Final Reflection

C4T#4

Will Deyamport, III
In his video (#beyouedu- Finding Your Swagger) on his blog, Peoplegogy, he discusses the importance of having confidence and being yourself. He says if you want to do something, don't be scared, just go for it.

My comment:
This is good. Thanks for the reminder that it is important to be confident. Too many people are worried about what others will think of them. It is important to be yourself and do what ever it is that you want to do.

In his video of his interview with Kimberly Wright, they discuss blended learning. She says that this way of teaching allows students to dictate their own learning. Blended learning gives teachers more time to interact with the students instead of standing in from of the classroom the entire time. They discuss different ideas about blended learning. Kimberly shares some experience she has with introducing blended learning to other teachers. She says that one of the response that she get is that teachers feel like they are being replaced, but she makes it clear that teachers are not replaceable.

My comment:
This is a very good explanation of blended learning for me. Using blended learning is a way to keep the students interested in learning and allows them be in charge of their learning.

Post #14

In Joel Klein's column, Teaching our children can be a profession, he discusses problems that need to be fixed in education today. Those problems include:

1. Pick from the best
2. Seniority distraction
3. Radical change

The first problem has to do with thinking that all teachers are the same. Some think that teachers are interchangeable. Just because a teacher has more years of experience, does not mean they are better than newer teachers. It is a mistake that is made often;  the longer you teach, the better teacher you are. That is not true. You have to stay updated and be open to change to remain a good teacher and push yourself to become a better teacher.

Seniority is a problem because teachers get locked in a school after they have been there for a certain
amount of time, even if they are not doing their job to the best of their ability. If there is a newer teacher that can do the job better, they cannot take the job of a teacher who has been there longer than them. This is a problem because some teachers know they are not going anywhere unless they do something illegal, so they quit trying. They quit trying new things and they are not open to change.

Mr. Klein thinks that teachers "should be subjected to merit-based career ladder and be promoted based on specialty exams."  If this change was made, I feel like teachers would be more interested in trying to be the best that they can be instead of settling for being an average teacher. Not that money is what teachers are in their profession for, but this would be a great incentive for them to try harder and make sure that our students are getting the best education possible. 

Project 12 B

Post #13- Introducing Project Based Learning

How would you introduce PBL in an elementary school that does not use PBL?

First of all, I would test out PBL in my classroom. I would have a class blog, and I would introduce my students to blogging. If there are not personal computers or iPads available for each student at my school, I would just designate a time for each table to use the computers that we do have in the classroom. This may not be ideal if there are 25 kids in a class, but we will have to start somewhere and make do with what we have. Next, I will add more projects and group work. I would document and video the progress of the students blog posts and the projects that they are working on. 

Blogging with my students:

The first thing I would do is teach them how to blog, and give them the rules about using the computers and the internet. I will have them make their first blog post about themselves. Then they will begin blogging about their day; telling what they learned, what they did, if they enjoyed it or not,

etc. After they are comfortable with blogging, they will start blogging about certain subjects. I would give them a choice to pick a subject and write about the content that we went over that day. This will give them the opportunity to learn more about the subject that they choose and will also make them more interested if they get to choose the topic. They will also post about projects that they do and they will share pictures of the finished products. Parents will be able to view their child's blog post so they can see what they have been working on throughout the school year.  

Projects in my classroom:

I would love to incorporate projects in every subject. I really love the idea of combining subjects to create a better understand of how the subjects connect. For example, if I teach a science lesson, I would make them do a writing assignment about something that they learned that day during the science lesson. This can be done for any subject. They can write fiction or non-fiction. I would give

them that choice. 

A project that I would love to do is where they act out scenes from their history book. They would dress up, write scripts, make it into a movie, etc. They will also preform these in front of the class. Another way of doing this project would be to have them choose to either act it out, make it into a song or musical, or make a rap about it. 

Introducing my ideas to my principal:

After trying out blogging and doing projects in my own classroom, I would present the videos and the documentation of all of the projects that we have done, to my principal. I would show the progress that my students have made and tell how much more they enjoy learning this way. I would then ask if I could present my ideas to the rest of the teachers and help them get started using PBL in their classrooms. This is how important PBL is to me. I would be willing to be a PBL director at my school, if that is what it takes to get my school on board with PBL, that's what I will do. 

Post #12- Assistive Technology

Post #11

These are some good examples of teachers who use project based learning. Here is what I have learned from them.

In Brian Crosby's lecture form his blog,Learning is Messy, he mentions that the majority of his students are second language learners and live in poverty. Most do not even know basic knowledge about where they are from. However, he has high hopes for them and he does not give up on them or just tell them what they need to know to pass and push them through, he does things with them to get them excited about learning. He does experiments and gets them involved with projects. His students write about what they have learned on their blog posts, he mentions that they use wikis a lot, and they use flickr. When they do a science experiment, they take what they have learned and write stories about it, which goes into language arts.
Brian Crosby is an excellent example of someone who uses PBL in an effective way. He knows what will get the attention of his students and he runs with it. I need to remember this for my class, projects work a lot better when you carry them over to different subjects and get the students passionate about learning more.

