Smart Board Project#14

Book Trailer

Blog Post #9

Mr. Joe McClung's Teaching Reflections

For the post that I got to choose, I choose Mr. McClung's first year of teaching reflection. This post was done in May of 2009. It was his first year as an elementary teacher in Noel, Missouri. He described himself as a young and inexperienced teacher. But by the end of the year,he had grown and matured as a person and as a teacher. He describes lessons that he has learned as a teacher. McClung observed that a lot of teachers do not make lessons that are student centered. Teachers worry about the delivery and forget to check for student comprehension. He says, "No lesson is ever perfect. The lesson you teach and the one you plan are always different." In the beginning of the year, he felt like he was trying to control things too much. And he had to get over that. Next, he talked about communication. Communication is the best way to work things and issues out. Everyone needs to practice their communication skill, because everyone can get better at it. Fourth, he talks about reasonable expectations and goals for students. He reminds us to make sure you are reasonable with your expectations and goals. Since, they are children, and they are not perfect. Also, he warns teachers to not be afraid of technology. Technology is a teacher's friend not an enemy. He then stresses the importance of teachers listening to their students. By listening to your students, you build respect and a good relationship. Lastly, he tells his audience to never stop learning. Teacher except students to continue to learn and grow. So, teachers should also always continue to learn.

In the what Mr. McClung has learned Volume 4,he takes a completely different approach compared to the fist reflection. He explains that he really didn't learn as much this year as he had in others. He only reflected on two topics on this post. The first one was that he worried about how he was viewed as an educator by his peers. In previous years, he only cared about how his students and superiors viewed him. He explains how he had anxiety about what his peers may think. But he came to the conclusion that you can't change who you are as an educator based on what your peer think. He said now he only goes by one rule: "Are the kids having fun?" The next topic he talks about is that you need to challenge yourself as a teacher. He tells how he had taught the in the same school and subject for the past three years. And he had become comfortable in his teaching. He noticed that he started to use the same routine, used old lesson plans, and his creativity slowed down. He began to realize that if you become comfortable as a teacher, you get lazy and lesson plans will start to "suck". The consequence of that is that students then will not enjoy your class. Which has a bigger affect.

I think that Mr. McClung had a lot of important information in his reflections for new teachers and experienced teachers. I choose the first post because I will be a new teacher sooner than I will be an experienced teacher. I think he had some great advice in his first reflection. My favorite was when he said if things go wrong fix it with a smile. I really liked it because first year teachers need to realize that things are going to go wrong that's how we learn is from our mistakes. But once it goes wrong fix it and with a smile. I liked the first post better than his last reflection because I think it is more relatable for me than the last one. But they both had some great advice.

Project #10 My PLN

I have created my personal learning network, PLN, but it is just a start. It is not nearly finished, but I don't see how is could every be completely finished because it could always be changing and developing. I used Symbaloo for my PLN. It was easy to set up and change. Here is the start to my PLN. I put my personal things at the top and then, my educational things at the bottom.

Blog Post #8

This is How We Dream

This video by Richard Miller is done in two parts. Part 1 explains how writing has changed academically and culturally. Communication has also changed. It now can be done instantly and globally. Richard Miller explains how we use to write, work, research, and publish. We use to write and work with pens and paper, do research in libraries, and publish in print. Now we write and work with laptops and word processors, and do research on the web without even leaving our homes. If we have a question, we can find our answers in a matter of seconds by using the web.

In Part 2 of this video, he explains how we now work in a digital world. Things are composed with not only words but with visuals and sounds. Documents have images, videos, and audio clips. Research is being updated frequently and instantly unlike books and prints.

He says, “Ideas do not only belong to the individual, but ideas belong to the culture. We, as educators, should spread these ideas.” That was my favorite and most interesting thing I found that he said because teachers are suppose to teach their students about new or old and exciting ideas. I agree with the video that writing is changing; but it has been changing my whole generation. I think that schools should still teach students how a library works and the wonders that it holds. I know that you can find most things on the web. Teachers should also teach how to use the internet and good sources. But there is still history and culture in a library that cannot be found on the internet. I agree with Richard Miller that writing, work, research, and publishing is changing.

Carly Pugh

Carly Pugh's blog post was very impressive. I think she did a very good job on the assignment. Her assignment was to post about an assignment she thought Dr. Strange should have assigned his class to do. She went above and beyond the assignment. She explained the details of the assignment and how to do it. Then, she gave an example of her playlist like a good teacher would do. A playlist is a great and helpful tool for teachers and their classrooms. She applies Dr. Miller's writing process with multi-media. She uses links and Youtube for her different technology outlets. I think she did exactly what Dr. Miller was explaining in his videos.

The Chipper Series and EDM 310 for Dummies

These two video are very cute. Dr. Strange suggested these videos for us to watch at the beginning of semester. When I watched these videos back in August, I didn't find them as funny as I do now probably because I was more scared of the class then than I am now. Back then, I was worried that I would not be able to do anything that we were suppose to, but now I know that I can.

If I were to do a video, I think that the music and the message are the most important parts. The message is important because in education you want your audience to learn something in the video. And music because it gets the attention of your audience and keeps the attention of your audience so they can pay attention and really understand the message of your video. I remember when I was in class and the teacher brought in a video for us to watch. When a catchy little song comes on the whole class starts to pay attention and bobs their head to the beat. I think the music and the message of a video goes hand and hand.


Learn to Change, Change to Learn

In this video, Learn to Change, Change to Learn, it explains that there is a change in learning. 21st century learning is different because types of jobs are changing in the future. Students will need to know how to find information, collaborate, and problem solve, not just have knowledge.

Someone said, "This is the death of education, but the dawn of learning." I found this quote very interesting because I have heard someone say something very similar to this before. If this is true, school should change their curriculum and how they are testing students. Because this to me is saying that its not about the knowledge that you hold but it is the knowledge of the ability to find the answers and problem solve with it. I think they are right that learning is changing and the school should change with it. I hope to teach elementary school, but I do not think they should change it in elementary school because students still need to be taught the fundamentals of learning for several years. I think that method would be great for middle school students, high school students, and even college students.


Scavenger Hunt

Prezi- A prezi is a presentation and storytelling tool that uses a single canvas and not slides. You create a path that the prezi goes by. You can add images, powerpoints, videos, text, shapes, frames, and more. You can sign up for the free prezi, $4.92/monthly, or $13.25/monthly for the pro edition. They come with helpful videos to help you create and understand prezi. This is a great tool for teacher and students. I think is much more creative than a power point.

Animoto- Animoto is a site that lets you create videos using pictures, video clips, and music that you can share with everyone. For pricing, there is a free one that lets you make 30 second videos,there a Plus Plan for $2.50/month and a Pro Plan for $20.75/month which both offer different features. I think I will have to try one of these in my classroom in the future.

PollEverywhere- Poll Everywhere is a site set up for all types of polls. There are different types of plans and payments. There is a free access and then different category plans with subcategories for payments. The categories are Higher Education, K-12, One-time Use, and Business and Non-profit. Here is my first poll.

Project 9b Prezi

Less Than, Equal To, or Greater Than on Prezi

C4T #2 October

For the month of October I have received new teacher's blogs to follow to learn the importance of blogging in education.

The first week, I am assigned to Brian Crosby's blog, Learning is Messy. This post is about LAUSD and how it is considering to make art education a core subject. This is the actually article from Southern California Public radio: "The LA Unified school board will vote one a measure Tuesday that would make arts education a "core subject," prohibit further cuts to arts, and ultimately restore some money to arts programs." He says hopefully there is some form of common sense returning to the education system and hopefully it will become the norm for the United States.

I commented on this post explaining who I was and how I thought it was important also. I also hope that California will lead the way for other states.

The second post I was assigned to on his blog was a video in the Neno,Nevada of pilots launching and landing their body kites. Mr. Crosby and his wife saw this while they were on a walk. It had nothing really to do with education; but it was kind of cool to watch.

I commented on the post about the video. I said that would be fun to try and how beautiful the scenery looked, all the fall colors.

Blog Post 7

The School of Tomorrow

In Wendy Dexter’s high school students project, “The Network Student”. It explains that there is no textbooks, no lectures, and the course is done mostly online. The teacher practices “connectivism”, this is where the students use tools of technology to do their learning. The students create a learning network. They research on the topic of the course they use bookmarks if they like the site about the topic. They use blogs to write discussions and to get opinions about their topic. The students use their Ipods to get podcasts from some of the greatest professors on the topic. With all the tools of technology, the student organizes the information they have found to teach themselves and others.

"Why does the networked student even need a teacher?" The video explains that the teacher is there for being a learning architect, modeler, learning concierge, connecting learning incubator, network Sherpa, synthesizer, and change agent. The teacher teaches the student how to use this network to learn and to understand the topic. She offers guidance when they get stuck, how to ask for help respectfully from experts, how to find reliable and unreliable sources, how to become organized with their work, and most importantly maintain the information so they can solve the world’s problems in the 21st century.

