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!