The way in which Paul Anderson teaches according to the video, Blended Learning Cycle, is by using blended learning. You have to start out with a good question, then you want them to investigate and ask their own questions. Show them a video instead of just telling them about something. The next step is elaboration. Have them read about it, and research. At the end, you review, to make sure that they understand the concepts of the lesson. Then he gives them a summary quiz. He gives them a test after he is sure that they know the material.
Anderson reminded me that every student is important. I love that he waits until every student is ready to take the test, and then he moves on. The process in which he uses to teach makes it a lot easier for the students to remember what they need to know, because they are involved in their own learning.

Ron Richhart says, in this video that it is important to create a culture of thinking. It is not only about teaching lessons, it's about the culture in which the lessons are taught. This is eye opening, because most people think that more time and work should be put into the lesson, but in reality, it is more important to create an environment in which students want to learn and think for themselves that helps teachers convey the lesson.
For my classroom, one day, I want to create a culture of thinking. That was a good way to put it for me. Just telling the kids what the need to understand isn't going to help them understand it. You must teach them in the way that they comprehend and learn.

In the video, Super Digital Citizen, Sam Pine starts off the activity by giving a quote from Spiderman, a familiar quote to get them engaged right away. He asks them a question and then tells them to discuss it wit their table, so he is giving  them time to think about the question and hear their classmates responses as well. Then he introduces the activity and shows them an example. This activity is creating your own super hero and customize it however you want and then make a comic book with the character that they created. This is exciting for the students because they are interested in the subject. After the students finish, the students walk around and see what their classmates have done. I like this idea because the students get to show their work.
I love the creativity used in this classroom. I would love to incorporate something like this in my classroom. Making lessons relevant to students make a huge different. Using quotes that they have heard before is a lot more effective than using one from your time.

The video, Project Based Learning, three teachers completely change the way that students are used to being taught. Instead of going to a different teacher for each subject, the teachers work together to combine their efforts to teach multiple subjects. In the video they talk about the importance of PBL. It says that PBL keeps students engaged and provides a deeper understanding. These teachers all put in a bit of feed back as their students work on a project, and they can all help in different ways.
This has shown me how effective it is to collaborate with other teachers. The students are excited about their work and end up being proud of the outcome when project based learning is done right.

Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Plan defines PBL as: in depth learning, integrated thematic instruction, based on a "real-world" problem, research-based, projects and presentations. These teachers are teaching the students to think for themselves. They are trying to get past teaching students so that they can pass a test, they are trying to instill in them that it is important to know the material and understand it, and you can really see if a child understands the subject using PBL. They are also getting ready students used to public speaking, which will make it easier for them in the future. They give the students the opportunity to make their own decisions on a lot of things. This also gives them a sense of ownership so they will want to do the best they can do. This school encourages community participation. There are so many people in the community that can contribute to the students education to help them get a better understanding of a subject. This way of teaching sparks a curiosity in the students to want to know more about the world around them. I want to keep my students'  parents involved, and make them just as excited about PBL as their kids are.

Project 10- Interview with Mrs. Ashley Guy

Mrs. Guy is a 4th grade teacher at Prichard Preparatory School, and here is what she had to say about using project based learning and technology in her classroom.

C4T #3

In John Spencer's blog post Seven Stages in Moving from Consuming to Creating, he discusses the stages students go through to eventually get to the point where they are coming up with their own ideas. These stages are:
1. Exposure
2. Active consuming
3. Critical consuming
4. Curating
5. Copying
6. Mash-ups
7. Creating

My comment:
 Yes, creativity seems to be one of the hardest things to pull out of students. They must be scared to express themselves and think outside of the box. I like how you list the stages that students move through, they are very accurate to me. It takes them so long to get to the point where they are using their own ideas to create something new. 

In Spencer's blog post Go Make Something, he addresses that teachers need to become makers. If you see something you don't like in the school, fix it, do something about it. Teachers know what is best for their students and they should do everything they can to make things better for them. He also discusses the risks of being a maker (e.g. failure, upsetting people, limitations), and the benefits of being  maker (e.g. fun, serve others, test what works)

My comment:
Very inspiring. Teachers do need to become makers, for the sake of their students. Teachers need to become more bold and take risks for the benefit of their classrooms. I can remember the teachers that I had in high school who were makers and the ones who were not. Makers  are definitely the ones who leave a lasting impact, for sure. When I become a teacher, I plan to become a maker. Thanks!

Special Blog Post- Resources From Curriculum21

Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs is a well known leader in education. She is the president of Curriculum Designers, Inc. and Curriculum21, she is also known for developing approaches to 21st century teaching and learning. On her Curriculum21 website, you can find many resources that will help you as teacher.

Here are some resources that I  have found to be helpful:

100 People: A World Portrait
 100 People: A World Portrait displays a world map where you can click an area on the map and you can watch a video about the culture in that area. This would be a great way to introduce students to different parts of the world. They are able to see where the place is in relation to the United States and hear a little about the place. The purpose for 100 people is to find 100 people that represent different cultures form all over the planet. They share pictures and stories from these people on their site. This can be used as a way teach students about different cultures and find information for projects.

Visual Thesaurus
This is an amazing site that goes beyond the average thesaurus. You can search word and dozens of words that are linked to that word come up. This is a way to find further understanding of a word. In the classroom this can be used to help students look up and find the right words that they are looking for.

