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.