Blog Post #15

My Final Reflection Video

Project #16 Prezi

This is our Prezi for Project #16! Click the link below to view our Prezi!

Our Prezi

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.

I commented on her blog post and said: "That was such a great post and I admire you for being comfortable with putting up posts about your good and bad days. Nobody is perfect and it is perfectly okay to have bad days and blog about it. Keep up the good work!"




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.

I commented on his blog and said: "Kishan, it sounds like you had a great time swimming! I too love to swim! I also really enjoyed your blog post! Well done!"

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."

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.

Blog Post #12

Project #9

Audio Commentary Video

Project #12 Part B

Smartboard Lesson Plan

 

 



Blog Post #11

C4T March Summary

Comment For A Teacher

The teacher's blog that I read is named "The Cool Cat Teacher" aka Vicki Davis. I read her post called Creativity for kids: November 21 and every day with Everyartist.me #creativitymatters. In this post she talked about how schools are taking out art and music from schools and that a lot of students are not doing well in school because of that. She says that some students are more into art/music and not so much into math and science and therefore have no motivation when it comes to school. She then goes on to promote EveryartistLive!, which is a movement that inspires kids to do what they love in relation to art and music. Overall this was a very inspiring blog post!

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!"

 

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!

I left a comment and said: "Hansel and Gretel is my favorite fairy tale too! I also loved how I could put a face to a voice with your voice thread! That is really cool. Keep up the good work!"










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!"

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 #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!

Project 14 Lesson Plan

Project #12 Part A

                                  This is my video that I did on how to use the Smartboard tools!

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.

Project #13

Lesson Plan

Me and my group partner did our lesson plan for this project on history/social studies and we specifically did it on Indian tribes. We designed it for an 8th grade class. The whole point of the project is that the students be put into groups of 3-4 and each group will be given a specific Indian tribe that they will have to do research on. At the end of the week they will present the information that they found on their tribe in a power point that has to be between 7-15 slides. At the end of the last day of the project we will discuss what they learned!

 To view our lesson plan in detail click the link below!
San Antonio Lesson Plan for Project #13

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.

 

The last videos were interviews that Dr. Strange had with Mrs. Cassidy about using technology in her classroom. Mrs. Cassidy said that she received new computers around 10 years ago and decided to learn how to be an expert in technology so that she could use the computers for an educational purpose with her students instead of letting them go to waste. She said that she mainly started using blogs with her students around 5 years ago and that the students love it. Mrs. Cassidy says that she is amazed at how quickly the students figured out the technology! I found it very surprising that she really didn't have much help from administrators. They neither discouraged nor encouraged her technology use with the students. She did say that she had other people who supported her in her ventures though. Mrs. Cassidy also talked about how she is very safe with posting things about the students online. She only puts their first name on there and makes sure the parents do not have any issues with their work and videos of them learning being put online. Mrs. Cassidy says that her parents are very supportive and love to see their child's progress online! Finally she discussed how she does not really use technology in her personal life but has been more persuasive recently and has discovered that she can connect with so many people. Mrs. Cassidy says that everyone has a different entry point into technology whether it be through blogs, Twitter, or Facebook. I have learned that signing up with these different social media sites is a great way to build your personal learning network. Mrs. Cassidy says don't knock technology until you try it!

 

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!

 

Interview with Cassidy part 1

Interview with Cassidy part 2

Interview with Cassidy part 3

 

 

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!"

Blog Post #8

21st Century Learning and Communicating Tools

This weeks blog post assignment was to find some learning and communicating tools that can be used in the classroom with students. The first site I found is called Glogster EDU.  Glogster is basically a visual platform that students can use to create posters that includes images, text, drawings, and much more! They can also use it book reports and homework as well. This will be very useful to use in the classroom because it is easier for the students to complete projects without all the mess.

