Project #16 Reflection

For Project #16 my group and I did Dust Bowl Dance. After presenting our project there could have been a few things done differently. I think if we would have practiced the actual presentation a little

more it would have gone smoother, but other than that I do not think it was too bad. I liked our project and the concept behind it. Overall, I enjoyed this project and loved seeing what everyone else came up with. Some people's presentations were really good and well rehearsed. I liked how ours incorporated a lot of different materials for the projects that our students could use.

Project #16

Technology & Teaching: My Philosophy

         My philosophy for technology and teaching would be to know as much about it as possible. Technology is a wonderful tool for classrooms, offices, and homes. Now we should not completely rely on it and make it our everyday lives, but there is so much to learn and create with this technology. For teaching, technology can help a lot. Either some teachers are full on using technology in the classroom or others are slowly incorporating it. Teaching with technology can help in many of ways such as getting kids engaged, progressing students, and a lot of others. Overall, use as much of the resources as possible and learn about things as much as we can.

Blog Assignment #16

Part #2 Blog Assignment #5

This semester I learned about PLN's and how useful they are for not only teachers, but also for students. I did not realize though that by using Twitter, I was using a PLN until EDM 310. I will for sure continue to use PLN's throughout my teaching career and for my own personal use. The PLN's that I use is Twitter, Delicious, Edutopia, and Skype.

C4T April

I was able to comment on Becky Goerend's  blog this month. Becky talked about how she likes to make a connection with the students she teaches. She mentions how being a teacher is rewarding, but the relationships we make with our students can change the way we are. She recently moved classrooms and started to teach a different area and was worried about if she would be able to make connections with her new students like her previous ones. Needless to say, she of course did make a connection with them and realized that all that she did can change a students life. I like how she mentions that even though teaching is important that having a connection with your students is also important.

C4K April

This past month I was able to comment on a few great kids blog's.

On Audrey's blog in Ms. L's class was about about a book report she did. She wrote about the book Forevermore by Cindy Miles. She did a great job about keeping the reader interested about what the book is really about. Audrey also gave great descriptive scenes in the report that gave the reader a better visual of the things that were going on.

The other child's blog I posted on was William's from Mr. Gardner's class. William had a poem about the sense that people have. The poem was all about how people tweet on Twitter. He talks about how the things we tweet can bring in the different sense while just being on the internet.

This week I was able to comment on Tynisha's blog. Her blog was about her bucket list, which is were she sees herself in the next five and ten years. In five years from now she sees herself being in her first year of college. Ten years from now she says she plans to have a good job that pays a lot of money. Her goal in life it to get a lot of money and life a good life.

Blog Assignment #14

From the article "Teaching Our Children Can Be A Profession", by Joel Klein expresses the problems that are in the education system. Some of the problems that are listed in the article are:

• Pick From The Best 

                Employers need to recruit from the top third of the graduates.
                There needs to be better academic training for teachers.
                The reward system for teachers need to change.

• Seniority Distraction

                 For teachers to stay employed depends on how long they have been somewhere more than                      their skill.
                 Excellence should be a guiding tool for teachers to become better.
                 Teachers should go through a series of test after so many years to become re-certified.

• Radical Change 

           

   I completely understand where Joel Klein is coming from with wanting to make these changes in the school system. A lot of people think that just anyone can be a teacher, but it shouldn't be like that at all. Teachers are teaching the kids of the future and how we teach now will determine what the will go on to know and become. Also, teachers are not held to the highest of standards at all. Just beside someone has been somewhere longer does not make them the better employee. I enjoyed reading this article by Joel Klein and agree with what he has said greatly.

Blog Assignment #13

What are the many of different ways to incorporate technology and tools into Secondary Ed. English?

Read Five Top Technology Tools for The English Classroom by Sarah Findlater
Watch the video Technology In The High School English Classroom by Rose Mullaney
Read Emerging Technology Has Positive Impact in Classroom by Ryan Lytle


From each of these posts a future can learn a lot. From the "Five Top Technology Tools for the English Classroom" it is a great source for allowing new teachers how to introduce technology and what tools would be most useful. For the "Technology in the High School English Classroom" gives a great outlook on how technology can be used in the classroom to really benefit the student. 

C4K Month of April

This past month I was able to comment on a few great kids blog's.

On Audrey's blog in Ms. L's class was about about a book report she did. She wrote about the book Forevermore by Cindy Miles. She did a great job about keeping the reader interested about what the book is really about. Audrey also gave great descriptive scenes in the report that gave the reader a better visual of the things that were going on.

The other child's blog I posted on was William's from Mr. Gardner's class. William had a poem about the sense that people have. The poem was all about how people tweet on Twitter. He talks about how the things we tweet can bring in the different sense while just being on the internet.

