Sarah Byrd
EDM310
Project #6
C4K-September
Post #1
Talent or Hard Work
Hale H.
Hale compares talent and hard work in his blog. He believes that hard work is more important than talent. He even mentions that if you work hard enough you can become better than the person with talent. Basketball was a perfect example that Hale gave for talent and hard work.
My Comment:
Hale, you did a great job comparing talent and hard work. I also love how you mention that if you work hard enough you can become even better than the person with talent. I believe that effort has a lot to do with sports, and I love your examples of NFL and basketball.
Post #2
My First Blog Post
Ava
Ava is 10 and loves soccer, rollerblading, and fishing. Her birthday is November 1st. She likes to be creative and seems to be very artsy. She mentioned how much she loves recycling art!
My Comment:
Ava, I love to be creative and do artsy projects too! It is so great that you like to do recycling art.
Post #3
Top Ten
Molly
Molly's post is very adorable. She wants to make post of her blog of top ten things from a category and she want the people who read her blog to pick their favorites, and ultimately picking her topic for that week.
My Comment:
Molly, your idea of doing a "Top Ten" is such a fantastic idea! This is a great way for people who read your blog to get involved too. I am looking forward to seeing some of your Top Ten lists.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Blog Post #6
Project Based Learning
Video 1
Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher
I learned in this video that Project Based Learning is always evolving. Projects can be more than showing what the students learned, but the goal is to learn with PBL. The content in the projects is what the teacher wants them to learn. PBL must have student interest though, picking the right projects is very important. The example Anthony Capps gave in the video was a project were the students wrote letters to their congressman. Capps asked his students what they thought about women being able to be on the front lines of combat. This was big news at the time. Capps was able to bring writing, social studies, and reading together in one project. He first told his students to find female historian figures that demonstrated success. They related this to equality in culture and as a class wrote what they thought about women on the front lines of combat. All the students wrote letters, and 8 were chosen to be sent to the congressman. I thought it was interesting that Capps said the students didn't take it personally if their letter wasn't chosen, because each student was very much involved in revising, reflecting, and choosing the best letter to be sent. Capps mentions that the most important part of PBL is the part where students "revise, review, and reflect"
Video 2
Project Based Learning Part 2: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher
Another example of PBL by Capps was a Afghanistan project. Students were to write as if they were children in Afghanistan. Students used all kinds of programs to pull information of various things that were happening in Afghanistan. Students were very excited and were guided very little from Capps. However, a student whose father served across seas in Afghanistan was worried about his child learning about Afghanistan, and wanted his child to do an alternate assignment. This is definitely an example of being flexible when things are thrown at you unexpectedly. "With PBL never limit your students with giving them exactly what you want them to do, create an opportunity for them to go beyond what you want them to do" quoted by Capps. PBL is successful because the students are learning, and are getting to have freedom to choose. Student choice is a huge part of PBL, because when you give students the opportunity to choose what they want to do with a project they become more proud and creative
iCurio
iCurio is an online tool that allows students to search the web safely. First of all it is a search engine; students can search whatever they like and teachers don't have to worry about any inappropriate items popping up on the screen. Next, iCurio has a storage feature. Students learn to organize online, and it is so simple that students usually learn as they go. iCurio also has a timeline feature, where students can search by criteria or historical figures to find a timeline of what they want to know. Lastly, there is a read along feature, which can be a great for students with any disabilities or for any student who would like to just hear the words on the screen. This program seems incredible and Capps recommends it to all students from Elementary to High School
Discovery Education
Discovery Ed is another program that Capps recommends to teachers. Discovery Ed brings video and visual learning into the classroom, and basically "brings an expert into the classroom via video". The text of what is being taught for the day can be brought to life with Discovery Ed. Students can also incorporate this audio and video into projects. Capps mentions that the students don't necessarily like this more than reading but associate reading with audio and video in his classroom now.
Video 5
The Anthony - Strange Tips for Teachers Part 1
Dr. Strange and Capps discussed tips for teachers.
- Be a constant learner yourself
- As teachers, we are constantly learning, reading, and growing professionally.
- Teaching never ends it is hard work; it is very rewarding
- Be fascinated in your teaching and learning.
- Teaching is hard work, but you can have fun with it.
- Be flexible
- Surprises happen!
- Be creative, and respond to events that can happen with patients
- Start with a goal
- Have an end goal
- Focus on your goal
- Engage
- Make content they care about
- When the students are excited about projects, they are more proud of their work
- Reflect
- Critics
- Revision
- Always making their peers better
Don't Teach Tech - Use it
Although technology can be very controversial it is here to stay. Even in low income areas technology is available for students. Capps tells teachers the you shouldn't teach it, but teach by using programs one at a time, and that way they can build on each other, and they are mastering each program as they go. Students get to be creative and it is also great for the teacher because you don't have to pay for anything, its clean, and its sharable in the classroom.
