud.