Blog Assignment #10

What can we learn from Sir Ken Robinson?

     After watching the video, "Bring On the Learning Revolution", I was very interested in Sir Ken's video. He really put education, teaching, and learning into a different perspective. I agree with his talk in that education is constantly changing. We, as teachers, must also constantly change with the times. I constantly hear people talk negatively. I am sometimes guilty of that as well.  Sir Ken Robinson said that he often hears many people think they are not good for anything as well.  This is a common problem in our society. Many parents and teachers push their children and students to become someone they are not.  We can learn from Sir Ken Robinson that everyone has talents. Everyone is good at something, and everyone has something that they enjoy doing.  This is a very hard concept for some people to understand.  When I become a teacher, I will definitely try to help every student find their talent and use it to the best of their ability.

     Sir Ken Robinson explains that there are some people in the world that enjoy what they do, and some people who don't.  I agree with Sir Ken Robinson when he said that if you enjoy what you are doing, then the time will go by much quicker.  Talent is about passion, and time takes a different course if you love what you do. If you do not enjoy what you are doing, the time will seem to drag.  If you do something that you love, an hour seems to only be 5 minutes.  This even happens to me. Whenever I am doing something that I am not very interested in, the time does seem to drag.  To be happy in life, one must enjoy what they are doing.  To enjoy what you are doing, you must find your talents.  There are many people who go through their life without using their talents.  It is a struggle sometimes to find your talents, but you have to remember that humans are diverse and your talent is different than anyone else's.  Many people are constantly waiting for the weekend.  I can not tell you how many times I hear people say that they can not wait for the weekend to be here.  I am guilty of this as well. Sometimes, weekly activities seem to just get overwhelming and the weekend is relaxation.  If you find time during your week to share your talents and do things that you like, then the week would not be so bad.  I understand that we, as humans, have to endure life as it comes, and sometimes we do not enjoy everything we do at every moment.  That is fine, but if you fill your life with some things that you enjoy, then it will definitely be more fun.  Life is to short to not enjoy the ride.

     Sir Ken Robinson makes it clear that human resources have to be found.  He says that they are not on the surface.  We can learn many things from this concept.  As humans, we must go deeper into ourselves to develop our talents and create our lives. We need to push ourselves to become the best we can be.  I like how Sir Ken said that we need revolution in education rather than reform.  This is a great way to look at education in today's world.  I agree that we do not need to change education. We need to build upon what is already established, and transform it into something else.  As humans, we get into a groove of doing the same thing every day, and it is easy to take things in life for granted.  Education seems to be taken for granted in some ways as well.  Humans involved in education get so used to what they are doing and teaching, that it becomes like a fast food restaurant; just doing the same thing over and over again with no nourishing.  If we have a revolution for education and change it to an agricultural model, we can continue to add to it to help it flourish rather than change it. Just as you nourish an agriculture field, we need to nourish education and personalize it to the students you are teaching. I think that Sir Ken Robinson has a great view on an educational revolution. I hope all those involved in the field will take time to listen to this talk and continue to grow and nourish the children as well as the subject. "Tread softly because everyday children are spreading their dreams beneath our feet."

Project #15

In this Project Based Learning Lesson Plan, the students will create a book of drawings using Kid Pix Software.  This lesson is for a kindergarten class.  They will be taught the importance of the moon as well as what it is made of, how long it will take to travel there, how they should prepare to go on their trip to the moon, and how they will feel when they arrive at the moon.  Once we have had a discussion about the moon as a class, the students will work in groups of four to develop drawings and make them into a book.  At the end of the week, the group will present their book to the class. This lesson incorporates technology as well as creativity in the kindergarten student.

Project Overview

Project Calendar

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Project Essentials Checklist

Blog Assignment #9

What can we learn from Ms. Cassidy?

