Project 16

Final Blog Assignment

Project 13

For Project 15 and 16, I was in the group Team Fantastic. For project 15, we did a lesson plan on second grade social studies. For our final project, we did a video on How to Fail EDM310. When we collaborated on our projects, we stayed simple and just used Email and SMS message. On our SMART board lesson, we also used the NoteBook software that we had downloaded on our computers. We had a great group and our projects went perfectly!

Project 15

Blog Assigment #13

For this assignment, we were to go technology-less for 24 hours!! Needless to say, I failed miserably. I do not know what life was like before technology. I have never noticed how much I actually use and depend on my phone and computer. The longest I made it without picking up my phone was about 10 hours. I was asleep for 6 of those hours. I can live without the TV and such for a whole day but definitely not my phone. I have an iPhone so everything is in the palm of my hand. I use Facebook, Twitter, and text the most. I do not think that I have an adequate reason as to why this is so hard for me. Maybe it is habit? I do not really remember a time when I did not have access to a phone or the computer. It is almost like breathing for me. I do it and not even realize. I wonder how many people honestly succeeded at this?? I am not sure how my students will react when they come to my class. I hope to let them engage with technology throughout the day so hopefully they do not go into technology withdrawals. I think it is great that we encourage and teach the use of technology in the classroom. Depending on the age, as soon as they step foot out of school, they will turn to either a phone or a computer! So let's engage what they know with what they learn!

Final Report on PNL

C4T #4

The teacher that I got to read to posts from this week is Jenny from Auckland, New Zealand. She is a primary teacher who has been blogging since 2009. In her most recent post, she mentions taking up photography. She was inspired from a Facebook friend about using her iPhone to snap some pictures. She displays some beautiful pictures of flowers she took using her phone. They look great! The moral of her story was about the differences between simple cameras and expensive cameras. "The happiest people don’t have everything, they just make the best of everything." This is a great quote to remember. We should all remember this in our future classrooms. We need to make the greatest impact on our students with whatever resources we have available.

Jenny also posted about Google+. She overheard a family member having a hangout session with her class. So Jenny started thinking about how Google+ could be used in her classroom. Do you think it would be a good idea? I think it's great to introduce new things to the classroom. You could add the students into your "circle." I want my students to be well rounded in all things. I would love to introduce them to this!

Creativity and Curiosity: My Thoughts - Special Post #12A

I do not think that schools in the United States destroy curiosity and creativity as much as they use to. I think that the reason there has been a change in the way teaching is approached, is the use of technology. Computers allow for a lot more curiosity and creativity than any other teaching device. Curiosity and creativity go hand and hand, in my opinion. When you are curious about something, you tend to be more creative in the outcome. If you have no desire in the project you are assigned, more than likely, you will have zero effort in making your presentation creative. I am not really sure how much curriculum has to do with curiosity and creativity. I think it is more to do with the teacher and how he or she approaches it. I most definitely think that a teacher can change the way their students are curious about something or not. I also think that a teacher can encourage their students to be creative. It is important to be lead by example. I will not expect my students to put effort into something and make it have a personal touch, if it is not something that I would do myself. I will choose to be curious and creative so that I can have some affect on my students.

Elspeth Bishop is the author of Curiosity Fuels Creativity. She is a writer from Colorado who loves the outdoor. You can get in touch with her through Google+.

Blog Assignment 12

Engage Me (2:40) Watch this video about how elementary students feel about using technology. Write a opinionated response to how you agree/disagree with the students and why.

This video is great! If you have any doubt as to why we should use technology in the classroom, maybe your opinion has changed now. Have you ever thought about what our students think about technology in the classroom? Through the video you see that our students use technology EVERY day outside the classroom. Why not integrate it into a learning aspect of the classroom? The more I see on the subject of technology in the classroom, they more I am on board with it. Why are we not teaching our students how to succeed outside the classroom? The best part about this video is that our students WANT to learn all of these things. The ideas shown in the video came straight from the students. How amazing is it that our students want to be engaged?? They want to be apart of their learning career. I think it is our jobs as teachers to help them thrive with this type of energy. We need to be the ones to introduce things such as blogging, pod casting, and all other sorts of tools.


 I am really glad that we got to make our own assignment. I just spent a hour on YouTube looking at such great videos. They were all so different it was hard to choose one to make an assignment out of all of them. I think that a great assignment would be to just play around on YouTube, see what you can find. Of course, there would have to be an assignment behind it, but there is just so much out there! Go to YouTube, type in your field and technology and go from there! You will be amazed at the place you end up!

Final Project Summary

For our final project, my group tends to make a video of how to create a website. The website is simple and easy enough for our students to do on their own. The video will be detailed instructions how how to teach our students to create their website. With these websites, we have in mind that it would be used for certain major projects and assignments. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

April C4K Summary

The student I have for the World Blog Challenge is Reece. He is a student from Canada who loves collecting rocks and coins. In his first post I read, he talks about how he loves sports, particularly soccer. He plays on a team has won tournaments before. When I responded to him, I asked for information about soccer! I've never played so I am curious to see how the game works. I wanted to know how points were scored, when the game is over, and the different rules the game has. I encouraged him to right more because he only has one post this year! I hope to see a new post when I return next week!

Unfortunately, Reece did not post again. So the next student blog I got to visit was Lillian! She is a student here in the USA who loves math, the piano, drawing, and sharks! She wrote a post about planes. She has a goal to be a pilot in the Air Force one day. The best think about her post is that she admits to being highly claustrophobic. It shows that she is a strong person who can push past this to help serve her country!

