My Final Reflection Video
Tara Harrell's EDM310 Class Blog
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Monday, April 21, 2014
C4T April Summary
Comment for a Teacher
The teacher that I was assigned for this month is Pernille Ripp who is a 5th grade teacher in Denmark. Her first blog post that I commented on was about how people should not be afraid to put the "bad" on their blogs. Ripp goes on to say that many people only blog about the good days that they have but never seem to blog about the bad days. She says that is one of the few that isn't afraid to blog about her bad days.
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The second blog post that I commented on by Pernille Ripp was called Stop the Hurry. In this post, Pernille told a story about how her and her daughter were going somewhere and her daughter was going along on a different path from her, a path that was slowing them down. Pernille wanted her daughter to hurry up but said that there was so much joy in her face that she could not bear to bring her down. Ripp relates the story to how some educators teach. She says that many teachers hurry their students and tend to not let them explore different subjects a little further because they are afraid the students will not learn everything they need to learn for the school year.
I commented on her blog post and said: "This was very thought provoking! This was a great blog post and had a very inspiring message!"
C4K April Summary
Comment for a Kid
The first blog that I commented on was by Kishan, a 6th grader at Pt England School in Auckland, NZ. His blog post was about his class having professional coaches teaching them how to swim. He talked about how he liked to do freestyle and using his flutter board.
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The second blog that I commented on was by Simon, a 4th grader at Pt England School in Auckland, NZ. His blog post was basically a questionaire on how well he liked using Chromebook. Simon said that he loved to use the Chromebook and play educational games on it. The only thing he disliked was when the wireless would go out.
I commented on his blog and said: "Simon, it sounds like you have had fun using Chromebook! That must have stunk that the wireless kept going out though! I am glad that the Chromebook helped you to learn."
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Blog Post #13
For this week, Dr. Strange left it up to us to come up with a blog post assignment that adheres to our area of speciality and then do it. My major is elementary education, so I picked a topic that had to do with that. My blog post assignment is the following: What is the importance of educating elementary students on the importance of safety? This can apply to their everyday life as well as in the classroom. Write a blog post that answers this question.
Safety is a very important issue and should be taught to elementary students at a young age. One of the biggest websites that advocates child safety is Safekids.org. Their main goal is to prevent injuries in children, which also happens to be the number one killer of kids in the United States. This site also provides many resources that helps to spread the word about child safety. They have printable stickers and sheets that contain the 7 most important safety tips for kids. They also have an online fundraiser that you can donate to as well as a "Safe Kids Day." I feel that it is extremely important to educate students about safety. Too many parents today are not practicing safety with their children, and more and more kids are getting hurt and killed because of it. As a future teacher, I would use the resources from safekids.org to teach my children as well as their parents on proper safety techniques. I would send home the 7 safety tips sheet as well as information about the website, so parents can see what their children are learning about. I would teach my students some of the basic safety tips such as: buckling their seat belt, wearing a helmet while riding a bike, and wearing a safety jacket while swimming. These are simple enough to know, but can ultimately mean the difference between life and death in the case of an accident. Overall, my goal as a teacher is to make sure my students are being safe and wearing proper equipment so as to prevent injury. At the same time I want to educate them on why it is important to practice these safety skills in their everyday life.
Safety is a very important issue and should be taught to elementary students at a young age. One of the biggest websites that advocates child safety is Safekids.org. Their main goal is to prevent injuries in children, which also happens to be the number one killer of kids in the United States. This site also provides many resources that helps to spread the word about child safety. They have printable stickers and sheets that contain the 7 most important safety tips for kids. They also have an online fundraiser that you can donate to as well as a "Safe Kids Day." I feel that it is extremely important to educate students about safety. Too many parents today are not practicing safety with their children, and more and more kids are getting hurt and killed because of it. As a future teacher, I would use the resources from safekids.org to teach my children as well as their parents on proper safety techniques. I would send home the 7 safety tips sheet as well as information about the website, so parents can see what their children are learning about. I would teach my students some of the basic safety tips such as: buckling their seat belt, wearing a helmet while riding a bike, and wearing a safety jacket while swimming. These are simple enough to know, but can ultimately mean the difference between life and death in the case of an accident. Overall, my goal as a teacher is to make sure my students are being safe and wearing proper equipment so as to prevent injury. At the same time I want to educate them on why it is important to practice these safety skills in their everyday life.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Sunday, April 6, 2014
C4T March Summary
Comment For A Teacher
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My comment on her blog was: "Your right it is important that children be allowed to do what they love, especially if that is art and music and schools should not be taking that out of the curriculum. I think that EveryartistLive! is a great thing and it is good to see other teachers spreading the word about it!"
