Thursday, February 27, 2014

C4K Summary for February

C4K #1

http://kidblog.org/MsToalsClass/

Callum

The students had recently done a Skype chat with a woman named Jillian. She was a marine biologist that talked to them about sharks and how they were harmless and should not be viewed as man-eaters.

C4K #2

http://kidblog.org/Grade5Days1-2/

Sahara

The students recently had to create a survey in order to better know who was viewing their blogs. I took and commented on Sahara’s “All About You” survey and also mentioned one of her earlier posts as well concerning the question: “What would you do if you were locked inside your favorite store?”

C4K #3

http://kidblog.org/MsRuizs3rdPeriod/

Levay

Levay’s class has been reading Of Mice and Men and they are in the process of posting synopses of the second chapter to their class blogs. I commented on Levay’s post and told him that I had read the book also and remembered having some of the same feelings about certain characters and that I also liked his proposed title for the chapter.

C4K #4

http://kidblog.org/MrsLongsClass-6/

Jeff

Jeff had recently posted in his blog what sacrifice meant to him. I agreed with what he said about it. I also told him that a lot of the time it is the things that we like the most that we need to sacrifice sometimes.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Project #8 - Book Trailer

Blog Post 6

What are Personal Learning Networks? How can they help you as a teacher? How are they formed? How can you create your own PLN? Who will be the first additions to your PLN?

A Personal Learning Network is a method by which we can continue to learn and improve upon our own skills. A PLN is made up of both people and the various tools and other aids available. They are primarily done virtually and aid in global connectivity and allow ideas to be shared from all over the world. This is what makes a PLN great: the flexibility. Since they are primarily online, members of a PLN can respond at their convenience rather than having to get together and meet in person. They also provide an opportunity for a key element of teaching, reflection. They also encourage thinking and learning outside of the classroom. In this video, Steven Anderson describes a PLN and its importance to educators everywhere.

Personal Learning Network Diagram


A Personal Learning Network can help me as a teacher because, as I mentioned earlier, they allow for reflection, which is a very important part of teaching. This reflection period allows for those within the PLN to asses and critique my work and also to give suggestions that will help me to do a better job in the future. A few ways to create my PLN include using all of the tools and resources at my disposal. Next, I would look back on my past semesters at South and at other institutions and try to remember influential professors as well as fellow students that taught me something new. I would try to get in contact with these people and see if they would mind lending their expertise when they could to help me become a better teacher. The beauty of a PLN is that I do not have to meet face to face, but rather online, so that the members of my PLN could respond at their leisure.

The first additions to my PLN would probably be the members of my group, Sparta, from this course. They are the people that I work with the most and by the end of the semester I will know them even better. I guess I already have a PLN in the works as I regularly bounce ideas off of my mother who was a teacher, as well as some of my former high school teachers for advice and inspiration. I would also have to think back to professors in my past that have really challenged me and engaged me and try to pick their brain for ways to do that myself. It's funny how at the time I could not stand certain teachers, but looking back on it, I am so much better off because of them.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Blog Post 5

What did I learn from these conversations with Anthony Capps?

These videos were all very informative and helped to better understand Project Based Learning. The first video, Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher, introduces Anthony Capps. He is a former student and lab professional in EDM310. He currently teaches 3rd grade at Gulf Shores Elementary School. In this video, Capps emphasizes that projects do not just demonstrate a learned ability, but also as a way to put a sense of ownership on that ability. This way of learning allows students to seek out answers, mastering sets of skills, and then demonstrating them. Capps also stressed the reflection period after sharing, which allows for peer editing and for mistakes to be corrected. During this period both the students and the teacher are learning from each other.

Gulf Shores Elementary School Emblem


The second video, Project Based Learning Part 2: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher, begins with the reminder that not everything is going to go well. Anthony told a story about a parent that was uncomfortable with a certain subject and he had to honor belief. He also explains that you are going to get a lot more than you expect from your students. Do not hinder their creativity with strict guidelines. “PBL is not only a means for evaluating, but also a powerful method by which students learn” (Dr. Strange). Capps also praised student choice because it led to more pride and ownership of ideas.

iCurio was introduced in the third video. It is essentially a curated search engine that allows students to safely search the web for criteria that has been filtered strictly for educational use. Students can use it as a search engine but it also has storage capacity where they can work on projects together and save their work. This allows for the development of virtual, or online, organization. This is critical for both the students and teachers.