The third student that I got to comment on was a student who loves the outdoors. He made a post about drug dealers and littering. He mentions how the drug dealers are littering and how others are picking up the habit too. In my reply, I asked if his school participates in drug free and litter free programs. I also suggested that if they did not, he should suggest a campus cleanup. Every small bit helps!

The last student that I got to view this month was Aaliyah. She is a first grade student from Canada. She posted about the class trip to the art museum. During their trip, they got to make their own teepee and the learned about buffaloes. I think it is great that first graders are blogging. Although their post can be hard to decipher, they are learning and trying! That is all that matters. In my response I asked if she learned who lived in the teepees and if they learned what the teepees were made of.

C4T #3

The teacher's post I am reading this week is called Think Thank Thunk: dealing with the fear of being a boring teacher. The author is Shawn Cornally. He is a teacher in Iowa who is really trying to change the way he teaches. He posts often and in quite detail. The first post was titled Scheduling Experiments: Open Periods Make Me Seethe. At his school in Iowa, the students get an 84 minute open period each day. The period is suppose to be used for homework, studying, and things of that sort. But it is often used for anything but school related material. One of the big problems is that the students strive for getting that free block and it is not because they cannot wait to study! Is giving these students a "free" period teaching them that just simply being at school is important? Do they not get enough free time once they get home? Mr. Cornally suggests that something wise be done during their open period such as an art class or even learning Japanese. I think if an open period must be given, at least an extracurricular activity could take place during those 84 minutes.

In his second post that I viewed, he talks about reconstructing the way standards are approached. He wants his students to be apart of the way things are done in his classroom. For example, he gives them a choice as to take a quiz or to do something different. If they choose on Wednesday that they want to take the quiz, they will take it on Thursday. I have never really enjoyed taking quizzes but I would probably to choose to take one like some of his students do! I think quizzes help you out in the end. Mr. Cornally stated that "My kids will know stuff, and they’ll know how to figure it out." This statement really says a lot about the kind of teacher he is. You can truly tell the he sincerely cares about his students. I think there should be more teachers like this! We should all really want our students to succeed. We need to do what it takes to reach that outcome.

Blog Assignment # 11

Little Kids.. Big Potential. In this video, I love the way Ms. Cassidy approaches technology. When I first started in EDM310 and was introduced to the idea of student blogs, I was a little skeptical. But now I can see the awesomeness that the blogs bring! One of the greatest things is that it helps strengthen the students' writing abilities. They are getting extra practice and having a fun time doing it! If I have upper level elementary students, I would love to have a class blog. Who knows? I might have future EDM310 students comment on my kids' blogs! I really like the idea of Skype in the classroom. I thought it was super cool that they were skyping with a geologist! I want to do something like that in my own classroom! I also would like to incorporate the types of websites the students had as choices during centers. I just think it's so cool that students are excited to learn and excited to put what they know to use. Watching her video and hearing about how she got started in technology, really REALLY makes me excited to have my own classroom one day! I just can't wait!

Blog Assignment #10

Teach or Educate? That is the question. I have never really thought of the two words as having that much of a difference. But this video really sets the two apart. According to the video, teaching is to explain something, encourage facts, give information, cause someone to learn, and induce them by example or punishment to do or not do something. This definition does not sound too far off from what a teacher does. But once you see what an educator does, hopefully you would make the switch! An educator is one who enlightens, inspires, and empowers. An educator is one who gives intellectual, moral, and social instruction. Can these things be given by someone who just gives information and facts? No! We must be educators. The kind that the video shows. Educators that are mentors, experienced, and trusted advisors. I think it is super important to be more than just the lady that knows the facts. I want my students to grow as people. I do no want to be a boring teacher whose kids do not learn anything. I want them to learn about school related materials and I also want them to learn about life. I want to help them think outside the box and help them relate things to the real world. I do not think a "teacher" can do these things. But I know strongly believe that an "educator" can! That is %100 what I want to be!

Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home
The man the writes this blog is brilliant. I spent a lot of time reading Tom Johnson's Adventures in Pencil Integration. In the particular post we were assigned to, Johnson uses pencils as a metaphor for computers/technology. In this situation, Gertrude, an academic specialist, tells Mr. Johnson to not let the students take the pencils home. She says that when they get home, they will use their pencils for entertainment purpose and end up with lower test scores. Technology in the classroom is a big topic that we have researched a lot for our class. Several times I have came across the problem of students using their computers for games and other entertainment purposes. This is where Gertrude is going with the pencils. Even if the students are going home to play Hangman, aren't they still learning while not even trying? They are thinking of words and spelling. Just because computers are used in the classroom, and yes they are also used for recreational purposes, it does not mean that they are not learning anything and their test scores will automatically be lower. I like how Mr. Johnson does not dwell on the problem. He constantly pushes solutions about students' and their pencils. I say let them bring them home! Learning does not stop the minute they leave the classroom!