This week I was able to comment on Tynisha's blog. Her blog was about her bucket list, which is were she sees herself in the next five and ten years. In five years from now she sees herself being in her first year of college. Ten years from now she says she plans to have a good job that pays a lot of money. Her goal in life it to get a lot of money and life a good life.

C4T #3

This month I was able to comment on Daniel Edwards blog.

   My favorite post that he had was "How Do We Prepare Our Children For Tomorrow" and it was a video that was about how students should not be determined of their ability by a "grade". The video mentioned how when students remember their favorite teacher, they usually remember what that teacher taught them. The video also talked about just because a child can or cannot do the work does not deal with the process beforehand such as can that child work in a group, can they collaborate with others well, and much others. Sure it is hard to measure these things, but we should be grading on the child and the things they did and the journey they take. I like this idea because we are no longer judging students on what their work "looks" like, but how much time and effort they put in to get the outcome they received.

    The other post done by Daniel Edwards was Why Innovate?. This one mostly was about how even though technology is a great tool it is still just a resource, and that it needs to be taught how to be used properly. He uses the word pedagogy, which I had not heard of before until I actually read his post. Pedagogy is that of the teaching or practice of something in an academic subject. That can be helpful because even if we think we know all about the computer or other technologies there is still so much more to learn and to keep growing.

Blog Assignment #12

Project #14

Project Overview         

Blog Assignment #11

    In the first video of Back to the Future, Mr. Crosby teaches us there is a lot to allow our students to do in the classroom. He showed us that he had his class using blogs to embed videos, write about what things happened in the projects, and why they happened the way they did. He even has his fourth graders create Wiki webpages which I myself just recently learned about. Mr. Crosby had his students write a story about being the balloon from their project and the trip the balloon would make in the air. He mentions how the students would start with thinking inside of the box, but then they would think outside of the box. Once the students finished the story they would post their stories onto their blog. Afterwards, Mr. Crosby had his students write about their own high hopes and post that to their blogs. The kids loved getting comments from other people and even started leaving comments on other students. This allowed the students to connect with other people around the world. His students even Skyped a class in Australia to help them with a project the Australian class did not know how to perform. The kids did not only get to show off what they knew, but his own students learned the language intense such as feedback, read/write content, writing to clarify and share, and much more. The most coolest thing I learned from Mr. Crosby was when a kid was sick, but she was still being able to participate in the classroom. 

      Paul Anderson's video Blended Learning Cycle there is much to learn. First off the blended learning is taking online, mobile, and classroom learning and mix these three forms together. A learning cycle is known for the five E’s which are engage, explore, explain, expand, and evaluate. When mixing the blended learning and learning cycle together is when there is then the blended learning cycle. Mr. Anderson also uses the acronym of QUIVERS for there to show there are six parts to the learning cycle. The QU is for question to help get the students engaged and starting to think about things. The I is for investigation/inquiry to allow the students to start experimenting about the project. The V is simply video to get the students into doing pod casts and also seeing themselves in their eyes. The E for elaboration will help explain things that the students are supposed to be learning about. For the R, which is for review, will allow him to meet individually and ask the students questions to see their progress. And finally the S is a summary quiz to help test the students about what they should have learn. I love when Mr. Anderson makes the comment that we cannot really learn something until we explain it to someone else. I learned the most from this video since it gave a lot of great things to use in the classroom such as the acronym and the background knowledge. 

     For video three Talk about puzzles in small groups and create a headline and share with the class. Give a few words to back up the headline. Then put up headline for display. Then when kids do their final project he will ask what is the headline and have them think about how things have changed in that story and in time.

Fourth Video: Building Comics

     Bring up a quote from Spiderman to them that is common to them.  Small discussion and then discuss a digital citizen. How to be safe and responsible online. No hacking and giving personal info. Will create a digital citizen superhero that will allow the students to build. Take five minutes to show students then allow them to build their own. They then have to take the character and put them in an imaginary situation that is seen in the real world. Next there will be a story created. Bigger sense of ownership since students created the superhero. Students are able to analyze things better. Next they take a gallery walk and give them a comment on a students comic. To show students they will be exposed to a lot of things online.

Fifth Video: Project Based Learning

     Students may not be able to tell you what class they are in. Projects engage learning and deeper thinkers. Combined all sorts of subjects together. To help make students do better and give better feedback. Makes students say they are proud of their work. Has kids take ownership of it more and want to make it more perfect. 