Video 7
Additional Thoughts About Lessons
According to Capps lessons should be 4 layers thick. Every layer has a goal, and as the teacher it is important to accomplish your goals daily, so you can accomplish your weekly goals, then unit goals, and in the end you will have accomplished your goals for the year!
- Year
- Unit
- Week
- Daily lesson
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Project #15
Search Engines
Bing looks the closest to Google to me. The layout of the homepage is almost identical. I do like that it shows major events and news links that are pictured going across the bottom of the Bing homepage. It looks more simple than Yahoo and I like my search engines to be very simple. Also, while you type in your words in the search engine a picture and information will pop up to the right of the search engine to make sure you are typing exactly the information you want to know.
Ask was a search engine i remembered using as a kid on projects in middle school. Ask.com seems a little childish in a way. Although it is not a "child's search engine" I always thought I grew up that it wasn't the best way to get information from the web. When using Ask, it answers your questions, so you put a question in the search engine, for example "Who is Miley Cyrus?" and the information comes flooding in.
DuckDuckGo is a search engine that I have never used before. Its not the best, but its not horrible either. I like how the homepage is very simple, and offers you to "Take a Tour" of the site, and shows all the information available on DuckDuckGo. I liked how top articles popped up across the top of the screen when you type a certain thing in the search engine. This is a good search engine but its not anything more than Google is offering.
WolframAlpha is very interesting search engine! I had never use this search engine before and I like it very much. I typed in "miley cyrus" and what popped up wasn't sites to other places about her, but it provided me with a page of information just on her, very similar to a Wiki page information on Miley Cyrus. I did like this search engine a lot, but if you were looking for more information from other sites this search engine might not be best for you.
Blekko is very similar to Yahoo to me. This search engine seems to be used more for celebrities and gossip. The homepage is very simple, but it has who are the trending celebrities only on the front. I wouldn't use this site, because it doesn't seem like I would get any good information from it.
iSeek is a very outdated search engine. It hasn't upgraded with technology at all. Not much information came up either when I searched from it. The lefthand side shows information that you might think is helpful, but it just makes what you wrote in the search engine categorized better. I would not use this search engine.
Intute is an educational search engine. The homepage is very organized and nice, with categories available right in front of you that are educational. It also has a blog information square on the homepage which I think its great because blogs have become so important in education. When using the search engine to look up information, the sites that are given are good sites with good educational information.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Blog Post #5
PLNs What Are They?
My PLN (Personal Learning Network) seemed almost to easy to make. I chose to organize my websites on Symbaloo. It is mind blowing to me that there are so many resources out there on the internet available for me, and Symbaloo is a perfect way to organize my personal and educational websites all on one page, so it's easier to see and navigate through.
Dr. Strange made it clear that my PLN is more than just the organization of my favorite websites on Symbaloo, but a list of people and tools that I can look to for help on my journey of becoming a teacher and even after during my time in a classroom.
People
- Dr. John H Strange- Lead Professor at the University of South Alabama, College of Education. EDM310 Teacher.
- Dr. Jean Clark- Professor at the University of South Alabama, College of Education. Human Growth and Development Teacher.
- Nancy Gaillard- Professor at the University of South Alabama, College of Education. K-6 Education Teacher.
- Caitlin Byrd- My sister-in-law. Graduate of Auburn University with an Early Childhood/Elementary Education degree. Mentor. Encourager.
- Amy Byrd- My sister-in-law. Graduate of Troy University with a Psychology degree. Employed at Hunter Street Baptist Church, as a Assistant and works in Girls Ministry. Author of Dwell. Mentor. Encourager.
- Ana Eagerton- Friend. Graduate of Auburn University with a degree in Early Childhood/Elementary Education. 3rd grade teacher at Bluff Park Elementary School in Birmingham, Alabama.
Tools
- Craftsy
- Blogger
- Google Drive
Below is a picture of my Symbaloo, which I will honestly use now. This is such a great tool and I will continue with it throughout my college experience and on to organize both my personal and educational websites.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Blog Post #4
What Questions Do We Ask? How Do We Ask?
Asking Questions
As a future educator, I have been taught that asking questions to my students is key and important to their learning. I have discussed this in many of my classes this semester. Asking your students follow up questions can give you feedback on who is getting the information and who isn't. My favorite information on this topic is from, The Teaching Center website on Asking Questions to Improve Learning. It mentions great ways to ask the class questions and what kind of questions to ask!
- "When planning questions, keep in mind your course goals." Its good to ask questions on material that you want them to learn and memorize.