Project #14

Blog Assignment #9

The First Year Mr. McClung talks about loosing touch with his audience. I can see where a lot of teachers do this when they are starting off. While we are in our student teaching, it's lesson plans, lesson plans, lesson plans. We have to a have great lesson plans because we are trying to please our teachers. The main focus should be the students. I like how Mr. McClung pointed out that it is the student comprehension that matters the most. I think that every future teacher needs to read this next line and always keep it in mind: "NO LESSON IS EVER PERFECT. THE LESSON YOU TEACH AND THE ONE YOU PLAN ARE ALWAYS DIFFERENT." This shows that being a teacher means being flexible. Leave your OCD habits at the door. In Mr. McClung's post, he mentions communication and the importance of it with fellow teachers. Communication is a great thing to have with anybody. Like Mr. McClung said, it is not something that comes easy to everyone but it is something every one needs to have a working relationship with others. He says to be reasonable. We might think we are helping our students by setting high expectations but when they do not meet these expectations, we are hurting them. When it comes to technology, Mr. McClung says that we should not be afraid. I grew up with computers so it's hard to think of people who actually repel technology. Hopefully with time, everybody, especially teachers, will embrace technology! Another main point in this post is about listening to your students. I think this is a big deal. We expect them to listen to us and do as we say. We should listen to our students opinions. We could learn something from them! Lastly, Mr. McClung reminds us to never stop learning. I never want to stop learning. Things change everyday so we can learn new things everyday. I hope to always keep an open mind to learning new things!

The Third Year I really enjoy reading what Mr. McClung has to say. He is talking from experience and he makes it easy to relate to. In his reflection of his third year, he talks about knowing who your boss is. Teachers must never loose focus of who really matters at the end of the day and that is our students! It is easy to get wrapped up in the outside world and worry about pleasing other adults. There is no need to be. Always keep your students in mind. The post also talks about not expecting others to have the same thought as you. Mr. McClung would get excited about new presentations and ideas for the classroom and others wouldn't. I hope to never cross to the dark side like he mentioned. I have had too many teachers in my life who I feel like crossed to to the dark side. I do not want my students to ever think about me like that! Another great point I will remember from this blog is to not be afraid of being the outsider if it involves your students being benefited. I never want my students to feel like I'm neglecting them or that I don't like them. I'm glad there are teachers that want to sit with their student's at lunch and like to communicate with them. When Mr. McClung talks about not teaching the keyboard, his remarks really hit home. I get so frustrated when I ask someone to help me do something on the computer and they just take over and do it. In the end, I learned nothing from them! This was a great way to relate to education. No matter how hard sometime tries, do not do it for them. They will not learn anything! We do not want that for our students. Remember to make sure that they benefit from it even if it is a little frustrating at the time. In his last thoughts on this post, Mr. McClung talks about being "movers and shakers." He wants us to not a reach a point where we are comfortable with how we teach and stop. We need to keep moving forward and I think these are great words to live by. Keep moving forward!

March C4K

The first kid blog that I commented on this week was a 4th grade student from the UK! The kids were bribed with a class party if they got to 500 blog posts by Easter! So the kids were posting about anything! The particular post I read was a short story by Neusha. The story was filled with a candy land with dinosaurs and wasps. I like to see the imagination that comes out of students mind. I enjoyed reading the creativity that came across!

Project #12

Blog Assignment #8

This Is How We Dream
These two videos are are form Richard Miller of Rutgers University. The videos are about how technology should change how we think about the future, about teaching, and about learning. The first part of the videos is about writing and how it has changed in our culture. Everything regarding writing has changed. How we write, where we write, and where we publish is all different than how it use to be. These are electronic now and available at the touch of a button. This video points out that the days of having to go to the library to research something is a memory of the past. If you have access to a computer, you can find pretty much anything you need. This goes along with how much we have learned in this class about the classroom and the importance of technology. The computer and internet makes anything possible when it comes to learning and teaching. In the videos, Miller talks about two different types of changes; fundamental and incremental. Incremental changes are such as articles always being on the web even if you delete it, it is still available. Another incremental change mentioned is that of sharing collaboratively. This is something that we get to experiment in EDM 310 with our next and final projects. Some fundamental changes are the internet downloads of lessons. We did a form of change when we made our podcast for a project. Miller also wants to see a new type of processing to be used by students when they compose their work. It was hard for me to really understand the message of this video. I had to watch it several times before I even could come up with my own opinion. I think I was too busy trying to pay attention to all of the different things on that screen that I was missing what he was saying. At the end, I can tell that he is trying to make a bigger and better future for the reading/writing aspect of learning. As of right now, I am not sure that I am prepared to write with multimedia. This video confused me on the subject more than anything. I hope to improve in that area so that I can teach my students to be efficient in this area when it is necessary.

Blog Post #12
I can only wish that I will be as creative and goal driven as Carly Pugh one day. She seems to have exactly everything planned out that she wants to project to her future students. She appears to be extremely organized and knows exactly what she wants with her career. Her blog post about the YouTube assignment sounds like a great idea. I actually want to do this to have for myself. I have never been addicted to watching YouTube videos but I feel like I may now. With Carly's post, I can understand Miller's writing with multimedia a little better. With Carly's assignment, you can put a story of your teaching philosophy together without really writing anything. Videos can come across better depicted that paper and pen can. Carly makes me want to strive to be a better student in college and a better teacher for the future!

