Blog Post #14

WHAT DID DR. STRANGE LEAVE OUT??

For blog post 14 we are to create a lesson plan in our area of specialty. I chose to do a lesson plan on Bullying. I chose this topic because Bullying is very important to me. I feel a lot of people including educators overlook bullying. Bullying is always happening throughout life no matter what age you are. I hope I can make a change in bullying one day. I will not allow bullying at all in my classroom and if I see any students bullying there will be consequences.

For my lesson plan I would like to make a blog post of Bullying

Write a paragraph explaining how you could change bullying in your future classroom.

Bullying is a serious problem most people overlook. If people took bullying more serious there would be less of it. I think as educators you should set rules and guidelines in your classroom. There should be absolutely no bullying in a classroom. The teacher should be very strict on the rules and let their classroom know from the beginning that they will NOT tolerate bullying or bad behavior from the beginning and if there is any there will be serious consequences. Another thing an educator can do to help stop bullying is to have a positive learning environment and to let all their students know they are loved and cared for. I feel a lot of students bully for the attention because they don't get it at home or something like that. If we showed our students that we care, have a positive learning environment, and have set rules and guidelines in the classroom, I think it would help stop bullying!

Last C4T

For my last C4T I had Mrs. Julie Vincentsen. I am so happy I was introduced to her blog. She has such inspiring and touching post! I will continue to visit Mrs. Vincentsen's blog!

Mrs. Vincentsen's Post:

In a recent IEP meeting, a parent shared that her son was frustrated because he could not read the same books as his peers and he felt ‘out of it’ because he couldn’t engage in their conversations about the latest and greatest books they were reading. This led to an engaging conversation about audio books and I immediately emailed my sister as she struggled with the same thing with her two boys until they discovered audio books. She put the below together for me to share with parents. Thanks, Lisa :)
Audio books allow us to foster a love for literature separately from the mechanics of reading. This is essential in motivating struggling readers. Audio books also allow children to read independently and enjoy the same titles as their peers. With the availability and discrete size of iPods and mp3 players, a student can listen to a book in class without drawing the attention of peers.
Sources of audio books:
The public library is a great first place to check. Many libraries provide audio books that can be downloaded to your computer or mobile devise for free.
Audible.com •Availability: Audible.com is a commercial outlet and is available to all. It is owned by Amazon and works seamlessly with the Kindle as well as other devises. •Price: Membership is $15/mo. and includes one download per month. Additional books can be downloaded for a fee ($8-15 ea). Audible often offers membership deals and other specials. Call their customer service for the best current plan or to suspend membership. •Quality: Audio books are available for many titles and are read by professional actors. •Read-along: In order to read along with the audio, the book must be obtained separately. •Devices: Each book can be downloaded onto multiple devises including personal computer, mp3 player or iPods. •Textbooks: Textbooks are not available. •Other: Some schools are obtaining memberships from Audible at discounted prices.
BookShare (www.bookshare.org) •Availability: Bookshare is available only to people with print-based disabilities. •Price: It is free. •Quality: The audio is computer generated and can be sped up or slowed down. •Read-along: BookShare is unique because the download includes text and audio. The text is highlighted to assist reading along. •Devices: It is easy to use on a computer or iPod app. The app can download a book in less than a minute, even while on the go. •Textbooks: Textbooks are available, but only if the membership is obtained by the school and the child is on an IEP. •Other: This is a great tool for people with tracking issues and to assist in fluency rates by reading along with the highlights. However, readers can be frustrated by the computer-generated voice, which, for example, pronounces “Hermione” incorrectly.
Learning Ally (www.learningally.org) (formerly Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic) •Availability: LearningAlly is available only to people with print-based disabilities. •Price: An individual, unlimited, annual membership fee is $99. •Quality: Books are read by humans – volunteers, authors and professionals. Some readers make mistakes. Some books are read by multiple readers. •Read-along: In order to read along with the audio, the book must be obtained separately. •Devices: Audio books can be downloaded onto a computer or iPod app. •Textbooks: LearningAlly is unique because textbooks are available to all members and illustrations and graphs are also read and described. Textbooks are frequently read by experts in the field. •Other: If a book is not available, it can be requested and will be recorded, often within two weeks.
Thanks also to @KarenJan who shared via Twitter: “& don’t forget the Speak Selection and Reader features built into iOs devices.”