Ms. Cassidy is an elementary teacher. Her class is very involved in using technology to learn. In "Little People...Big Potential", Ms. Cassidy's students talk about everything they do with technology to help them learn.  The students love posting to their blogs, and their favorite part about blogging is that they get comments from people they know and often people they do not know.  Their class blog is known as their online portfolio where they keep all assignments done in their class.  The key to writing a quality blog post, according to Ms. Cassidy's class is that you should never say "bad stuff."  You should always be positive when writing a blog post.  The students also use web pages to find things on the internet, practice sight words, and continue to help themselves learn.  The class also uses Wikis when they want to learn about traditions or rituals, for example.  They are able to ask people from around the world what a ritual is, and the others post different things they do to show how they practice rituals in their country as well as traditions. Videos are also made by the students about things they learn, as well as the use of Skype.  The students were able to talk to a geologist about rocks.  What an awesome lesson that is! Nintendo DS's are also used for the students to help them read words, problem solve, and practice sharing skills.

I really enjoyed listening to the interviews with Ms. Cassidy.  She has some great ways to incorporate technology into learning.  She said that her technological advancement started about 10 years ago when computers were introduced into her classroom.  She took this as an educational opportunity to teach the children through online learning and programs.  She began blogging, developing web pages, and establishing professional development.  Ms. Cassidy explains that she has had great support from the administration at her school, and they are excited at the way she has began teaching her students.

I agree with Ms. Cassidy when she said that technology is never going away.  We have to continue to change with the world today.  I believe blogging is the best way to get students involved for many reasons. Just like Ms. Cassidy said, students have an audience when they blog.  This really enhances their learning because they have someone who actually will read their blog that they do not even know rather than only the teacher reading their assignment.  I believe that this helps out with social emotions as well as school emotions.  I will try to use class blogs when I become a teacher because I think it is a great way for students to collaborate with others around the world and develop relationships.  It is really neat that the students have a cluster map on their class blog to actually see where the people are that comment on their posts.

I think privacy could be an issue with blogging, as well as students looking at non educational websites.  I would handle this aspect of it just like Ms. Cassidy does.  She said that she has to teach the children to only click on things in the middle of the website and not the things that are blinking and flashing on the sides. She said that she explains to them that we only look at educational things.  Also, I would explain to my children to only comment positively on blogs because we do not want anyone to have hurt feelings just like Ms. Cassidy said she always explains to her children.  We have to let the students experience the world because technology is always growing.  We also have to teach them the good and bad aspects of everything they do along with using the internet and blogs properly.  Some people may worry about cheating when giving students access to the internet.  Ms. Cassidy explains that it is called collaborating because we are using the resources available to add to our own ideas to create lessons.  Because of technology, we are have to switch the way in which we use information we find.  If we teach our students the importance of it, we will not have privacy issues or any issues relating to improper site searching and cheating.

I think I will try to develop my own online learning network when I become a teacher and use Ms. Cassidy's advice.  She said that to begin a positive technological environment, you must begin collaborating on your own personal learning network.  I will try to get more involved with Twitter and Blogger with teachers in hopes of piggy backing from what they have taught.  I can then use their ideas as well as my own to develop an educational lesson.

 

Project #14

     For this project, I decided to do a lesson plan on Square Dancing.  I used the PBL Essential Elements Checklist as a guide.  In this lesson, I decided to let the children use the internet as a tool for research.  I will have the students research a little history about square dancing and share it with their group and class. The students will then practice each move and learn the introductory calls.  After that, each group will make up their own dance using real calls, and they will video their groups performance.  In the second week, one group will perform each day.  Once we are finished, we will have a class discussion of the overall achievement and performance of the students.
     I believe that this lesson will be a good way to incorporate self performance as well as group performance.  This lesson will enable the students to learn how to work with each other in a group assignment.  Physical activity will be involved in the lesson by actually performing the dance. History will be involved in the lesson because the students will research the history of square dancing, and math will also be involved in this lesson because the students will be required to count the dance by eights.  Technology is also being incorporated into this lesson because the students are required to research facts about square dancing on the internet, and they are also required to use some form of recording to record the video of their performance and share it with the class.  I think it is very important to be able to incorporate more than one subject into your lesson because it allows the student to think critically while still having fun!

