Blog Post #16 Final Reflection

I am amazed at how much my mind has changed since this class started. I thought technology was important but I didn't think it should be the most important part of the classroom. In my first blog post I wrote that I wanted my children to learn the hard way, with pen and paper. However, now I feel like technology should be the most important part in a classroom. Technology helps teachers create engaging assignments and teach children without them realizing they are learning. Technology also makes learning fun for children.
I still feel that my school should be fun and exciting for children. It should feel like school to them. I would add a lot more technology tools though, like the smartboard use and blogging. I still stand firm in my no test policy, so I will encourage project based learning in my classroom.
I want my students to enjoy learning, so I plan on creating assignments that they enjoy doing. It will be a learning process for me as well so it will take time for me to learn how to create those assignments but I am up for the challenge. want to teach either fourth of fifth grade because I feel that is the age students are most easily influenced. If I can create a learning environment that is engaging for this age group I could possibly give them an excitement for learning in the future.
I can not wait to put to use what I have learned in EDM 310 this semester.

Blog Post #15

ICurio
In EDM 310, one of our assignments was to research ICurio. I was able to access limited information about ICurio due to not having a sign in. This limited access provided me with a limited understanding of what exactly ICurio is. However, after watching the ICurio video made by Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps I gained a better understanding. ICurio is a curated search engine specifically designed to provide safe research for students. There are so many things on the internet these days that are inappropriate for children so having a site that is screened by professionals is very important. ICurio is also designed to help students begin developing their online organization skills. As Anthony points out this skill is important because people seem to be naturally unorganized. Another interesting thing about ICurio is that it has a read aloud option for accessibility. This allows children with special needs to get the same information as other students. I thought it was cool how Anthony says his students all wanted to try this option the first few times but then realized that they could read the material faster. After viewing this video I now have a better understanding, enough of one that I look forward to having my students use it in the future.

Discovery ED
I enjoyed learning about Discovery Ed from Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps. Discovery Ed is a tool that allows students to get a better understanding of a subject by allowing them to view images and videos that are associated with what they are learning. Anthony says this is important because children obtain more information when there is a visual associated with text. Another important aspect of Discovery Ed is that is allows teachers to bring professionals into the classroom through video. Anthony said that this is important because students can see that the information they are being taught is not just the teachers opinion but is fact. Dr. Stange points out in the video that students are now what he calls “listener watchers”, meaning that because of our technology advanced world students watch and listen far more than than read and write. I think Discovery Ed is a good tool to use especially in the elementary classroom because a teacher can describe a subject all day long to their students, but until the student can place a visual to the subject they will never fully understand what they are being taught.

The Anthony-Strange Tips for Teachers Part 1
As an education major I find myself wondering if I will know what to do on my first day in the classroom. I am beginning to realize that I will not, nobody does. However thanks the Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps I understand why. In their video, The Anthony-Strange Tips for Teachers Part 1, Anthony and Dr. Strange give tips to future educators. They start by saying that the most important thing to remember as a teacher, is that in order to be a good teacher you must also be a good learner. Along with that Anthony adds that being a teacher is hard work but if you make it a part of your life, instead of keeping work and play separate, it is very rewarding. Another tip mentioned is that teachers need to be flexible because the unexpected happens, and it is the teacher’s job to keep the classroom running smoothly. Teachers should also think of ways to keep their students engaged. Anthony says that this is a goal of 100 percent student engagement and good ways to accomplish this are to make the content something they care about, make it a process they want to use, and to make it shareable. He also says to always start an assignment with the end in mind. Lastly, he says to allow for reflection and self evaluation because it is key to improvement. I really look forward to the day when I can apply these tips in my future classroom.



Brittany Allemand

ICurio
Anthony Capps explains how iCurio is used and its benefits really well in this video. I thought it was great that it has folders to organize all of the students work and things they have on the website. I think that is a good way to teach them how to be technology organized and even a good way to show them organization in other parts of school and life.Another thing that i really like about iCurio is how Anthony describes that it has a timeline and a directory. The students can just type in something as simple as a woman who went to space in 1970 and it will show up every woman that meets that criteria. It can take you to anything that will be useful with just a little bit of detail provided. I think this is great too because it is safe and can pull up appropriate things for students. I think iCurio would make web searching a little more safe for students, especially younger children. I think iCurio is great for students. Anthony says it is used a lot in high schools, but it can be used with any age group allowed to get on the web.

Discovery Ed
Discovery Ed is another program besides iCurio that is offered in Baldwin County where Anthony Capps works. I like how Anthony introduces it by saying “A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth a million words”. Discovery Ed combines both pictures and videos so it’s great. I like how he said he is not a plant expert so discovery ed shows the students videos about all kinds of plants and pictures. I think this is a great tool to use for students. It is useful for the teacher too because they can view videos and get a better understanding for teaching their students about a subject. I would definitely be interested in using this in my future classroom.

Additional Thoughts about Lessons
This video is very helpful for our EDM 310 class to view. When projects 13,14, and 15 came up, we were all a little confused. Many of us did not do the first lessons plans correctly. We need to get a lot better on how to set up lesson plans and how to create them. This video gave me a good insight into how to do lesson plans. Anthony says there are 4 layers to a lesson plan. The first thing to think about is the year, meaning how the lesson plans cover the yearly standards and content to be taught.Do all the lesson plans cover the standards expected from the grade for the whole year? It needs to. Next is unit, which refers to the unit of teaching and the length and the time allotted. The unit will be like a 6-8 week thing, but within that will be a daily and weekly plan. The weekly plan will be about setting a goal and achieving it by the end of the week. Then within that is the daily plan, what you want to have accomplished within a days time. Anthony said he believes these make up the four layers of a lesson plan and are completely necessary for a well written one.

Grace Hofer

iCurio
Anthony Capps teaches over in Baldwin County where iCurio is used. He describes one of the aspects of it in that students can safely search websites that have been filtered for educational purposes. iCurio also lets students create folders inside their iCurio accounts to help organization. These folders, students can add things that they chose to help them stay organized. One thing I liked mentioned in this video was that things are saved in iCurio. When this was said, I thought of Google drive. In Google drive, everything done in it will save automatically. I love this because of past experiences working on assignments for school, something has been closed out unsaved or the internet cuts out loosing my work. It is great that iCurio works the same as Google drive in saving work automatically. Anthony also mentions about a timeline. The timeline is a great tool where students can enter keywords that helps find historical figures. I think this tool would be great for students because it is a search engine but is filtered so students will not accidently pull up something they did not mean to while searching. iCurio also has a read out loud accessibility which is great for students with disabilities to be able to use. I like this because it is user friendly to every student. I think many times, students with disabilities are limited unlike people without disabilities because people do not know the best way to meet their needs. iCurio has made it easier to meet the needs of every student. I liked watching this video because it allowed the viewers an insight of what iCurio contains. I know for EDM 310 we were going to try to get an access code to learn about it but were unable to. After watching the video I now have a better understanding of what iCurio is and how it works.