My First Comment:

Principal Vincentsen, I am a students in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I think audio books for a struggling reader is an excellent idea. I know a lot of children that don’t like to read because they struggle and this would really help children love reading again. It is also a great way to use technology in the classroom. Thank you for this helpful post.


Mrs. Vincentsen's Post:

I sent this email to the families at the school where I am Principal this afternoon and thought I would share here as well:
Good afternoon,
As we pause today to celebrate the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I cannot help but be struck by how far we have come as a nation and as a people in the past 60 years. It is astonishing to me that it was only 58 years ago (1954) that the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Bd. of Education that the doctrine of “separate but equal” has no place in the sphere of public education. Society takes time to catch up with legislation as is clear by the fact that nine years later, in 1963, Dr. King gave his seminal “I Have a Dream” speech. Visiting classrooms last week, I was able to participate in many lessons focused on Dr. King and his legacy. We are fortunate to be educators, parents and guardians in 2012 where we have the responsibility to teach our children the values of peace, equality and inclusion.
If you are interested in exploring Dr. King’s legacy further with your child(ren) I encourage you to visit Wonderopolis – a website sponsored by the National Center for Family Literacy. Today’s “Wonder of the Day” is “What is a civil right?” There is a powerful, short video and some extension activities in which you may be interested.

Michael Jackson’s lyrics in the background of the video are so fitting: “I’m starting with the man in the mirror…if you want to make the world a better place take a look at yourself and make the change.” I think Dr. King would agree that this is a powerful message for us to share with our children who will be the leaders of tomorrow.
Have a safe and enjoyable week,
Julie A. Vincentsen
Principal
Helen Keller Elementary School
“What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all its children.” John Dewey

My Second Comment:

Hello, My name is Chelsea Hadley. I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. Thank you for sharing this with everyone. This email is so touching and inspiring! I really enjoyed reading your post!

Project #12 Smartboard Part B

PLN Final Report

Final Report on Personal Learning Network

For my Personal Learning Network I used Symbaloo. Through the course my PLN has grown so much! I love using symbaloo. It helps me stay organized and keep websites and other things that are very important. I have played around on many blogs and followed many. I use Symbaloo for all sort of things. I really enjoy using it. Symbaloo is my default website on my computer. This is perfect because I can get to every page I'll need from here. I am so glad I was introduced to this I will use this for many years!

C4K Summary for November

My first C4K for November was Niuma.

Niuma Post:

What if I had a Super Powers
Once upon a time there was a boy call Megamind and he saw a little rock on the floor. It was shining in his face and it looked like a baby blue colour. I walked over to pick it up and it changed me into a big Megamind hulk. I felt very strong, fast, powerful and I could fly very fast like a speeding rocket.
As I was flying I saw a big gangs blowing up the town then I zoomed straight down and punched the ground with one hit and everything was flying like a rock around in the road. Then the gangs look at Big Megamind Hulk and then the gangs started shooting him. Big Megamind Hulk was bulletproof and he start walking towards them so all the gangs start running away from him. Then Big Megamind Hulk ran fast to catch them,they all went to jail then the police say thank you for helping us and saving our town It ok.

My Comment:

Very Interesting and thoughtful post! I really enjoyed reading this post. There are a few words spelled wrong but other than that wonderful post! Keep up the great work!


My second C4K for November was Skye's story about big bird.
Skye's Video:


My Comment:

Hello Skye My name is Chelsea Hadley from the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed watching your video. You did a great job!! Keep up the good work!

