Blog Post 7

#1 Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher -- Group O’Keeffe

What we found that helped us learn the true concept of project-based learning was one of Anthony Capp’s first opening statements. In this statement, he said that projects are something we normally think of being at the end of the lesson as a way to show that the children learned what we taught. In project-based learning, projects are the direct method of teaching. In one example by Anthony Capps, students sent letters to congressman about women in combat and used iCurio, a filtered, educational search engine, to show past historic figures who were minorities and were allowed to serve in combat. The students all made opinions on why or why not they agreed and were able to apply their content found from iCurio in a letter. The students picked 8 out of 28 letters from the class to send to the congressman. From this example, we learned about two of the most crucial things in project-based learning, which are students having an authentic audience and the project being in the student’s interest, such as the community. In addition, the project must be based on the state standards, which tell us what the children are supposed to learn. One of the greatest things that we learned about project-based learning is that it is crucial for students to be able to critique each other’s work as well as reflect on their own work. In non-project-based learning classes, students are graded on mistakes. If you make ten errors, you make a 90. From this type of learning, students are continuously taught that mistakes are bad! In project-based learning, the student is allowed to make mistakes, in order to reflect from them, correct their work, and use that knowledge in the future.

#2 Project Based Learning Part 2: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher -- Group O’Keeffe

One main thing we learned from this video of Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange discussing project-based learning is that not everything will go well. We make mistakes, and nothing will always go as planned. We also learned that project based learning promotes student choice. For example, Anthony Capp’s students are asked to explain child life as an Afghanistan child. Some student’s talk about poverty, some talk about food, and others may discuss other subjects. The students are creating an opportunity to go beyond what we want them to do. We learned that project-based learning takes a lot of planning and work as a teacher for it to be successful. The project may not be successful for our end result, but is successful for the students as for their learning. We are always learning about how we can improve and can receive meaningful feedback as educators. We also learned that the students, parents, and administrators are supportive of project based learning, because as Anthony Capps says, “they know when students are engaged, they are learning”. The students are more prideful for their work, because they are very engaged into it. The parents/administrators get to see these students retain all of this knowledge and apply it to real life situations. Overall, we learned that project-based learning is a great and more effective method of teaching compared to other “burp-back” ways of teaching.

#3 iCurio – Group O’Keeffe

From this video, we learned that there are many different uses for iCurio and ways we can use it effectively in our future classrooms. One way we can use it is for a filtered search engine. Icurio’s information has been pulled and collected along state standards. Also, iCurio can be used as storage capacity for students. This storage capacity is used much like the bookmark tool on our computers. Students no longer have to worry about forgetting their flash drives at home. They are able to log into iCurio and save any information found. As educators, we can use this for projects and class use. If we have a resource we share in class, we can save it to iCurio for our students to look back at just in case they are absent or want to check it out further. For projects, the students can use the educational information provided and use it during and after school. There are no more cancelled assignments because of fire drills! We can save our assignments online for our students to access at home. Icurio gives both the student and us, educators, practice to get organized online. We can save all the information we use in class and continue projects to extend past the classroom while knowing that our students are web searching safely. The most important thing we learned about iCurio is that it is useful for any grade and any subject.

For additional information on iCurio, please check out Kayla Christie’s Blog Post Five.

#4 Discovery Education -- Group O’Keeffe

What we learned from this video is that Discovery Ed is more than just text from a website. It gives the students illustrations and video to go along with the text. Discovery Ed enriches the student’s research experience as well as gives them a way to make what they are learning stick. We all know it is much harder to learn about something if you are just reading about it or if you just see one picture of it in your textbook. This allows children to go past that and truly understand what they are learning in class. We learned of one example that we could use. This is example is that we could be learning about plants in science and so we could assign student’s different plants. Discovery Ed would make ways for these students to extensively learn about each of these plants through videos and pictures. In addition, Discovery Ed is a great way to allow the students to be effective users of technology. We say this, because now, in this generation, we are not relying on our textbook for information. By using this online tool, we are assisting our student’s in progressive 21st century technology and allowing them to effectively broaden their online educational resources.

#5 The Anthony-The Strange List of Tips for Teachers Part 1 -- Kayla Christie

Through the Skype video between Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange, future educators such as myself get to learn many different useful tips for our future classrooms. The first thing I learned by watching the video is that as an educator, we are constantly learning. Our whole life revolves around school, and we end up modeling this behavior for our students. Some people may think that revolving your life around work is a bad thing, but it is just the opposite. For example, I have not even started to teach yet, and I pin future projects that I could use in the classroom off of Pinterest. It is just something we love. As an educator, we are constantly on our toes, and by that, I mean that we have to prepared for anything. You never know what is going to happen that could cause your plans to go completely haywire. Also, reflection is the key to teaching! We are constantly trying to improve all parts of our teaching including our lesson plans and the end product we hope to see from our students. In education, we are consistently thinking ahead, and this changes the way we see our work. It is no longer a job; it is a lifestyle.

#6 Use Technology Don't Teach It! -- Anna Kern

This video is a discussion about technology in the classroom between Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps, a former EDM 310 student and a 3rd grade teacher in Baldwin County.

Anthony talks about effectively teaching technology in the classroom. Which means to not teach it at all! Instead, Capps suggests teachers use technology. Technology is not something that should be on a teacher's to do list; it should be smartly introduced to students by using it. For example, have students create a book report using iMovie or research using iCurio. Introducing one technological tool at a time is key. This ensures students have the time to ask questions as they become familiar with and eventually master the tools. Time at the end of the week or lesson for students to reflect and ask questions is also important. As students become comfortable with the skills they've learned, new technological tools can be introduced.