Discovery Education.
Discovery Ed is a great research tool for both students and teachers. It contains almost everything social studies and science related. Besides just general information and a picture, Discovery Ed includes videos to help learning. Anthony describes it as “It brings experts into the classroom via video.” I like that Discovery Ed includes videos along with pictures and text because it is offering different ways of learning. Some may learn by just reading a text while others may learn by watching a video with information. I think Discovery Ed is making it easier to meet the needs of students with different learning abilities.

Don't Teach Tech - Use It!
Anthony Capps says that technology is natural for kids now days. I agree with this simple statement. Capps includes “They’re [students] are really going to enjoy the opportunity to use technology to improve their learning or to learn.” I am a middle child, so when I heard this I was reminded of the time I was finally able to use a calculator in math like my older brother. I agree with what Anthony said that it makes the learning opportunity more enjoyable with technology because I was like that myself. One thing that really stood out was when Anthony said that teachers should not teach technology. But instead, technology should be a tool to teach. Using tools one at a time for assignments will allow the students to use it, but also overtime they will build up knowledge about many different technological tools. I liked that Anthony included that if you, as a teacher, are worried about a technological tool your students are going to learn about, to try it out before. By trying it out before, you could be asked questions by the students about the tool that you may of had but were able to figure it out.

Project #16

C4T # 4

I have had the pleasure of visiting some really interesting teacher blogs during this summer semester in EDM 310. Jabiz Raisdana's blog is no different. The first post I read by Jabiz was entitled,"I Wanna Rock", posted on May 29, 2013. In this post he talks about his idea of teaching the history of Rock and Roll. Unfortunately because he teaches middle school he began to feel that he would never get the opportunity to teach this course. However, he oversees an after school program that meets for a hour a week and he decided that instead of teaching his idea as a course, he could teach it as an activity. So he presented his idea to the activities director. At first it seemed as though the director was not on board with the idea, primarily because he worried about the time issue. But after some convincing Jabiz convinced the director that it was a good idea and that he would work hard to make sure it was successful. So he set his idea into action.

In my comment I introduced myself and explained that EDM 310 was a project based learning course. I also told him what he was doing was great because it could possibly open students up to interest they would have otherwise been unaware of.



The next post I had the pleasure of reading was entitled,Formula for Engagement, posted on April 17, 2013. In this post Jabiz talks about successful ways to motivate children. He begins be saying he has his eighth grade students who are completely engaged in his assignment. Even his students he has trouble keeping on track have fully thrown themselves into the task at hand. He says that they are so engaged he doesn't need to worry about social media distractions. As he stands watching his students work, he gives them the motivation they need to push forward. "You can either think of yourself as thirteen year olds writing for a teacher in English class, or you can think of yourselves as writers who demand to tell a story. There is a difference." He then explains that technology should not be used to engage students, it should be used whenever possible. He says, "Engagement is about passion and love for what we do." He says that engagement is about giving students one on one time to discuss their work and that its the teacher's love for the material that engages them. He ends by saying that the formula for engagement is simple, all that is needed is for students is high expectations and challenges.

I began my comment again by introducing myself.I then told him that his classroom seems fun and engaging. I also told him that the best way to motivate students is to give them that feeling of importance. I told him that I remember as a child how proud I felt when my parents displayed my art work, and that for some reason we think that once children reach a certain age, they no longer need that recognition. I then thanked him for sharing his experiences.

Blog Post # 14

EDM 310 has presented its share of challenges. Many of them I have overcome with a little guidance. However, there is one assignment that still haunts me. Lesson planning. People keep saying that it will take having my first real life classroom to get the hang of it. Now I know that practice is key to success but why do we have to go into a classroom blind when it comes to lesson planning. Dr. Strange has given assignments where we try to create our own lesson plans. I suggest that there be as assignment that lets us learn go about the lesson planning process. The students will not actually be making a lesson plan. They will view the resources provided and write a blog post about what they found useful in creating their own lesson plans.



First the students should be assigned to watch a video...

Here is a list of some I found
Making a Lesson Plan
Writing a Lesson Plan: Objectives and Goals
Lesson Planning

Then have the students view the Wiki...
How to Make a Lesson Plan

Finally have the students write a blog about what they felt would be useful in making a lesson.

I feel that this will be helpful because it will give the students an idea of where to start before being asked to make one of their own. I understand that this will not give them the ability to make a perfect lesson plan the first time, but I know from experience it would have been helpful for me to see a how to so I would not be so lost. I spent more time trying to figure out the first step I should take than I did actually making the lesson.

PLN Project # 9 Final Report

I have really enjoyed using Symbaloo to keep track of the applications I have been using. It will be something that I will continue and hope to add to as an educator.

Project # 12 Smartboard Part 2

Project # 15

Blog Post #13

I found myself captivated by Shane Koyczan's TED talk entitled, "To This Day"... for the bullied and beautiful. His lecture started with him describing his life as a child who was bullied. My heart hurt for him as he listed the names he was called and how he was used by people who called themselves friends. When he told others what he wanted to be, he was told to be something different. He wanted to be a writer but that wasn't good enough. He gave me the feeling that to him nothing he ever did was good enough. He was a child forced to endure things that no child should ever have to face. He lists stages of his life, where he went from hating himself, to wanting to kill himself and others. Then he admits to becoming something worse than himself, he became a bully. He talks of how words hurt as much as broken bones. He ends with poetry of how people have been hurt but they persevered. He says "If you can't see anything beautiful about yourself, get a better mirror, look a little closer, stare a little longer, because there is something inside you that made you keep trying despite everyone who told you to quite... you have to believe they were wrong, they had to be wrong...our lives will only ever continue to be a balancing act that has less to do with pain and more to do with beauty."

Shane Koyczan should be an inspiration to everyone, to speak out and to speak up. Bullying continues in schools today and needs to be stopped. The most important thing I learned from his lecture is to never trample on the dreams of anyone, especially children. They will believe in themselves as long as we continue to believe in them. They can be whatever they choose to be as long as they set their minds to it. The life lesson I learned is to love others regardless of our differences and to stick up for the weak, because everyone matters.





Also take a look at Sir Ken Robinson's Favorite TED Talks viewed by my peers...



Grace Hofer

While looking through Ken Robinson: 10 talks on education, I came across a talk that really stood out to me. The second talk, Arvind Gupta: Turning trash into toys for learning. The thing that grabbed my attention was the "turning trash into toys" words. I grew up with a father who always had creative ideas. From these ideas, my siblings and I learned how to make things out of almost anything. While watching the video, I was surprised of all the creations Gupta had made. I think that creating is a great way of teaching and learning. I remember in school, when we were able to create something, it became more interesting and therefore I learned easier. Creativity is something everyone has. Although they may express it in different ways, it is there. Arvind Gupta expressed his creativity by making things out of simple supplies like newspapers and straws. One creation I thought that was really cool was a drawing slate for blind students. This slate was made out of Velcro with a pen that poured out yarn instead of ink. While drawing, the yarn would stick to the Velcro that would make it a 3D feel for the students. That us something I would have never thought of. Gupta mentions of a slogan, in this slogan was the phrase "build from what they have", I like this phrase because it can be a foundation for teaching. I think teachers are to teach from something students already know, to build on. While many of the toys Gupta showed in the video, I was curious on how he could use them in a teaching atmosphere. But from what I gathered, that wasn't the main point of the lecture. I think he was showing the audience and viewers not that every creation can be used for learning in the school. But rather, the limits of creations can be close to non-existent. Creativity more than likely makes things more interesting. Isn't that what teachers want in their classroom? For students to be interested in what is going on.



