Saturday, October 13, 2012
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Blog Post #7
The Networked Student
This video/presentation was very interesting. I honestly have never heard of terms such as 'connectivism' or "a networked student". Since this is a true story, it is hard to believe that students now, in high school, are having hybrid classes. When I was in high school I could not imagine having to learn online at my house. It is very interesting to see how far advance some schools have become in just a few short years.
The teacher in this demonstration is teaching her students to get out on the web and make other connections with students, different websites, etc, on the particular subject they chose to study. The students have to build their own personal learning network. The teacher instructs them on how to find valid websites for their particular subject of study. These websites might include: Google Scholar or their school library database. Once they find peer reviewed articles, they will post to their personal URL where others share their different URL's also. This way the door is opened for them to go onto other websites others have found on the particular study. Then, they will share the sites they have found from others onto their own page. They then will search other blogs that others have written about the topic. The students must know that blogs are usually opinions not facts. Since they have done some research up to this point, they may even feel free to leave comments on the blogs of others stating their opinions. Whichever blogs the students choose to comment on, they can subscribe to them so that way when the person posts again, an e mail or notification will be sent to them. The next step is for them to create their own blog posting the information they have gathered so far. Not only do the students have access to the internet, they have ways to access information through their iPods/MP3 players. They can download podcasts from actual professors from Stanford, Cambridge, and Yale. Through processes such as these students may even stumble upon ways to contact the professors at the Universities and ask questions. Video conferences via Skype may even be an option. Through this long process, students will be able to show the world and other students their hard work. This is important because students that might be studying the same subject somewhere else will be able to access their page and view valid information.
With all of the technology students have access to in the 21st Century and learning processes such as the one mentioned above, why should the networked students have teachers? Well, who will teach them how to become networked students? The teacher of course! She plays a very important role in the lives/learning of the students. Teachers are there to steer them in the right direction, answer questions, model, ect. The teacher can only hope that the students will leave their classroom fully aware of how to navigate all that she/he has taught them so that way they can apply it to their students, maybe, one day.
Watch this informational video here!
Comparing a Student's PLE to my PLN
It is somewhat sad, honestly, that this 7th grader has knowledge of websites that I just recently learned about the past few years in college. Therefore, her learning environment is very much similar to my learning network. She seems so enthusiastic about learning. This goes to show that technology is very engaging for students, so hats off the to the teacher who encouraged this method in her classroom!
7th grader's PLE
This video/presentation was very interesting. I honestly have never heard of terms such as 'connectivism' or "a networked student". Since this is a true story, it is hard to believe that students now, in high school, are having hybrid classes. When I was in high school I could not imagine having to learn online at my house. It is very interesting to see how far advance some schools have become in just a few short years.
The teacher in this demonstration is teaching her students to get out on the web and make other connections with students, different websites, etc, on the particular subject they chose to study. The students have to build their own personal learning network. The teacher instructs them on how to find valid websites for their particular subject of study. These websites might include: Google Scholar or their school library database. Once they find peer reviewed articles, they will post to their personal URL where others share their different URL's also. This way the door is opened for them to go onto other websites others have found on the particular study. Then, they will share the sites they have found from others onto their own page. They then will search other blogs that others have written about the topic. The students must know that blogs are usually opinions not facts. Since they have done some research up to this point, they may even feel free to leave comments on the blogs of others stating their opinions. Whichever blogs the students choose to comment on, they can subscribe to them so that way when the person posts again, an e mail or notification will be sent to them. The next step is for them to create their own blog posting the information they have gathered so far. Not only do the students have access to the internet, they have ways to access information through their iPods/MP3 players. They can download podcasts from actual professors from Stanford, Cambridge, and Yale. Through processes such as these students may even stumble upon ways to contact the professors at the Universities and ask questions. Video conferences via Skype may even be an option. Through this long process, students will be able to show the world and other students their hard work. This is important because students that might be studying the same subject somewhere else will be able to access their page and view valid information.
With all of the technology students have access to in the 21st Century and learning processes such as the one mentioned above, why should the networked students have teachers? Well, who will teach them how to become networked students? The teacher of course! She plays a very important role in the lives/learning of the students. Teachers are there to steer them in the right direction, answer questions, model, ect. The teacher can only hope that the students will leave their classroom fully aware of how to navigate all that she/he has taught them so that way they can apply it to their students, maybe, one day.
Watch this informational video here!
Comparing a Student's PLE to my PLN
It is somewhat sad, honestly, that this 7th grader has knowledge of websites that I just recently learned about the past few years in college. Therefore, her learning environment is very much similar to my learning network. She seems so enthusiastic about learning. This goes to show that technology is very engaging for students, so hats off the to the teacher who encouraged this method in her classroom!
7th grader's PLE
Sunday, October 7, 2012
C4K Posts
C4K Post
Comment One:
The first student I commented on wrote in his blog about 'Dot Day'. This story was one that the teacher read to the classroom and they made a day out of it at school. The student explained in his blog the story. The story was about a little girl who could not draw and complained to her teacher. Her teacher drew two dots on a sheet of paper asking the girl to connect them then make something out of it. The little girl ended up finding a creative way to draw between the dots, and the teacher thought it was so great that she ended up leaving the picture on her desk. So the little girl did not feel left out that she could not draw anymore, the teacher helped her prove that she did have talent.