With the Visual Thesaurus, you can:

1. Find the right word. 
2. Develop a better vocabulary. 
3. Use words precisely. 
4. Master word usage. 
5. Improve your grammar.Explore 39,000 proper nouns. 
6. Check your spelling. 
7. Hear words pronounced correctly. Personalize your experience. 
8. Connect to the Internet. 
9. Access the VT from anywhere. 
10. Email word maps to friends. 
11. Explore five additional languages. 
12. Unlimited access to our magazine. 

Science 360
With Science 360 you can find a video for almost any science related subject. This is a great tool to have for a quick visual for your students. I plan to use this in my classroom to provide a better understanding of a subject for my students.

Story Bird 
I plan to use writing as a way to help my students embrace their creativity. I want to incorporate writing in every subject; having them write stories about different subjects, fiction and non-fiction. Story Bird is a wonderful tool to get students engaged in writing and make them feel like real authors.  They can also share their work in the "class library," which is an idea that I love because students do better when they are able to share their work. Since they know that others will be able to view their work, they seem to want to make it the best that they can.

Google Art Project
Google Art Project is a very useful tool to let students study art. They can search any artwork or artist on this site and the art or information will come up. It is a much cheaper way to go on a field trip to an art museum.

Pinterest
Pinterest is an amazing way to find ideas for the classroom. There are so many ideas for activities, projects, experiments, etc. It is also good for finding ways to organize your classroom and ways to decorate the classroom to make it more interesting and inviting. I plan to use Pinterest as a way to keep my classroom up to date, getting the latest ideas from teachers from around the world.

Post #10- What We Can Learn From Ms. Kathy Cassidy's Class

The video, Little Kids... Big Potential, from Ms. Cassidy's first grade class is so inspiring. Seeing children so excited about writing a blog post is such a wonderful example of what project based learning will do for your students. These first graders know more about technology than most adults. They are able to write blogs and they are excited to do this because they can share what they write with the whole world. Blogging is also a great way for the students' family to stay updated on their child's progress throughout the school year. The students were happy to receive comments on their blog posts; this gives them a sense of pride in their work, and will challenge them to want to do better.

I want to use blogging in my classroom when I become a teacher. I believe that blogging is a great way for children to express themselves and share their personal ideas, experiences, opinions. This a great way for children to keep up with their work. Blogging can be used in class and at home. For the older grades I would have my students post about each subject

that we cover. This will be beneficial to them as they go to the next grade, they can always look back and review what they have learned.

The only thing that I feel like I would have a problem with is that working with technology may cause distractions. However, like Ms. Cassidy said in one of her interviews with Dr. Strange, you have to educate your students on how to use the internet. Let them know ahead of time what they should and should not be doing on the computers. Make sure they know the consequences of straying from the assignment.

Ms. Kathy Cassidy gives such great advice in her interviews with Dr. Strange.  I am already working on my personal learning network by using twitter to get ideas, like she mentions in the interview. I love how passionate she is about the use of technology in the classroom.

Check out the interviews:
Interview with Kathy Part 1
Interview with Kathy Part 2
Interview with Kathy Part 3

Post #9- What We learn About PBL From Teachers and Students

 "Some "projects" border on busywork. Others involve 

meaningful inquiry that engages students' minds."-  a quote
from Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning. This quote reminded me that learning is not about staying busy to pass the time, it's about engaging in something that has a purpose and will help you at some point in life. Giving students a "project" where you give them all of the instructions and websites to go to, to me is a way of underestimating the ability for your students to find this information themselves. Students need to know,  at an early age, how to conduct research and find information on their own. Ways to make sure you are conducting a project in the right way:

1. By having a "Need to Know"

2. A Driving Question
3. Students Voice and Choice
4. 21st Century Skills
5. Inquiry and Innovation 
6. Feed Back and Revision
7. A Publicly Presented Product

I will use this list as a guideline to help me create the best and most effective projects for my students. Each of  these play an important role in making up a meaningful project that will create the best learning experience. 

The video, Project-Based Learning for Teachers, tells that with PBL students learn collaborative skills, communication skills, critical thinking skills, and career and life skills. These skills come from projects that challenge students to get the best out of their learning experience. 

I learned with project based learning comes a plethora of tools and resources online. There are so many collaborative sites out there that students can use to do group work. The blog post,Ten Sites Supporting Digital Classroom Collaboration in Project Based Learning, has a very good list of helpful and useful sites that I plan to incorporate in my classroom one day. Some of the sites that I find to be very effective are: Padlet ,Google Docs, and Skype in Education. These sites can be used for many different projects.

Students can do group work from wherever they are, not just in the classroom. Skype is a great tool for the classroom, because the possibilities are endless. Skype can be used to bring experts in to teach your class, students can have a video conferences, field trips can be brought to the classroom by using Skype, etc.