EDM310 is Different
The Chipper Series is a great video about not procrastinating. I feel like I was a Chipper my first year at college. I did not want to do my work on time, I wanted the teachers to just tell me what I needed to do. In the end, that did not really work out to my advantage. Now I see things differently and I am doing much better at school. I think it is important for people to see this message so that they see the importance of learning for yourself. Students need to see where this can take them whether it is upwards to their masters or downwards to the garbage collector.
EDM for Dummies sums up the emotions you go through once you enroll in EDM310. I definitely wanted to throw my computer around the first couple of weeks. All of the information is so overwhelming! But once you learn how to work the programs that we use in the class, everything became so much clearer and I got to focus on the actual material instead of the programs being used. If I was to make a video to help other students in this class, I would want it to be about adding creativity. I would want to show some difference between a student's work who clearly adds no effort and show a student's who went above and beyond. I think it is important for us to remember that we are leaving a trail that any potential employer could look at. If we were to hire someone based off their blog, would you pick the Plain Jane? I bet we would all prefer the student who really got into the assigned project or post. Learn to Change, Change to Learn "We have to accept, as educators, that technology is not really a choice." This is a great statement that came from this video about technology in the classrooms. The more videos I see about this topic, the more I get excited about having my own classroom one day that is full of technology! An eye opener topic to why technology is important is the talk about what children do outside of the classroom. If what they take part in once they leave school is so much more advanced than what they do at school, which one do you think they will remember more? The children are all about texting, emailing, and Facebook. These are all highly advanced technological things. Why should we forbid these types of things at school. We need to incorporate such things in the children's learning. "It's the death of education but the dawn of learning." These is a bold and powerful statement. Teachers teaching is not the focus of the classrooms anymore. The focus is about the students learning and them learning in the most effective way.

 Scavenger Hunt 2.0
 1. Edmodo is a great site! It is a mix between Twitter and Facebook. Sign up as either a teacher or student and check out all the neat things you can do. In my future classroom, I would love to use this site. I can communicate with the students and their parents. I can also link up with other teachers to see what they are doing in their classroom. This site allows you to create groups, manage your calendar, and even keep up with grades. Students and their parents can log in to see missing assignments or notes from me! Another really cool feature from Edmodo is the quiz aspect. If I have a classroom of older students I would love to try this out. You can create, submit, and grade quizzes all in one spot. This is a wonderful site. I am so glad I found it on this scavenger hunt!
4. Photo Peach is a place where you can create and share slideshows. Music, captions, and comments can also be added to your slideshow. There is even a Photo Peach for educators where you can create an account and have a place for each student to create their own slideshow. You can choose to share their work with their parents and the community and keep it private from the public. Different versions of this site does cost per month and per number of students.
5.Poll Everywhere is a neat site. For small polls, it's free!

Create interactive meetings at Poll Everywhere

Project #11

For my video, I chose to read a story to my daughter and nephew. They were so excited to be in a video. I love to read children's books. My daughter has a huge library in her room because I cannot stay away from books at every store we go to! I enjoy reading to classrooms. I hope this is one thing technology does not take away from me.

Project 10

Symbaloo is one of the neatest things I have discovered in this class! I wish I would have known about this before this class! As for now, my PLN is quite small. I am excited to see how much it grows over the semester. I think once my PLN starts growing, it will be beneficial to my whole teaching career. I really like the idea of having a personal learning network. I think it is important to have dependable resources that are readily available. Symbaloo helps make that possible.

Project 9b

Blog Assignment #7

The Networked Video
When watching this video, I had mixed emotions throughout it. In this video of learning in the 21st century, there is a detailed description of how a student learns a topic on an online basis. The student does the research himself with help from his sources on his personal network. He puts all of his information together and shares it for anyone else who may be researching the same top may see his work.

 The first problem I had with this is about the facts. Where are the facts about the subject. It is easy to find someone's opinion about a topic on the internet but finding the actual facts isn't as easy. But when after I thought of this way of learning, I understood a little better. I do think that when you find something on your own, it is easier to remember. So with this idea in hand, maybe having the student do his own research with the topic will benefit him in the long run. The 21st century seems to be getting away from the teacher informing the student of just the facts so I should be more accepting of this from of learning.

 When the question is asked about if teachers will be still be needed, it get's my thoughts going wild! Of course we will always need teachers. Previous assignments have really got this to be my current soap box. Without teachers, ours students would not know where to start! Who will guide them in the right direction? Students' dependance on me might be completely different than it was in the previous century but they are still dependent on their teacher. Like the video said, we are here to guide them in the right direction, be their model, teach them how to decipher good information and anything else the internet may throw their way. Teachers will always be needed. I strongly disagree with anyone who says otherwise.

 I am learning a lot about building a personal network. I am starting to see more importance of it. I think the best part is being able to see others. If I have a great resource, I would love to share it with other so it could benefit their teaching careers. I'm sure there are others who feel the same way. At the end of the day, it is our students who matter. All teachers should have this in common, so, what other place to get better ideas from than those who share the same views? Go get to sharing!

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment
This video of a 7th grader's PLN makes me want to make my own and share it with anyone who does not know about them. I think it is wonderful that students are being taught to be organized with their work as well as being taught responsibility about their work. I like how the student mentioned that she does not get the option to NOT do her work but she gets the option do her work in a way that excites her. Their teacher is promoting creativity among the students and I think that is wonderful. Her students are probably learning a great amount of knowledge by being able to do the research and post it in way that is unique to their selves.

Blog Assignment # 6

Achieving Your Childhood Dreams Randy Pausch is a powerful speaker. He is entertaining and a joy to listen to. He makes great points about the things you should strive for in life. He speaks about truths and realities. He doesn't sugarcoat anything and he doesn't only talk about the successful things in life.

He has a great lecture about goals that everyone could learn something from. I'm sure we have all said that we have goals in life. But have you ever really thought about specific goals? I know I have not until now. I have had a goal to be a teacher but I think that our goals should be more specific. I want to be a successful teacher that students truly learn from. I think that we need to teach our students about having goals and we need to teach them to be specific about it. As I learned from this video, our goals can also be changed as it needs to be fit. Our goals might be unrealistic as we are younger, but as we grow we can tweak them to be realistic with a chance of reaching them. I think everyone should have goals. Without them, what do you strive for in life?