I left a comment explaining what a good story teller he was and that I hoped dot day was a lot of fun for him. I also explained that I felt much like the little girl in the story that could not draw and I hope to be able to make my students feel like the teacher did in the story one day. I left him with the questions of if he enjoyed dot day and can he draw?
Comment Two:
The next comment I left was for Lauren. She was posting a blog comment about important things in her life. The things most important to her was her faith, family, and basketball.
I was able to relate to her on faith and family. I told her these were two very important parts of my life also, so we had something in common! Very cool. Also, I encouraged her to stay strong in her faith, and that it was encouraging to see a girl her age stand up for something like that.
comment Three:
My final comment was for a student who blogged about a made up story about the McCreamy family. They told how they ate ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All of their names had something to do with ice cream.
I commented saying that they were a very good story teller and if I was apart of the story I would fit right in because I love ice cream! I left them a question asking if they liked ice cream and is that why they wrote a story concerning ice cream? Also I encouraged them to keep writing. You can read this comical story about the McCreamy family here. And leave taydel954 a comment!
Comment One:
The first student I commented on wrote in his blog about 'Dot Day'. This story was one that the teacher read to the classroom and they made a day out of it at school. The student explained in his blog the story. The story was about a little girl who could not draw and complained to her teacher. Her teacher drew two dots on a sheet of paper asking the girl to connect them then make something out of it. The little girl ended up finding a creative way to draw between the dots, and the teacher thought it was so great that she ended up leaving the picture on her desk. So the little girl did not feel left out that she could not draw anymore, the teacher helped her prove that she did have talent.
I left a comment explaining what a good story teller he was and that I hoped dot day was a lot of fun for him. I also explained that I felt much like the little girl in the story that could not draw and I hope to be able to make my students feel like the teacher did in the story one day. I left him with the questions of if he enjoyed dot day and can he draw?
Comment Two:
The next comment I left was for Lauren. She was posting a blog comment about important things in her life. The things most important to her was her faith, family, and basketball.
I was able to relate to her on faith and family. I told her these were two very important parts of my life also, so we had something in common! Very cool. Also, I encouraged her to stay strong in her faith, and that it was encouraging to see a girl her age stand up for something like that.
comment Three:
My final comment was for a student who blogged about a made up story about the McCreamy family. They told how they ate ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All of their names had something to do with ice cream.
I commented saying that they were a very good story teller and if I was apart of the story I would fit right in because I love ice cream! I left them a question asking if they liked ice cream and is that why they wrote a story concerning ice cream? Also I encouraged them to keep writing. You can read this comical story about the McCreamy family here. And leave taydel954 a comment!
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Blog Post # 6
The Last Lecture- Achieving Your Childhood Dreams: Dr. Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch seems to be somewhat comical. I love his opening statements to this lecture. His approach to his chronic situation is phenomenal. I admire how he comes right out and tells the class all the facts and he is very accepting of what has happened to him. Like he said, ‘you can not change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand’. This lecture is about Dr. Pausch’s childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and lessons on how to use what we have heard to achieve our dreams and enable the dreams of others.
The next part of Dr. Pausch’s lecture is about his child hood dreams. He goes through a list he had compiled of many different dreams he had as a child and then proceeds to tell how he accomplished them and some he did not. The most outstanding part of this portion of the lecture is about the brick walls he speaks of. He says ‘brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things’. Most of the time when I notice a ‘brick wall’ in my life, I turn and go the other way thinking that what ever I was trying to achieve was not suppose to happen. However, Randy Pausch says differently. I have a new perspective of obstacles, or brick walls as he says. If you want something bad enough, you should go after it. Just because there is something standing in your way does not mean there is not a way around it, you just have to find it. This is very inspiring and I could use this concept very easily when becoming a teacher. I am sure there are lots of bumps in the road on the way there and while being an educator. This is also a great concept to teach students.
Next, Dr. Pausch talks about helping enable the dreams of others. He touched on the class he taught at Carnegie Mellon University. What I took from him on teaching his class is that they were having fun while learning. Basically it was like they did not know they were learning at all. While in the middle of their projects they were actually learning the systems they were using without even knowing it. I find this very interesting and helpful. I think this is the way learning should be. I hope to portray this strategy in my classroom one day. I hope to be able to have my students so engaged that they forget the fact that they are actually learning, but they think they are just having fun. I also think that we might learn more while having fun!
In the last portion of his speech, Randy talks about lessons learned. The role of parents, mentors, and students help us achieve our dreams. One thing he said, and I have heard it before, is that our students will shape us. It is crazy to think that we learn more from them sometimes than they learn from us. Sometimes I think we need to be more like them in a sense. They are full of life, always having fun, and as Dr. Pausch says in his lecture, ‘you have to choose if you are an eyeore or a tigger’ and I think we should all be tiggers. Most of all we have to have fun, help others, show gratitude and do not complain. “It is not about trying to figure out how to achieve your dreams, its about how to lead your life” –Dr. Randy Pausch.
Watch this inspiring lecture here.
Randy Pausch seems to be somewhat comical. I love his opening statements to this lecture. His approach to his chronic situation is phenomenal. I admire how he comes right out and tells the class all the facts and he is very accepting of what has happened to him. Like he said, ‘you can not change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand’. This lecture is about Dr. Pausch’s childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and lessons on how to use what we have heard to achieve our dreams and enable the dreams of others.