Project #13

Calendar


Lesson Plan


Rubric

C4K Month of March

   
     In Kiley's blog she wrote about five tips for future high school students. The tips were 1. Don't try to fit in, 2. Don't judge people before you meet them, 3. People will start rumors, 4. Get involved in sports/clubs, and 5. Relationships happen, but do not always think he/she is the one forever. After each tip she went more in depth about to follow that certain rule.

     For S'jon's blog he wrote about the recent PLAN tests he just took. He mentioned how he thinks he did great on each section the test offered along with the math portion which he says he does not do well in. S'jon talks about instead of being stressed like some students it is just best to stay chill and calm which is what he did. 

Project #12

Blog Assignment #10

     In the video Little Kids... Big Potential, done by Ms. Cassidy, her first graders were learning about blogs, webpage, wikis, videos, Skype, and Nintendo DS. Most of the things these first graders are learning about, us college kids are also just now learning it. The kids talked about all the things that they enjoyed about each of these online projects. For the blogs the students feel they are becoming better writers, people get to see them other than just the teacher, and it is a great hhhhtttttttonline portfolio for work. With the videos, it was neat to see how they would do group work and also create videos to help others. I never saw a classroom really use Nintendo DS in the classroom until this video. It was interesting what the kids said about the things helping them and also how the teacher allowed it.
     In Part 1 of the interview with Ms. Cassidy, she talked all about how she uses technology in the classroom. She says she is always adding new things and projects for her students to do. She has had several principals who have not totally supported the technology in the classroom, but there have also been some who were all for it. There are many tools online for students to use other than blogs such as videos and audio. Ms. Cassidy mentions how students should be technology literate and us as teachers should keep up with what is happening in the technology field. I would probably mostly use the blogs like she does in my classroom setting one day since I will be a high school English teacher.

     Part 2 of the interview was really short and to the point. Ms. Cassidy talked about as a teacher where to start when introducing electronics into the classroom. She says to start with something that we are interested in. So if it is writing then possibly start with blogs, but if it's movies then possibly do group project where they must create a video. I like how she mentions to start with something that interests us and maybe not so much the students. I see what she means though because if I am so for it then I will put my all into it.
     For the last and final interview, Part 3, with Ms. Cassidy the students were able to ask her the questions. One student asked about blogs for PE or even how to use cell phones. I never really used to think there could be much technology use in PE, but there are a few things that could really help out. I like how Ms. Cassidy addressed the question about cheating with stating that teachers should continuously be changing the way we make our students present our classwork.
     Overall these were all great videos and gave great information. Ms. Cassidy gave a lot of advice on how to start with using technology such as starting with something that interests the teachers and the different tools to use like Skype, blogs, and wikis.



   

Project #9

Blog Assignment #9

     The video Project-Based Learning For Teachers, done by Tony Vincent, kept me entertained the entire time. The video then made me think about how other projects and videos can make my future students be entertained and engaged in the classroom. Not only was his video entertaining because of all the movements and colors, but also because of what he had to say. The big thing that he included in the video that will help students and teachers teach others is how he put the common core standards. Many people do not really know the standards, but having him include then helps teaching others. A way students and teachers can help teach about project-based learning is showing the effects of it. Tony Vincent says that is keeps children learning and creates a drive through one question. His video is well done to to help others create a better knowledge of what project-based learning is and how it really should be worked.

     In Suzanne Bell's video PBL: What Motivates Students Today, she showed us about how students are staying on track and keep learning with project-based assignments. She pulled videos that students did individually that they recorded themselves at home to make this YouTube video. The age range is all different which is one way of teaching us that students at such a young age are already recording themselves and are able to upload the videos. This is a type of project-based learning because it kept the children intrigued and had them do the video. She also had a section in the video for what rewards really work in the classroom. One child mentioned about how there is a "color chart" which awards the students with money to help them spend in the school to get things they may want. I personally have seen this work when I went on a cite visit into a school. This video in general helps teachers and students teach about project-based learning since they were able to make this entire video and show what all they were able to do. The kids also had a smile on their faces the entire time which to me showed that they liked this assignment.

     Pflug's blog post Project Based Learning in PE, was an interesting read. I enjoyed reading about how there is a way to incorporate project base learning into the physical education field. I also liked the fact of how this bog post was told how exactly it can be introduced into the gym classes. My favorite one was that of having groups of students create fitness plans, but late being able to tell others about them. This in general was a great blog post.

     From the post of Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning by John Larmer and John R. Mergendollar there were of course seven tips mentioned, but also mentioned two things every project needs. Every projects needs to have a personal learning meaning for the students and also fills an educational learning purpose. The tips that are needed for a project based learning activity are:

1. A Need To Know
A teacher can cause this need to know learning by first introducing an "entry event" that will get the students asking questions and wanting to know more. As mentioned in the post an entry event can be anything such as a video, guest speaker, field trip, or mock correspondence that sets up a scenario.