The fourth video was dedicated to Discovery Education and it is provided to all Baldwin County teachers. It basically brings experts into the classroom through videos to help bring texts and other subjects to life. Capps stressed the importance of engaging students both through audio and video.

Video #5 was a Strange List of Tips for Teachers. It was a combined effort between Dr. Strange and Anthony to compile a few tips for teachers. A few that stood out were: to be interested in learning as well, that teaching is hard, but it can be fun and rewarding if you allow it to be, and to always allow room to share and reflect.

The sixth video encouraged educators: Don’t Teach Tech – Use It. This video encourages us to avoid putting too much time into teaching technology. Instead, we should scaffold what technology we are using to eventually allow the desired results to happen. Focus on one type of tech at a time and gradually combine various tools until a desired goal is reached. Allow time for reflection and corrections of mistakes and eventually these skills will begin to be mastered. Asking questions and problem solving are essential to Project Based Learning.

The final video was a quick introduction into a lesson and how there were for levels to each lesson. The biggest level is how it fits into the year. Big picture stuff here, like state and federal standards. Next level is how it fits into a unit. This is where the scaffolding takes place. On the next level, how it fits into a week, is where the individual steps of the scaffolding are being built. Finally, the smallest level is how that lesson fits in a day. It is just as important as all of the other levels. This is how you deliver content and material to your students. It also must be measurable in some way in order to know where to begin the next day.

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Is...



My Passion Is...



Sunday, February 9, 2014

Project # 3 Presentation

C4T #1

Comments for Teachers #1

The first blog post I commented on by Brendan Ryan was from December 15, 2013. It was a post in which he reflected back on his previous year and what he had learned as a teacher. He also looked forward to what his future might hold for him and for education as a whole. I commented by introducing myself and telling him a little about me. I then commented on something particular that he said. He talks about how he used to focus only on the tools and not the teaching. But he said that he realized “tools are fine, but good teaching and learning environments are key.” I told him that this really stood out to me because of what we were learning in EDM 310. The tools are out there and can be used by anyone, but they must be taught how to use those tools to decipher what information is reliable and trustworthy.

Brendan had not written a new blog post so I commented on his previous one. He describes how he was interested to see if other PE teachers engaged in marking and feedback, and if so, what type of material were they marking. He created a survey that he posted online for his peers to complete. While he did not get as much feedback as he expected, he did get some. I commented first by saying what a great idea the survey was and commended him for having the initiative to create it and post it.

Blog Post 4

What Do We Need to Know About Asking Questions to be an Effective Teacher?

When I first read the assignment for this blog post I thought that it was going to be difficult to answer. But after looking at the links provided and doing a little research of my own, I realized that it was not going to be that hard. After reading "The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom" by Ben Johnson, I thought back to my earlier days in high school and how much I dreaded it when a teacher would ask a question. Looking back, I was one of the students that didn't really care, so I avoided any and all opportunities to respond. But at the same time, my teachers were asking questions like "Do you all understand?" To which we all nodded our heads because we were either bored or ready to go to our next class. The teacher was not truly engaging us with a question like this. However, I remember one teacher that routinely posed a question to the class as a whole and then after a few seconds, called on a student to answer it. As one of the comments to Ben's post points out, this allowed the entire class to ponder the answer without any pressure and got everyone thinking, even if it was just for a few seconds until we relaxed because she did not call our name. This teacher found a way to ask a question that would get the entire class involved and engaged, even if it was just for those few seconds until someone was called on.

Another thing that I remembered from high school was that there were some classmates of mine that were really shy and were uncomfortable answering questions out loud. In this instance, the teachers knew about this and instead of orally responding to the questions, we wrote down our answers on paper. This allowed everyone a way to express themselves fully but without drawing attention to themselves by speaking out. As I teacher, I think it will be very important to understand who I am teaching and how my students learn. That way, I can alter and modify how I teach so that my students will be getting the best possible results and learn in a way that suits them the best. I know that I will constantly be learning new things from my students while at the same time teaching them new things. We need to ask questions that will engage and stimulate our students and try to stay away from those that may distance some students from being active participants in our classroom. We need to look at these questions from both the teacher's perspective and the student's. Only then can we ask engaging questions that will help us to become more effective teachers.

Classroom with hands raised