The next site that I found is called SchoolTube. It is very similar to YouTube except it is based on more of an educational standpoint. It is a safe, appropriate environment where students can upload videos for an educational purpose. My high school had a channel on this site where they would post videos pertaining to what was happening on our campus. It was very interesting and informative! Personally in the classroom I would only use this if we were doing a project related to using video, or I would make it optional for the students because I understand that not everyone is comfortable doing this and their might be some parents who do not want their children on a video online. 

The final website that I found is called Flashcard Machine. This a wonderful website where both students and teachers can make flashcards for whatever subject they need to study for! I would for sure use this because growing up and even now I use flashcards to help me study. I could let the students make their own cards and quiz each other on the material, or I could create my own and quiz them myself. This could then be turned into a game and whichever team wins could receive some kind of reward. There are so many things you could do in the classroom with this one tool! 

Overall I found these tools very helpful and informative and I would definitely use all of these in the classroom! 

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.

In the video, Randy talks about his childhood and all the dreams that he had and was hoping to accomplish. From there he went on to talk in more detail about each item on his childhood dreams list. Each item that he had on that list seemed almost impossible and unrealistic to accomplish. But with optimism, Randy went out in pursuit of these dreams. With every dream Randy always seemed to hit a brick wall. But Randy quickly realized that the brick wall is there for a reason. It is there to test us, to see if we really want this thing that we are pursuing badly enough. He goes on to say that most people would give up when they hit that brick wall, but for Randy it only made him want to try harder in order to achieve his dreams. One of those dreams was to be a Disney Imagineer. Randy worked hard and accomplished this goal. Mr. Pausch was also a professor for a long time and taught a virtual reality class where the students created their own virtual world. So, what can we learn from Randy about teaching and learning? What I learned from Randy about teaching is that it is important to push students to keep going, even if they have hit their "brick wall." This can apply to both schoolwork and chasing your dreams. Many people have made great things out of their life simply because someone was there to push them to try harder and give it another go or maybe they pushed themselves, even if they failed the first time. Plus, when you try harder you learn more because you are gaining more knowledge from your mistakes and what you can do differently to achieve your goals/dreams. What I also learned from Randy was a concept called "head fake." Essentially this is where students end up learning more from a project or assignment that they take with them throughout the rest of their lives, information that they didn't even realize they were learning. It is like playing a sport. You learn the basic of the game, like how to play, but at the same time you learn friendship, teamwork, and responsibility, things that you didn't even realize you were learning. 

Overall, I learned a lot from Randy Pausch. I learned that you should never let the brick wall stop you from pursuing your goals and dreams, a concept that you can learn from and encourage others/students to overcome as well. I also learned about "head fake" and how we all retain extra knowledge that we didn't even know we were learning, especially when we are pushing ourselves to do better and make it around that brick wall. Most importantly what I learned from Randy Pausch was courage. The courage to not except no for an answer when it comes to getting something that you really want, and also the courage to teach and inspire others even when Randy himself was facing a terminal illness. Randy Pausch was and continues to be a true inspiration.

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!"

Blog Post #6

PLN

This week for our blog post we had to explore and learn about personal learning networks, also known as PLN. A personal learning network is essentially a site that contains all the websites that you use on a day to day basis. In addition to that you can also connect to other teachers, scientists, and any other sources that can help you become a better teacher. A great site that is a personal networking site is Symbaloo, which allows you to have all of the sites you use regularly all on one page. For my PLN I would have sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest on there to help me get more ideas and lessons for teaching. With Facebook and Twitter you can connect with educators by following or being friends with them on these sites and you can get opinions and suggestions from these sources on what to do or not to do as a teacher. I think PLN's are great tools that can really help future and current teachers to expand their knowledge and learn from other teachers/sources that have had experience in the education field.

Project #8 Book Trailer

 



My Passion Video

My Passion Is...

 

 



My Sentence Video

My Sentence Is...