Brittany Allemand

Ken Robinson:10 Talks on Education was a good resource to explore. One video that really stood out to me was Kakenya Ntaiya: A Girl Who Demanded School. It was such an inspiration to watch. Kakenya is a woman who was born and raised in Kenya,Africa. She tells a lot about her village, family, and how things are so different in her country. It made me very thankful to live in America after I heard her story. She tells of how her mother farms, owns animals, and takes care of the whole family. Her father is hardly ever around because of work, and is gone for years at a time. When he does come home though, he sells all of their animals and goods and goes to the bar and spends the money. She tells of how women can not go against anything their husband or a man does, and how women are not allowed to own property anyways. Her mother tries to stand up and question as to why he sells their animals and goods, and she is beaten for even questioning her husband. At age 12, she and other girls are to become married and be the perfect house wife. They get up at 5 am and clean, take care of their houses, and train to become a perfect wife. Kakenya never wanted this for herself. She tells of how she always loved school and wanted to become a teacher. However, the girls and women in Kenya are not expected to go back to school after getting married at 12. She is very brave and tells her dad the only way she will go through with the celebrations and marriage is if she gets to return to high school afterwards. He rewards her with his because if not the village will look down on their family if she does not go through with the marriage. One shocking and sad thing that I learned was about the mutilation of the young girls before marriage. She tells of how they cut their private parts before the marriage. This was horrible to hear and to imagine so many young girls going through. Many girls even died from this. After going through high school, she still wants to further her education. She meets a young man who has left and went to a university in America. She sees his nice clothes and shoes and how educated and happy he is. She asks the man to help her apply to a university, and she gets into a ladies university in Virginia. No woman from her village or country had ever left to go to a university or even further their education through high school like her.She is so strong willed and determined to receive an education, and it's inspiring. She talks to the head male of the village, and to other high up men, and tells them of how if they support her trip to America and the university that she will return to Kenya and give back to everyone. She holds true to her promise. While in America, she learns of how it is illegal the way her mother and other women there are being treated. She returns to Kenya and builds a school for the girls in her village, 125 young girls. They are no longer being mutilated or injured or having to become married at age 12. She makes such a difference in her village and in Africa just by going and getting an education. It was so great to hear about how one woman fought for her education and made such a difference in her country. If it was not for her going to get an education and then returning to Kenya, who would have know how long it would have been before those young girls got a school and ended the mutilation and young marriage.

Project # 14

Blog Post #12

I really enjoyed watching Ken Robinson's TED talk entitled, How to Escape Education's Death Valley. In his lecture Mr. Robinson discusses the problems America is facing with its "No Child Left Behind" program. He starts by saying that he moved to America 12 years ago. He says that when he arrived he was informed that Americans don't get irony. He said that when he came across "No Child Left Behind", he knew that what he was told wasn't true. The irony of "No Child Left Behind" is that it, in fact, leaves millions of children behind. He says that in some parts of the country 60 percent of students drop out of high school. He claims that if America were to half that number it would create a net gain of nearly a trillion dollars, however, it would cost a large amount to mop up the drop out crisis. He says that it is true that America spends more on education than any other country, the problem is that it is all going in the wrong direction. Mr. Robinson says that there are three principals in which human life flourishes and it is being contradicted by the culture of education.

1. Human beings are naturally different and diverse. He asks his audience how many of them have children. He then makes a bet, one in which he claims he knows he will win. He bets that those who have two or more children will agree that their children are all completely different. He says that education, under "No Child Left Behind", is based on conformity, not diversity. American education focuses on the S.T.E.M disciplines, which he states is very important but it is not sufficient. He states that good education needs to equal focus on the arts, humanities, and physical education. He then points out that ten percent of kids are now being diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. He says that he believes the condition exists but that he doesn't think it is an epidemic. "If you sit kids down hour after hour doing low grade clerical work," says Mr. Robinson, "don't be surprised if they fidget." He says that children aren't suffering from a psychological disorder but instead they are suffering merely from childhood.

2. He says the next principal is curiosity. "If you light the spark of curiosity in a child they will learn without any further assistance," says Robinson. Children are natural learners and curiosity is the engine of achievement. He goes on to say that teachers are the lifeboat of success in schools and great teachers mentor, stimulate, provoke and engage their students. He says most importantly a teachers job is to facilitate learning and if their is no learning their is no education. The problem, he says, with Americas education system is that its focuses not on teaching and learning, but on testing. He feels that standardized testing has it place, but should not be the dominant culture of education.

3. He says that it is human nature to be creative. "We create our own lives and we can recreate our lives as we go through them,"he says. He also says that we create our lives by imagining different possibilities and the role of education is to awaken that imagination. He refers to the education system in Finland, and says its schools system is very successful in math and science mainly because it also focuses on arts and humanities. He says there is also no standardized testing and they help students before its to late, resulting in a no drop out rate.

He goes on to say that education takes place in the classrooms, not government offices, so the responsibilities should be handled at the school level to get the job done. He says there is wonderful work happening in America but it is dspite educational culture , not because of it. He then says, that not far from his house there is a place known as "Death Valley". In winter of 2004 it rained there, in Spring of 2005 the whole floor of "Death Valley" flowers grew. This proved that "Death Valley" was not dead, but dormant. He says the same is true for our schools system.

I learned a lot from listening to Ken Robinson's TED talk. I would have to say of all the tools I have learned would be helpful in the classroom, I would have to say Mr. Robinson discussed the most important tool for every classroom. That tool, is to inspire imagination and creativity. I learned to focus less on testing and more on learning. By that I mean standardized testing has its place, but if we don't teach children how to learn they are pointless.