The next part of Dr. Pausch’s lecture is about his child hood dreams. He goes through a list he had compiled of many different dreams he had as a child and then proceeds to tell how he accomplished them and some he did not. The most outstanding part of this portion of the lecture is about the brick walls he speaks of. He says ‘brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things’. Most of the time when I notice a ‘brick wall’ in my life, I turn and go the other way thinking that what ever I was trying to achieve was not suppose to happen. However, Randy Pausch says differently. I have a new perspective of obstacles, or brick walls as he says. If you want something bad enough, you should go after it. Just because there is something standing in your way does not mean there is not a way around it, you just have to find it. This is very inspiring and I could use this concept very easily when becoming a teacher. I am sure there are lots of bumps in the road on the way there and while being an educator. This is also a great concept to teach students.
Next, Dr. Pausch talks about helping enable the dreams of others. He touched on the class he taught at Carnegie Mellon University. What I took from him on teaching his class is that they were having fun while learning. Basically it was like they did not know they were learning at all. While in the middle of their projects they were actually learning the systems they were using without even knowing it. I find this very interesting and helpful. I think this is the way learning should be. I hope to portray this strategy in my classroom one day. I hope to be able to have my students so engaged that they forget the fact that they are actually learning, but they think they are just having fun. I also think that we might learn more while having fun!
In the last portion of his speech, Randy talks about lessons learned. The role of parents, mentors, and students help us achieve our dreams. One thing he said, and I have heard it before, is that our students will shape us. It is crazy to think that we learn more from them sometimes than they learn from us. Sometimes I think we need to be more like them in a sense. They are full of life, always having fun, and as Dr. Pausch says in his lecture, ‘you have to choose if you are an eyeore or a tigger’ and I think we should all be tiggers. Most of all we have to have fun, help others, show gratitude and do not complain. “It is not about trying to figure out how to achieve your dreams, its about how to lead your life” –Dr. Randy Pausch.
Watch this inspiring lecture here.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
My Timeline: Time Toast Project 9a
In doing a timeline of myself, I could use this under many circumstances. For one, I could use in the classroom when I introduce myself as the teacher. Also, this could be used at any conference that I might have to attend and I want to give some background information about myself to let the audience know more about who I am. And lastly, I could use this in any class during my time here at South to introduce myself when giving a presentation.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Blog Post #5
The iSchool Initiative
In Travis Allan's video, The iSchool Initiative, he is basically proposing the idea that classrooms become completely dependent on technology. By doing this, there would be no paper, pencils, copiers, or textbooks, it would all be on the 'iSchool', a gadget similar to the iPod. He states that by doing this, it would save up to 600 dollars per student and the device itself would only cost about 150 dollars. In his newest video, Zeitgeist Young Mind's Entry, he challenges students and schools to get on board of his non profit organization, The iSchool Initiative. In this video, he says something that rings very true, "students need to be prepared for the digital world they were born into".
Even though Travis makes very good points in his videos, I must say that I do not completely agree with where he is going with the initiative. I am 100% for having technology in the classroom and he is right in saying our students need to be prepared for the digital world they live in. However, I do not necessarily think that pencils, paper, or textbooks need to be done away with completely in a classroom. I do not think it would even feel like a classroom! Technology needs to be limited within the class, and it is not always reliable.
Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
I have to say that my reaction is the same along with every one else's to this video, wow! One-hundred eighty five voices, twelve different countries, never meeting one another, and still making that beautiful noise. I can not image the hard work and patience this man had to create this masterpiece, my hat is off to you Eric Whitacre! Watch the video here, its a must see!
Teaching in the 21st Century
In Robert's video, Teaching in the 21st Century, he is basically saying that as educators, we are not any longer our students source of information. They can retrieve any information they need to know via internet on their phone, computer, iPod, ect. We have simply become filters. Teaching is definitely changing! As educators, we have to adjust teaching students differently, not just by spitting out facts. Using products that are out there such as apps, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Skype and so on, are good tools to help teach students about collaboration. Whatever source of technology teachers choose to use in their classroom, it must be engaging. Engaging and entertaining are two completely different concepts. Students do not need to be entertained they need to be engaged. Being engaged allows room for the students to think creatively themselves, where being entertained is watching the creativity of the one entertaining.
So, how does this affect teachers? First of all, it is important for teachers to stay up to date with what technology is out there. Researching must take place. Look for different sites and try out new software. You have to understand something before you can use it or introduce it to your classroom for students to use. If one finds something applicable, then try and apply it to the classroom during the next term. Also, asking around to others who may be more knowledgeable than you about these things is smart. And lastly, take risks! If it does not work, try something else.
Flipped Classroom
Katie Gimbar: Why I Flipped My Classroom. I thought this was such an interesting approach to meeting the needs of every student in our classrooms. I would definitely apply this to my classroom if I saw fit. I like the fact that students can work at their own pace or work ahead if they feel that challenges them. Also, having them see the information before class is helpful too. I find that Katie's strategy is very efficient!
Dr. Lodge McCammon: Dr. Lodge McCammon's FIZZ-Flipping the Classroom. Dr. McCammon explains the strategy of flipping the classroom. Basically what this project proposes is that students will have access to Fizz videos outside of the classroom and watch them as many times as they need. When the students come back to class, the teacher can be a facilitator of engaging the students and collaborating with them. This is more effective than lecturing in the class, then students going home to work on the information given, alone.
