Blog Post #9

What I learned this year - 2009/2010
In his second post, Mr. McClung talks about his achievements, faults, and lessons learned in his second year of teaching. He brings up some very good points. You have to adapt your lesson plan to your students. Otherwise you will become the "ghost of [history] teachers past". If you go through your lessons without taking into consideration of who your students are and what is important to them, then you're not helping them grow to their full potential. You're simply passing them along into the next grade level. I like his idea of finding a "mother figure" in the school. Finding someone who knows what's going on in the school can really help you to stay sane and up-to-date. They can also be a source of comfort when you're going through stressful times. McClung says to "leave your ego at the door". This means, don't be afraid to be passionate or "crazy" about what you do. Students follow by example and if they see that you love the subject then they're more likely to love the subject too. It's never dorky to be in love with what you do.
He also says not to be a control freak. If you try and control your students too much, then you could stifle their learning. There's no freedom or chance at creativity. Students need time to figure things out for themselves and use the teacher when they've hit a mental "barrier". You can't let the students always depend on you for the right answer. You might not have it. They need to know that not everyone has a right answer and some things only require an opinion. I want to get my students talking and see what their opinions are.

What I learned This Year - Volume 4 (2011-2012)
In his fourth post, Mr. McClung expresses what he has learned during his fourth year of teaching. He said that although he has had another full year of experience, he hasn't learn anything particularly new. He blames this on the fact that he has gotten comfortable with his surroundings and is beginning to fall into his own place in the school. The students and staff know him and were he stands as a teacher. He talks about his concern with his comfortable situation. He worries that this level of comfort is messing with his creativity. In order to fix this, he stepped out of his comfort zone and is teaching two new classes.
In this post, Mr. McClung also expresses that he is more aware of how his coworkers feel about him. He's starting to care too much about what his peers think of him and less of what his students think, although, his students opinions should be the ones that matter most. I completely agree with this. I will know that I am doing a good job as a teacher when my students love coming to my class. It doesn't matter what your fellow teachers think. They're not the ones who have to take your class.
I put a link to Mr. McClung's blog on my PLN. I plan on checking back with him to see what else he has learned. I can learn a thing or two from his experiences.

Project #12 - Book Trailer

Project #10 - PLN

I decided to use Symbaloo for my PLN. All of my social and resource tools are at the top. The green buttons are for education related blogs and the red buttons are for USA related services like PAWS and Sakai. I really enjoyed putting this together. It has shown me how much I rely on the internet and how many programs I use. My PLN will help me with my future career by giving me easy access to all of the resources that I use most. It also serves as a reminder to check other teacher's blogs for help and inspiration.

Blog Post #8

This Is How We Dream - Parts 1 and 2
Dr. Miller says that we are living in one of the greatest times of change in communication. He makes the point that with the internet we constantly have access to information, however, in a library, if someone checks out a book, that book is inaccessible until it is returned. Most of us grew up with paper books, and in only the past few years books have gone electronic. The new technologies that are merging their way through our society are very promising and will greatly enhance the way our students learn. Dr. Miller also points out that the internet has given us the tools to work in great distances from other people and still come to the same point, or end goal. People no longer how to travel to meet their partners. They can do everything that they need to via the internet. This means that teachers can collaborate with other teachers from around the world 
to create better lesson plans and strategies. Students can learn from other students from different schools. 

In Part 2 of this series, Dr. Miller states how our methods of research have changed. It could takes weeks to years for updated material to reach the libraries shelves, however, information on the internet is updated almost every day if not every second.  The internet is more reliable due to the fact that it can be changed so easily. Unfortunately, some schools feel that they don't have "room" to teach classes based on this. I feel that if we could teach students these things at an early age then they could make a huge difference in the future. As teachers, we need to take the initiative to broaden the horizons of our students and show them the possibilities that are out there. We put limitations on ourselves and we have the power to take them away. 

Carly Pugh - Blog Post #12
Carly did an excellent job with this post. It is a very creative assignment and provides a lot of freedom in the work space. With this assignment, I can express myself and my teaching philosophies through video. It's kind of like having a playlist of music that describes your mood, but instead it's videos that describe your goals and thoughts on teaching. Carly demonstrates Dr. Miller's hopes for writing with multi-media by being creative and using the unlimited resources on the web to teach something not only to herself, but to others. She is going to be more than capable of adapting to the changing society. I never thought about all of the possibilities that were out there with YouTube, because like others, I was narrow minded to the use of an abundance of technology in the classrooms. This post was definitely an eye opener! 

The Chipper Series
EDM310 for Dummies
These videos made some very good points. The Chipper Series tells a story of a student who dropped out of college because it was to hard and time consuming. She ended up working as a garbage collector. Stories like this happen more than I would like to imagine. Students think that the problem is the school or the professor, but the true problem is within the student. In order to be an effective student, you need to be able to follow the instruction of a teacher. Getting your degree isn't going to be a piece of cake. You actually have to work at it. These two videos made me think of a video that I would like to create explaining how YouTube can change your life. So many videos that I've watched in this class have changed my opinion of things. I want people to know that whatever your searching for in your life, there is probably video talking about or showing someone going through the exact same thing... or worse. YouTube is a wonderful website for soul searching.