Blog post #13

In this video,A girl who demanded school, Kakenya talks about her life. She is a member of the Maasai Tribe in Africa. Her mother stayed at home and took care of the animals and children. She also grew the crops to feed her family. Kakenya’s father was a police officer and he only came home once a year. Kakenya went to school until 8th grade. After 8th grade she had to go through a ceremony where she was to become a woman and after that she was to get married to who she was engaged to. She had been engaged since the age of 5. This did not work for Kakenya because she had a dream to become a teacher and if you were married that couldn’t happen. Her mother did not get the opportunity to chase her dreams and get an education so she always pushed Kakenya to get an education. So Kakenya went to her father and told him she would not attend the ceremony if she couldn’t go back to school. Her father agreed to let her return to school because all children were supposed to attend the ceremony. Kakenya attended the ceremony and her father made her get a female circumcision. She healed for about three weeks and then returned to school. While in school she met a guy that was from Oregon. Kakenya then got accepted into Randolph Women’s College in Virginia. She needed help though with the travel expenses so her community came together and helped her. She came to the U.S. and learned while in school that the ceremony she went through was illegal. Kekenya then went back to her community in Africa and started a girls home. She helped 125 girls achieve their dreams and finish school. This video taught me to never give up on your dreams. Kekenya was determined to chase her dreams and to make a change and she did just that! This was a wonderful video and I hope to show my students this video to show them how important it is to never give up and to always chase your dreams.

After watching Shane Koyczan: To This Day ... for the bullied and beautiful , we learned many things about bullying and different things we can do as educators to help our children grow, instead of putting them down. We all remember being little and wanting to do the things we thought would be fun such as being an artist or an astronaut.As Mr. Koyczan said, despite all we dreamed about or aspired to be, we were told to think about things more realistic. How can we ask our students what they want to be, and then, tell them it is not really possible and to think about something else? As educators, we learned we must always shape our students around their aspirations and dreams. That is what inspires creativity and promotes happiness. We learned the importance of continuing to follow our dreams. It is important to have a belief in something for yourself, no matter if you are five, twenty-five, or fifty-five. Dreaming is important.

We also learned much about bullying and depression from this video. We learned that it is important to stand up for yourself but do not resort to violent means. This is important for us, because we want our students to know the importance of bullying in and outside the classroom. One thing that really stuck to us is how bullying sticks with you. Mr. Koyczan discusses a story of a woman who was bullied at a young age for a small birthmark, and even as an adult, she does not feel she is beautiful. Depression, as well, as bullying is something that also needs attention in schools. It is important as educators for us to know that we have to bring the light to these children. We must continue to help them see their dreams and differences from other people as a strength and not a weakness. As Mr. Koyczan said, “there is a reason why you keep trying, despite when everyone has told you to quit.” We have to guide our students in to seeing what each and every one them tries for.





Mae Jemison: Teach Arts and Sciences Together

As an astronaut, doctor, and someone who has had a lifelong passion for art and dance, Mae Jemison knows better than anyone that art and science go hand in hand. In a TED Talk, Jemison discusses how important it is that educators understand the link between art and science. According to Jemison, teaching these subjects together will create the bold thinkers of tomorrow.

Jemison's mission is to inspire educators to reintegrate arts and sciences. It is important to understand that the idea that art and science are unrelated subjects is an outdated opinion that limits students. The fact is, art and science are intertwined to the core. It takes creativity for a scientist to think outside of the box and make a discovery, and an artist is analytical when he or she creates a sculpture or decides what to paint. The stereotype that people are either artists or scientists is very limiting to students because it tells them that they can only be one or the other. Why can't we be creative, intuitive and logical at the same time? We can. That's why keeping arts and sciences separate in schools is such an outdated method.

We agree with Jemison that it is crucial educators see the links between art and science and begin to reintegrate these subjects, as one, into the classroom.