Ms. Munafo: Flipping the Classroom. Ms. Munafo is addressing this video to the parents of her students. Which is a great idea, might I add! She describes the flipping of the classroom as mentioned above in her video. She makes clear that the students need to be taken to the next level and their school feels it is best to use their technology at home and in the classroom. Also, it is more engaging to the students by getting them out of the boring, same-ol-same-ol, lecturing of the teacher in front of the classroom. Now they can see her on their computer at night before class the next day. This is such a great way to get students more engaged and allow more room for learning.
In Travis Allan's video, The iSchool Initiative, he is basically proposing the idea that classrooms become completely dependent on technology. By doing this, there would be no paper, pencils, copiers, or textbooks, it would all be on the 'iSchool', a gadget similar to the iPod. He states that by doing this, it would save up to 600 dollars per student and the device itself would only cost about 150 dollars. In his newest video, Zeitgeist Young Mind's Entry, he challenges students and schools to get on board of his non profit organization, The iSchool Initiative. In this video, he says something that rings very true, "students need to be prepared for the digital world they were born into".
Even though Travis makes very good points in his videos, I must say that I do not completely agree with where he is going with the initiative. I am 100% for having technology in the classroom and he is right in saying our students need to be prepared for the digital world they live in. However, I do not necessarily think that pencils, paper, or textbooks need to be done away with completely in a classroom. I do not think it would even feel like a classroom! Technology needs to be limited within the class, and it is not always reliable.
Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
I have to say that my reaction is the same along with every one else's to this video, wow! One-hundred eighty five voices, twelve different countries, never meeting one another, and still making that beautiful noise. I can not image the hard work and patience this man had to create this masterpiece, my hat is off to you Eric Whitacre! Watch the video here, its a must see!
Teaching in the 21st Century
In Robert's video, Teaching in the 21st Century, he is basically saying that as educators, we are not any longer our students source of information. They can retrieve any information they need to know via internet on their phone, computer, iPod, ect. We have simply become filters. Teaching is definitely changing! As educators, we have to adjust teaching students differently, not just by spitting out facts. Using products that are out there such as apps, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Skype and so on, are good tools to help teach students about collaboration. Whatever source of technology teachers choose to use in their classroom, it must be engaging. Engaging and entertaining are two completely different concepts. Students do not need to be entertained they need to be engaged. Being engaged allows room for the students to think creatively themselves, where being entertained is watching the creativity of the one entertaining.
So, how does this affect teachers? First of all, it is important for teachers to stay up to date with what technology is out there. Researching must take place. Look for different sites and try out new software. You have to understand something before you can use it or introduce it to your classroom for students to use. If one finds something applicable, then try and apply it to the classroom during the next term. Also, asking around to others who may be more knowledgeable than you about these things is smart. And lastly, take risks! If it does not work, try something else.
Flipped Classroom
Katie Gimbar: Why I Flipped My Classroom. I thought this was such an interesting approach to meeting the needs of every student in our classrooms. I would definitely apply this to my classroom if I saw fit. I like the fact that students can work at their own pace or work ahead if they feel that challenges them. Also, having them see the information before class is helpful too. I find that Katie's strategy is very efficient!
Dr. Lodge McCammon: Dr. Lodge McCammon's FIZZ-Flipping the Classroom. Dr. McCammon explains the strategy of flipping the classroom. Basically what this project proposes is that students will have access to Fizz videos outside of the classroom and watch them as many times as they need. When the students come back to class, the teacher can be a facilitator of engaging the students and collaborating with them. This is more effective than lecturing in the class, then students going home to work on the information given, alone.
Ms. Munafo: Flipping the Classroom. Ms. Munafo is addressing this video to the parents of her students. Which is a great idea, might I add! She describes the flipping of the classroom as mentioned above in her video. She makes clear that the students need to be taken to the next level and their school feels it is best to use their technology at home and in the classroom. Also, it is more engaging to the students by getting them out of the boring, same-ol-same-ol, lecturing of the teacher in front of the classroom. Now they can see her on their computer at night before class the next day. This is such a great way to get students more engaged and allow more room for learning.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
C4T Post #1
Comments for Teachers
I was assigned to comment on Lauren Brannan's blog posts from her classroom blog.
![ipads]( "iPads")
Sharing the iPad Screen with Students
This first post was about how the teachers were running into complications with the new iPads they had just bought for their classrooms. Lauren stated that it was difficult sharing one iPad screen with 20 plus students in the classroom especially the teachers were use to working with the large screen of the white board. They knew they had to come up with a solution so they looked into a couple of options. One of the options was the VGA Adapter. What this does is project the iPad screen directly to the projector. This device was around thirty dollars. There was a problem when reviewing this product into further detail, and that was that this product had limitations. According to Apple, certain apps might not work with this adapter and also the iPad must remain tethered to the projector at all times, therefore making it hard for the teacher to circulate around the classroom.
The other option was the Reflection Application. This app uses Apples Airplay to reflect the iPad screen onto the computer, which is then projected onto the whiteboard. The app can be installed onto a Mac or Windows machine for only $14.99. Some of their favorite features of the app were that the audio streams to the computer along with the picture, the ability to record what is happening on the iPad screen, including the audio, and changing to full screen mode on the computer.