Grace Hofer

Changing Education Paradigms by Sir Ken Robinson, I came across several things I learned while watching the 11 minute video. Robinson starts the video by mentioning two reasons that every country is reforming public education. One being economically, wondering how will we be able to educate students for the economic world if we don't know what the economic future will hold. The second reason being cultural, wondering how will they have an identity in culture. Robinson continues by saying that people are trying to meet the future by the ways they have in the past. In a time when everyone went to college to have a good career, now days an education is not needed. It can help, but it does not guarantee a good career. This is very true. I know people who did not attend college after high school graduation who are maintaining steady jobs. Robinson says that "The current system was designed and conceived for a different age..." I agree with this as well. This EDM 310 class has taught me this in just the past several months I've been in it. Technology is becoming rapidly involved in our school system. Students are learning by these tools, not the tools my generation and the ones before me learned by. To be teachers to these students, we need to be not only aware of these tools, but how to properly use them. Mentioned in the video is the subject of ADHD in schools. I had not put much thought into this issue in my classroom before watching the video. But now, I think it is great that schools are involving technology in the classroom. Robinson says that students who have ADHD are being distracted by computers, phones, gaming devices, and such and are being penalized for not paying attention to things the teacher is teaching on. This is where technology comes in great in the classroom. Students who have ADHD and students who do not, have grown up with technology. Growing up this way, lets them learn better by using devices. In return, the student does not spend the whole time in class being lectured, but being involved in their learning experience. The video also mentions of people who have either aesthetic or anesthetic experiences. Aesthetic is when you are when senses are at their peak. Anesthetic is when your senses are shut off and are deadened with what is going on. Too many times in classrooms I feel that many are having anesthetic experiences because they are being lectured at to learn instead of being involved. Near the end of Changing Education Paradigms, Robinson says that most great learning comes from groups. I wonder if that is why we are put in groups in EDM 310. I feel as if it is true though. Working in a group seems to benefit everyone involved, not just a single person.

Brittany Allemand

Ken Robinson's video Schools Kill Creativity was a pleasure to watch. He had such a humorous and charming personality. It was never a bore to watch. It really supported the fact that schools do kill creativity. I never realized how much that this statement was true, until I seen this video. I really liked a lot of quotes that he brought about in his speech. They were short, powerful, meaningful, and to the point. The first quote I liked was “Creativity now is as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.” A lot of teachers just want the student to get the work done,pass a test, or do a project;This shouldn't be the main objective. Creativity should be encouraged in everything you do in the classroom. For example, Ken mentioned the girl whose parents were called in for a meeting in the classroom because she could not sit still. They thought she had a learning problem. However, they figured out she was a dancer, and she just needed to move to learn. Every student learns different, so why not put on music to learn to. Why not dance around or work hands on? I think the big picture is that as a teacher you can be creative with your assignments and you should promote creativity from your students. What better way then to show creativity yourself.I liked how he quoted from Picasso that every person is born an artist. Every kid has creativity in them. As teachers, we should promote activities that encourage an bring out the creative side.

Blog Post #11

The most impressive thing about Little Kids...Big Potential video is that Ms. Cassidy said nothing. Her students, from her first grade class, explained what they do in their class. She had given her students the tools they needed to explore and learn for themselves. I thought it was great that she allowed them to use their Nintendo DS, because it made learning fun for the children. What was surprising about that is the students knew that they were learning while playing. This is something I would try in my classroom because it makes learning fun and students can take their work home. However, some children come from financially unstable homes and may not be able to afford a DS. This would be something I would have to consider. It was exciting to hear that the children wrote in notebooks and on their blogs, but that they liked writing on their blogs more because other people can see what they do and can comment. It was great to see the excitement and enthusiasm the children had for learning. I loved how they explain how someone should comments on someone else's blog. You should never say anything mean because it might hurt their feelings. So cute and innocent, yet smart and informative.



While watching the Skype Interview with Mrs Cassidy, it was amazing to hear that Ms. Cassidy had been given five computers and then had to research how to make them useful in the classroom. I find this impressive because she took on the challenge of teaching herself new technology so that she could teach her students. It goes back to the idea of learning to you can help others learn how to learn. I feel that Ms. Cassidy did a great job on this task. Like she says "technology isn't going away", so we need to embrace it so we don't fall behind the rest of the world.

Project # 13

Brittany Allemand, Grace Hofer, Chasity Heubach

Some of the ACCRS reading standards for second grade are
- "Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges"
- "Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action"

Technologic tools used for this project include
- Word Processor
- Blogger
- iMovie if using a Mac

Below is a picture of a weekly lesson plan for meeting these standards. It could be spread out to multiple weeks by letting the student read the book individually. However, we used an example of this standard in a weekly lesson plan.



We chose Blogger for the students to upload their book report to because it is public. Using Blogger could let people from around the world, other students in the classroom, and teachers to be able to read it and comment their thoughts. The lesson plan we chose included different ways of learning. Reading the book was a way that did not involve any technology. Writing the book report on Word Processor would let the students use the computer to make their project. Uploading it to Blogger would allow the students learn how blogging works, as well as how to present their writing.

In the reading standard, the students would learn how to describe characters and how they respond to events through writing. Another option that the students could do, is make their report into a podcast by using iMovie if working on a Mac. Doing this they would then upload their podcast to Blogger.

C4T #3

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to read Angela Maiers' Blog. Angela championed the idea "choose2matter", and has been inspiring people throughout the country.

The first post I read was entitled "Two Day I'll Never Forget", was posted on June 7, 2013. In this post Angela, discussed a presentation she gave at Downingtown S.T.E.M Academy. She say that when she arrived to the auditorium of Justin Staub's sophomore class, she found students scattered towards the back. She began her presentation by asking the students if they believed that they could change the world. She says that six of the 300 students believed this fact. She then explained that if she had asked that same question to a group of first graders the answer would be an unanimous "yes". She then told the student that they mattered and that they were geniuses. She also told them their contributions to the world were important. She says that after making these claims she began to see their demeanor change. She then read them some inspiring quotes and separated them into groups to begin their world changing projects. She said two hours later the students were already presenting their ideas. She said the students stayed up late working on their projects and were up early, eager to begin day two. She says that by the end of the second day the students had companies equipped with; names, logos, mission statements, websites and launch videos. They had also been connected with mentors who were experts in the areas they had chosen. She said that by the end of her two day presentation, the once two percent of students who believed they could change the world, had increased to 98 percent.

I started my comment by introducing myself. I told her that I felt that what she is doing is great. I also told her that I felt as though teachers have dropped the ball when it came to inspiring students. I said that it was nice to know that their are educators out there who want to do more than simply teach their students. I thanked her for her inspiration.

In the second post, "Sharing the Message of You Matter with the Bedley Bros" posted on July 1, 2013, Angela tells about a interview she had with Tim and Scott Bedley. She even posts the video onto her blog post. In the video she explains the importance of giving everyone, regardless of their age the opportunity to change the world. She says that educators should stop teaching to prepare students for college and career readiness, but instead prepare them for life ready skills. Even at young ages children are member of society and Angela feels that as an educator it is important to help children become better members of society. She says we should stop viewing them as children and start viewing them as contributing citizens. She gave examples, including the presentation she gave at Downingtown S.T.E.M Academy. The video was full of passion and enthusiasm for how to better educate and inspire children.