Blog post #12

I really enjoyed watching Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk,How To Escape Education’s Death Valley.In his speech he talks about one major crisis in the education system which is the dropout rate. In American society there is a 60% rate and in the Native American society, an 80% dropout rate. The drop out rate does not include the students still in school that are disengaged in learning or that dont enjoy it. It isn't about not spending enough money or making initiatives to improve education because we spend more money on education than any other country but the problem is that were not teaching the most successful way for our students to learn. Sir Ken Robinson also talks about ADHD and I couldnt agree with him more on what he says about it. He says just because a child is hyperactive doesn't mean the child should be put on medicine to be calmed down. Any child that sits in a classroom for hours when they are young are going to get bored and start acting up. That is why we need to make learning exciting and keep the children engaged and eager to learn. Mr. Ken Robinson then describes what he means by "death valley" in his title. Death valley is a desert by his house that nothing grows on. He describes how death valley and our students are similar. Death valley doesnt have anything because it doesnt rain there so it doesnt have grass, flowers, trees, or anything like that. When it did rain though flowers and grass grew. The same with students, If teachers dont teach them anything then they wont learn anything. If we do teach them then they will learn. This is a great video by Mr. Robinson and I cant wait to apply all the knowledge I have learned to my future classroom and students.

Changing Education Paradigms

In the video, Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms, Sir Ken Robinson discusses reforming the education system. According to Robinson, the current system is outdated and no longer working. The culture of schools and institutions needs to shift. Robinson compares schools to factories; there is a production line mentality. Students are grouped by age with no consideration taken for their personal learning styles or levels. This is the old way of thinking. The new way is to focus on the individuality of students and encourage them to be creative, engaged and present in the current moment. What schools once labeled 'cheating' is now collaboration, and should be encouraged. Some of the best learning happens in groups, so schools should support collaboration and recognize the value it has in the classroom.

The ADHD Epidemic

We found Robinson's views on ADHD very interesting. He theorizes that ADHD is not an epidemic, but the result of children living in the most stimulating period in history. Every day students are bombarded with information overload. Computers, phones, advertisements and televisions are just some of the technologies that students are constantly immersed in. Robinson says it is no wonder that kids can't focus in the classroom-- compared to these technologies, school seems boring! This is one reason why it is so important for schools and teachers to implement technology in the classroom. Technology is relevant and engaging to students, which leads to better learning.

The Importance of Creativity

In this video, Sir Ken Robinson discusses the significance of creativity. He said many things that we agree with as a group and think are quite interesting. One of the first things he said that struck our thinking was when he said, “creativity is as important as literacy.” This, we believe, is completely true. We learned from this video, that in today’s education systems, the arts, keys of creativity, are pushed to the bottom of importance. The basis of education is not to teach exploration, creativity, outside of the box thinking. Education is based on our academic ability, and what will get students the most successful and likely job in their future. From watching this video, we had thoughts about many different things. What if a child is a born-to-be dancer or artist? What if that child is constantly being pushed into math and science, when the child can not stay still and has to move to think? Sir Ken Robinson explains a story just like this. A girl who was brought to a doctor, because her mother thought she had adhd, because she could never stay still or concentrate. The doctor watched the girl and turned the radio on. The girl was instantly dancing. The doctor told the mother nothing was wrong with her, but that the girl was meant to be a dancer. We learned from Sir Ken Robinson and this story that every person has different strengths, and our education system should be based on that and not just academics.



Another thing we learned from Ken Robinson is how children take chances at their age versus when they grow up. By this, I mean that when we were little, we might say something that we did not know the meaning of but wanted to say it anyway. This could have been a bad thing or a good thing depending on the word. As adults, we are afraid to make mistakes or say something wrong. In education, students are taught that mistakes are wrong. The students are based on a system that the more mistakes you make, the lower your grade will be. One thing we, as a group, agree on, is that mistakes are how we learn! If mistakes are pushed as wrong, then how will students be creative? They will not want to think outside the box, because of their inner fear that the thought might be wrong. Our education system is pushing our students out of creativity, and we have to change the fundamentals of our education system in order for students to take full advantage of their greatest strengths and creativity.

Project 12 B / Project 15

Lesson Plan 3

This is an Geography lesson plan developed for the fourth grade. In this lesson plan the students will create their own country.