Learn to change, change to learn
This video talks about the importance of change in our school systems. Students need to learn to work with the upcoming technologies instead of staying in the old ways of memorizing facts and spitting them onto a test paper. They need to know how to find those facts on the web, make sure they're legitimate, and learn how to communicate it. One of the speakers proclaimed that, "Technology is not a choice." This is a very true statement. We now have technology like smart phones and iPads. We could show students how to use these things educationally. We could teach them about communication, not only across the city,county, or country, but across the world. In doing this we open our students to new opportunities and allow them to learn about other cultures and activities of kids their own age. Learning shouldn't solely be about education, but about building a community and new relationships.Half of the things that I learned in high school were put in my short term memory for the next test and then forgotten. This isn't going to help me now that I'm in college and searching for a job. It hasn't prepared me at all. This new way of teaching will help prepare students for the future. The people in the video talk about students that are coming from these new programs are coming out smarter and braver. This is what we need to install in ALL students.

Web 2.0 Scavenger Hunt
MakeBeliefsComix

Animoto
Animoto.com is a video tool that let's you create a video using your photos, video clips, and music. Their description says that it is, "Fast, Free, and Shockingly Easy". You start off by adding your photos or video clips to the sight. They can come from your computer or off the web. Next, you would add music. They have hundreds of songs in their music collection, but you can add your own mp3 if you want to. There are several different video styles that can help to spice up your production. The website states that, "There’s an Animoto style for every story, event, or theme". Your video also has that option of being High Resolution and Cinematic. This means that your video can have the same look and quality as a movie!Once your video is made, you can share it anywhere! You can put your creation on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and others. You can also use Animoto on your mobile device. You can create videos on the go! This is a great site for teachers and students. It's very easy to use and would be great in classroom settings.

PollEverywhere

C4T #2

Breaking Education Barriers
A Better Workshop: Jim Knight's Partnership Approach 
June 18th, 2012 
In this post, Annie Palmer talks about what she learned from Jim Knight’s Unmistakable Impact: A Partnership Approach for Dramatically Improving Instruction. The partnership approach helps to make the workshops more interactive and keeps the listeners entertained.   It's purpose is to make memorable connections between all of the people in the meeting. There are six training strategies for Partnership Learning. They are: Thinking Devices, Question Recipes, Cooperative Learning, Experimental Learning, Reflection Learning, and Stories. Some Thinking Devices would be a film, audio clip, artwork, photograph, concept. Teachers would use this type of stimuli to help instigate students to think and visualize the subject matter. Question Recipes are open-ended and nonjudgmental questions that require students to engage in discussions and debates. Cooperative Learning is basically a form of group work. Teams are formed and each member has a certain part to contribute. Experimental Learning involves structured learning activities that simulate the instructional method or other content about which participants are learning. Reflection Learning helps students relate what the have learned to their personal experiences. Finally, Stories are to provide examples and further descriptions for the learning content. This post was full of helpful information. Most of it was meant for trainers who teach training courses and meetings, but it can easily be applied to teaching. It is a wonderful process!
Inspire the Desire to Read, Year Two of Transforming Readers: Basic Reading Block Structure
May 25, 2012
Ms. Palmer's basic reading block is one hour (separated into two 30 minute sections) of guided reading. For the first 30 minutes, Palmer teaches a lesson from Lesson by Design; a mandated district wide reading lesson plan. This plan is modified to fit what her students need to know and what they already know. For the next 30 minutes, students engage in independent reading or small group instruction with Ms. Palmer. The small groups rotate weekly and are used to reinforce the lesson. They are also based on reading levels. Each student has a reading goal of 40 books per year. It's not mandatory that they reach 40 books, but it is pushed as an important goal. Ms. Palmer suggest that students keep books that they are reading or want to read in a bin. This way they spend less time roaming around the class library and more time reading. Each student has a Readers Notebook; a binder that they use to keep track of their reading. They are also required to complete a Reading Response after reading. This keeps them responsible for what they have and makes sure that they are not just mindlessly reading through their book. Her goal is to create life-long readers.
I wish that I had this program in my elementary school. According to Ms. Palmer, her students love this class. She really is contributing to our future by guiding these students to the magic of books. I was never pushed to read as a child. Because of that, I'm not an active reader. If all schools implemented this type of learning, more and more students would grow to love reading. Children are our future. We as teachers, need to make sure that the light that they shine is at its brightest. Students who read more, learn more.