Blog Post #10

I am a very sensitive person so naturally I found myself emotional when watching Randy Pausch's Last Lecture given on September 18, 2007. For this assignment we were asked to determine what we can learn from Randy, as future educators. As a future educator I have learned that motivation and perseverance are key when teaching. During this lecture Randy, a virtual reality instructor at Carnegie Mellon University whose goal is to use gaming technology to educate children, gives a back-story of what his life holds. He explains that he has tumors in his liver and was given 3-6 months to live. He has chosen to spend his last moments inspiring others and with this lecture, I believe, that is exactly what he did. In his video Randy discusses three things. First, are his childhood dreams. He says that "one thing we should not loose sight of is, the inspiration and permission to dream is huge". He explains each in detail and shows how he achieved each dream and what he took from those experiences. One dream of his, was to play in the NFL, and although he did not exactly fulfill that dream he explains that the lessons he learned while trying were far more valuable. He shares a quote that says "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted". He also talks about his dream of becoming a Disney Imagineer, which he did achieve. He explains that he was a professor at the time so when offered a position to write a paper for the Imagineers he approached the Deans of the college. During his quest to join the team he came in contact with two Deans who, as he explains, gave him the exact same answer of I don't know. However, one approached it with the mindset of I don't know but tell me more. Randy explains that there is a right and a wrong way to say I don't know. Randy says that the brick walls we encounter in trying to achieve our dreams are there to "let us prove how badly we want things".

He next discusses how to enable the childhood dreams of others. He decided to create a program of creating virtual world where he had 50 students, divided into groups and given two weeks to complete an assignment. Once the two weeks were over they were given a new group where they would start the two week process over. He says that after the first assignment was complete the outcome completely blew him away. He says he asked his mentor how to expect more from students who had already created top notch work. His mentors response was to tell his students that what they did was pretty good but that he knew they could do better. Randy says that that was great advice because he would be doing them a disservice by setting the bar for them. He explains that he saw that the achievements of his students were endless by not doing so. He says that the success of this class grew and became a school wide event once a year. He has now passed his program off to what he calls "better hands" and it has grown tremendously and is continuing to grow. He compares himself to Moses and says that he can see the promise land but he will never get to go there. He says that he is okay with that because he gets to leave this achievement as his legacy.

Lastly, he discusses the lessons learned throughout all of this. He says that along the way of achieving your dreams you must realize what helped you achieve them. He starts with the roles of parents, mentors and students. He says he was lucky to grow up with two great parents as role models. He says his parents gave his the freedom to learn and explore opportunities, and he encourages all parents to allow their children to do the same. He said he learned from his mentors and bosses and also his students. He talks about the importance of having fun and to never loose the child like wonder. He also says to remember to help others and that loyalty is a two way street. He says to never give up, tell the truth, be earnest, apologize, and focus on other and not just yourself. He also says, "don't bail: the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap". He goes on to give a list of things we should do in life. Finally he explains what he calls the "head fake" of his lecture. He says the lecture is not about how you achieve your dreams its about how to lead your life and that the talk was not for his audience it was for his kids.

There are many things to learn from Randy Pausch as future educators. Especially that we are to help students achieve their childhood dreams. More importantly though, Randy Pausch has given great life lessons that we all should try to live by. He is a very inspiring person and we should all follow his lead.

Project #12 (SmartBoard Part A)

Project #9 Podcast

Project # 10

Blog Post #9

C4T # 2

I have the privilege of reading the Middle School Matrix blog by Hadley Ferguson. The most recent post entitled "It All Comes Together #PBL" written on June 4, 2013, was a follow up post from a post he had written on May 21, 2013, entitled "Craziest History Class Ever! #PBL". In the June 4th post he gives the results of his project based learning project he had assigned his students. He explains how much work it was, and how much the class took to the project. He also states that it was a learning process even for himself. He then gives examples of all the student work and showed how successful they were.

For this post I commented, telling him about our course and that it is strictly project based learning. I explained that I found his post very interesting and then thanked him for sharing.


This is a picture of one of his student's work.

His May 21st post, was written explaining the project. He explains that he explained the project to his students.Their assignment was to design and create a store, fully equipped with a store sign, slogan, and merchandise. He then split the class into two groups and assigned each student in the group a role to play. He explains that he directed the students to discuss their ideas and then sat back and watched them work. He explains that from time to time he would give ideas and ask questions, but otherwise it was student driven.

In my comment I mentioned that the fact he gave roles to his students was a great idea. I also stated that explaining to them that they would have to display their work would give them a since of pride in what they created. He had asked for ideas to replace his store maintenance role, so I suggested that the new role be sales representatives. I told him that I work in a doctors office and that is how products are sold there. I said that it will also help with public speaking if he could convince other teachers to allow his students to come to their classrooms to sell their products. I then thanked him for sharing his ideas.

Blog Post # 8

I had no idea how much technology had taken over the classroom. However, not only do I now realize that it plays a key role in the classroom, I understand that it is important in the learning process. I viewed the Bozemanscience website which is run by Mr. Paul Anderson. Mr Anderson has been a science teacher for about 19 years. Currently, he is a science teacher and technology specialist at Bozeman High School. For approximately three of the 19 years, he has been teaching science on youtube, where he has created hundreds of science videos. These videos have reached millions of teachers and students worldwide.



One video I watched was entitled, Blended Learning Cycle. In this video Mr. Anderson gives instruction on how to incorporate the Blended Learning Cycle into the classroom. He starts by introducing the cycle. He states that first, as a teacher, one must combine online, mobile, and classroom learning into the classroom. He explains that next the teacher would introduce the learning cycle, which consists of engaging, exploring, explaining, expanding, and evaluating a subject. He then discusses an acronym he uses called quivers when teaching his students. He starts with a good QUestion. He then allows his students to Investigate/inquiry about the question. He offers Videos to his students , and then allows for Elaboration. Following that he requires a Review. He sits down with each student and through questioning, he evaluates their understanding before allowing them to move forward. Finally, they are given a Summary quiz, which allows the students to check their understanding for themselves.



This method of teaching introduced by Mr. Anderson is very effective. It shows the power of technology, because otherwise he would not be capable of educating the world. I have learned a lot from this site. I learned that teaching any subject can be more effective with the use of technology.

Here are some other sites, viewed by my peers.

Grace Hofer

Watching Back To the Future, I was impressed by how Brian Crosby taught his class. One of the things I noticed was how much participation was being done by the class. The students were the ones doing activities and projects and not just being shown an activity, but playing a part in doing it. I think by letting the students participate, let them become more interested in what was being taught. Students in this class also had a blog that they would write anything and everything they have learned. Blogging offered students to be connected to people from multiple countries and let them learn a little about these countries as well. These blog post by students contained pictures and videos that the students took themselves. The class also had a flickr page that contained pictures taken by the students of the whole class. I think the way Brian Crosby is teaching his class in an excellent way. The involvement he is offering his students in activities is letting the students be excited about the learning experience. Having students excited about learning I think is what most, if not all, teachers would be thrilled about. Some of the things these students learned was how to maintain blogs, put videos up on their blogs, video chat with a fellow student as well as people from around the world all while learning academically by projects and activities. Using a blog improved their writing and reading skills as well. It is great that his class is excited to learn. I think a way for my future students to be excited about learning, would be to take on the tools Brian Crosby is using in his classroom.