PBL ultimately is a way to get students interested and excited about learning. Students enjoy being able to come up with their own ideas and find solutions to problems that they experience. Giving students projects that are irrelevant to their lives will not benefit them in any way. However, when you let the students have a voice in their own learning, you will see much better results. An example of the enthusiasm students can have once they are given the opportunity to be creative and use their imagination can be found in this video: Two Students Solve the Case of the Watery Ketchup by Designing a New Cap. Two high school students invented a new cap for a ketchup bottle, to eliminate the messy water that comes out when you squeeze a bottle with a regular cap. These students put a lot of thought into this project, mainly because it was something that interested them. They were able to work together to solve a problem that many others have. This taught me that students can really do anything, if they are given the chance.

In the video,What Does Project-Based Learning Look Like in the classroom Look Like?, I learned a very effective way to get students to understand concepts that are needed and used in the real world. Teaching can be done by partnering with another teacher and combining your efforts to teach two different subject by doing one project. This is a great way to show students how both of the subjects are connected and how the concepts that they are learning are used together.

Learning should be fun, exciting, and interesting for students.

Project 12a

Project 14

Peer Review

iMovie Rubric

Calendar

Lesson Plan

Video Book Conversation- Project 9

Post #8- Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture is truly inspiring. It was one of the most enjoyable lectures I have ever watched. You could tell that he was a man who loved his job and the responsibility he had as an educator. He did his last lecture knowing he only had a short time left to live. He could have been spending time with his family, but he chose to take the time to teach. That is true dedication. He dedicated his life to educating people in a way that made learning fun and interesting.

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

At Carnegie Mellon University Randy Pausch taught students the importance of working with a group, being creative, sharing their work, and doing their absolute best.
Randy decided not to take the traditional teaching route, he decided to think outside of the box. He gave his students assignments that stretched them to the max, he made them want to be the best that they could be. As a teacher, that is what I would want to do for my students; not let them settle for good if they can be great. I want to be like Randy Pausch and give my students the opportunity to choose where they take their education. I want to motivate them to go the extra mile and not to give up just because something is hard.
Pausch says in his last lecture that "helping millions of kids have fun while learning something hard" is the professional legacy he would like to leave with Alice. What a great legacy to leave. Knowing that the subject that he teaches is hard, he came up with a way to make it fun. This way students will not mind all of the work that they have to put into a project, because they actually want to do it and enjoy it. To him teaching was not just about teaching students from a textbook, it about finding a way for students to learn and also enjoy themselves while doing so.

Randy Pausch is an excellent example of a life-long learner. He also dedicated his life to furthering his education. Without directly saying so in his last lecture, he tells about his own personal learning network. He had mentors who pushed him to further his education and he was constantly researching new ideas. Randy always had fun and he strongly believed that learning should be fun. That is the one of the most important things I could have learned from his lecture. Learning can be enjoyable if you approach it the right way with the right attitude.

C4Ta #2

I found Beth Knittle's blog to be very interesting and helpful.

In her post, Updating the Diploma, she discusses the importance of school and how it is not just the diploma that students should be working for. She says that something has to change in our schools today to better prepare students for the real world.

My comment:
I agree with your statement. The things I learned in high school were helpful to pass tests to get to the next grade. However, there should be much more to education than that. Pushing students along isn't helping anyone in the long run. Teaching is supposed to be about helping someone become a better person and leave your classroom with a deeper knowledge and understanding, not just a good enough grade to move on. Students need more teachers that are willing to go the extra mile to give them the tools and skills the need to succeed in the real world.


Her post, Updating the Curriculum, is about the need for a change in the curriculum that is needed in our schools  today. Schools no longer offer classes such as home economics and shop, but they are offering more foreign language classes and coding, mobile app design, broadcasting, etc. She discusses that these are the kinds of classes we need in all of our schools. Then she asks this question: How are your schools addressing the need for change?

My comment:
I agree, it is a necessary change that needs to be made. I have heard great things about Gulf Shores Elementary school. They are very up to date on using technology. They have completely changed their way of teaching, and they have been very successful. Kindergarteners are able to make iMovies and use Alabama Virtual Library, which is amazing to me.

#7 Technology In Elementary Schools

Six Videos About Using Technology In the Classroom:

 In the video, Using iMovie and Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten, Michele Bennett and Elizabeth Davis discuss with Dr. Strange the way that kindergarten classes at Gulf Shores Elementary and Daphne Elementary use iMovie and Alabama Virtual Library. It is amazing what kindergarteners can do with technology when they are given the opportunity. This way of teaching allows the students to teach themselves by practicing and experiencing things on their own. Kindergarten students are making book trailers using iMovie at Gulf Shores Elementary; writing their own scripts, and editing their work. At Daphne Elementary kindergarten students  are using Alabama Virtual Library to conduct research and they love doing it.

The video,  We All Become Learners, discusses the fact that the students are not the only ones who are learning in schools now. Working with technology is so natural for the younger generations and they are able to pick up thing a lot quicker than many people even in their twenties. Kids are able to figure things out on their devices and teach that information to their teachers. Teachers should love teaching their students but they should also love when their students teach them things.

A 2nd grade class at Gulf Shores Elementary School make a presentation on flowers and presents it to a 1st grade class. This is such a great project. These students become the teachers which is helping them develop all kinds of skill that will be helpful to their future. Such as, public speaking skills and  creativity that will help them as they go to college and enter the real world. This also allows the 1st graders to see the enthusiasm the older kids have about learning and doing projects. This should motivate them to want to have the same excitement and interest in learning. Check out the video, Mrs. Shirley and Ms.Lauber's Students Collaborate to see this project in action.