Project Overview Lesson Plan

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Project/Group Rubric

Project #9

Blog Assignment #8

21st Century Learning and Communicating Tools

     I hope that one day I will be teaching an elementary grade between kindergarten and third grade.  I know that technology will be in full force, even more than it is now, and I hope to use some of the learning and communicating tools that I have found while researching the internet for this blog post.
     When I watched Katie Gimbar's video on, "Why I flipped My Classroom,", I realized that I will probably try to do this when I become a teacher.  I feel that by flipping a classroom, it is easier for each student to work at their own pace and level.  Many teachers have to teach at the middle level and hope the students
from the bottom come up.  Then, the students at the top become bored and cannot accurately perform activities and achieve their goals.  With flipping the classroom, the students can pre-load the information outside of class.  This way, the students can develop questions to bring to the next class session. By having the information on a video, the student is able to pause, rewind, and even reflect on what they have just watched.  Some students are able to listen to a lecture one time, and absorb the information. Others need to hear it multiple times to get the right concept.  Either way of learning is fine, and by providing the lectures online, the students can then work at their own pace.  I agree with this teaching style to a certain extent.  I will definitely use this in my classroom for the older age children because it gives the student a since of responsibility to actually do the work themselves while also helping them by working at their own pace.
     Another learning tool I found useful is SMART Board.  I believe that the SMART Board is an excellent learning tool for the classroom.  Some of my high school teachers just starting using a SMART Board when I was a senior.  Now, in college, teachers are using them much more frequently. My Math 201 teacher strictly uses a SMART Board.  I believe this is a great way to engage the class. He writes examples as well as notes on the SMART Board.  Then, after class, the notes that were taken are saved as he writes, and he posts the notes on Sakai.  He writes it as if he was writing note cards which makes studying the notes much easier.
     SMART Boards can be extremely useful in elementary grades as well.  At the elementary age, students love to be involved in the lesson, and the SMART Board offers a wide range of options for the students to get involved. The SMART Board also offers a wide range of opportunities for teachers.  For example, SMART Board offers the 10.8 SMART Notebook feature.  This allows the teachers to easily share lesson plans and collaborate ideas. I believe the SMART Board is a great way to teach in the classroom.  It allows the student to be involved in the lecture by coming up to the board and using their finger or an electronic marker to write the answer.  It is wonderful that the lessons and whatever is written on the board can be saved for future reference.  I will definitely use the SMART Board in my classroom when I become a teacher if the opportunity is available.
     I enjoyed searching the web for different communicating and learning tools for this blog post.  There are so many options with technology today, and it just continues to grow.  

C4T Comments and Summaries #2

My First Comment
"Terie,
     I am a student at the University of South Alabama in EDM 310. We are assigned a teacher to comment on every couple of weeks, and I was assigned to you!
     I really enjoyed reading your post. I have been very interested in laptops lately. I have been pondering as to if I should keep my iPad or go to a Mac or another laptop. By reading the pros and cons on the Acer Chromebook, it has helped with my decision making. 
     The pros you have stated would also be pros I would enjoy with this Acer. Lightweight is a huge plus for me. Having students use a lightweight device is a lot more comfortable for the student. 
     The cons are also a big concern to me. The no installing software is an issue for me. I really enjoy using iTunes and other softwares, so this would be an issue for me. 
     I really enjoyed reading your blog, and thank you for the wonderful information on the Acer Chromebook. I believe that this would be a good option to use in an educational or classroom setting. 
     I look forward to reading some more blogs in the future if I am assigned to you."


My First Summary
On Sunday, January 19, 2014 Terie Engelbrecht posted to peoplegogy blog that she recently got an Acer Chromebook. Terie is addicted to Google, and the Chromebook is strictly a Google laptop. She said that the pros of this laptop are that it is lightweight and portable. Some cons are that they do not allow any installing or downloading unless it is Google. You can not use iTunes on this laptop. I would not want to use this laptop for myself, but I think it would be a good one to use for educational purposes in a classroom setting.