Brittany Allemand

Mark Church's Making Thinking Visible video to explain his book is very helpful. After watching the video, it made me interested in reading the book. I felt like I learned a good bit about learning and teaching from his video. I really like his approach; it helped create independent learning from the teacher but also incorporated group discussion with your classmates and learning from them. I felt like he really brought his title "Making Learning Visible" to life. I enjoyed how he formed the children into small groups. He asked them to sum up a headline for what they had been learning about. They made up a headline and then he hung them up on a board. Later on, he then would get them to form another headline after thinking and learning more about the topic to see how the headlines would change. I thought it was a great idea how they all formed a group and had to think about a headline, and their thinking was out loud; it really supported the phrase of making thinking visible. His video taught me about how children can learn together from saying there thoughts out loud in a group. I appreciated his approach to teaching and learning.

Blog Post # 7

I am officially excited that EDM 310 is a required course. I say this because I had no idea there were so many resources for disabled students. I would have to say the videos I watched are two of the most informative sources I have encountered so far. The first video I watched was Teaching Math to the Blind. In the video a professor at the University of San Francisco, Art Karshmer, introduces a system he created, using blocks and a grid, to aid blind students in solving math problems. He explains that braille is not read in two dimensions, so where a seeing person would line an addition problem one number on top of the other and add from right to left to solve the problem, a blind person reading braille will line the numbers straight across from left to right. This makes simple math problems, such as addition, difficult for the visually impaired. Professor Karshmer explains in the video how the systems works. The students scan the blocks, with braille and a visual number on the front, with a barcode scanner. Then a computer will read the number aloud. The student then places the block in the grid to properly set up the math problem.



After watching this video I researched more tools to aid blind students with solving math problems. I came across a site, Science Daily, that introduces a new system being developed specifically with elementary aged students in mind. The site states that "nearly one in 20 pre-school aged children and about 12.1 million children ages 6-17 have visual impairments, according to the Braille Institute." Sheila Schneider a senior at the College of Fine and Applied Arts at Illinois, under the supervision of Professor Deana McDonagh, is creating small sculptures with mathematical equations imprinted with braille. The equations will be written in a form of Braille known as Nemeth Code, which is used for mathematical and scientific symbols. They were designed from the view point of a child and are intended for children ages 7-10.



The second video I watched was entitled iPad Usage For the Blind. In this video Wesley Majerus, Access Specialist for the National Federation for the Blind, gives a presentation on how the iPad is set up to help the blind navigate through its system. As he is demonstrating you can hear the iPad voice-over telling him the programs and how to access them. The iPad even enables the blind to read books. Wesley explains that being able to buy and read books is very liberating.



These tools designed to aid the visually impaired student, are excellent tools to remember as a future teacher. Especially since the "No Student Left Behind" system has physically and mentally disabled students in the same classrooms as non-disabled students. I imagine that the tools are also empowering for a person with visual impairments. I found this encouraging as both a student and a future teacher.

Here are some other video summaries completed by my peers.

Brittany Allemand

Denise Robinson's Video Teaching Mom What Her Deaf/Blind Students are Learning on the Ipad was a pleasure to watch. I feel as though these technologies help the students who are impaired to feel as though they are at the same pace as the other students, which is how they should be able to feel. I remember being in school and having a couple students who were handicapped and visually impaired in my classes. Technology was nowhere near as advanced as today, and they did not get to participate fully or as much in some of the things we did because they did not have the tools too. I was impressed after watching the video by Denise with the Ipad. I never knew that the IPad could be a tool to accompany the deaf or blind. It was easy to use and follow. The voice was at a great speed and easy to understand. Also, the directions were so clear. I loved how all you had to do was slide your finger across the screen and it read out all the apps and how to open them. This would be a great tool to use in my future classroom. After watching this video, I went to the internet to try to find some tools I could use in my classroom for the future that weren't listed in our manual.I came across a page written by Jeanette Dodds, Assistive Technology for the Deaf or Hard of Hearing, it listed some devices and assistants that can be used to help the deaf in the classroom or in life with just communicating with others. She tells about ways to make clocks and phones easier to use for the deaf or hard of hearing. You can use a strobe light, blinker, vibrator, or flash. I thought this could be useful in the classroom when trying to teach or show something is right or wrong, you could use a light or flash to indicate whether correct or not. Green lights could be used for correct and red for wrong. Also, she mentions FM stations which is an assisted listening device. This works well in the classroom. The way it works is the teacher wears a transmitter, that is connected to a microphone, and the student wears the receiver. FM stations send radio waves from a transmitter to a receiver. The student receives the message from the teacher with the microphone by plugging the receiver into headphones, hearing aids, or other devices. I really liked this because this way everything the teacher says is sent directly to the student and it is way easier to hear.

Grace Hofer

After watching Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impaired Children, I was very impressed with the video. I have known people who are vision impaired but I never thought of how much a struggle it could be in a classroom without assistive technologies. This video shows a few different tools that could help these students. Screen magnifiers, flip cameras, and text to speech devices to name a few. I also found a tool that could be useful called WordQ + SpeakQ. This tool offers an audio proofreading so someone who is vision impaired would be able to hear what the text contains. It also offers a speakQ which lets one speak through a microphone and will be picked up and typed out. The tool also offers the user to change words to similar words like a built in thesaurus. This tool could be very helpful for students to learn how to better speak, write, and strengthen their vocabulary. Another tool that is great for vision impaired people is The Mountbatten. The Mountbatten is a braille write, it can offer audio feedback so the person knows that is being typed. This tool is able to save, transfer, as well as receive files from another computer. With this tool being able to have print and braille results, it allows the teacher as well as fellow students to understand. With everyone understanding, it lets everyone to be included in a project. I do not know if I will for a fact be using these tools in my classroom. But if used, the ones mentioned above could be very helpful. Teachers should be well prepared for all types of students, rather impaired or not, and be able to teach them the way that is best fit for them. It will be exciting to see what the future will hold in my future classroom.

PLN- Progress Report #1

Prior to being enrolled in EDM 310, I was only familiar with a few sites such as; google, facebook, pandora and pinterest. Since starting my work in the class I have gained access and understanding to many more site. Even Symbaloo, the website I am using to display websites I have accessed, is new to me. I am happy to have heard about this site, because it will help me to keep up with websites that I can use as a future teacher.

Project Assignment # 7

Project Assignment # 8

Blog Assignment # 6

Before I was enrolled in EDM 310, I had been drilled by teachers about my understanding of a subject. By drilled I mean I was given an excessive amount of information, asked a yes or no question of my understanding, and then given a test. I began to believe that this was the only way a teacher should teach. As a future educator myself, I was taking notes on the ways of teaching to develop ideas on how I would teach my future students. Upon arriving in EDM 310, I was given a whole new set of learning rules. Rules that require me to discover for myself, not only what the answer is, but how to best achieve the answer. This helped me realize that teachers are only beneficial to their students when they give them the tools to learn rather than drill them with information and expect them to fully understand a subject. By asking questions, that do not require a yes or no answer, teachers can be better aware of their students' understanding. Question are key to the evaluations of students progress and understanding. In Ben Johnson's article in Edutopia, entitled The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom, I learned that you can not assume that students know everything. I also learned that when asking questions in a classroom you should ask yourself what you want your students to learn from the questions. Simply asking a student if they understand a subject is not enough. Ben Johnson explains that students fill out their teachers to decide what answers the teacher wants to hear. Students may give a yes or no answer, or maybe no answer at all, and still have little to no understanding of a subject. By asking questions the teacher can evaluate for themselves how well a student understands a subject.



