Blog post #12

C4t Summery

venspired

In Mrs. Venosdale’s first blog post that I commented on was about how the education world is tough, and at times you seem to be all alone doing what you think is best for your students. She compares this to salmon trying to make it up stream at Niagara Falls. She says that education is like Niagara Falls with everything pulling you down as you try to fight your way up, trying to defeat the odds of making it just like the salmon do. I told her that I have family members in the education field, so I have seen firsthand what education is really like. I understand the hardships and tough times that come with being a teacher.


In her second post that I commented on she was talking about how we need to remember what it is like to jump into a project scared and excited all at the same time. Students need to be able to know what it feels like to be excited, and scared, and nervous about starting a project, and then feeling like they have accomplished something once they have finished the project. I told her that in this class right now I know the feeling of being nervous and excited about trying a new project, and after I have spent days and hours working my very best on it, I get a knot in my stomach because I love what I put together and I just want everyone else to love it as well. I also feel good about myself when I have learned something new and made an accomplishment in the process. I told her that I hope to one day show my students what it feels like to finish a project that you are truly proud of.

project #10 Interview with teacher

I had the chance to skype with Mrs. Howard a kindergarten Spacial education teacher in Enterprise Alabama. I really enjoyed getting to talk with her about her classroom. I actually had to cut out part of our interview due to time restrictions.

Project #14

Lesson Plan calendar

Rubric

Lesson plan overview

Checklist

Blog Post #11

Back to the future

In this video, Brian Crosby shows us different ways that he has his students actively doing something instead of just listening to him talk all day. For example, he had his class come up with “high hopes” for their life and write them down. They then shared them on their personal blogs and people all over the world responded to their posts. Some people even wrote back giving them their hopes for the world. This little project showed the students that you can connect to countries all over the world. I learned through this video that the more you blog, the more connected with the world you can be. Also, PBL is a way that teaches children that there is a world outside of their little town and even outside of this country. Blogging also teaches that we can have things in common with other people from other countries. My favorite part of this video was watching how a little girl could not attend class because of her health, but they still included her in their classroom everyday via Skype.

Blended Learning Cycle

In this video, I learned what blending your classroom is. The teacher first asks students a good in depth question or a hock. This gets students thinking on the track that you want them to be on. The students will then learn more by exploring and experimenting. After that, the students watch a video or another educational tool to expand their knowledge of the topic and go more in depth. My favorite part of this idea is before the students can continue on and take the quiz, they must first come to you, as the teacher, and you ask them questions about the subject making them explain to you what they know. This will ensure that the student fully understands the material before being quizzed on it. I love what Mr. Andersen says about this, “I don’t think you have learned something until you can explain it to someone else”. I couldn’t agree with him more! Students have a way of just memorizing things for a test, but not truly understanding the material. If you can sit down and have someone ask you truly hard questions about what you have just learned and all you can do is either spit out pre programmed definitions that you have memorized or you don’t know anything at all, then you have not learned anything. If however, you can explain in your own words the material correctly, then you have learned something. This “review” process, as Mr. Andersen calls it, is the best way for teachers to know if students really understand what they have learned. I believe blended classes are a great, new way to teach children using hands on technology and projects, yet still be there as a teacher to help them along the way and also to make sure they are learning the core standards that are required.


Mr. Andersen’s Blended Learning Cycle:

1. Question
2. Investigation
3. Video
4. Elaboration
5. Review
6. Summary quiz

Make thinking visible

In this video, we saw Mr. Church give his students instructions to write a headline or question, and then post them on a wall in the classroom. After they finished the unit, they did the same thing. This was a way for the students to see how their ideas had changed, if they had changed, and to see how much they had learned throughout the unit.



Super digital citizen

I love how, in this video, Mr. Pane starts the conversation off with a quote from Spider Man. This gets the kids listening to him because most probably, like with the example of Spider Man, they want to know what Spider Man has to do with what they are about to learn. He then talks with them about how to be safe online and uses characteristics to make up a safe, online superhero. Once the class has their list, they each get to make their own superhero that has these characteristics using a website. I learned from this that if I make things relevant to my students, they will find it more fun and interesting to learn. It was cool watching as the students’ faces lit up when they found out they could make a superhero. Once the students made the superhero, they then had to write a story using the superhero and themselves. I learned that when the students can make something of their own, they take more pride in their work and it becomes meaningful to them. Lastly, I learned about this cool web site. They can create a comic book and superhero all within this one website. This is a neat and different way to have students write stories, instead of the old fashion way of just writing with pen and paper.


Project Based Learning

In this video, we see where a Canadian school has incorporated 3 different subjects into one Project Based Learning class. The students spend all morning in this one class with all 3 teachers, working on projects. I learned that by teaching this way they have more time to go deeper, making their projects better, and as a result they understand the curriculum better. Now, American schools are not going to change to this type of learning anytime soon. However, as a teacher, I can incorporate different subjects into one project in my classroom that meets the core standards they need to know. Just by my incorporating subjects and projects together will give my students the opportunity to go deeper and spend more time on subjects. Hopefully, this will also give them a better understanding of the curriculum.