2. A Driving Question
This is a question that will help the students think about things and trying to find a reasonable answer to the question. The post mentions that without a driving question is like have an essay with no thesis- no point. A good driving question will give a clear meaning on what we are looking for and also a purpose for looking for an answer.

3.

Add caption

C4T #2

Daniel Edwards Blog
        In Daniel Edwards blog post Top 10 Apps in an Established 1:1 iPad School, he talked about a great many number of apps that are out there to help for students and teachers in the school system. He gives the lists of the apps, but underneath he then gives a brief description about each app he listed. Most of the apps that he has listed I have never even heard of such as Explain Everything, Edmodo, and Showbie. He also mentions the popular apps of iMovie, iTunes U, Pages, and a few others. My favorite app that he mentioned was Edmodo which is a safe site for the students that only has a few people who know the access code be able to get into. It helps let students ask others about challenging questions and helps to slowly introduce a students first use of social media.

     In his other post Why Innovate?, he talks about how to help the distractions in a classroom and slowly bringing in technology. Edwards says that it is hard for a teacher to do 1:1 teaching all the time so it leads to a teacher just doing the best of her abilities, but if there were more resources than this can instead help the students. Having iPads in the classroom with in fact help the students since they can then have the 1:1 learning some students may need, but he says there should be more than just what is on the screen. He says that there should be a need for technology and that of books. He does a great job in saying how these things can both be used, but also approached.

Blog Assignment #8

     From the video Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, Randy Pausch gave a lot of great advice that can be useful for teaching and learning. He talked about different advice to help to remember and to help in the work profession and for everyday life.

      In the video Dr. Pausch started with his childhood dreams, how he achieved or did not achieve them, and how we should not lose sight of our dreams. He says that it is good to have dreams, but you should have specific dreams like how he wanted to experience zero gravity and not necessarily be an astronaut. In his childhood dream section he mentions how we should have something to bring to the table, and that will help for you to be more welcomed. He wanted to play in the NFL, never happened, but talks about the more important things of the sports such as team work and commitments which is something that is used a lot in the work field. Dr. Pausch makes a statement about a time when his coach was telling him that even though someone was hounding him to do better it just showed that person never gave up on him. This can apply to the school field since even though a child may be messing up, just not helping them is not the answer.

     After talking about his childhood dreams he talked about his time at Carnegie Mellon University where he was a professor. Dr. Pausch talked about lessons he learned while working and growing up. He says that anyone can influence us such as parents, teachers, mentors, and even students; student influence is an important one since even though we can influence them they can do the same to us. Even if we are working for someone we should respect authority, but while questioning it. We should never lose our childlike wonder, help others, loyalty is a two-way street, and never give up are other lessons we should keep in our minds.

     At some point everyone needs help. Dr. Pausch created a list of a few ways to help get help which can be useful to share in a classroom to help give students a better understanding how things work with others. He says to get help we must tell the truth, believe in karma, be earnest, apologize when we screw up, and most importantly focus on other, not yourself.

     Randy Pausch finished his wonderful speech with a list of his last important advice which is:

• Be good; it makes us more valuable
• We need to work hard to get what we want
• Find the best in everybody; even if we do not see it right away it is still there 
• Be prepared 

    I loved watching this speech and gained a lot of good advice from it. He is not only a great speaker, but also great at giving useful tips to use in our own lives and especially in the teaching field since we can apply these tips and advice to the classroom.

Blog Assignment #7

      Teaching now-a-days is no longer with pen, paper, and textbooks, but with computers, tablets, and phones. From the first video Using iMovie and the Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten I was impressed to see that kindergarten students were doing the same things as I am doing now in college such as using iMovie for book trailers. The kids are also eager to fix their mistakes since they know their videos will be to the public. Also from this video I learned about Alabama Virtual Library (AVL). This is a free resource tool for students to go and research things and get a variety of things on what they research sure as pictures, websites, and encyclopedia entries.

      From the video We All Become Learners showed that just because we are teachers does not mean we know everything and are still learning. Kindergarten students were showing the librarian how to use the camera on an iPad quicker than it would of taken for her to figure out or look up. Also mentioned in the video it sounded like a lot more teachers are actually relying on the students to help teach them the technology that is used in the classroom.