In the video, Career Day Taylor, the students are each dressed up as what they want to be when they grow up. They each tell what they want to be and why. This is a great project because it gets the students thinking about what they want to do in the future and all of their options.

In Dr. Strange's interview with two 2nd grade students from Gulf Shores Elementary, two girls discussed a project that they did on sea turtles. This project was a presentation done on Keynote, which they enjoyed doing because they learned a lot. They had to do their own research for the project using Alabama Virtual Library. They were able to tell step by step how to find pictures for the project and what to do with them. It is incredible how much these students enjoy learning and how much they know about using technology.

Ms. Lauber's class made an iMovie about Planet Earth in which the student gave facts about earth. This projects allow the students to own their own learning. They find the facts and pictures for the movie and I believe this would help them remember it better than a teacher just telling them about it.

Project Based Learning

Lesson Plan

Calendar

iMovie Rubric

Peer Evaluation

What I Learned From the Conversations with Anthony Capps

Anthony sounds like he is an amazing teacher. He has a lot of useful advice and tips on how to be a successful teacher in the 21st Century. He is very passionate about what he does. He uses technology and project based learning in the classroom as a way to keep his students engaged and interested in learning.
Project Based Learning:

In the video,Project Based Learning Part 1, Anthony talks about how projects should not only be used as a way to see if a child has learned something, but also should be used as a way to teach something. It is important for teachers to make this shift in project based learning, because it is a great way for the students to own their own learning and be proud of their work. The project must include all of the information that you want them to learn for them to be able to complete the project. It should involve an audience, for them to be able to show their work, so they are rewarded for the work that they do. The students need to be interested in the project; make it relevant to their lives. Have the project be connected to the community so that the kids can see the connection that it has to the real world. An example of project based learning that Anthony had his class do was where they studied the culture of Afghanistan. Each student would pick a topic to study. They end up studying several different aspects of the culture. Some studied the fashion, food, religion, etc.

iCurio: This is a way for students to safely do research. iCurio is a filtered search engine that is made for educational purposes. Anthony goes into more detail about it in his conversation with Dr. Strange in the video, iCurio. This is a great way to protect your students from things that they do not need to see on the internet. I have never heard of iCurio until Anthony explained it. I am very excited to use it in the classroom. It is a great tool to have to make sure the students stay on task and do what they need to be doing.

Discovery Ed:

This is a great resource for teachers to help bring a visual to what they are teaching the kids. If you are not as good at a certain subject you can pull up videos of experts teaching the subject, which allows the students to get the best possible explanation of what you want them to know. As Anthony says in the video,about Discovery Ed, students remember things a lot better if they can see it, hear it, and watch it being done.

The Anthony- Strange Tips For Teachers
1. Be a constant learner. To be a successful educator you must always be learning. Whether it be new ways to teach things or new thing to teach. Learning is key, not just for the students but for teachers as well.
2. It is hard work, but it is very rewarding. This goes back to learning. You must alway challenge yourself to be a better teacher, and to do that you must work hard at. Researching new things, trying out different methods. The outcome and success that you see in your students is worth the long days and nights in the end.
3. Flexibility. Things are going to go wrong, so you have to be able to adjust and move forward if things do not go as planned.
4. Start with a goal. This will help you get the job done without getting overwhelmed.
5. Engage 100% of the students all of the time with all of the projects. Make sure you stay relevant with the topics and make them interesting. If you do this the students will enjoy learning and doing the projects.
6. Reflection. Reflecting, revising, and sharing work with an audience is a very good way to make sure the project is done to the best of the students ability. If they do their best, check over it, share it and let others critique it, it should be successful.

Teaching vs. Using Teaching Technology:
According to Anthony in the video, Use Tech Don't Teach It, you should never teach technology. You should use technology and the students will learn on their own. Focus on using one type of technology at a time, and let the students ask questions as they need help.

Lessons:
In the video, on Additional Thoughts About Lessons, Anthony says that there are 4 main things you need to focus on when it comes to lessons.
1. Year. Figure out how you are going to cover all of the content that you need to in the year.
2. Unit. Stretch things out to make sure they are mastered.
3. Week. Revise your week as you go to make sure you get everything you need to get done.
4. Day. Make sure you have something to keep them engaged and keep their attention.
This is a great way to look at it. If you stay focused on what you need to get done like this it will help you with organization and keep you from leaving anything out. This way will help you get the important things done.

Hatchet Book Trailer. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.

Project #7

My sentence is... No one can tell that I am not good enough, because I am.
My passion is creating a learning environment where children love to learn, and helping them reach their fullest potential.

Establishing my Personal Learning Network

Personal Learning Network:

To begin the journey in creating my own personal learning network, I started by watching Youtube videos, and reading blog posts about PLNs. I found that this a very simple thing to do. The only thing you really need to get started on your PLN is the desire to be a life long learner and a computer with internet access. There are so many resources on the web for teachers; so many experienced teachers posting very useful tips and advice on how to become a better teacher. I also never realized how useful twitter could be for educational purposes. I have begun reading tweets from educators who also post useful advice and information for teachers.