C4T #3

For my C4T #3 I had Mrs. Allanah King

Mrs. Allanah's post:
iPad Work Flow
Audioboo- Safari- Blogger
Audioboo http://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/audioboo/id305204540?mt=8
Audioboo is a native iPhone app that you can use on your iPad. You can easily record audio and upload it to your blog. You can record up to five minutes of audio.
Audioboo
Either log in or sign up to have an Audioboo account. Click record.
There is a 3, 2, 1 countdown before you start recording.
You can pause the recording as you go to take a breath or gather your thoughts.
Click publish when you’re done recording. Name your recording and add a photo. It will queue to upload. Then you’ll see a little red 1 added to My Boos.
Click on the arrow to the right of your Audioboo.
Click on MORE and OPEN IN SAFARI.
Look for where is says EMBED. Press and hold to select all of it when you see the embed code.
Blogger
• Now you are ready to share your video. Go to your Blogger in Safari and log in.
• Click on the pencil to write a new blog post.
•Paste the copied embed code into the body of the blog post.
•If you have labels on your blog remember to add it. Then click Publish.
•Go to Safari to see how the blog post looks!

Go to Safari to see how the blog post looks and listen on line!
If you would like to view this tutorial as a printable pdf here it is.

My First Comment:
Hello. My name is Chelsea Hadley. I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. Thank you for sharing this post! I love learning new ideas about technology. It is very important to keep up to date with technology for your students. I have enjoyed reading your blog. Thank you for all the helpful resources.


Mrs. Allanah's Post:
I was visiting a school recently and as I was leaving I spoke with the office manager/teacher aide who was individually testing a child on his Spell Write spelling list.
She would say the word, say it again in context and say the word again
This was great as it showed me that the teacher was trying to differentiate the learning for individual students to find out what they knew individually rather than testing groups of learners when many of them were maybe not ready for it or had already moved on.
What has always concerned me though was the time it takes to individually test children in this sort of way.
When teaching, to overcome this issue I made a recordings of myself administering the test using Garageband or Audacity on a PC. I then put those tracks into an iTunes playlist and put it on my iPod Nano or iPad.
I also made a template like this for children to record their words so they would know where they were up to.

This worked really well as the children could play the track at a pace that suited them and rewind words if they wanted to for clarification or if I was going too fast.
With permission from NZCER, the publishers of Spell Write, I share with you the audio of me reading Essential List One to give you the idea. It would take no more time for you to record yourself doing this once for your whole class as it would to do it once for one child. And then you never have to do it again. I have the other audio tracks and list templates I am happy to share with you if you let me know.
I also linked to Spelling City website or iPad app on my the sidebar of our class blog so children could play games and test themselves on lists based on the Spell Write lists.
Here is the Spell Write List One words but I link to the rest as well so all children have access. You are welcome and encouraged to link to my other lists as well if you wish.
http://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=1914661
I found that doing these things meant that children could move at a pace and level that suited them- with some children making much accelerated progress.

My Second Post:
Hello. My name is Chelsea Hadley and I am in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. This post is so helpful. This is a wonderful thing to keep in mind as I am working towards to teaching degree. I really enjoyed reading this post and I plan to visit and read more post! Thank you for sharing!

C4K Summary

My first C4K for October was Michael from Ms. Eppele's class in British Columbia, Canada.

Michael's Post:
1. Right away in Chapter 7, Melody talks about how she dreams she can do anything. Think about a dream that you have had. How can you make that dream into a reality?
2. Why do you think it is hard for teachers to stay with Melody and her class?
3. Why do you think the episode with Mrs. Billups is important to the story as a whole?
One of my dreams was to have a pet tiger I could save up money and buy a tiger online and they takecare of it and send they also sed you a link so you can see it.
She can’t talk and all of her friends have disabilities.
Because she treats the kids like there in kindergarden.

My Comment:
Hey Michael. My name is Chelsea Hadley and I go to the University of South Alabama. I see you have been posting blogs about a book you are reading. It seems very interesting! I have plenty of dreams that I want to be reality and the way I think do it is just try your hardest and be the best you can be! Nice and Interesting Post! Keep up the good Work!