Needless to say, they went with the Reflection Application. At the time she posted the blog, Hurricane Issac was headed their way, so they could not try it out the week they wanted to. You can check out the reflection app at work in this video.
In my comment, I told the teacher who I was, what institution I was from, what class, and who my teacher was. I mentioned how I was learning the use of technology in this class and it was neat to see the ways teachers are incorporating it into their classrooms. I agreed that the reflection app was the best way to go. It was the most flexible and the cheapest of the two. Even though they had not tested out the app because of the Hurricane, I asked her to please respond back by saying how and if it worked. She did respond, and she said that it was "awesome". The students were really enjoying the app and she first tried it out by using an app from NASA and reflected it onto the smartboard. The students were able to see the images and the text on the board before they could see it on their iPads! Really good information to know for the future!
We have iPad Covers!
This post was actually created before the last post. I had to comment on this one because the teacher did not create a more recent post since the last time I commented. Nonetheless, this post was about how they had just gotten new iPad covers for their iPads. Lauren mentioned how they quickly discovered it was not a cheap task trying to buy multiple iPads for the students. Even though it was expensive, they saw it as a great investment for their students. At first they were not sure how to receive the funds to buy so many covers to protect their investment. They used multiple fundraisers including: Apples for Students, Labels for Education, Tyson A+, and Boxtops. Because these fundraisers brought in so much money, they were able to buy a Mac Mini, computer parts, and other teacher resources from Apples for Students. The Boxtop Program funded new books for their library. Even though all of these fundraisers were great, some only allowed purchase from a catalog, therefore limited purchases could be made. Therefore, they were not able to cut a big enough check for the covers.
Lauren mentioned that they were so blessed at their school to have a principal who cares so much about technology in the classroom. The principal came up with some money from the office to purchase the iPad covers. After strenuous searching, they finally decided on covers from Big Grips. They were not only reasonably priced, but also great protection for the iPads. The best part about them choosing Big Grips is that they provided them a discount for being an education institution. You can learn more about frames like these at biggrips.com.
For my comment, I reminded Lauren who I was. I mentioned that I could not imagine how much money their school had to raise just to purchase the iPads alone, not including the covers for them. I stated that all of the fundraisers they used were great and also very helpful to their school. I mentioned that it was very exciting and encouraging to see teachers getting exciting and going the extra mile for their students to have technology at their fingertips. I also mentioned how I liked the covers they decided to go with. You cant beat durable covers that come with a discount! There was a place to leave your contact information at the end of the post, so I did so.
I was assigned to comment on Lauren Brannan's blog posts from her classroom blog.
Sharing the iPad Screen with Students
This first post was about how the teachers were running into complications with the new iPads they had just bought for their classrooms. Lauren stated that it was difficult sharing one iPad screen with 20 plus students in the classroom especially the teachers were use to working with the large screen of the white board. They knew they had to come up with a solution so they looked into a couple of options. One of the options was the VGA Adapter. What this does is project the iPad screen directly to the projector. This device was around thirty dollars. There was a problem when reviewing this product into further detail, and that was that this product had limitations. According to Apple, certain apps might not work with this adapter and also the iPad must remain tethered to the projector at all times, therefore making it hard for the teacher to circulate around the classroom.
The other option was the Reflection Application. This app uses Apples Airplay to reflect the iPad screen onto the computer, which is then projected onto the whiteboard. The app can be installed onto a Mac or Windows machine for only $14.99. Some of their favorite features of the app were that the audio streams to the computer along with the picture, the ability to record what is happening on the iPad screen, including the audio, and changing to full screen mode on the computer.
Needless to say, they went with the Reflection Application. At the time she posted the blog, Hurricane Issac was headed their way, so they could not try it out the week they wanted to. You can check out the reflection app at work in this video.
In my comment, I told the teacher who I was, what institution I was from, what class, and who my teacher was. I mentioned how I was learning the use of technology in this class and it was neat to see the ways teachers are incorporating it into their classrooms. I agreed that the reflection app was the best way to go. It was the most flexible and the cheapest of the two. Even though they had not tested out the app because of the Hurricane, I asked her to please respond back by saying how and if it worked. She did respond, and she said that it was "awesome". The students were really enjoying the app and she first tried it out by using an app from NASA and reflected it onto the smartboard. The students were able to see the images and the text on the board before they could see it on their iPads! Really good information to know for the future!
We have iPad Covers!
This post was actually created before the last post. I had to comment on this one because the teacher did not create a more recent post since the last time I commented. Nonetheless, this post was about how they had just gotten new iPad covers for their iPads. Lauren mentioned how they quickly discovered it was not a cheap task trying to buy multiple iPads for the students. Even though it was expensive, they saw it as a great investment for their students. At first they were not sure how to receive the funds to buy so many covers to protect their investment. They used multiple fundraisers including: Apples for Students, Labels for Education, Tyson A+, and Boxtops. Because these fundraisers brought in so much money, they were able to buy a Mac Mini, computer parts, and other teacher resources from Apples for Students. The Boxtop Program funded new books for their library. Even though all of these fundraisers were great, some only allowed purchase from a catalog, therefore limited purchases could be made. Therefore, they were not able to cut a big enough check for the covers.