After finding a few blogs to subscribe to and people to follow on twitter, I decided to check out Symbaloo, and I absolutely love it. You literally have everything at your fingertips. You can make links to blogs that you enjoy reading, a link to your own personal blog, you can basically save a link to anything that you want to. On this site you can get to everything you need without having to actually type it in and find it every time. I made a little section for EDM310, with links to my blog, the class blog, the master checklist, and I am still adding as I think of things that I need to add. I never knew something like this existed. This is a great way to keep everything organized and it's so simple. I cannot wait to expand my PLN.

Project #3 Presentation Post

Project Based Learning

 


  Alabama College and Career Ready Standards 

Search Engines

1.WolframAlpha-A search engine that calculates knowledge and answers questions. It will answer almost any question whether the question be math, history, or science. It can be used as a dictionary and thesaurus. If you type in the title of a song it will pull up the lyrics, or if you put in some of the lyrics it will pull up the title of the song. It can be used to find information about movies and plays. There are specific links you can click on such as; mathematics, step-by-step solutions,people and history, art and design, and much more. This search engine is the best that I have found for educational purposes. It has endless amounts of knowledge available to write papers, do projects, and any school related assignments.

2. Bing-bing is good for getting reviews from people you know or people like you. It is good for searching for hotels.
3. Duck Duck Go-A small company based in Paoli, Pennsylvania with only 20 employees, is different from other search engines in that does not track you. It emphasizes on protecting the users privacy.

4.Yahoo-yahoo is a great way to stay up to date with information on news,sports, style, health, beauty, travel, movies,weather, politics, and more right at your finger tips. Yahoo is allows you to set up an email account. Yahoo, to me, is the best search engine to get celebrity gossip, and news.

5.Yelp-this is a great search engine for finding restaurants, bars, coffee shops, beauty and spas, health/medical, making reservations, and other services. You type in your current location and it will pull up the options for what you are looking for nearest you. Also, they provide information about reviews and health inspection scores.

6.Trip Advisor-this is a great tool for planning a vacation, or any kind of trip in a place that you are not familiar with. You can find hotels, restaurants, flights, and more.

7.Yandex-A Russian search engine. Used to find a number of internet-based services and products, Yandex is the fourth largest search engine in the world (as of 2012). This search engine is much like the others, but there is also an option for translation.

8. Ask-Founded in 1995, Ask.com is a question-answering search engine. You can type in a celebrities name and get a biography and picture instantly. It has links at the bottom of the page for many different subjects, providing specific information for each.

What Questions Do We Ask? How Do We Ask?

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

According to Ben Johnson, in his blog post,The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom, there is a right and a wrong way to ask your students questions in the classroom. Teachers tend to act like they know everything and they assume that the students don't know anything. He thinks that teachers need to figure out why they are asking questions in the first place. Some teachers say they are asking questions to see who understands what you have been teaching. But asking a question like "Does everyone understand?" is not a good way to really know who understands and doesn't. Johnson feels that this is like saying, I gave you the chance to tell me if you understand or not, so since you didn't tell me that you don't understand it is not my fault. Johnson says, the problem with this is that student may not know if they understand or not.

There are 3 groups of students; the ones who don't understand, the ones who do understand, and the ones that don't care. When teachers ask questions to the whole class the ones who are going to answer are the ones who understand, and the ones who do not understand and don't care are not going to pay attention. Then if you call on a random person and ask them a question, everyone else will just be relieved that you did not call on them. The right way to ask a question, according to Johnson, is to ask the question and wait three seconds before calling on someone (random) to answer. That way you will give all of them time to think about the question you are asking, and by the time you call on a student they should all know the answer.

I agree with Ben Johnson. I can remember when I was in middle school, I was a part of the "I don't care" group. I never voluntarily answered a question. If the teacher was going to randomly choose someone to answer the question, I wasn't worried about the question, I just sat and prayed that she would not call my name.

In Maryellen Weimer's blog, Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom, she gives advice on better ways to ask questions.

These questions are: 1.  Prepare Questions- Instead of just making up questions on the spot, think about the questions and write them down so you have your thoughts together about what you really want to ask.
2. Play with Questions- A way to do this is to leave a question open for a while, this is a good way to  get the students to think about the question and come up with the answer.
3. Preserve Good Questions- When you come up with a good question you can use keep a note of it and use it again in another class. If you ask for questions and the students do not respond, you can bring up the question to them to get them started to think of their own questions.

Rebecca Alber's blog post,5 Powerful Questions Teachers Can Ask Students, talks about five simple questions that are just as important as the more detailed questions.
These questions include:
1. What do you think?
2. Why do you think that?
3. How do you know this?
4. Can you tell me more?
5. What questions do you still have?
To get the best results from the questions you ask, give the students time to think about their answer. Students age will depend on the time that you need to give them to think about their answer. It is important for you to stay silent and give the students time. This will also help the students work through their thoughts and figure out where they stand on the subject.

C4Ta- Arvind S. Grover

21 Apples Blog, by Arvind S. Grover

Summary of the blog post #1:

This post was about the way you talk to your students. Keeping a positive attitude when dealing with students is the best way to handle a situation. Watch how you word things and make sure you never use sarcasm, at any age.