- "Avoid asking 'leading questions'." A leading questions has an exact answer and doesn't give the student any creativity to explore the question more.
- "Follow a 'yes or no' question with an additional question" Self-explanatory, but having the students continue talking on their answer is great to hear how they got their answer.
- "Aim for direct, clear, specific questions"
- "In class discussions, do not ask more than one questions once." My job as the teacher is to always have the kids' mind's working, that means always having different and stimulating questions ready.
- "When you plan each class session, include notes of when you will pause to ask and answer questions." THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. I learned in one of my classes that teachers usually only pause a few seconds to wait for an answer from the students. Writing when to pause is great advise because it will help remind me to let the students ponder on my questions.
- "Ask a mix of different types of questions"
These have been excellent tips for myself. I didn't realize that even the small parts of teaching, like asking questions, can have so much to it! Asking questions really are important for student's learning. I intend to always have questions that are making the students' mind's ponder and look deeper into what the answer might be instead of just yes or no responses.
Friday, September 5, 2014
Blog Post #3
How Can You Provide Meaningful Feedback to Your Peers?
How to Peer Edit
- Compliments. It is so important to stay positive, and to always start with saying what you liked about the writing. Writing can be difficult for some students, and encouraging them with their writing can give them much needed confidence.
- Suggestions. Giving ideas and being specific with your peer are key in peer editing. Offer different word choice options, and help with sentences that seem a little disorganized. Use details, and make sure that writer is staying organized and focused on the topic.
- Corrections. This is my personal favorite step in peer editing. It is easy for a student to read over and over their paper and miss punctuation, grammar, sentences, and spelling errors. Having a peer edit a paper puts a new pair of eyes on the writing and keep see things missed. As a peer editor read through the paper. Circle, underline, and use editing marks to correction errors.
Peer Editing Links- available for educational purposes.
What is Peer Editing?
Peer Edit With Perfection Tutorial
Writing Peer Review
Monday, September 1, 2014
Blog Post #2
What Will Teaching in the 21st Century be Like?
Mr. Dancealot's video is a great example of the importance of a teacher to the class. Mr. Dancealot, who taught a dance class, was a good teacher but not teaching in the right way for this particular class. The teacher was teaching dance through a powerpoint presentation and lecture with no interactions from the students. The students were not allowed to even get out of their seats to participate in the class. The message to educators I believe is to show that your students then to be stimulated in class, participating, and learning the material. It is the teachers job to TEACH in the best way possible and get the information across to their students.
Teaching in the 21st Century Outline
- Teaching
- Obsolete
- Students can find info on
- Anything
- Anytime
- Anywhere
- Blogs
- Cell phones
- Wiki
- Youtube
- Limitless
- Teachers are the FILTERS
- Facts
- Content
- Skills
- Remember
- Understand
- Apply
- Analyze
- Evaluate
- Create
The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler, was a great video that showed just how much a student can do with all the technology available to them. The teacher in the video pushed the students to become connected with others and be in charge of their own learning. It may seem like in the video that the teacher isn't really being a teacher and making the students figure it out all the information on their own, but that is not the case. The teacher in the video helps the student build his network and take advantage to all opportunities, and like the video above, Teaching in the 21st Century, teachers are the filters for the information found on the web.
The video of Vicki Davis and her class, Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts, was a great preview of what the modern day class room should look like. I interpreted Davis' thesis from the video to be that the kids should be thinkers, and the teachers are there to guide, but not give the students all the information. The site Edutopia where this video was located, is a great teaching site and such a great resource for educational videos and information for deeper learning techniques.
The movie Who's Ahead in the Learning Race? by John H. Strange asks the who is ahead in the learning race elementary students, undergraduates, and graduate students? It is obvious from Dr. Strange's detailed video of his time in Gulf Shores Elementary School that students from kindergarten through third grade are ahead in the learning race. They are able to do things on Macs and IPads, that many college students are unable to do. This video was very interesting to show that even teachers of younger students can incorporate technology in the classroom.
Flipping the Classroom is a great innovative way of learning that is very new to me. I believe this is an incredible approach and can be useful to me as a teacher! I loved how the teacher in the video was so excited about this particular approach to learning, and she seemed certain that this will help her students become more free thinkers, and her students will come to class with background and knowledge of what she plans to teach that day. Below is the Enganeering Design Process involved with "Flipping".
The article, Bringing the Locker Room Into the Classroom by Craig N. Owens, was interesting to show the comparison and contrast to classroom learning and being on an athletic team. I played volleyball all through high school and could really see the points how similar they are. "Coaching in the Classroom" is a great way to keep students involved and stimulated just like they would be in an sports practice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)