 

 



Blog Post #5

Conversations With Anthony Capps

After watching the video conversations between Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps, I have to say that I have learned quite a lot about elementary education and being a teacher that I did not know before. The first 2 videos PBL Part 1 and PBL Part 2 were mainly about Anthony's teaching experience with project-based learning. What I learned from these videos is that doing project-based learning motivates students to learn. It does so by encouraging students to learn the material before they do the project. Anthony says that it also helps when you make the topic for the project open for the student to choose because kids always have more fun doing projects when it can be about something they are interested in. Capps noted in doing this the students went well beyond his expectations for the project.

In another video with Anthony called iCurio, I learned about an online tool called iCurio. This is an online tool which allows students to search safely for information that relates to their schoolwork. It has storage capacity for students to use so that they can save their information and have it for later use. iCurio is also beneficial in that it helps students to be virtually organized. This online tool also has a directory feature that makes it quicker for students to find the information that they need. iCurio also caters to students with disabilities by having a read aloud feature that students can use. Overall, the best thing about this tool is that it is safe. Students can find the information that they need and not have to worry about coming across sites that are not kid-friendly.

Along the same lines as iCurio, Anthony also talked about another online tool called Discovery Education. The whole basis of this tool is that it brings the text that the teacher is teaching to life through a very detailed video. The main subjects that it teaches is science and social studies. This is a great tool because as Dr. Strange said, "students have become more of listeners/watchers." In today's day and age students have become listeners/watchers instead of readers mainly because students learn better when they can visualize what they just read. This Discovery Education tool makes it easier for students to learn the material.

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.

Project #3 Presentation

Blog Post #4

Asking Questions: What questions do we ask? How do we ask?

 

What do teachers need to know about asking students questions in order to be a effective teacher? This a hard question to answer. After reviewing the sources for this assignment I have decided that there are quite a few ways for teachers to go about asking questions that will get the best response. One way is by asking open minded questions instead of close minded questions. Most students love it when teachers ask close minded questions on tests because then they just have to put simple answers like "yes" or "no." But do these questions really help these students learn? No they don't. The only way for teachers to know if students understand the material, they have to ask open minded questions. This would include asking a question and then putting "explain why or why not." This way the student would have to elaborate on the question and their answer would help the teacher know whether or not they got the material. The video Asking better questions in the classroom by Joanne Chelsey really puts this principle into perspective. Another video Questioning Styles and Strategies shows how switching up the way in which you ask students questions can also be beneficial in seeing how much your students know. He started by calling on a child randomly, and then he let that child choose who they want to answer the question next, while at the same time switching up the question style and making the students think harder about their answers. I thought this video demonstrated the best way to ask students questions. Not only did he ask the students thought provoking questions, but he also asked them in a unique way that kept them on their toes. Another way to go about asking quality questions according to Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom, is to prepare questions, play with questions, and to preserve good questions. You can prepare questions by just making sure that you are prepared to ask your students quality questions that pertain to the material and make the students think outside the box. Playing with questions just means that you leave the question unanswered and it gives the student time to think about what they think the answer is. Finally by preserving good questions you are using questions again that generated the best responses from students. After reading and watching these sources I have to say that the best questions to ask students are open minded questions that gets them thinking and using their head, and how we ask students these questions is by using different questioning methods that keeps the students engaged.



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!

Blog Post #3

How Can You Provide Meaningful Feedback to Your Peers?

After watching the videos Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes, and What is Peer Editing? as well as the slideshow Peer Edit With Perfection Tutorial, I have to say that I have a learned a lot. One of the main things that I have learned is to be honest when critiquing other people's work. The key is to do it with  a positive attitude and to not be rude or mean about it. As the peer editing slideshow states, start with compliments, then suggestions, and finally corrections. I personally struggle with editing my fellow peers work because I tend to sugar coat the good things about their paper but at the same time not bringing up their spelling mistakes, run-on sentences, or the fact that they have gone completely off topic. I think I do this because I don't know how to say what I'm thinking in a way that doesn't come out rude. After watching these videos however, I have learned that it is best to tell others the mistakes in their work and that their are ways to do so that won't come off mean. This is important  because in order for myself and others to grow as writers, we all need a little bit of constructive criticism, even if it isn't what we want to hear.