On Faculty Focus I read an article entitled Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom written by Maryellen Weimer. She explains that there are three things you must do in order to ask better questions. The first thing is to prepare the questions. By preparing questions before hand, the teacher is more organized and minimizes the risk of asking confusing, hard to answer questions. She then says you must play with the questions. She says that "questions are most powerful, when they best engage students, and when they are at their thought-provoking best". She says that questions are most engaging before the answer is given and by playing with the questions, you can create a longer window for thought. Lastly she suggests that as a teacher you should preserve good questions. She says that good questions can be reused and even altered to make better questions. She even claims that good questions, asked by students, can be saved to ask again in the future. She tells teachers that "we should be working on our questioning techniques, not just because our questions are more effective when skillfully used. We need to ask good questions so that students see the importance of questions."

The advice given on questioning students in a classroom given by these two authors, will be very good to keep in mind for my future classrooms. I am learning in the EDM 310 class, that teaching is a lot more than filling a student with information, its about helping them learn how to learn.

Blog Assignment # 5

It is always exciting and motivating to see what teachers are doing to inspire learning in their classroom. The case is the same for the blog posts about podcasting on the Langwitches Blog. Its amazing how eager children are to learn new things. In the post entitled Podcasting with First Grade, you see children wanting to learn. They took interest in the script making, they even wanted to assist in the editing process. These children as young as 6 years wanted to hear themselves on a podcast as well as share their experience with people around the world. They played roles of interviewers, as well as important characters in the book. In the post 1st Graders Create Their Own Read Along Audio-book, you see children learning to read with the help of their own voices. They were able to record their voices, with the help of Garageband, into a audio-book version of "Dinosaurs Before Dark", they were then able to read along with the audio-book. She talks about in her post that she enjoyed watching them read along. I imagine this to be rewarding as a teacher to see children motivated to learn. I also read Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting. This post was about 2nd grade language class learning how to arrange and edit a podcast. What was most interesting to me about this post is that the children were learning to speak Hebrew as well as do the podcast. It was exciting to read about how the reading were taken out of order and the children were able to rearrange the order correctly. I feel like this is is very good way for teachers to not only teach their students but to inspire learning as well. I look forward to one day be able to use podcasting for my future students.

Project # 3 Presentation

C4T #1

For my C4T assignments I was asked to read and comment on teachernz's blog posts. Her first blog post was titled "PaCT with the Devil" posted on September 16, 2012. She mentions in her post that it was originally a comment on a blog post submitted by Tara on her blog Thinks. In Tara's blog she discussed a new program called PaCT, which was developed to provide consistency in teacher judgement in the New Zealand school system. Teachernz claimed in her post that teachers should no longer stand by and allow systems, such as PaCT, be put into place in school systems. After reading her post, I introduced myself and explained that I am currently enrolled in a project based learning course that focuses in "no burp-back-education". I then explained what burp-back education is. I explained that we face some of the same situations in our school systems with the "no child left behind" program. I expressed that it is impossible to stick students with different learning abilities into a classroom and expect the all to learn at the same rate. I thanked her for her post and left a link to my blog.



There has been no further post by teachernz since my last comment was made, so I went back further to their post made on June 1, 2012. This post was entitled "Tears", and she quickly makes it clear as to why this is the title. She states that she had a student who had spent time planting trees and she was unable to speak with the student about his experience. She then talks about a tweet between her and the student, where he offered to seen her a "doc". She explains that this brought her to tears because the student was only 9 years old and a motivated, independent learner. The post was a short but encouraging post, in that it helped me to get excited about the learning capabilities of young people. I commented on the accomplishments of both her and her student, and expressed that it is impressive what these students are learning to do at such a young age.

Blog Assignment # 4

To no surprise, I began my research on 21st Century Learning tools with the help of google. I found many tools for learning that would be very helpful to elementary school teachers. Two tools in particular stood out to me. One was a resource called Smart Lab. This is a learning lab that uses technology to inspire hands on learning for students of all ages. While reviewing the usefulness of the Smart Lab technology, I discovered a program called STEM. This program is a comprehensive system with a focus on science,technology, engineering, and mathematics. The STEM website discusses how the program will help improve "an understanding of scientific and mathematical principals, a working knowledge of computer hardware and software, and problem solving skills". The smart lab learning labs aid in the STEM process. The site for smart lab claims that "SmartLabs are fully-integrated classroom systems that include hardware, software, scientific and media equipment, hands-on construction kits and flexible furniture systems. The Smartlab program, I my opinion would be a great thing to introduce in elementary schools throughout the nation.



Another tool I discovered in my research, and the one I am most excited about, is the program Pixie. Pixie is a system designed to help integrate technology into the elementary classrooms. It is a project based learning system that will, according to the website, help children of all learning styles develop the skills to navigate their way through 21st century technology. I found that another great thing about this program is it aids the teacher in meeting the Common Core Standards.Pixie allows students to create as well as share their own work which instills a sense of pride, resulting in a will to learn. The pixie program in my opinion in a highly motivating program and would be a perfect addition to any elementary classroom. I also believe this would be a good tool to help teachers evaluate a students progress, which would help in eliminating testing in classrooms. The children produce their own work to better show they understand a subject.



Both the Smartlab and the Pixie programs are excellent tools to better prepare students for 21st century learning and I look forward to one day being able to introduce these programs to students of my own.

Here are a few more tools provided by two of my peers.

Edheads - Grace Hofer

Technology will be used in many if not all classrooms before we know it. Trying to find websites that would be great for teaching and for students learning was an adventure. As I came across some that just seemed okay, I came across Edheads which I think is fantastic. This website can be used for fun or for teaching which I love. Edheads offers games and activities that involve mathematics and sciences to promote critical thinking in the user. To tell you the truth, after I discovered this website, I spent about an hour playing around on it before remembering that I was working on an assignment for this class. Once arriving to Edheads, you have the opportunity to pick an activity that you would like to do. Some of these activities are designing a cell phone, to weather activities, to virtual surgeries. After selecting which activity you would like to do, it becomes like a computer game. You are assigned to do different tasks as the game walks you through each step. Doing one of these games, it asked why might you do a step. You are then given about five options to chose the answer. I liked this because it offers not only a fun environment, but a learning one as well. Because Edheads offers the user to do a few activities to do virtual surgeries and such, if I used this site for my students, I would offer it to older students. However, I think any age could learn something from this site. When I was playing around on it I even learned something. I picked this website because of the amount of learning experience it can offer to any user. It gives the learning experience in a way that the users feel like they are just playing a game. The game environment will have a better chance of having students enjoy learning I believe. I think this is a great site to use in a teaching/learning field. I enjoyed it so much that I will probably revisit the page to explore some more of the activities it offers.