Another great topic from this video was about brick walls. In our lifetime, we will come to dead ends and be turned away from our goals. Not everything we want will be given to us the first time. Randy explained the purpose of these brick walls. They are good for us and we need to portray this message to our students. Brick walls are there to weed out those who are not truly serious about moving forward. When faced with a brick wall, we will reevaluate what we really want in life. If we want to show dedication, we will find a way to get through the brick wall. We should never give up if it is something we really want in our life. I want to teach this motivation to my students one day. Just because one door might close, or one brick wall comes up, it doesn't mean that we should give up and walk away from it. We need to teach our students to strive for something and go after what they want!

I learned a lot of lessons that I want to remember when I have a classroom of my own one day. The first is about setting a bar for students. When Randy said that his students went over his bar he had set in the first two weeks of his class, I really started to think about it. I think it is very important to be careful when setting bars for our students. If we set them to low, it could have a negative effect on our students and they might think that they are not capable of raising the bar. In Randy's case, the bar was reached by the students and then he was not sure of what to do not. I think in a way, our students should set their own bars but with their teachers beside them in guidance. If we teach them how to set goals and how to strive in their life, then they will set their own bars high enough that will keep them reaching until they succeed. A few other things that I think all teachers should keep in mind when they are with their students is to remember the fun. If we want out students to learn something and actually remember it, make the material fun. A great concept from the video is this question, "Are you a Tigger or Eeyore?" I never want to be a teacher like Eeyore. Hopefully, none of us have the intentions of being a drag. Randy also mentioned to never lose the childlike wonder. If we do, I think this is where the Eeyore's come in. If we can remember what it is like to think like a child, we just might come across to them in a much more effective way.

The last two things I want to mention about the video is that we should always help other because loyalty is a two way street. If we want to trust our students to make the right choices, they need to be able to trust that we are making the right choices when it comes to teaching them and preparing them for their future. We need to always keep their best interest at heart. Never give up on our own lives and never give up on our students!

Project #8

C4K Summary for February

My student that I commented on is Kyra from Mrs. Ripp's class in Verona, Wisconsin. The assignment was to choose one place in the world that they would want to travel to. Kyra chose Ireland because she is a Irish dancer and her grandfather is Irish. She also really wants to see the castles and the beaches. I loved Kyra's description of the beaches. She had me wanting to see them too!

The second student I commented on was also a fifth grader from Sioux Rapids, Iowa. The class just received a set of Macbooks and were all super excited. I posted on Madison's blog from the class. She talked about a math website that the class can get on to help with math. Through the website, the class can compete with each other. After the competition round is over, the student with the highest points wins a prize from their teacher. The website is called Sumdog and it is a great website to get the students excited about math! I hope to keep this website in mind if I have fifth grade math one day.

The next class blog I viewed was from New Zealand.The class blog was called Pipo Ako which means the Young Learners. The blog was an animation group portrait of the students in the class. It is a really neat picture that allowed the children to be creative. Neat idea for younger students. The last class I got to read about for February was on all girls online class from Oregon. Their class blog posted about diversity. This is a great subject for students to be taught about. I also think that students should be given a chance to make up their own definition of what diversity means to them. It's much more than just people from different ethnic backgrounds. The best thing from their post that I would like to share is that they post says that there isn't even two people that are alike. Everyone is different and everyone is diverse.

C4T #2

The blog that I viewed this week is full of information that goes right along with all of the things we have been learning in EDM310. The posts were made by Richard Byrne who is a high school Civics and US History teacher. The purpose of his site is to share free resources for teachers around the world. The first blog post I commented on was about enchaining a history lesson about Eli Whitney's cotton gin. He mentions how it is important to enhance learning with visuals and provided an animation of how the cotton gin works. I watched the animation and it even taught me something that I did not know. The animation engaged the students to understand how the cotton gin actually worked. This blog also provides links for lesson plan ideas with history.
The second post I commented on was about virtual volcanoes. Mr. Byrne provides a list of resources when teaching about volcanoes. The new addition to the list is from the Discovery Channel. It is a virtual interaction that shows you where the volcanoes are located in the world. There is an animation of what a volcano looks like inside. The neatest part about this website is the part that they students can build their own volcano and watch it erupt. The students can play around with different levels of viscosity and gas to see what kind of eruption they will get.

Blog Assignment 5

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?
This post made me really think about what kind of teacher I want to be. The post presents problems associated with students using the computer for learning tools. The post brought up the dangers of the internet. But at the same time, the post also mentions that using a computer makes our students think, share, learn, and be creative. Isn't this exactly what we want our students to do? I want my students to learn the material in a way that will be most memorable. I do not think that pencil and paper is the way to approach learning anymore. Our world will always have technology so it is time that we prepare our children how to adapt to the real world. These points on how to teach our students were brought up by Dr. Scott McLeod. He is an associate professor at the University of Kentucky. He is the founding director of CASTLE, the only center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators. CASTLE stands for Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education.