Project #8 - Group Podcast

Blog Post #7

The Networked Student

      I think that more and more schools are going to move towards procedures like this. It is an awesome opportunity for students to learn on their own. Through technology and the appropriate tools, students are not constrained to just the information in a textbook or in their notes that they take in class. It gives them a broader learning point. 
      On the other hand, the students who may not learn as quickly, and the students that learn better in a classroom environment may struggle with this process. Not all students are the same. Some learn visually, while others are more kinesthetic (hands-on). Without the classroom environment and the one-on-one teaching, students that are more tactile may find this way of learning difficult. One thing about this system though is that it is forcing students to take an initiative. They will have to learn on their own. It will set apart those students who are eager to learn from those that are there solely because they have to be. 
       Why does the networked student even need a teacher? Well, with all of the information that a student can access, there needs to be someone around who can tell them how to organize this mass amount of info. Students need guidance. They need help managing a blog or website, finding correct and reliable sources, sharing ideas, and finding information that will enhance their knowledge. Without teachers, students would be left to wonder the internet. Who knows what they could come across and believe to be a reliable source? I believe this system of learning is catching up with the our technological world, and I believe that in some ways it will definitely help. 

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment
Students who learn using a PLE are definitely going to learn a valuable lesson in responsibility. Each student has to keep up their blogs while working on their own schedule. It looks like a really fun way to learn! It gives the students freedom to use the internet's millions of resources to answer their questions. A PLE organizes a students resources onto one space that can be easily accessed from any computer. No textbooks or paper required which is a very green approach. Once again, I only see a limited purpose for a PLE in the PE department, but I'm definitely keeping an open mind.

C4K - September

C4K #1

Taite is a 12 year old student in Australia. She has just completed elementary school and is on her way to middle school. She has three siblings and a couple of pets. Her and a couple of friends are a part of an organization called the Children's Animal Protection Agency (Chapa). They work together to raise money for animal shelters and organizations that are in need of financial support. Taite's latest post wrapped up her semester in 6th grade. She posted a slideshow of pictures from her graduation and gave thanks to her teacher, Mr. Avery, for helping her start this blog. Towards the end of her post, Taite explains the middle school program. There are three different towns combined into one school district. The students are randomly group into teams that are labeled 7-1, 7-2, and 7-3. These teams will be together for the rest of the school year. She sounds very excited to start middle school! She did a very good job putting her blog together. I hope she continues to blog in the future.

Mr. Capps is a math teacher in Gulf Shores, Alabama. In his post called "Coin Combinations", his class learns about counting money. The students are asked to find the sum of groups of coins that are equivalent to one dollar. He didn't explain much about how to play the game, but in the picture it looks like the students are using a dry erase marker to color in pictures of coins on a laminated piece of paper. This game is an excellent way to teach children about money. It is a life-long skill that must be taught early.

Autumn is a 9th grade student in Canada. In her latest post she describes her first 4 weeks at her new school. She says that, unlike her old school, the halls are much more crowded and she gets pushed around a lot. Other than that, she says that she has really enjoyed her first 4 weeks. She goes on to describe her "Quality of Life". Since she has changed school, she says that her Quality of Life has increase. She has made new friends, higher grades, and seen new things. In my comment I told her about my freshman experience and how large my class was (1,000 freshman). I also reminded her that these are some of the best years of her life and to live it up to the fullest.

Project #9A - TimeToast

Blog Post #6

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

In Randy Pausch Last Lecture, he spoke about his childhood dreams and all of the things that he’s accomplished. This was his last lecture because he was only given 6 months to live due to tumors in his liver. He was very friendly and seemed to be feeling spectacular. He even did push ups on stage! He used PowerPoint, pictures and props to illustrate his points. His childhood dreams were: Being in zero gravity, playing in the NFL, authoring an article in the World Book Encyclopedia, being Captain Kirk, winning stuffed animals at the fair, and being a Disney Imagineer. He was able to experience zero gravity with a student group, but he had to pretend to be a journalist. He never played in the NFL, but he did play football and learned several valuable lessons from it. He learned that “when you screw up and no one says anything to you about it, then they've stopped caring.” This was one of my favorite quotes in the entire lecture. I am going to remember this quote throughout my entire teaching career. He did write for the World Encyclopedia, he became like Captain Kirk by being a leader in a virtual reality project, and he manage to win A LOT of bears. Pausch says that “brick walls are there for a reason; they let us prove how badly we want things. They’re there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.” By “brick walls” he means obstacles that everyone will run into at some point. If you can get through it, then it proves how badly you want what’s on the other side. He worked on a virtual reality program at Disney. It was an virtual Aladdin flying carpet ride. They asked him to become a permanent “imagineer”, but he said no and became a imangineer consultant. He asked the question “how can I enable the childhood dreams of others?” As teachers, we need to ask ourselves this question. When teaching, we need to help our students pursue their interest and show them that anything is possible. Pausch is a good example of someone who had dreams and followed them. He shows us that if you want to do something, there’s always a way. He was a brilliant man and he will be greatly missed.