      In the video Top 10 Reasons to Use Technology in Education: iPad, Tablet, Computer, Listening Centers gave a great list of tips to help support the technology going on in the classroom.
Tips From Video:   1. Students love it
                              2. Engages students to the four key components of learning
                                  -Active engagement
                                  -Participation in groups
                                  -Frequent interaction and feedback
                                  -Connection to real world experts
                               3.  Professional Development
                               4. Makes Life Easier for Teachers
                               5. Improves Test Scores                                         
                               6. Helps Students With Low Attention Spans
                               7. Learn From The Experts
                               8. Encourages Homework
                               9. Save Money
                              10. Removes Obstacles

      From the final video iPads In The Classroom, it showed how not only are young kids using it, but now also high school students. Everyone is so impressed that younger kids can do all these things and older ones cannot, but in high school there is still not that much technology in the classroom yet. Granted the physics teacher said he has not seen an improvement, he has seen them more engaged with the learning. I liked this video the best because it gave other solutions to things such as helping students read and write and how there are apps for certain learning tools.

Project #7 Part B

To My Parents:

To My Students: 

C4K Summary for February

      This month I was given four different students' blogs to post on.

      Marcus, from Mrs. Semby class, wrote two different clues to help us guess what he was writing about. His two clues were "he likes to dig holes" and "they run to the picnic". Those two clues were the hints to the answer of a dog.

      Hannah S., from Mr. Boylen's 8th grade class, wrote her blog about how her basketball team won a tournament. They were doing a great job and made it all the way to finals. She was writing the blog at the beginning as if they lost the game since she wrote that the other team was ahead and she thought they could not come ahead. At the end of the story, she said they ended up winning the game, but she thinks it would not of happened if it was not for team work.

      Joey's blog was all about how she enjoys going camping every year with her friends and family. She mentioned how when camping at the camp site she will go jumping off the bridge into water with friends, tube down the river, and rides on a train. She mentioned how it is a great way to create memories with her friends and is one reason why she enjoys going so much.

Blog Assignment #6

      There are many things that any teacher can learn from the videos of Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps about problem based learning and things to do in the classroom. From the first video Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher they both talk about how students should be learning, but not making them show what they already know. That being said is very true because if a child is just showing what they already know than they are just regurgitating what they have heard or been taught instead of actually learning on their own. Also children should have projects that deal with also meeting the required materials that the state wants students to know. If a child is not up to the standards than how will it help them in the future? The second part of the video, Project Based Learning Part 2: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher, is to let children know about problem based learning and be excited to talk about it. Children having a better understanding of what they are doing will help them also get a better understanding on what they need to do and how it should be done. Projects may not always go well, but learning and taking notes on the way we as teachers describe them will only help.

Dr. Strange & Anthony Capps

      Anthony Capps talks about two programs he uses in his third grade classroom quite often. The first mentioned is that of iCurio. I personally had never heard of it until it was talked about between Dr.Strange and Anthony Capps. It is an online tool that allows students to safely search the internet and lets them store things they find on the search browser. It sounded really neat and useful to not only the students, but also for teachers to use. The other one they mentioned was Discovery Education which gives students a more visual way to learn. The website will give videos of experts that will give the students they need to know to help give a deeper learning. Dr. Strange even mentions how most students seem to be listeners/watchers when learning than readers/writers.
      The next few videos was about tips and tricks of teaching. From the video The Anthony-Strange List of Tips for Teachers Part 1 they listed a number of things for first year teachers to learn. One of the most important I thought was that of knowing surprises will happen and teachers should be very flexible. The video Don't Teach Tech- Use It gave me a lot to learn from. It taught me that I should not introduce the technology all at once, but introduce things week by week and eventually give students a projects that uses everything at once. The other most important thing I learned was what Anthony Capps called the "Russian Dolls" from the video Additional Thought About Lessons and that is a lesson should be no more than 4 layers.
      I gained a lot of learning from watching these videos and will for sure use it when I become a teacher within the classroom.

Project #8

Project #3 Presentation

Project #7 Part A

This Is My Sentence 

This Is My Passion 

Blog Assignment #5

     A Personal Learning Network (PLN's) is what teacher use to help build sources that will potentially help them be a better teacher. I created my PLN through Symbaloo which is a great basic way to start. One of the best things that comes from Symbaloo is that I can personalize the order I would want my resources to be in. I have a habit of always having the a website's icon I like most on the left side of my screen. By using Symbaloo it allowed me to do just that. The PLN's are great to use for research purposes. It also will keep track of websites that I may want to come back and look for at a later time. Another neat thing is that if I want I can personally contact someone such as a professor, writer, or even scientist. So far I am still trying to figure out just exactly how it is used, but I am finding it useful.