Lauren mentioned that they were so blessed at their school to have a principal who cares so much about technology in the classroom. The principal came up with some money from the office to purchase the iPad covers. After strenuous searching, they finally decided on covers from Big Grips. They were not only reasonably priced, but also great protection for the iPads. The best part about them choosing Big Grips is that they provided them a discount for being an education institution. You can learn more about frames like these at biggrips.com.
For my comment, I reminded Lauren who I was. I mentioned that I could not imagine how much money their school had to raise just to purchase the iPads alone, not including the covers for them. I stated that all of the fundraisers they used were great and also very helpful to their school. I mentioned that it was very exciting and encouraging to see teachers getting exciting and going the extra mile for their students to have technology at their fingertips. I also mentioned how I liked the covers they decided to go with. You cant beat durable covers that come with a discount! There was a place to leave your contact information at the end of the post, so I did so.
Blog Post #4
The first podcast I listened to was from a first grade class that had just got done reading about Flat Stanley by Jim Brown. They made their own Flat Stanley's and sent them to their friends and family around the world and had them write stories and take pictures and send them back. These students were inspired by the worldwide success of another first grade class's podcast, that they wanted to make their own.
After brainstorming with their teacher, they came up with a story line so that every student would have a part in the cast. The students were asked to pick one place in the world that they would go if they were to be flattened like Flat Stanley, and choose a book from the library on that place or research it using the internet. They had to include in their script the location, how they got there, what they did, and how they got back home. After creating their own stories their teacher compiled them into one huge story to share with other students around the world, and you can listen to it here!
Podcasting with First Grade
It is strongly encouraged in this post to do podcasting with your students even if they are at a younger age. The first graders at this school had listened to the second grade podcast about animals and they loved their story and became very inspired. The students loved the fact that the second grade got so many comments from teachers around the world. The students were eager record their own voices so that way they "could get into other peoples computers and iPads".
Their teacher had just recently read to them Vacation Under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne. For their podcast the idea was to pretend as if they were interviewing Jack and Annie, two main characters from the book, about their last adventure that made them end up in Pompeii. They broke the chapters up and talked about what happened in each and afterwards the teacher typed up all of the questions they compiled. The teacher rotated through all of the students being the interviewer, Jack (boys), and Annie (girls). You can listen to this exciting podcast here.
Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
In this video/post, Mr. Bell describes the benefits of podcasting in the classroom. Some things he mentions are as follows: it is an effective way to interact with students outside of the classroom, this is a form of learning that students are unaware of so it helps become more relevant to them, it gives different perspectives for learning and project-based learning, it helps promote creativity and innovation, and also one of the most important factors is that parents can see what their children are doing at school.
I particularly like the last one mentioned, parents being able to see what their students are doing in school. I agree with Mr. Dell, that it is very beneficial for podcasting to be introduced in the classroom for many of the reasons mentioned above. Here is a clip of benefits of podcasting in the classroom.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Blog Assignment #3
Peer Editing
In the video Peer Editing, it is telling you the basics of peer editing. For example, it gives you the definition of what a peer is, what editing is, and then the full definition of peer editing. There are three steps to remember when peer editing someone else's writing. The first step is compliments. It is important to always stay positive and think about the way you would want someone to proof your work. The second thing to remember in peer editing is making suggestions. You could make suggestions about word choice, detail, organization, sentences, and the topic. Always remember to stay positive though! The third and last stage of editing is corrections. Make sure to check for punctuation, grammar, sentences, and spelling. Important things to remember while peer editing to stay positive, be specific about what you are correcting and complete all three steps of compliments, corrections and suggestions.
Peer Edit Perfection Tutorial
The tutorial on peer editing is somewhat the same as the video mentioned above. In this slideshow it mentions that editing the work of your peers can be fun, you just have to learn how to do it correctly. It gives the definition of peer, editing, and peer editing also. The three important steps to peer editing are compliments, suggestions, and corrections. It is important to remember you are editing someone else's work. Always think about how you would want your work to be critiqued. Some examples of the first step, complimenting, would be: "I really loved your topic, my favorite part was ____, or it was really fun to read because..". Making suggestions simply means that you are giving the author some specific ideas about how to make their writing better. The last and third step is making corrections on your peers assignment. When making corrections, it is important to look for grammatical, sentence, punctuation, and spelling errors. The main thing I have taken from this is to stay positive no matter what! Constructive criticism does not necessarily have to be done in a crude way.
Top Ten Peer Review Mistakes
The students in this video did an amazing job at portraying mistakes that can be made during peer reviews. Like mentioned in the video, peer reviews can be very valuable for students of ALL ages, not just college students. However,some do not know how to do equality peer reviews. The students in the video went through some scenarios of peer review 'bozos'. The mistakes mentioned in the video were: Picky Patty, Whatever William, Social Sammy, Jean the Generalizer, Mean Margaret, Loud Larry, Pushy Paula, Off-Task Oliver, Speedy Sandy, and Defensive Dave. Overall, these 4th and 5th graders did an excellent job at showing us how to not edit a peers work.
Technology in Special Education
This video on how to use technology in special education is so very helpful especially for me because this is the field I want to teach in! I am slowly but surely learning how important technology is in the classroom. After watching this video, I feel it might be just as or even more important to a special education classroom setting. The teacher in the video mentioned how important her computer is to her and how it has changed not only the way she teaches but how her students function. An example given in the video was about a student named Corbin. Prior to technology in the class room he had to have an assistant read to him out loud during 'silent reading' time. Now, thanks to technology, he can participate in silent reading alone and still be with his peers because of iPod touch audio books.