Brittany Allemand

When I graduate in a couple years with my degree in elementary education, I want to be well prepared and trained in technology. I believe that in a couple years classrooms will be filled with more smart boards, computers, or iPads than books, pencils, and paper. After reading this blog post assignment, I immediately turned to the internet and technology to help me research a good topic. After looking around on Google and numerous websites, one technology tool stood out to me the most. I learned about an eportfolio tool for young elementary students to create. They can create a whole portfolio with tabs for all subjects, like math social studies, and science. The website I visited, tech4learning.com,showed an example of a third graders portfolio and how it could look. They had tabs for all subjects, and videos and pictures of her work. I really enjoyed this tool because it said it was a good way to show a child's progress, which is just as important as their products. The portfolios provide a collection of the students work, drawings, reflections, and numerous other things. I really like how the website described the portfolio and its use:"Because portfolios include a collection of performances that demonstrate growth and include student reflections, they provide additional assessment information beyond what can be gleaned from a traditional letter grade." I really like this technology tool and feel as though it will be useful to us as future teachers in EDM 310. You can visit the website above for an overview of what the portofolio is and does. I feel as though this will help the students work computer and other technology tools also. They will learn how to build a preview of all their work.

Blog Assignment # 3

After viewing the What is Peer Editing? video and Peer Edit with Perfection slideshow, I learned that there was little that I knew about peer editing. For starters, I had no idea that peer editing is only done by people your age. I always knew what "peer" meant but for some reason it never clicked. Through these resources, I learned that you should always begin your peer review with compliments on another's work. It can be things as simple as agreeing with their views on a subject. The next, thing you should do is suggest ways in which the other person can improve on their work. Lastly, you should make any corrections on any errors, such as spelling and grammar. This is the order presented in the video as well as the slideshow. However, I feel the last two go hand in hand, and in some instances can be interchangeable.

How you choose to make a person aware of any mistakes or errors in their work should be taken very seriously. One must remember that no one is perfect and pointing out a persons imperfections can some times cause them to become defensive, as demonstrated in the video Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes. I feel as though simple mistakes, that are common among most everyone, can be corrected publicly. However, those mistakes that could potentially embarrass a person, should be handled in a more private matter. I feel that after watching each one of these presentations I will be able to become a better peer reviewer.

Blog Assignment # 2

Mr. Dancealot


I found this video to be quite humorous and a little ironic. The video starts with the teacher introducing himself as Mr. Dancealot. It is funny because he actually did a small amount of dancing. I did however find this video really informative. It shows that as a teacher you have to consider every aspect of your teaching. For example, in this video there is a dance class being taught in a classroom. How can you learn to dance in a classroom? Environment is a key thing to consider. Another thing is the teacher never allowed the students to try the dance moves out for themselves. One can not possibly learn to dance if never given the opportunity. The teacher did show the steps of the different dances on power point but seeing and doing are two totally different things. I think this video is perfect because even though its a technology based course EDM 310 is a class that is designed to teach you how to learn and how to teach others to learn. Technology is not the only thing this class is designed to teach us. I can honestly say I did not completely understand that fact until I saw this video. There is no way to ever develop teaching skills, if you don't first develop learning skills.
Go see the Mr. Dancealot video.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

What Vicki Davis has done to encourage her students to learn is remarkable. She has not only taught them technological skills that they will be able to use long after leaving her class, she has taught them how to learn through teaching themselves. She explains that most class rooms "use only paper and only pencils" and because of that only certain students will succeed. She says that she is teaching her students to learn how to learn. She seems to have given her students a sense of responsibility for their own success, rather than allow them to be fully reliant on her to flood them with information. She gives them resources to find answers for themselves. In the video she talks about how she gives definitions and lets them research the answer. She has found a way to motivate students to want to learn by allowing them the freedom to discover the ways of learning best suited for them. I think her example of teaching is one every teacher should follow. The best way to learn, is to do. I also noticed in her video that she actually has more class participation than a typical teacher would. By typical teacher, I mean one who has strict rules and guidelines that the students must follow and if they get of that straight and narrow path they are scorned. I can not begin to tell you how many teachers, especially in college, that I have encountered who force their views of a subject onto their students. And if your ideas don't match theirs you fail. That is not what teaching is about. Teaching is about giving a student the opportunity to develop their own ideas and learn for themselves. Ms. Davis has really inspired me and the way I would like to teach.


Check out Ms. Davis video here.Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

The Networked Student by Brittany Allemand

To view this video by Wendy Drexler titled the Networked student, Click here. The networked student video informs us how to learn with a method called connectivism. This method claims that learning takes places through a large network of many diverse connections and ties. The teacher shows her class how to create a blog online and connect with their classmates and professionals all around the world. This video pretty much describes what we are doing in EDM 310. The students search the web for answers and write about things that they have found or need to discuss. The video informs us about a huge networking system that connects people in a helpful way that promotes learning to the fullness. The huge network is made possible by the technology we have. This network helps students read other information from students and teachers around the world. Even though, the blog are sometimes opinions and not facts, the students can comment and get or give more information. The student can email professors and have video conferences, promoting one on one learning with each other. The networking site can open numerous doors for learning and numerous ways it can occur.
Why does the networked student even need a teacher? There are several valid answers to that question. Teachers are there to promote learning and to help their students. Although her students may not have a textbook or lecture sections, she is still needed there for guidance. The students needs to know how to navigate through the blogs and how to create it. She is there to show them how to build this 21st century learning network and how to learn from it. She is there to provide help when the students get lost or stuck on something online. She shows them how to properly communicate with other people and how to get useful information from them. She shows him how to pick which information is useful and which is just fluff or false. She shows him how to search properly and efficiently. Without the teachers guidance the students would not know how to build or navigate this blog.
I agree with this video and what it is promoting. I believe that all students need to take a course with connectivism. The 21st century is filled with technology and less of textbooks and lectures. Students need to open the door of learning through technology and communicating with people. Even though I will only be an elementary teacher, I would still want to incorporate technology use in my classes. The 21st century student needs to be skilled in learning through technology. I believe this is important because the process is just as important as the material. Students need to learn how to do something and not just memorize information. This networking blog will help you search and find answers. It will also help you learn through other people and not just through a book with pages.

Teaching in the 21st century by Grace Hofer

The way Kevin Roberts presented his thoughts was a great way to challenge people in Teaching in the 21st century. Roberts is correct that technology is changing and the younger generations will be more capable of using technology than we have been. The video makes you question of what the teachers job is if any information can be found at anytime by the students. The purpose of teachers is to teach students how to use these technological tools so they can know how to do it on their own. For example, what if you went up to a kid who has never even seen a computer in their life and told them to find out the population of a city. They would have no clue how to even begin. This is where teachers would come in, to show the kid how one would even begin to find information and how to arrive to the conclusion. This should challenge students who plan to one day teach to become familiar with all different types of technology and how to use them. If one does not know how to work a device, how are they expected to teach someone else how to use it? The next generation may be very familiar with devices the past generation may of known nothing about. Teachers and future teachers need to be on top of all knowledge about these devices the future generation will know, so we can teach them something they do not know.