Blog Post #2

Mr. Dancealot

 

In the video Mr. Dancealot, it shows a college classroom where the instructor is teaching dance. What is different about this class is that the instructor uses power-point to teach his students. On top of that, when he does physically teach the class, he demonstrates the dance moves behind his desk where his students can not visibly see his feet. Then when the time comes for the students to take their final exam, they have no idea how to correctly do the dance moves in order to pass. The message that this video is trying to get across is that students learn best when the teacher is interactive with them, and helps them to understand the material in a way that is easy for them to remember. I personally feel that teachers being interactive with their students is very important. I have been at the University of South Alabama for almost 2 years and I have observed that a bunch of my teachers have been very interactive and have definitely helped me understand the material better then I would have if they hadn't.

 

 

Teaching in the 21st Century

 

Kevin Roberts seeks to explain in his video Teaching in the 21st century, that in today's society it is very different to teach students because of technology. Anybody can easily look anything up on Youtube, Facebook, Google, etc.. The point that Roberts is trying to get across is that we should be engaging students not entertaining them because it is only when you engage them that they truly start to learn. I agree with Roberts because I can just look around me in many of my classes and see how students are so wrapped up in technology and not paying even the slightest bit of attention to the teacher and are therefore losing that interaction between them and the teacher. Watching this video and seeing Robert's opinion affects me as a future educator in that when I do become a teacher, I will try my hardest to engage the students instead of just trying to entertain them because in today's age of technology, there are many ways for them to be entertained.

 

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





 



After watching the video Flipping the Classroom, I was intrigued by this new method of learning. This was my first time hearing about flipping the classroom but I honestly think it will be a good thing. I feel that it makes it easier if the student comes in the next day at least understanding what they will be learning for the day so that it hopefully will not be as big of a struggle. It would also be beneficial to the teacher in that all of their students would be on the same track

. The only down side to flipping the classroom is that I feel not all the students will watch the video the night before like they should, or for the students with no internet it just makes it harder for them to catch up the next day. In the long run I think it will be more beneficial to the teacher as well as the students.



 

 



Blog Post #1 EDM 310

1. What are the things you have heard about EDM310? So far the only thing I have heard about this class was from a fellow coworker who has taken EDM310. He told me that as long as I keep organized and do the assignments on time that I should do fine. Other than that I haven't heard much about this class.
2. What fears do you have about EDM310? My fears with this class would just be forgetting to do an assignment or not understanding how to do something in relation to the assignments and falling behind.
3. Compare and contrast EDM310 with other courses you have taken in college or high school. Honestly EDM310 is the first class that I have had where everything is turned on online. I have had classes, primarily in college, that I have had to turn in papers or do quizzes/tests online but all the other work for the classes was turned in to the teacher.
4. What do you think will be the most difficult thing for you in EDM310? Probably the most difficult thing for me will be keeping up with all weekly assignments and making sure they are all completed by the due date. Also, not procrastinating until the last minute.
5. What is the best way for you to address this "most difficult" aspect of EDM310? The best way for me to address these problems would be to get the work done at the beginning of the week so that I am not waiting until the last minute to put it all together.
6. What questions do you still have about EDM310? What ideas do you have about how to address those questions? I really so not have any questions about this class, yet. But I am sure that I will later, at which time I will ask for help.

Practice Post

This Is My Story

Hello! My name is Tara Harrell and I am from Mobile, Al. I currently work at Shoe Station on Hillcrest, and when I am not working I like to hang out with friends, run, and listen to music. I am a sophomore at USA and my major is Elementary Education. I chose USA because it is close to home.

I want to enter the field of education because I really enjoy being around children and encouraging them to learn. I also like the off time and other benefits that teachers get.

Quiz Post

This is my quiz post.

Quiz Post

This is my quiz post