Projects #15 Search Engines

1. WolframAlpha
This search engine seems to deal more with equations and the preciseness of things. If I were to use this search engine I would use it more for help on a math problem, science related, or maybe even trying to purchase something for the house. When I came to the page there was a black space that asked what I would like to know more about or calculate. My first search I typed in car and it gave me the metric and standard weight along with the length of a standard car. It does not give much information and details or other websites, but simply the basic facts.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/

2. DuckDuckGo
When I first heard the name of this I kind of chuckled, but I actually like it. For DuckDuckGo I used the same word car for this search engine, and it brought up a lot of websites that either had car in the title or in the description. This search engine seems close to Google. I would probably use this one if I had to look up things for a project or get the answers to something. This search engine also apparently does not track so if someone is looking for one like that then this is it.
https://duckduckgo.com/

3. Dogpile
This search engine actually says it is presented by Google and Yahoo, so I am guessing that is where a lot of the information is pulled from. Dogpile I would use for anything very basic. It does not give a lot of useful feed back, but just random websites. When I typed in car it did not even pull up the main website cars,com like most other search engines do. This one does however have a tab for videos, pictures, local, and news.
http://www.dogpile.com/

4. WOW
Before I even typed anything in there was a list of icons of websites below the search bar that was quick links to popular sites. The links also seemed to give a wide variety, and the website covered the most popular ones on my feed. On WOW it also guesses what someone may type like Google does. Unlike a lot of other search engines this one only offers the web, photos, and videos. I would use this one if I am just wanting to look something up real quick or quickly go to a website since it has that option at the bottom of the search bar.
http://www.wow.com/

5. Ask
Ask seems alright, but I personally do not care for this search engine. I would probably not use this website much for anything. It does not give that great of websites when I used different words to search either. It does however have a Question and Answer section that lets other people posts comments to and a lot of other search engines do not have that.
www.ask.com

6. Ixquick
This one is neat since it has tabs to the left that allows someone to see posts as far as the past year. It even has the past 24 hours which would be neat for if something just recently happened. I would probably use this website for wanting to know something that is news related or something that maybe just recently happened in Hollywood. I like how the tabs are there though to only check certain time frame on posts.
https://ixquick.com/

7. Bing
I know a lot of people use Bing over Google now-a-days. I like how it does have the tabs at the bottom of the page for the most recent "news" whether it be in Hollywood or around the world. Bing also has many different tabs to search something under such as pictures, videos, maps, news, and much more. I would use Bing if I had a research project or something as basic as checking the weather. I would say this is my second favorite search engine.
http://www.bing.com/

8. Web Crawler
This seems like another basic search engine. This one does list most recent searches, and I am assuming that it is from other people across the world. It gives some websites that are popular, but also some that I have never really heard of. If I needed a certain number of sources, or I needed a source someone else did not use for a paper I would more than likely use this one by looking at the things that pop up under different searches,
http://www.webcrawler.com/

C4T Cooperative Catalyst

     Cooperative Catalyst is actually a blog site where many teachers have posted to it, but the most recent posts have been those done by Aaron Eden. In his posts he talks much about technology and how students should start learning on their own.
      In Aaron's most recent post "Teaching Without Knowing, And Finding Problems to Solve", he says how it is okay for teachers to now always know the answers to questions students may have. Aaron states that most students turn towards teachers for the answers because all their lives they are taught to go to the teacher if they do not know something. Instead he thinks students should research on their own and do the problem solving themselves. I agreed with a lot that he had to say. With becoming a teacher so much is being changed now a days who knows what the real answer is to anything. Have kids learn on their own though will allow them to be better problem solvers and learners.

       Aaron's second post "Online Education is Not the Disruption" is more about how some people may go against online learning. He states that even if the entire class is not online that some online learning can help students actually learn better. When students are always in the classroom they are mostly taught to "cram-and-regurgitate". With that being said I like what Aaron had to say about how the technology is becoming. The online learning is not the disruption, but they way things are taught is. Sure students may learn more if they are in the classroom, but if they have to look up the answer for themselves or even do online based learning they may end up learning more. 

Blog Assignment #4

      As teachers we are known to ask questions, but what if the questions we ask are not really benefiting our students? In Ben Johnson's post "The Right Way to Ask Questions In the Classroom" he mentions how teachers are always assuming things from the answer of a child. Teachers usually ask the question "Does everybody understand?" just assuming that if the class responds with anything but a no, then yes everybody understands. Johnson, however, says that in fact the student probably does not know that they do not understand.

   To also be an effective teacher by asking questions we need to be able to give more open ended questions. In Andi Stix's video "Open Ended Questions"she says that teachers need to change that "solid" question to an open ended one. Having more open ended questions allows the students to think more not only on the question, but the answer and facts to support it. Being a teacher does come with some tough times on asking questions since maybe we would not know how exactly to word it to allow it benefit the student. Also to be an effective teacher asking questions to maybe one certain child could also help.
Some students do not want participate or would rather let the smarter kids answer it so they do not have to so calling on a child would not be calling them out, but helping them.