 My comment:
Thank you for this reminder. Sarcasm seems harmless but you never know how it will make someone feel, especially if you continually use sarcasm. At first it may seem playful, but over time it may come across as being mean and this could ruin your relationship with students or co-workers. Summary of blog post: If you're not sure where you students stand in the class or what they need help with, try this activity: Have the students write on a sheet of paper 1. Name 2. What is one idea from today's class that you feel like you really understood well? 3. What is one idea from today's class that you need more help with? 4. What is one question you would like me to explain next class? Then have them turn it in as an exit slip. This can be done once or for an entire week. My comment: This seems like a great way to get feed back from your students. They can be honest about what they have learned and even tell what they feel like needs to be improved in the class. I will have to try this when I become a teacher.

Summary of blog post #2:

Teachers need to observe in other classrooms to get ideas for changes that they could make to improve their own class. It is important to have a teacher role model and always want to be a better teacher.

My comment:
This is a great reminder. Often times teachers feel like they have it all together, and they know everything they need to know to teach their students. But they don't realize that students change, and as they change teachers must adapt to to the change. Observing other teachers and finding a role model teacher is a great way to better yourself and use different strategies to become a better teacher. Teaching can be done by anyone, but teaching effectively can only be done teachers who keep an open mind and apply new strategies of teaching.

Peer Editing

A peer is someone that is your age. Editing is making comments and suggestions about writing. Peer editing is when you help someone your own age make corrections to their work. The first step in editing someone else's writing is compliments. You need to make sure you let the writer know what you liked about their writing. It is very important to stay positive while peer editing. Next is suggestions; this could be about word choice, details, organization, sentences structure, or topics. Make suggestions on things that they should change to make their writing better. Then you make corrections. Make sure they've used correct grammar, punctuation, sentences, and spelling.

It is important to follow each step in peer editing to make sure it is done correctly. The most important rule is to stay positive. Think about how you would want someone to give you advice. You cannot be mean or negative about someone's writing. Your job is to simply give them advice on how to make it better, not make them change it to the way you want it. It is also important to make sure you stay on task, and not get distracted talking about other things.

21st Century Learning

The point of the video, Mr.Dancealot, was to show that certain subjects cannot be taught by lecturing and showing slides alone. In this case, a ballroom dancing class needs to be hands on to gain the experience needed to successfully do what is expected of you in the course. In the video, at the end of the course the students had no clue what to do. They had no practice, therefore that did not know what to do. The author made his point that classes need to be taught by practicing and doing rather than just listening to someone lecture for hours about the subject. This is true. When it comes to actually knowing how to do something, you have to do it yourself and figure it out. The saying is practice makes perfect. You cannot really learn by watching someone who already knows what they are doing.

Teaching in the 21st Century:

Kevin Roberts believes that teaching in the 21st century is completely different than before. Teachers are not the only source for knowledge anymore. Students are able to get information many different ways using technology. The role of teachers in the 21st century is to filter the information and teach students what to do with the information that they find.

I feel like Roberts view of the role of a teacher in the 21st century is accurate. I can see this becoming more of a reality with today's students. They have so many resources right at their finger tips; with their computers, cellphones, iPads, and more. They need teachers that help guide them and challenge them to use the information given to them wisely, professionally, and how to apply it to their lives.

If Roberts is correct, I as a teacher would make sure that I gave my students the tools to use the resources that they have properly. I would need to use more technology in the classroom than my teachers used in elementary school, not only for my benefit, but because this is how students learn now. They are used to having computers, TVs, cellphones, and if that's what keeps their attention then that's what should be used to teach them in the classroom.

The Networked Student:

Why do Networked students even need a teacher? According to the video , the teacher is there to help the student build his network and take advantage of these opportunities, she offers guidance, shows them how to properly ask for advice from experts, how to differentiate from good information and propaganda, and helps organize information. The teacher hopes that her student will maintain his learning network and to use it to navigate his future and solve the world's problems.

This is a great way to help students become successful. They work on their own, using their resources, to find information. Teachers are there to help them along the way. Answering questions, giving advice, offering their support. Just because students can find information on their own doesn't mean they know what to do with it. The teacher still plays a vital role in the life of the student.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts:

Vicki Davis is a teacher who uses technology of all sorts to teach her students. Her goal is to create a different kind of learning environment to empower her students. She is using a technique that allows students to learn from and communicate with other students around the world. This is a wonderful way to teach students. Communicating with other students from around the world is a great way for students to learn about other cultures and see how other people live. This kind of class will also help them with other classes that they take. They will be advanced in using technology and be able to use their knowledge to find information they need to complete a project. As Davis says in the video, students learn in different ways. If she just used paper and pencils, that would not benefit the students who are more hands on or visual learners.

Who is ahead in the learning race? Well, I will have to say elementary students at Baldwin County schools are definitely ahead in 21st century learning. The way I was taught and the way they are being taught are totally different. I was taught by teachers, my main source for information. They are basically teaching themselves using technology, with the guidance of teachers. This is a wonderful thing. Students are able to learn so much more and this will benefit in the long run. I wish Mobile County would convert to this way of teaching. I would love to teach this way. Kids today learn differently and technology should be used more in every school.