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
C4K March Summary
Comment For A Kid
The first blog that I commented on was for a blog called Little Voices, Little Scholars. I commented on a post that they did called "Our Fairy Tales as Told by our Wonderful Voice Thread." This was interesting because I listened to each kid tell me which fairy tale was their favorite and at the same time I could see pictures of which kid was talking. Most of the kids said that their favorite fairy tale was Hansel and Gretel or Cinderella. It was very interesting to hear!
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The second blog that I commented on was for a little boy named Germaine. He is a 4th grade student at Pt. England School in Auckland New NZ. His blog post was about how he loves to swim. He talked about how his favorite swimming exercise is the rocket.
I commented on his blog post and said: "Hi Germaine! I loved your post about swimming! I too love to swim. Not only is swimming fun, but it is also great exercise as well! Hope you continue having fun swimming!"
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Project #15 Lesson Plan
For this lesson plan, I centered it around a 2nd grade Social Studies lesson. Over a 5 day span we will cover the Indians and the Europeans and the background knowledge on both. On the last 2 days I will have them do an art project where they will have to make their own settlement out of popsicle sticks and then they will also have a short quiz on the material that they have learned. To see the lesson plan in full click the link below!
Project 15 lesson plan
Project 15 lesson plan
Project #14 Lesson Plan
For this lesson plan, I designed it around 2nd grade science. We will go over the phases of the moon and at the end of the week I will have them get into groups and they will have to do an assignment that puts their knowledge and what they have learned to the test! To view the full lesson plan click the link below!
Friday, March 28, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Blog Post #10
What can we learn from Sir Ken Robinson?
This week we watched a video called Bring on the learning revolution with Sir Ken Robinson. In this video Ken talked about how there is a crisis based on the fact that people are not making use of their talents. He goes on to say that at a young age our dreams and ambitions are shut down by teachers and we are instead steered toward achieving a more realistic passion or ambition. Mr. Robinson's example for this was the story he told about a fireman he once met. He said that the fireman told him that at a young age he had a teacher who asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, so the fireman said he wanted to be a fireman. The teacher then told him that he should choose a different career path because that one was not an ideal one. He did not let that deter him from pursuing his dream to become a fireman. He then grew up and became a fireman and told Mr. Robinson that just a few months ago he ended up saving that same teacher and his wife after they both got in a car accident. Obviously that teacher was glad that the student he discouraged had in fact grown up to be a fireman, considering he saved his life! I thought this was a very interesting story because I feel that some teachers do in fact discourage certain students from being different and wanting to pursue dreams that most people do not normally choose to pursue. They want students to conform and have similar mind sets instead of breaking the mold. Overall, Ken's whole point behind his lecture is that we need to have an education revolution and start encouraging children in what they want to pursue especially if they are really talented in that area. He ended his lecture by saying that children pour their dreams and ambitions onto the floor and it is our job as educators or parents to tread lightly so as to not crush their dreams.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Project #13
Lesson Plan
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San Antonio Lesson Plan for Project #13
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Blog Post #9
What can we learn from Mrs. Cassidy?
After watching the videos with Mrs. Cassidy I have to say that I have learned a lot about using technology in the classroom. The first video called First Graders in Mrs. Cassidy's Class is a short video that has to do with how her students use technology in the classroom. The main way that they use it is with blogs and according to the students they love it! They said that it is a fun way to understand the material better. The students also said that they use wiki's so that they can communicate with other people, including teachers, and learn information from other people. I also noticed that they use Skype to video chat with other teachers as well.