The iSchool Initiative
This video is from a high school student from Georgia. Travis does a great job at showing how effective teaching can be without having loads of books, papers, pencils, and funds. The apps that are available on such devices such as the iPod touch are great resources for students with little to no cost! A lot of the apps are also interactive which can help increase the students motivation to learn the material. In his second video, he talks about the revolution he started with the iSchool Initiative. I think it is great to see what can come from a high school student with an opinion. Travis is setting an example on how we should approach our classrooms and our teaching. Out with old and on with the new. The new being technology. Join his revolution and let's change how our student's are being taught!

Virtual Choir
This video is awesome. It is 185 different people singing virtually with other people they never have encountered before. It must have taken a great deal of time to produce something like this but it just goes to show how many options are out there when it comes to tackling something like this on the internet. The internet has so many uses. This video makes me think about having students in the classroom interact with people from across the world. No matter where the 185 different people were from, they all came together to make something that sounded absolutely beautiful.

Teaching in the 21st Century
 If you are reading this blog and have never watched this video about teaching in the 21st century, you must stop and watch now. All I can say is wow! This video is perfect for anybody who is against technology in the classroom. What I found to be the best part of this video is that part about teaching should be relevant, engaging and challenging. I hope to always remember these three words. I think that all lessons should be planned with these words in mind. It makes perfect sense to have the material relevant. It would not make any sense to teach students about things that they can not relate to in the real world. I also got a lot from the difference between entertaining and engaging. I have used the word entertaining several times before but I will never again use it when talking about learning material. When the work is challenging it makes our students think and apply what they have learned. I fully believe that if the knowledge isn't used then it is forgotten. I think that Kevin Roberts sees teaching as more of guiding them in the right direction. Teaching sounds more like you give the students all of the information and they are suppose to retain it. But with guiding them, or filtering as the video says, the students are learning the material and we are showing them what to do with it. Teachers will always be needed even though there is tons of information available on the internet. Our ways of teaching will just change with the times.

Reading Rockets
I absolutely love reading and I think this is my new favorite website. When I first pulled the Reading Rockets website up, I was overwhelmed. There are tons of links and information all over the place. But when I started clicking into things, the organization makes a little more sense. I first went to the teachers tab. The classroom strategies link is a great place to start when it comes to teaching your students reading. Topics are broken down to give you when you should teach them and how you could approach teaching the topic. There is even great resources available for when you have students who are struggling with reading. Take some time and click on Top 10 Things You Should Know About Reading. Great topics that every teacher should know. My most favorite thing about this website is the recommended book sections. You can look up books according to what subject you need the book for. Coolest thing ever! Makes me want to start collecting more books for my own library. I am so glad I got to see this website. I will surely pass this on again and again.

Project 9a

Project #6

Blog Assignment #4

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom The benefits of a podcast in a classroom is a new idea to me. I really was not sure what the purpose was, until I watched this video. This video shows that a podcast can be used in the classroom in two different ways. One way is the teacher records the podcast and makes it available to the students for review. I think this is great if a student were to miss class due to illness, then they would be able to listen to the podcast and not be too far behind in their studies. Another way the podcast can be used is student learning approach. This is where the students were able to get hands on and wrote their own scripts for the podcast. I think what I'll take from this video, for my own podcast, is knowing the capabilities of making my podcast creative and entertaining. No one would want to listen to a monotone podcast. It needs to be interesting!

Podcast Selection If you are new to the idea of podcast, like I was, this is a perfect place to start. Judy Scharf does a tremendous job on explaining what a podcast is, as well as giving examples on how to do it and how to assign a podcast to your students. There is a link to a video on TeacherTube that is a great podcast about podcasts! The best thing that I got from this video is that when you are recording your podcast, remember that you are not just recording a lecture, make it interesting and make the listener want to finish the entire podcast.

 1st Graders Create Their Own Read Along Audio Book The detailed explanation of the experiment is great. A classroom of first graders were divided up to create a script for a chapter book that they were reading. The best part of this podcast, that the students made, was how excited the students were to do this. I've never really thought about how they would enjoy it until now. The post explained how excited the students got and how creative they got when it came to how their voices sounded and how they wanted to edit their scripts on the SmartBoard. I am a huge fan of hands on activities, so this sits well with me! Anytime a child is excited about learning is something that should be repeated. It looks like podcasts are the way to go. When doing my own podcast, I want to play around with some of the same effects that these students got to do. I want to get familiar with Garangeband. Now I am looking forward to do my own podcasts!

C4T #1

The blog page I was assigned to is called Pondering Paige. Paige Vitulli is an assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of South Alabama. The blog post I am going to summarize is "EDU 301 Birds inspired by John James Audubun." After a field trip to the Mobile Musuem of Art, a group of education majors were assigned an art project. The field trip was to view displays of Audubun's artwork of birds. The students were each assigned a bird picture to replicate using only materials that will be realistically available to students in the classroom. There are very specific directions to the drawing that can be located on the Pondering Paige website.
In response to this post, I thanked Paige for including the directions to the assignment because it is an assignment that can easily be done with a science lesson or can easily be tweaked for a different subject. The most valuable thing that I received from this post was that the important thing about this assignment was that the materials used were "materials all elementary teachers could realistically possess, even under budget cuts and lack of support for the arts." - Paige Vitulli
Back in September 2011, Ms. Vitulli posted a video titled Pay For Grades: Does Cash for Students Work? The video stated that select students in grades 4-6 would give be given up to $100 in the summer if they passed certain tests. In return to the incentive, the school's test scores had drastic improvements. When the money incentive was taken away, the student's were less driven to succeed in the class and their grades dropped.
I commented on the post about my opinion of paying students for their grades. If I was a student, I would love getting paid for good grades. However, if you look at the bigger picture, it is not a great idea. The students are no longer learning to further their education. They are learning so they can get some money during the summer. I do not think incentives in general are a bad idea. Cash is just not the answer to getting our students to want to learn.