I liked this video. I thought it was put together very nicely for high school students. Did I agree with the video? Well, I thought this method would be great for upper high school students and college students, but that is a lot to learn and to be responsible for as an elementary school student and even middle school student. I know as a child I would not have liked this method of learning. It is too independent for my liking. I think these skills are good to learn once you are older but not for younger students. Since I want to be an elementary teacher, I might start them out on a computer learning how to use it and how to do research on it. But complete learning on it I would say no.

My Blog VS. A 7th Graders Blog

"Welcome to My PLE" is a video done by a seventh grader explaining her science "personal learning environment". She showed us how she organizes her page for personal and learning use. She explains how and why she uses google docs, blogs, note taking, skype, and peer review. She likes how she has more freedom to do things how and when she wants to.

My PLE is similar to hers but also very different. I also use skype, blogs, and google docs for my EDM 310 class. Both of our classes are paperless and have to meet deadlines but we have our freedom to do it when and how we want to. I think her technology network is a little more advanced than mine is but that is okay. I am still building my PLE.

Project #8 Podcast Team YELL

Timeline

Kelsey's Journey

C4K #1 Summary September

I have the privilege to follow Mr. Anthony Capps's third grade classroom at Gulf Shores Elementary for the month of September.

This week I was assigned to the Language Arts section of the blog.
On this weeks post, students are asked to write a description about how they pictured Inez when her grandmother gave her some birthday money and when she looked at the price tag of the camera she wanted.

In my comment, I explained who I was and how I was creating a blog for my EDM 310 class to help me in my future classroom. I told them to keep up the good work. And that I looked forward to seeing their posts each week.

The week of September 24, I was assigned to his mathematics section of the blog and the fifth post. On this post, he breaks it down into four different subtopics. The first one is reflection were he explains how the math assessment he gives his students are different than what he and I use to take with pencils, paper, and math problems. His tests are very interactive and it tests several different aspects of math like counting and multiplying by tens and using money. The second one is notes were he talks about what he sees and how he collects data in the classroom on students strengths and weaknesses. The third is an announcement to the parents. Lastly is the thank you section were he thanks his students who helped in the classroom and what they did.

In my comment, I explained who I was again and how I really enjoyed the change in assessment he has made in his classroom. I liked how he had four different sections and pictures to show the parents what the students have been learning.

Blog Post #6

Randy Pausch's Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

This is the last lecture given by Randy Pausch. He was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. In this video, he talks about his childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and lessons he had learned. He explained that the United States landed on the moon when he was a child; so it made him fell as if all dreams were possible. In the video, he showed his childhood dreams and told about the importance of specific dreams. He told us what he learned from achieving and not achieving his goals. One thing he learned was when you do something bad and no one corrects you it is a bad thing, but when you do something bad and someone corrects you it means that they care. I think that is an important statement because it is true and some people do not think that way. It is also important for teachers to correct their students in the classroom and for students to use the advice to make themselves better. I believe that is how we learn by correcting our mistakes. Randy Pausch also explains about how he had setbacks for his childhood dream to be am Imagineer at Disney World, but was finally given the opportunity to work with them. When he was describing his struggles he said, “Brick walls are there for a reason, they let us prove how badly we want things and our dedication”. I think this a great quote to teach our classroom students because there will always be a brick walls and things in life do not come easy. Teachers should teach their students how to break through those walls and to never give up.

Then, he asks the audience a wonderful question, “How can you enable childhood dreams?” He doesn’t answers the question until the end in his lesson learned section. But he has says this, “it is easy to recognize someone’s childhood dreams when they tell you, when they don’t is when it gets difficult.” As a teacher, it is important to enable students’ dreams but you have to find out what they are first. He goes on to explain how he helped enable students’ dreams by creating a virtual world course and a master’s degree. He stressed the importance of millions of kids having fun while learning something hard. Which I think he stresses this because for one he is a professor and for another it is important for kids to have fun while learning something hard so they don’t struggle and give up.

Finally he talks about the lessons he has learned. He gave some really good advice for teachers and students in this section. Some of my favorites were helping other, learn for your students, tell them about having fun, never lose the child-like wonder, and loyalty is a two way street. Then, he tells you how to get people to help you. He says, “You can’t get there alone, tell the truth, be earnest, apologize when you need to, and focus on others.” He says these things are how you get people to help you, but I really think it is how be successful. If teachers teach those five things, I think students would be more successful.

I really enjoyed this video. He had a lot of life and joy for someone who only had a couple of months to live. I think he said a lot of great things for teachers, students, and just people in general. I thought it was a little long and I could have done without the virtual reality clip in there, but I understand that he was proud of the course and those students. I also really like the connections he used with people in his life like his students, co-works, bosses, his wife, and more. I thought it was a special touch.