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Overall I have learned a lot from these videos. I think it is great that Mrs. Cassidy is using technology in her classroom to help expand her students learning. I also think it is great that using this technology has also expanded Mrs. Cassidy's learning as well because it helps the teacher when they know how to use the technology just as well as the students. Mrs. Cassidy seems to be a great teacher and I applaud her in her use of technology in the classroom! I think everyone should watch the following interviews with her on using technology in the classroom, they are excellent!
Sunday, March 16, 2014
C4T February Summary
Comment For A Teacher
The teacher I was assigned was a woman named Beth Knittle. The blog post I read by her was called Be Different, You Are Different! She mainly talked about how everyone is different and that we shouldn't make our children conform to certain standards because they were made to stand out. She goes on to say that it is the people who didn't fit in and who were not average that have gone on to make the biggest impacts on society. Beth encourages being different and following your dreams, even if others do not believe you will succeed or find you weird. Her post was very inspirational, and I can really relate to a lot of the things she talked about in her blog.
I commented on her blog and said: "Beth, I feel the exact same way. Growing up I was always the shy kid who did not really have a lot to say. Being in college has really opened up my eyes to realize that it is okay to be who you are and that it really doesn’t matter what others think of you, as long as you are comfortable with yourself. This is why I try not to judge people anymore and just accept them for who they are because their little quirks is what makes them different from everybody else. You are so right in that we should also celebrate those who chose not to take the expected path!"
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Blog Post #8
21st Century Learning and Communicating Tools
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Overall I found these tools very helpful and informative and I would definitely use all of these in the classroom!
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Blog Post #7
What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?
This week we had to watch a video entitled Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. When I first started watching the video, I immediately recognized the man from seeing him on another show where he talked about having pancreatic cancer. Despite his health issues, Randy went on to teach others and inspire them to chase their dreams.
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C4K February Summary
C4K #1
My first C4K was for a girl who I believe was named Jordan, and she was an elementary student. Her post was mainly about the weather. She was tracking it for the week, If I remember correctly.
I responded by giving her positive reinforcement and encouraging her to keep doing what she was doing.
C4k #2
In my second C4K, I read a blog by a student named Carter. His blog post was about on why he liked using technology. Carter mainly said that he liked technology because it helped him expand his knowledge on his school subjects and overall made it easier to learn. He also said that using technology was fun for him!
I responded to Carter by telling him that technology is fun and does help you to become smarter in school if you use it in the right way. I encouraged him to keep using technology to better his education if it helps!
C4K #3
In my third C4K, I read a blog by Arton, a student in Ms. Ruiz's 3rd period. He wrote a post about family where he talked his brother and sister and how they depend on him and he depends on them. He then talked about his future wife and how he hopes that they will love each other and how he hopes to one day have kids.
My comment to Arton was: "Arton, I have a younger brother and we also depend on each other for a lot of things! Just like your older sister looks out for you, I also look out for my brother and try to encourage him to stay on the right track and to be the best person he can be!"
C4K #4
In my final C4K for February, I read a blog by Tair Pogue, a student at a school in Baldwin County. He wrote an essay on freedom and the different forms of freedom. He talked about freedom of speech, as well as freedom of religion. Tair mainly wrote that he feels that people should not be judged based on how they choose to express their freedom.
My comment to Tair was: "Hi Tair! That was a great essay that you wrote! I very much enjoyed it. I too value and appreciate freedom and I love the different things that you had to say about it! Freedom is very important and you’re right in that nobody should be judged because of the way they choose to express their freedom. You are a great writer Tair, so keep up the good work!"
My first C4K was for a girl who I believe was named Jordan, and she was an elementary student. Her post was mainly about the weather. She was tracking it for the week, If I remember correctly.
I responded by giving her positive reinforcement and encouraging her to keep doing what she was doing.
C4k #2
In my second C4K, I read a blog by a student named Carter. His blog post was about on why he liked using technology. Carter mainly said that he liked technology because it helped him expand his knowledge on his school subjects and overall made it easier to learn. He also said that using technology was fun for him!
I responded to Carter by telling him that technology is fun and does help you to become smarter in school if you use it in the right way. I encouraged him to keep using technology to better his education if it helps!