My Second Comment
"Dr. Will, my name is Savannah Price, and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed reading your post about edcamps. This sounds like a great opportunity for teachers to discuss different ways they are teaching in the classroom. I think I will definitely try to attend one of these events if I am able to when I become a teacher. I enjoyed your blog, and thank you for working towards the technological opportunities for education."

My Second Summary
Monday, March 3, 2014, Dr. Will posted to the peoplegogy blog about Edcamps. He explains that these are unconferenced get togethers where teachers socialize, discuss, and connect with each other about what is going on in each others classrooms.  Dr. Will attended his first unconference in Jackson, MS on March 1st.  Dr. Will enjoyed this unconference because he said that it made him feel like he was part of something bigger.  He believes it is important to use technology to transform education.  In this post, Dr. Will thanks all of the sponsors who donated "door prizes and swag."  This entire blog was actually created out of Dr. will's mission to explore and share educational applications of web 2.0 tools.

Project #13

Project Overview


Project Calendar

Project #8 Book Trailer

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Is...

My Sentence from Savannah Price on Vimeo.

My Passion Is...

My Passion from Savannah Price on Vimeo.

Blog Assignment #7

Teaching and Learning from Randy Pausch

      Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnigie Mellon University. He delivered a famous "Last Lecture."  Randy was diagnosed with reoccurring pancreatic cancer.  Pausch described how he achieved his childhood dreams, while also working hard to achieve obstacles and live generously. He said, "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” This was a very inspirational lecture. It really put life in perspective. 
     Randy starts off by telling about his life. He describes that he was just diagnosed as to have only one more month of healthy living. He does not want to start of talking about cancer, his wife, his kids, or spirituality and religion. Randy talks about achieving childhood dreams. He explains how
we can enable the dreams of ourselves and others.
     Randy's first dream was to experience zero gravity. He experienced it, and realized that it was nothing as special as it seemed. His second dream was football. At 9 years old, Randy realized fundamentals. He talks about how his coach drilled him all of one practice. He realized that was a
good thing, and he was told that when no one is telling you anything, you are doing badly. That means that they have given up on you. That's a bad thing.  Randy always wanted to be in the World Book Encyclopedia. He says that Wikipedia is a fine source of information now because he know where sources came from!

     We learn quite a bit from Randy Pausch about teaching. He taught his lecture in a way as though he was just having small talk with a friend. He engaged the audience with his teaching. I liked how he told funny stories and serious stories. This really kept me engaged in the lecture. He told inspirational stories to make an impact on the listeners life. I really enjoyed how he was such an inspiration and kept my attention through the entire lecture. Randy tells us to dream big and never give up. When I have a classroom, one day, I will always tell my students to never give up. That will be the number one rule I have. Some other important teaching tools Randy said was that you should always tell the truth and show gratitude. What awesome advice from someone who, you would think, has many reasons to be made at the world. Yet, he is extremely happy with the world and the life he had been given.
     Randy Pausch also has a great view on how to learn.  Randy's cancer went into remission, but in
2007 it came back. Randy then learned and realized there was nothing he could do about it. He quickly learned that life wasn't all about what he wanted. Now, it was time to make a difference in the
world through his life experiences. It is very important to live everyday as it is your last, according to Randy Pausch. It was absolutely amazing to me how inspirational Randy was in his lecture. What an awesome lecture to hear because it has really made me appreciate my life, and helped me understand more about how those with a terminal illness may react.
     It is so inspiring to hear Pausch say that he is lucky. You may thing, "how can a man with terminal cancer be lucky?"  I thought that too.  Randy said that it is much better to have cancer than be hit by a bus because this way he can achieve his childhood dreams and do everything he has ever wanted with his wife and family before he passes. Randy said that he was able to have conversations with his wife that he never would have had if he'd not being diagnosed with terminal cancer. The "Last Lecture" is a truly inspirational lecture, and I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to watch the lecture or read the book. Randy Pausch has left such an amazing legacy for many people, and I was truly inspired by his story.