PBL in Roosevelt Elementary

Project Based Learning teaches children to solve real world problems, and how to complete a project from start to finish. It teaches children to know how to think for themselves and be independent learners. Project Based Learning gives students the power to choose how to do things. It gives them the power and then, in return, this makes the students want to do well and give them a sense of pride in their work. It gives students the practice of 21st century life skills they will need when they get a job and are out in the real world. They learn to be comfortable speaking in front of people at an early age. Project Based Learning gives students the practice they need for working together as a team to get a project done. This is real big because most people do not like working in a group, especially as they get older. But, in a job one day you might need to work with your co-workers on a project and will need to know how best to work with people. Lastly, Project Based Learning helps those students who learn in different ways than most people because it is more hands on and uses all different types of learning strategies in one project.

C4K for October

     I first wrote to Aliya, in Mrs. Ripp's class. In her post, she talked about how she wished that school was from 10:00-5:00. She gave some great pros and cons to school being changed to these hours. I told her about how my high school was destroyed in a tornado in 2007, and the high school students had to attend class from 10:00-5:00 for the rest of the school year at a community college in my home town.  I also shared with her how this caused a lot of conflicts with sports and other activities. I told her that there will always be pros and cons to any time we attend school. 


    I then wrote to a little first grader named jersey, who simply said that she liked learning at school. I told her it was awesome to like to learn and that I like learning as well.

     I finally wrote to Tamara  in England. She posted a short google docs presentation about herself. She said that she liked using the computer at school. I told her that I, too, like being able to use the computer at school.   

Blog Post #10

     I really enjoyed watching the first video we saw of Mrs. Cassidy's first grade class  talking about the technology they use in her classroom. It was a great way to show us that the students really do love, and learn things from the use of technology. I loved how the students were telling us how to be safe on the Internet and how to only say nice things when commenting on each other’s blogs.  One thing that really stuck out to me was one of the students talking about their grammar getting better each time they write on the blog. I think knowing that people all over the world can view what you are writing helps make students want to do their absolute best on each assignment, especially in the upper grades. I know, because I use to be lazy and would just think it didn’t matter because only my teacher was going to see my spelling and grammar mistakes, no big deal. However, when you know the whole world will see your mistakes you will try your absolute best not to make those mistakes.  

     The next three videos I watched were all an interview with Dr. Strange and Mrs. Cassidy. I found this interview to be eye opening, as most of the videos I have watched for this class this semester have been.  I still might not think technology is everything in the classroom, but I am starting to see that it is a very important part of the classroom. Dr. Strange asked Mrs. Cassidy where the best place to start teaching with technology was. She answered saying to start using something that you feel comfortable using, whether that be twitter, blogging, or something else.   Then, start trying new things.  I think this is very important because, as a teacher, you don’t want to feel overwhelmed since that might affect your teaching. Most teachers that have been teaching for years do not want to change their teaching method, and I think that is partly because they feel so overwhelmed with the thought of having to learn all new things. Mrs. Cassidy told us that she started just using a web page and from there her use of technology has grown. I think we need to remember, as we start teaching, we will not know all there is to know about using technology in the classroom, and that we will have to continue learning new things and new ways every year.   

     Mrs. Cassidy also spoke about the fact that she is one of the few teachers in her school to use technology, and I think that is very brave of her. She also does not have a principal that is making her use technology, she is doing it all on her own with the help of her technology coordinator.  I have a lot of respect for her for going against what most of her fellow teachers are doing, and doing what she thinks is best for the kids.  I hope that when I become a teacher, if I am in a school where they do not incorporate a lot of technology in the classroom, that I will still try and incorporate it into my classroom.

     I really enjoyed hearing her talk about how she uses the kid’s blogs as an online portfolio so the parents can see their student’s work whenever they want.  I think this is a great way to keep the parents involved in what their child is learning.  In the very first video, some of the students talked about how their aunt or grandparent commented on their blog some too. I LOVE this! Being an aunt that lives 4 hours from my 6-year-old niece, I am missing out on what she is doing in school. If I could go on a blog and be able to read things she has written or drawn, I would love it. Blogging is truly a way to keep connected to the world.

     The most important thing I got out of Mrs. Cassidy’s interview was how to teach the students to use technology safely. She is a first grade teacher and she is already teaching the students to access the internet and getting them to talk to people all around the world. However, she makes sure that her 6 year olds know how to keep their identity safe, and how not to access sites that are not safe.  She does this by teaching them to only use their first name not their last, and she has all the links that the students are allowed to visit on her web page so the students do not find sites on their own. In this generation, children will be learning how to access the internet eventually, so why not teach them the dos and don’ts at an early age. So, when they do become old enough to get on the Internet unsupervised, they have the knowledge of how to be safe.  Also, Mrs. Cassidy mentioned that she has students who get upset with each other and post mean comments on each other’s blogs, and she has to set them down talk to them about it. I think this a great example of teaching children at an early age that once you post something on the Internet that it will always be there.

     Overall, I found the interview with Mrs. Cassidy to be a very eye opening video.  She is a true example of how using technology in the classroom, even in the younger grades, can better help your students learn. I am still hesitant about this new teaching method, but I am becoming more and more comfortable with the idea of using technology in my classroom.
Interview Part One

Interview part 2


Interview part 3