Just like in a regular classroom this teacher uses power points, she e mails assignments, and has made a website for her class and all her students can access these things. When a student was interviewed the teacher asked why she liked computers in the class room and the student replied 'because they can help'. It is so encouraging as an inspiring special education teacher to see the students so excited about technology because it is helping them advance in their education when it might not have been possible before.
Apps in the Classroom
The educational app I chose was Word Wizard- Talking Moveable Alphabet. Just like in the video How the iPad works with Academics for Autism I feel the same method could be applied with this application. With the Word Wizard it allows the child to hear the sounds of the letters and it has a spell check so if they spell the word wrong it lets them know. Before the child might think it is frustrating or boring to learn to spell or understand the pronunciation of words. This app will help make learning more fun and able to learn on their own.
Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts was very interesting. Vicki Davis teaches her students how to interact globally with other students by using technology. She also teaches them about google, blogs, google docs, and avatars. She does not necessarily explain everything in detail to her students because she wants them to take advantage of the dictionary and looking words up on google.
I, personally, did not have much practice in my high school with computers/technology. I think it is outstanding what this teacher is doing within this school. I really admired her for saying, "it doesn't matter if I know the information before I teach it or not". She really leaves it up to the students so that way they can gain more knowledge and understanding. Also, like she mentioned, sometimes the student knows more than the teacher and they teach her new things.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Blog Assignment #2
Did You Know?
While watching “Did You Know? 3.0- A John Strange Version” and “Did You Know 3.0” , my brain literally wanted to explode! Those were some interesting facts about technology in our world. It goes to show how dependent we actually are on technology. However, I must say that I am not surprised by some of the statistics when other countries were compared with the United States. Although I feel that we are technologically advanced here in America I have always felt that other countries have been a step ahead of us. Hence the startling fact that 25% of India’s population with the highest IQ’s is greater than the total population of the United States. That fact is literally mind blowing to me!
The most startling fact stated in Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod’s video is that we are currently preparing students for jobs that do not even exist yet. This tells me that I need to step up my game as an educator. Even though I have a couple of years before I graduate I need to be keeping up with the latest technology now because once I graduate with my degree there is no telling what all will be invented by then! Technology seems to be a never-ending journey. It is already predicted that by the year 2049 that a computer that costs $1000 dollars will exceed the computational capabilities of the entire human species. It looks like we have lots of work to do as educators to prepare our students for this kind of technological future!
Mr. Winkle
Mr Winkle is an old man who had fallen asleep for one hundred years. The time when he fell asleep there was little to no technology in the world. When he awakes from his long slumber he realizes he ‘is not in Kansas anymore”. Everything looks, sounds, and acts differently now. He notices these machines in the office spaces and hospitals that print things, machines that keep people alive, and even machines that allow people to talk from another country away! Mr. Winkle makes his way down to the nearest school to see if he could find any relief there, and he did. He noticed that everything seemed like it did when he was in school: taking notes, the teacher just talking, and no weird looking machines. Except there was one he noticed, but it was collecting dust in the back of the classroom. Mr. Winkle finally found his happy place.
I can only hope that Mr. Winkle would not be able to find many schools like he did in the ending of this video. Like I mentioned of the videos above, we are teaching our students to live/work in a world that will have devices that are not even invented yet. Even though it might be hard to adapt to the rapid development of technology around us, I feel that it is our job as educators to be just as engaged as our students are with new technology. Even though we might not have grown up with what they have now we have to adapt to their level of technology and learning so that way they can engage on a deeper level.
Sir Ken Robinson
In his video The Importance of Creativity, Sir Ken Robinson argues that we are more concerned with educating students to become good workers rather than creative thinkers. It made me stop and think about my education growing up and if I was encouraged to be creative, and I do not think I can honestly say yes. He has definitely put a new perspective on teaching for me. He mentioned that all children are born with creative thinking, and we tend to educate them out of it.
When Sir Ken said “Creativity is now as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status” was a huge shock for me! I think when we think about creativity we think of art class or a drama class and that is the only places we should show our creativity. How wrong was I? A great example of this was when he told the story of the three wise men during the Christmas play. Instead of ‘Frankincense’ the child interpreted it as ‘Frank sent this’, how clever! That goes to show the creativity of a child’s mind and to think that we could be stripping that away slowly in our classrooms is frightening.
Glass, Schools, and the Future
When watching the videos on Corning's glass I must say I was not able to take my eyes off the screen, I was that infatuated with it. My mind can literally not even wrap around the technology that was being displayed. To think that this is what our future will be like is so exciting. The announcer in one of the videos said that the tablets shown would be used just as frequently as cell phones are today. Almost everyone has a cell phone, and to think that we will all have glass tablets seems foreign to me right now. However, technology is advancing more rapidly than I can imagine!