C4K #3
In my third C4K, I read a blog by Arton, a student in Ms. Ruiz's 3rd period. He wrote a post about family where he talked his brother and sister and how they depend on him and he depends on them. He then talked about his future wife and how he hopes that they will love each other and how he hopes to one day have kids.
My comment to Arton was: "Arton, I have a younger brother and we also depend on each other for a lot of things! Just like your older sister looks out for you, I also look out for my brother and try to encourage him to stay on the right track and to be the best person he can be!"
C4K #4
In my final C4K for February, I read a blog by Tair Pogue, a student at a school in Baldwin County. He wrote an essay on freedom and the different forms of freedom. He talked about freedom of speech, as well as freedom of religion. Tair mainly wrote that he feels that people should not be judged based on how they choose to express their freedom.
My comment to Tair was: "Hi Tair! That was a great essay that you wrote! I very much enjoyed it. I too value and appreciate freedom and I love the different things that you had to say about it! Freedom is very important and you’re right in that nobody should be judged because of the way they choose to express their freedom. You are a great writer Tair, so keep up the good work!"
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Blog Post #6
PLN
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Friday, February 21, 2014
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Blog Post #5
Conversations With Anthony Capps
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One of the questions that Dr. Strange asked Anthony was if he had any strange or interesting tips for teachers. (Strange Tips) What I learned from Capps is that as a teacher you should be interested in learning yourself when teaching your students. I also learned that teaching is very fun and very rewarding and to expect that surprises are always going to happen in the classroom so just embrace them and just go with it. Anthony also said that you have to be flexible, make sure all the kids are engaged, and to also take time to reflect on what did and didn't work for the day. All of these are very good tips to consider as a future teacher.
Finally Capps talked about technology in the classroom in the video Don't Teach Tech-Use It. I learned that you should not teach technology for kids that age but to simply use it for educational purposes. Anthony also encourages that you introduce technology in a smart manner to them. Capps explains that making children know how to use technology in the classroom is still controversial but that it is an essential tool for students to eventually know how to learn.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Blog Post #4
Asking Questions: What questions do we ask? How do we ask?
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C4T Summary
The teachers blog that I was assigned to read was The Fischbowl by Karl Fisch. The first blog that I read by Karl was entitled "Warriors Always Take Care of One Another...and Others." This blog post was mainly about how his school always participates in Toys-for-Tots. The students from Fisch's school bring in new toys and they then donate them to another elementary school that they "adopt". I commented on his post and told him how sweet that is that his school does this for other schools who can't afford it. I also told him how I too donate to Toys-for-Tots during the Christmas season. The second blog post I read by him was called "Student-Directed American Literature: We Need Your Help." In this post, Karl was helping out a fellow teacher who needed some ideas for a project that he was wanting to do with his juniors. The teacher wanted his students to be able to do this project on something that interested them but he was having trouble recommending good resources for them to be able to use that would help expand their knowledge on the subject. I also commented on this and told him how great it is that he is letting them pick a topic that they feel they can best connect with, and I then gave him a few suggestions on resources that his students could use. I have really been enjoying Karl's blog and I would definitely recommend it for others to check out!
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Blog Post #3
How Can You Provide Meaningful Feedback to Your Peers?
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Saturday, January 25, 2014
Blog Post #2
Mr. Dancealot
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Teaching in the 21st Century
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The Networked Student
Why does the networked student even need a teacher? In the video the student was learning by using the internet as a resource and at the same time was essentially learning from others online. So in that case why is a teacher even necessary? A teacher is the one who shows the student the best and most reliable resources to use as well as to encourage that students learning and creativity.
Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
Vicki Davis, a teacher in south Georgia is demonstrating a unique way of teaching her students. She uses technology and new software as a means of getting her students to learn. She also encourages self learning in that if they do not know what a word means then they should look it up. Vicki also lets her students teach the class as well. Davis' main goal is to not only teach her students but to also have them be able to teach themselves by doing assignments where they have to put their mind to work. My reaction to her teaching style is that it is a very different yet unique way of teaching and it really helps students to understand that a teacher doesn't have to be the only person who can teach you, but that you can even teach yourself.
Flipping the Classroom
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