Blog Assignment 3

Technology in Special Education This video was eye opening to the importance of technology in classrooms. A classroom without technology looks like a room without life. The room was full of students without a compatible way to communicate with the teacher as well as fellow classmates. Without technology, the students are likely to become further behind on their assignments. Also, their learning capabilities are being stifled because of the time it takes for communication between the teacher and the student to take place. The special education classroom with technology looked like a room of totally different students. They appeared to be much more happy about learning and about being at school. They were able to communicate more effectively and faster than what they could do without technology. The computers able them to write and read better than they could with paper and pencils. I think it is important for people to see this video of students having computers and other technology in the classroom. I also am becoming more fond of the classroom blog. I am seeing more and more of teachers creating one and it being beneficial to the classroom. I am still curious to see what all is put on the blog. Who knows, maybe I'll even create one when I have my own classroom!
How the iPad works with Academics

I have seen first hand how an iPad can be used for a great learning tool. My daughter has been using my iPad since she was about two years old. From this she has learned all sorts of educational things. It really is an amazing thing to witness. The majority of the apps are games but yet they are learning tools at the same time. I think the apps make learning much more enjoyable! The app that I like that I would find suitable for a special needs child in the classroom is called Little Lilly's Touch Book. This app was made with special needs children in mind. Little Lilly is a girl with sensory issues. Lilly does not like the way anything feels on her feet. To a student with sensory issues, this app should help them relate to the situation and help them feel okay about being different. The app could be used during reading time as well. The story is read out loud while the words are highlighted. Each page also has special interacting games that can be played. I downloaded the app and played around with it. It really is great. Check out the other games also made by Extra Special Kids!
Gary Hayes Social Media Outlet I was amazed at high how the numbers are in regards to things done on the internet at any given second. These numbers show how much of the world is technologically advanced. More and more people these days have access to computers. They not only have access to computers, they know how to maneuver around the internet. Another thing that is changing in this day and age is the ages of the people using computers. My daughter, who is four, knows how to work the computer and does well finding her way around websites. This is a significant difference from when I was in school. Computers were not all that common. They definitely were not accessible to everyone like they are today. What these numbers mean for a professional career in education, is that technology needs to be worked into our curriculum. Not only should our students learn how to use the computer, they should be able to know about the internet. They can learn an endless amount of information from the internet. I think there are programs available on the computer and the internet that can teach certain things that are not available without technology. I also think that students will learn some things more effectively by doing some research for themselves. Some of the websites shown on the media outlet are things that are not available anywhere else. Take YouTube for example, it has a huge selection of videos that can show the class how something is done and allows for the class to post a video of their own. I am glad this information is available. It is nice to see some different websites that I should become more aware of since they are so popular with the rest of the world. Sites such as LinkedIn and Skype.
A Visions of Students Today This video goes along with the previous videos of this blog post. Technology is very important in the classroom. This cannot be stressed enough. As a student, I can agree with almost everything that the students in the video were saying. I spend more money on books that were never used than I can remember! I also spend too much time on Facebook and on other websites. Soon, I will be on the other side of the situation and I can start to see different points of view. I think as teachers, we need to figure out a way to interact better ways of giving information to our students so that certain resources are not wasted. We are past the days when a teacher just stands in the front of the room and lecture. We are also past the days of writing on a chalk board. Like the video said, the chalk board does not allow for videos or pictures. Videos and pictures are great visuals that are needed in a classroom. I do much better learning by seeing things and I'm sure I am not alone on this. I think it's time to stress online textbooks because they are cheaper and are more beneficial. We need to make a point to only stress things that will benefit our students outside of class. If we can make learning fun, students will be more willing to participate and learn. I think technology can make this possible!

Project 5

Blog Assignment 2

Did You Know by John Strange
I enjoyed watching this YouTube video. I was not aware of most of the statistics that the video displayed. Learning about the 300 million Chinese that are learning English is astonishing. I knew that most countries speak their native language plus English. However, seeing a number like 300 million really makes you think about our own culture. Why do I not speak another language? I took three years of Spanish in middle and high school but I could not tell you anything more than what my daughter learns on television shows. Being a mother, I think it is important for my daughter to learn another language as well as my future students. In my own classroom one day, I want to have labels on common things for the students to learn some words in a different language. I also hope that this will drive the children to want to learn more, so one day they could communicate with someone of a different language. Growing up in a public elementary school, we did not have classroom computers or personal cell phones. I remember not having these things until my late middle school years. I certainly did not spend hours a day on SMS messages. With today's technology, over 80% of our students have cell phones, computers or access to both. It makes a difference in the classroom tremendously. I think it is great that our children have a way to not only use these types of technology, but also learn how to use them and perhaps use them more efficiently than some adults. It opens up a whole other world of opportunities for them. I do not know what the world would be like today without the use of the some of the things the "Did You Know" video showed. Google and YouTube are two websites that I usually visit several times a day. It is no wonder so many people search/watch theses websites a day! The things that you can learn from websites, are sometimes things you cannot find anywhere else. I am glad the classrooms are more technologically advanced than what they were when I was in grade school. The more different possibilities we can put in their hands to learn, the better they will succeed in life.