So what does this mean for our schools and the future? Like mentioned above, we have some serious teaching to do to get our students ready for this kind of future. Not only do we have to teach our students we have to teach ourselves. We need to be taking every opportunity to learn about a new device that comes out and to familiarize ourselves with it. It really puts into perspective of how important it is to educate our children on the right things, unlike the class in Mr. Winkles world. From watching these videos I have a feeling there will be no more pencils and paper in the future, everything will be done on a ‘tablet’ or a screen of glass, so it seems.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Blog Assignment #1
About Me
My name is Kayla Parazine, however it has only been that way for about two months now. I was Kayla Byrd and I grew up in a small town called Frisco City, Alabama. I graduated high school from a small private school there and also graduated with my associate’s degree from Alabama Southern Community College in Monroeville, which is right outside of my hometown. From there I moved to Troy, Alabama where I attended Troy University to pursue a degree in Secondary Collaborative Education. While at Troy I got engaged to my husband Ryan Parazine, who attends University of Mobile on a baseball scholarship, and moved back home after the fall semester to take online classes and plan a wedding! We got married this June and now here I am in Mobile and attending USA.
I honestly was never interested in education until a couple of years ago when I went on a mission trip to Ghana, Africa. At the time I was enrolled in nursing school with no intentions on changing my major, much less changing it to education. While in Africa we went into different schools and taught in the classrooms there the truth of Jesus Christ. For the first time I stood up in front of students in a classroom setting and taught something I am very passionate about. Needless to say, I had a life changing experience over there in Africa. It changed my whole view of teaching and that it is not about spitting out facts and hoping the students will understand. It taught me that you have to be passionate about what you are teaching and wanting your students to understand just as you do so they can apply it to their lives. As you can tell, nursing school did not workout and I did exactly what I said I never would do, become an educator.
Randy Pausch on Time Management
From Dr. Pausch’s video I learned that it is important to focus more on doing the right things rather than doing things right because that is better than doing the wrong things really well. Also, that experience comes with time. I like what he said when he pointed out that, that is why we pay so much in American society because we are paying for their experience because that is something you can not fake. Next thing is that failing to plan is planning to fail. When we plan, it has to be done at multiple levels, for example, by day, by week, and by semester. And our plans will most likely change, so that is why we have to plan in the first place! And lastly, having a to do list. It is important to break things down into small steps and ‘to do the ugliest thing first’ ( I love the frog analogy he gave ).
I have learned that Dr. Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and he learned in 2006 that he had pancreatic cancer. He gave his infamous “The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” in September of 2007 and the media got a hold to it, which he says was unintentional and was made just for his students. As a result of the media outbreak, he co-authored a book called The Last Lecture, which became a New York Times best seller. Dr. Pausch passed away from complications due to his cancer on July 25 of 2008.
Helpful Time Management Exercises
Some helpful tips I took from this article was: being reasonable and setting realistic goals, making sure to stop and rest every hour, start paying attention to the time wasters such as television or how much time we spend on the phone, use waiting time to do small tasks, have a regular study area, not on the couch or bed where you are more likely to become comfortable, and to set priorities for yourself each morning or the night before. Being realistic in your expectations for yourself is most important.
My name is Kayla Parazine, however it has only been that way for about two months now. I was Kayla Byrd and I grew up in a small town called Frisco City, Alabama. I graduated high school from a small private school there and also graduated with my associate’s degree from Alabama Southern Community College in Monroeville, which is right outside of my hometown. From there I moved to Troy, Alabama where I attended Troy University to pursue a degree in Secondary Collaborative Education. While at Troy I got engaged to my husband Ryan Parazine, who attends University of Mobile on a baseball scholarship, and moved back home after the fall semester to take online classes and plan a wedding! We got married this June and now here I am in Mobile and attending USA.
I honestly was never interested in education until a couple of years ago when I went on a mission trip to Ghana, Africa. At the time I was enrolled in nursing school with no intentions on changing my major, much less changing it to education. While in Africa we went into different schools and taught in the classrooms there the truth of Jesus Christ. For the first time I stood up in front of students in a classroom setting and taught something I am very passionate about. Needless to say, I had a life changing experience over there in Africa. It changed my whole view of teaching and that it is not about spitting out facts and hoping the students will understand. It taught me that you have to be passionate about what you are teaching and wanting your students to understand just as you do so they can apply it to their lives. As you can tell, nursing school did not workout and I did exactly what I said I never would do, become an educator.
Randy Pausch on Time Management
From Dr. Pausch’s video I learned that it is important to focus more on doing the right things rather than doing things right because that is better than doing the wrong things really well. Also, that experience comes with time. I like what he said when he pointed out that, that is why we pay so much in American society because we are paying for their experience because that is something you can not fake. Next thing is that failing to plan is planning to fail. When we plan, it has to be done at multiple levels, for example, by day, by week, and by semester. And our plans will most likely change, so that is why we have to plan in the first place! And lastly, having a to do list. It is important to break things down into small steps and ‘to do the ugliest thing first’ ( I love the frog analogy he gave ).
I have learned that Dr. Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and he learned in 2006 that he had pancreatic cancer. He gave his infamous “The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” in September of 2007 and the media got a hold to it, which he says was unintentional and was made just for his students. As a result of the media outbreak, he co-authored a book called The Last Lecture, which became a New York Times best seller. Dr. Pausch passed away from complications due to his cancer on July 25 of 2008.
Helpful Time Management Exercises
Some helpful tips I took from this article was: being reasonable and setting realistic goals, making sure to stop and rest every hour, start paying attention to the time wasters such as television or how much time we spend on the phone, use waiting time to do small tasks, have a regular study area, not on the couch or bed where you are more likely to become comfortable, and to set priorities for yourself each morning or the night before. Being realistic in your expectations for yourself is most important.
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