     With also asking questions asking a student to even simply draw or self express about something could be an effective way of teaching. In the video "Questioning Styles and Strategies", they have fifth graders draw about what they pictured from the book "Bridge to Terabithia". The students were able to give feedback about what they pictured from the book would let them express themselves in the sense to let other students what they thought. Having drawings will also help the teachers in a different way to possibly see how the students are seeing things in the way they are learning them.

     Everyday teachers ask questions, but effective teachers ask the  more deeper thinking questions. To truly help students by questions we need to get them thinking, but also more engaged within the learning process. Asking simple yes or no questions does not help benefit the child as say an open ended one. Also drawings will get the students involved and can be something different to do every once in a while to change things up. To be an effective teacher we need to know the right and wrong ways to ask questions to our students.
   

Blog Assignment #3

     What really is peer editing? In the YouTube video "Peer Editing", it tells us that peer editing means working with someone your own age to help improve their own writing. When approaching peer editing a person's writing there are three rules to always remember. The top three steps are complimenting, suggesting, and correcting. From the PowerPoint "Peer Edit with Perfection Tutorial", it is mentioned that when complimenting it should always be positive, but would be good to do at the very beginning of the edit. Along with starting with compliments, it also mentions how to be specific when making suggestions.

     I will follow the three main rules of complimenting, suggesting, and correcting when peer editing my classmates in not only EDM310, but other classes as well. I will also remember the different "personalities" that can come from peer editing that were demonstrated in "Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes". The most important thing that can come from peer editing is that it should only make a person better. It is there to help us to become better writers, but to also think about how to possibly change our writing style. Peer editing is a great thing to learn to help apply to an everyday process.

Blog Assignment #2

     Teaching in the 21st century will be completely different than how teaching used to be. Instead of there being just pencils, notebooks, and textbooks there are now phones, computers, and iPads; that is not even considering the different apps and websites there are to help students learn. 

1.     In the video "Mr. Dancealot", the professor, Mr. Dancealot, is teaching his students different dances, but all through powerpoint. The central message of this video is that just because we may have the technology to help teach does not necessarily mean that is the only way to teach. By the end of this video the teacher proves so by having his students take their final exam by performing the dances on video. The students however do not know the dances since all they had to learn from was from notes, but not actually getting to practice the dance moves. Mr. Dancealot does make an excellent point on this though. It shows that students should be able to interact when needed in the classroom to help them learn things taught to them better. 

2.     Kevin Roberts explains in the video "Teaching in the 21st Century" what he thinks it means to teach now-a-days. Like many of other teachers, Roberts is seeing how technology has grown as an important tool to use in the classroom. We need to connect with students on their level of how they are learning. Roberts even says how students do not need to be entertained, but engaged in the classroom to help the students learn better.  

Outline

I. The way things used to be taught is out of date. 

    A. Students are learning on their own with technology.

         1. Twitter

         2. Google

         3. Cell phones

    B. With technology comes new teaching

         1. Teaching how to validate information

         2. Teaching how to properly use Google and other search engines

         3.  Help students communicate information learned

II. Should curriculum be focused on facts or skills?

    A. The teachers give the skills so the students can find the facts

         1. Remember

         2. Understand 

         3. Apply

         4. Analyze 

         5. Evaluate 

         6. Create

     B. There are so many ways students are creating which need skills

         1. Blogging 

         2. Podcasting

         3. Programming

     C. The other skills students need when obtaining information

         1. Plagiarism

         2. Slander

         3. Pirating

III.  How to properly bring technology into the classroom

     A.The tools used have to be 

         1. Challenging 

         2. Engaging 

         3. Relevant 

     B. How is entertainment and engagement not the same

         1. Entertainment is passive and enjoyment

         2. Engagement is active and learning

IV. Engagement starts with teachers

      A. Seeing what resources are out there 

      B. Start off small with the technology

      C. Collaborate with other people 

      D. Take a risk and see what happens when trying something else

     

     How Kevin Roberts sees teaching changing is spot on. Having him saying that technology is a temptation, but should be monitored like pencils and notebooks is a great way to connect the new teaching to the older. The way he is seeing the way everything is changing will only help future educators with their students. Even though some may not be very computer literate they can still learn easy things to help engage students in the classroom with technology. It will affect me as an educator since I am even learning new things as I go. It will affect my in the sense that everyday something new and different is being created in the technology filled that out does something else. 