Flipping the Classroom:

Flipping the classroom is new to me, but I love the idea. What a great way to keep the students interested in learning and doing their homework. Instead of just sending kids home with a worksheet to bring back to class, they can practice problems and come up with questions to ask the next day. This way of teaching seems like it would be very successful to allow more time for teaching during the day and addressing the problems that students have. I love the fact that the students can watch a video of their teacher giving instruction, so the teacher can spend more time during the day doing activities with the students.

About Me and My Passions

My name is Kristen Hayaski. I'm 21 years old. I just got married June 14, 2014. I have lived in Mobile, Alabama my entire life. I love to travel and plan to travel a lot more in the future. I have been to Matagalpa, Nicaragua (2012 and 2013) and to Lima, Peru (2014) on missions trips. On these trips we visited orphanages and schools and were about to see how different the schools are in these countries.

Before I came to the University of South Alabama I attended Faulkner State community college. During my time at Faulkner State I decided that I wanted to become a teacher. My original plan was to become a dental hygienist and quickly realize that that wasn't for me. I have always wanted to be a teacher, so I decided to go for it. My plan now is to teach for as long as I feel like it and to eventually become a counselor in an elementary school. My husband is actually a teacher. He teaches history and coaches football and baseball at Citronelle high school. He will be starting his classes in January to become an administrator, and we may get to graduate together.

My husband and I both love missions work and education and plan to combine both of them to one day to teach in other parts of the world. We also want to open our own school and orphanage. We have big dreams and I truly believe that we will accomplish them.

I also love art. Painting, drawing, and any crafty project. I enjoy being creative and doing things on my own rather than just buying the cookie cutter version of something from the store. I am excited to do fun activities with my students and show them different ways to do things and be creative. I want to instill in them at a young age that it is good to be different and to think outside of the box. I feel like in today's society children need that. There needs to be more educators that teach life lessons and things that they will use for the rest of their lives instead of just teaching from a book. That's what I plan to do as a teacher; teaching children how to become successful adults who do not rely on others to determine their happiness. I want my students to know that no matter what people say about them, they are good enough and they can accomplish what they set their mind to.

My husband and I are leading a team from our church on a missions trip in July, to the Dominican Republic (One Nation One Day 2015). We are going with an organization called missions.me, along with 2,500 other missionaries from around the world to do street ministry, and projects such as building 100 homes for needy families, digging water wells, providing medical and dental aid to those who never get medical attention, and much more. I could go on and on about this trip. It is such an amazing opportunity. This is only the second time a trip of this size has been attempted. The first trip (One Nation One Day 2013) was in Honduras and they were very successful in reducing crime rates and boosting school attendance. I am very excited for this opportunity.

What About EDM 310?

Some students have told me how they feel about EDM 310. They said that it would be very hard and stressful. They said that Dr. Strange was unfair with his grades and he does not teach and that you have to teach yourself. They said it was horrible and the worst class they ever had to take. However, my husband, who is now a teacher, took this class in 2010 and he told me that it was a very rewarding class. I was confused at his response about the class because of the horror stories I have heard. He said that it is a very helpful course and that I will learn a lot that will help me when I become a teacher. He said although it is a very time-consuming class it is worth it in the end. He said as long as you do your work on time and keep a positive attitude you will do fine in the class.

A fear that I have about EDM 310 is the fact that I am a procrastinator. I feel like I will have trouble keeping up with the assignments, especially because I'm taking this course in the summer and we will have to work at a much faster pace. I also fear that I will let my group members down. I know I am capable of doing the assignments, but working with a group scares me because I know that they are counting on me as a big part of their grade as well. Even though I am nervous about these things, I am looking forward to getting over this feeling and getting rid of the habit of procrastination. I love a good challenge and I know that this class will definitely challenge me to become a better person in the long run.

I feel like EDM 310 will be different than most classes that I have taken in college and high school. This class requires self learning. The classes that I am used to, the teachers teach the material, I memorize what they taught, and take a test and move on. As Dr. Strange said, teachers are used to using the burp back method of teaching. He does not use that method at all and requires you to actually learn the material of his course. I did take an AP English class in high school that changed my way of thinking. It made me want to be a better student, and I feel like I have. It was the hardest class I have ever taken, until now. EDM 310 may be the hardest class I will ever take, but it may also end up being one of the most rewarding. The English class was excruciating while doing the work, but it was also very fun and interesting along the way. That's how I feel EDM 310 will be, we will have to work very hard and do our best, but we will also enjoy ourselves as we learn new ways of using technology.

I feel like it will be difficult for me to teach myself. Also, keeping up with the assignments and doing them on time will be a struggle because it is so fast paced. As I said earlier I am a procrastinator, but I feel like this class will force me to get out of that old habit. The best way to address the difficulty that I may have in this class would be to get used to teaching myself and actually learning the material because I will need this to be a successful teacher. And becoming a successful teacher is my main goal. I also need to remember that Dr. Strange and his lab assistants are available to answer any questions that I have and help me along the way.

I still wonder if I will be able to do what is expected of me in this course. But I plan on doing my best and staying on top of the assignments to make sure that I earn an A in this course.