Mr. Winkle Wakes
When watching this video, I kept thinking of my parents and grandparents. I think they feel the same way about technology that Mr. Winkle felt after he woke up from his 100 year slumber. I even have to take a step back and take it in when I see something new for the first time. What is really interesting is to think about what the world will look like in years from now. I think we are pretty advanced now but I'm sure that in 100 years people will look back and wonder how we made it without the new gadgets of the future. The video made a valid point about schools. Mr. Winkle might have found comfort in knowing that the schools were the only thing that had not had any technological changes in 100 years but I think it is absurd. Children need to be taught to use the types of things that are waiting for them in the outside world. Every child needs to have access to a computer for learning purposes and for real life purposes. Classrooms need computers and they need computer programs. There should not be a dusty computer in the back of the class that never gets used. It needs to be used and it needs to be taught about. There are so many possibilities that can be opened through the use of a computer. Sorry Mr. Winkle, no more dust allowed!  

Ken Robinson: School Kills Creativity
Creativity in the life of our students is something that should not be looked over. I know of cases all the time when a classroom gets behind or if there just isn't enough time, art or music will be cut out of the schedule. When I was in school, I remember only having music once a week and that was if the music teacher could make it. I don't even remember having art which could possibly explain the lack of creativity I have now. Being creative is important and that is exactly what Ken Robinson is trying to express in his video. He is a brilliantly funny man and I really enjoyed listening to what he had to say. Why do we find music and art not as important as the usual subjects? I am not taking away from the importunate of math or reading, it's just that think about the current top earning people in our nation. I am sure the majority of them earn their money from their creativity or their ability to excel in music, art, dance, and/or so on. Education allows our children to succeed in life. An education plus a creative edge will only take them farther. I can see where creativity can be stifled in the classroom. I get aggravated when children are told to color in the lines of a coloring page. Why not let them color the picture however they please? There are tons of ways we could get our students to express their creative sides in our classroom. Give them projects that allows room for adding their own touch to it. Assign art projects that coincide with the lesson of the day. The story Ken Robinson told about the famous choreographer is an inspiring story that should be told more often. I know of several students who have been medicated for ADHD when they just are simply bored with what they are given. They would probably strive just as well as the girl from the story if they were given a chance to take up an art such as dance or music in place of being medicated to sit still and pay attention in a classroom. As future educators, we all need to remember this video when we are placed in the situation to skip art or music class one day. Encourage your students to be creative as I will too!  

A Vision for 21st Century Learning
The main argument in this video is about the way our students should be taught and how they should be learning. It is time to get away from "Burp Back" education as our professor calls it. It is beyond boring to sit in a classroom all day, read from a text book, and have facts shoved down our throats. It is time to start a new way of teaching. I think the best way to do this is through an interactive approach. Our students will actually learn the material if they have a more hands-on approach. We can stand and tell them information all day long and at the end of the day, it is gone from their head. But if we help them learn through a way that they are actually teaching themselves the information, it has a much better chance of remaining in their knowledge.  

Harness Your Students' Digital Thoughts
Vicki Davis, the teacher in the video, is doing a great thing with her students. Those students will probably be more prepared for life when they get out of school than other students who do not have the opportunities to learn computer programs. I am glad she did not do all the work for them and taught them how to teach themselves. I think one thing that we sometimes tend to do, or at least I know I do, is do something for our students when they need help. Even if it is something simple, I have found that I just offer to do it for them. I know I need to stop this. Our students will not learn anything if everything is always done for them. Along with every other video I have watched today, it proves that our students will learn better by doing something for themselves. I have never really got the point of blogging, until now. I love the idea that these students are blogging to communicate with other students around the word. The students will learn things from other peers their age that they might not want to hear from adults. It is great the unlimited possibilities students have these days.

Project 2

Blog Assignment 1

Hello. My name is Ashlea Leytham. I am twenty two years old. I married my best friend in March of 2008. Our daughter is the center of our world. Everything we do is for her. She is almost five years old now. She's growing up so fast. My absolute favorite place in the world is Disney World. Seeing the look of amazement, excitement, and pure happiness on children's faces when they are there, is something I will never get tired of seeing. I love kids. Seeing them happy makes me happy.

Mobile, Alabama has been my home since I was born. Leaving my home and my family was never an option for me when it came to choosing a college. My husband and my two older sisters were all attending South when I graduated high school so it was an easy decision for me to follow suit. Growing up, I knew I wanted to do something that involved helping children. When I first started at South, I wanted to be a pediatric nurse. I found out real quick that the hospital scene was not for me. It wasn't until my daughter came of learning age that I really started thinking about teaching. I would get so excited about sitting down with her and helping her learn her ABC's and now I am currently helping her to read. When I finally changed my major to elementary education, I really started enjoying college. The thought of having a career where I can help others and be around children all day is sure to be the best job out there for me!


Time Management by Randy Pausch
I have never heard of Randy Pausch before I watched the Time Management video. I really enjoyed the things he said. The statement that stuck out the most was about not stressing about doing things right. It is more important to do the right things. Doing wonderful at the wrong things does not really count for much. I think this is a great statement to live by. I have already passed it on a few times and will continue to spread the message.


Time Management by Penn State
I usually do okay with managing my time. I have a planner that I stick to and it helps out a lot. The lesson about time management from Penn State has awesome tips to become better aware of your time. The tip that will be most helpful for me is saying 'no' to someone when I do not have the time. I hate to let people down but interfering with the time I have planned for things is not okay and it's time that I learn to deal with that, especially with the amount of time we need for EDM310!

Practice Post

My first post.