3.    When I first read the question "Why does a networked student even need a teacher?" before even watching the video "The Networked Student", I thought a lot of the same things the video mentions. Teachers are their to guide their students and have them thinking about different things that are going on in this world. Teachers are to teach the basic things the students would need to know to help them grow. Students will use their own skills and tools learned from the teachers to find the facts and answers to things. Teachers are as a guide and not the one who knows all.

4.     In Vicki Davis' video "Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts" she makes the point that students learn better with technology. She even has a comment that teachers think they need to know everything they teach, but the don't. I love how she makes that statement because we do all pull from one another. I love how she uses all form of technology in her classroom because that is something that is needed in the classrooms today.

5.      The video title "Who's Ahead In the Learning Race?" really gets a person thinking.  Everybody who probably say well my learning class right? Well in this video if someone is in elementary school and thought they are ahead, then they are correct. Dr. Strange does a really interesting study here on elementary, undergraduate, and graduate students. Since kids are starting at such a young age learning about technology it would only make sense they are ahead. Younger students are being taught things that I myself am just learning which is neat, but at the same time weird since I now see myself as being behind on the learning race.

6.     Flipping the classroom is actually something I have never seen before. I actually learned a lot form the video "Flipping the Classroom". Some of my friends have studied lecture notes the night ahead, but it is not like we necessarily had to. Flipping the classroom would benefit not only the teachers, but also the students. Students will be getting the best knowledge they can get and possibly even learn more. Since classroom time would no longer be "wasted" it is an advantage on the students for growing their own knowledge on things. Flipping the classroom does seem useful since it would use everyone's time wisely, makes students better prepared for class, and not as boring for a student since they can be at home. 

7.     In "Bringing the Locker Room to the Classroom" I could use a way for having students teach their own classmates. Craig Owens says that students would see him as the one who would know all since most of the times all questions were directed towards him. In that sense I would not always have to necessarily give my student an answer, but instead work with a classmate as a "team" to find the right answer. 

Blog Assignment #1

What about EDM310?

     Some of the things I have heard about EDM310 is that it is a class that is very time consuming and a lot of work load. One of the fears I have for this class is the fact that there is a good amount of work to do each week and most of it being online. One of the most difficult things for me in this course is possibly forgetting to do something and staying on track. The way for me to defeat this difficulty is to just write down everything I need to finish in my planner to stay on top of things. 

     EDM310 is similar to a computer course I took in high school in the way that it was all computer base. We learned how to use the Microsoft programs and how to create things in a model form. It is however much different from my other classes though since it is all computer base. Most of my other classes deal with taking notes, reading a book, and attending class everyday. 

     The one question I do have is how difficult is it to use Foliotek? 

Practice Blog #1

Outline

• About my family and me
• My hobbies and interests 
• Why I want to enter the field of education
• Description of a 21st teacher
• My dream 
• Picture about my passion 

      Hey there everyone! I am Caroline Mitchell and I am a sophomore here at the University of South Alabama. I was born and raised in Biloxi, Mississippi which is only about an hour away from here. I am a Secondary Education English major, but want to some day teach college. I am not the first of my family to attend college. My father is a Marine Biology major, but actually works for the Air Force. My mother is a history high school teacher, and is one of the people who helped me decided what I would want to do with my life. I also have a little sister who is in eighth grade, and as of right now also plans to go to college to be a teacher. I have one cat and one dog who are my life. I have had my cat for about two years and is named Mitzi. My dog just recently turned seven months old and is a lab mix named Lily.

     One of my favorite things to do is travel. I am pretty much the definition of a wanderlust. I plan to visit the whole United States, and would love to visit every country. I have been out of the country numerous of times and different places. I have been to the Bahamas, Mexico (twice), London, Paris, New York City, parts of Tennessee, Florida multiple times, different parts of Louisiana, and Texas. I am also always up for an adventure would probably explain why I love to travel and see new sights. I also love the outdoors- especially the beach. During the summer I actually work on an island which I take a boat to every morning in Biloxi.

     My goal is to become an English college professor because I love the deep thinking about writing that my professors has made me do so far. With college comes a whole bunch of different people, who have all grown up in different places with different backgrounds who have so many different perspectives on things. I also chose English because I like the idea of assigning papers and helping my students grow to be better writers. I would like to start off in high school though however to ease my way into the teaching world.

     The description of a 21st teacher is for sure someone who knows how to work with technology. Along with that a teacher who is willing to take in different ideas from all different sources whether it be people, the internet, or even news articles. Along with that a teacher is someone who also teaches things other than what is mandatory. Teachers should also teach life lessons and things we may see and deal with in our lifetime.

     One of my dreams is to teach English abroad in some country. Not only would I be seeing new sights, but I would be learning about a whole new culture.