My second C4K for October was Elisee from Mrs. Mclean's class.

Elisee Post:
The first level below is called the sub floor, the sub floor is where all the roots and the worms live. Like this guy. The next level is called the floor,the floor is the ground
Like the deer. next it is the under story. The under story is close to the top
The squirrel live’s in the under story and finally it’s the canopy . The canopy is the top of the whole entire tree.
The bird is usually at the top of the tree’s.
That is the end of ”The Levels Of The Forest”.
Sites
http://ruthvenparknationalhistoricsite.com/nature/birds/
http://www.co.marion.or.us/PW/ES/wastereduction/compost/worm.htm
http://wildlifexteam.com/squirrels/
http://animalcrossing.wikia.com/wiki/Deer
The end please comment :)

My Comment:
Hello. My name is Chelsea Hadley and I go to the University of South Alabama. I enjoyed reading your post! I love all the examples, pictures, and links! Very interesting and great job!


My third C4K for October was Andrew from Mr. Warren's class.

Andrew's Post:
The Cross Country Race
On Tuesday the 21st of May, the Medbury Year 5s had our cross country at about 10:50 am. After maths we were told to go and warm up. Outside the rain was hammering down. My Dad told me to take my inhaler because of my asthma.
Five minutes later, Mr Taylor our sports teacher, told us to line up. I felt 1 million butterflies inside me. Finally, the clapper went and we were running hard. I felt something land in my lip I thought it was water so I swallowed it, then I realized it was mud and tried to spit it it out. I then realised everyone but Louis was in front of me so I decided to forget about the mud and just run.
On the first lap, at the rugby post, I pulled a head of Louis and I ran as fast as I could. On the last lap I caught up with Jack and Alex but then they pulled away. I could see the finish line about three metres ahead of me so I decided to put on the gas and ran as fast as I ever had before at last I crossed the finish line. I came 23rd (2nd to last) and about 8 metres behind me Louis finished 24th (last).
Later that day, I found out that Sam Idiens came 1st. I was quite tired after but it was fun, though I am not completely looking forward to it next year.

My Comment:
Hey Andrew. My name is Chelsea Hadley and I go to the University of South Alabama. I enjoyed reading your post about the cross country race. It sounded like it fun and tiring! Keep trying hard and you will keep getting better! Keep up the good work!


The last C4K I had for October was Brittney from Mrs. Horst class

Brittney's Post:
The past couple weeks when I have been reading out of my mind I have made a text to self connection. The connection is about my encounters and memory’s of my child hood friend who had cerebral palsy (CB)Just like melody.My mom introduced me to her when I was four . My mom knew her because my mom was her home care nurse. She was extremely nice and always smiling. I used to love coming with my mom after school to see her and eat ice cream sandwiches with her mmm she always had the tasty kind! Another connection I can make to this is a text to text connection. I can relate this text to the world because many people don’t understand melody and her (CB) in the book and people in the world don’t understand how people cant control how there body moves and how its positivly uncontrolable. Another connection I can make to this book is from a article I read online. Even though I could not understand most of it I got the idea its almost impossible to stop what melody calls the tornadoes. Those are my connections and thoughts.

My Comment:
Hello Brittney,
My name is Chelsea Hadley and I go to the University of South Alabama. I enjoyed reading your post! It was very interesting. You might want to explain a little more next time but other than that great post! Keep up the good work!

Blog Post #11

<a href=" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpiN53YIJi-WPqT9x94Ashz_D9RvdFO21Wz5g-fOdQnKq69bPIEbw7ux_40v7HIeaji5t3o08UNyEc_NjTxKifgYs8ruzPn7whZMZA7NDUEiUkE-XKvSf9aB4znekOz3yCzaNQUAz0GZE/s320/technology+classroom.jpg" title="source: synergybroadcast.com" v="IvPZtTej0jQ&feature=player_embedded" watch="" www.youtube.com="" />Mrs. Cassidy's First Graders

Project #12 Smartboard

Project #10