Using technology gets kids excited and allows them to share their work. These are real tools, and learning how to use them effectively is a skill that students will use throughout their lives.

#7 Additional Thought about Lessons -- Chelsea Hadley

In this video, Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps have a Skype session and talk about how a teacher should plan their year with the standards and other things that need to be done through the year. This video gave me a really good understanding how to do lesson plans. Anthony says that there are 4 layers to a lesson plan. The first layer is the year. Anthony says that you should have a lesson plan and make sure that it covers all of the yearly standards and content that needs to be taught. The second layer is the Unit. Unit means the unit of teaching, and the length and time chosen. Units are usually 6-8 weeks long but within that will be a daily and weekly plan. The third layer is the Week. The weekly plan is about setting a goal and completing it by the end of the week. The last layer is the Daily lesson. Daily plan is what you want to have accomplished that day. These four components make up one well written and successful lesson plan.

C4K Summary

Reece from Mrs. Lieschke's Class
Reece comment:
School plays
Hi guys I just finished the my groups play at 7:30 at night, I started as soon as I got home from school I worked on it none stop, It has 634 words in it and 7 pages, Here is a shout out to Riley you now have two characters, the characters are
Rocky, Britney, harry, Zoe, Tiffany, MR Riley Mr Simpson, Narrator.
Tell me how your play is going please

My comment:
Hey Reece
My name is Chelsea Hadley and I go to the University of South Alabama. I enjoyed reading your post. It sounds like you have worked really hard on your play. Keep up the good work and I hope your play went well!

Izac from Miss Ouano 5th grade class from Auckland, NZ.
Izac comment:
My Weekly Refection
This week I have learned to finish of learning properly like writing and reading. If I could change one thing about this week it would be listening to my teacher and respecting her

My Comment:
Hello my name is Chelsea Hadley and I got to the University of South Alabama. I have enjoyed reading your post! It sounds like you have had an exciting week learning how to write and read properly. Always remember to respect and listen to your teacher so that you can learn as much as possible! Nice post!

1st progress report on PLN Project #2

For my PLN, I created a Symbaloo account.I plan on using symbaloo for a long time and for my teaching career. It is so helpful to have all the websites you need right there in front of you all on one page. Another thing that is really neat is that you can group tiles together and put them in categories. This is a great tool to keep you organized. I know it is definitely going to help me stay organized. Now that I have a Symbaloo account I am going to start adding all the useful websites on there that my teachers give me so by the time I am ready to teach it will all be right there for me. I really enjoy Symbaloo!

Blog post #6

After reading the article The Right Way To Ask Questions by Ben Johnson, I learned some great material on asking questions. Ben explains that Teachers often ask, “Does everybody understand?” and he explains that it is a useless question and I definitely agree with him. So many kids ignore this question because it is asked so often or they are scared to speak up. It is a good idea to ask kids randomly in the class specific questions so you know if they understand or not.

Asking Questions To Improve Learning really helped me with the question of “What questions do we ask?” I learned a couple different types of questions and how to properly ask them. The questions that I learned about are open questions, closed questions, and managerial questions. Open questions are questions that are good for discussion and active learning because they bring about multiple or conflicting answers. Closed questions are good at testing comprehension and showing if a student has retained the information well because they have only a limited amount of correct answers. Managerial questions are used to make sure the students have the needed materials and are understanding.

Three Ways To Ask Better Questions In The Classroom written by Maryellen Weimer. She explains that there are three things you must do in order to ask better questions. The first thing is to prepare the questions. By preparing questions before hand the teacher is more organized and minimizes the risk of asking confusing questions. The second thing is you must play with the questions. She says that questions are most powerful when they best engage students. The third thing is as a teacher you should preserve good questions. Maryellen says that good questions can be reused and even altered to make better questions. After reading these articles I feel I have taken in some great advice for my future classroom.

Project #8

Blog post #5

My sentence videos

This is my passion


This is my sentence

C4T #1

For my C4T #1 I had Josh Stumpenhorst who is a 6th grade Language Arts and Social Science teacher at Lincoln Junior High School in Naperville, IL.

Mr. Stumpenhorst Post:

Tonight when I got home from work my sons asked me if we could head down to our neighborhood park and ride bikes. Knowing it was one of the last free afternoons before school got started for them and me, I naturally said yes and we headed out. Now this particular park is a playground with a baseball field surrounded by a paved path. However, on one side the path take a sharp curve on an access road and it slightly downhill and gravel. As my boys were flying down the path and heading toward this particular spot I saw my older son take the turn too quickly and take a spill. My younger son watched this and slowed down and stopped before hitting this curve. My older son got up, showed me his scratches and continued on riding. The next time around he slowed down and took the curve in control and navigated the gravel with no troubles. However, my younger son apparently did not learn from the hard earned lesson of his older brother and instead took the turn fast and went down hard as well. He looked at me with tears in his eyes expecting me to somehow fix what had happened. I simply looked him (after I realized he was not seriously injured J ) and asked him what he learned. He told me the “gravel is slippery” and proceeded to take the turn with caution for the remainder of the time we were at the park. I was intrigued by this experience from a parenting and teaching perspective. After seeing his older brother fall, my younger son still decided to take the turn quickly and fall. For some reason he felt he could pull off what his brother had not. As a parent, my inclination was the yell out and tell him to slow down but then would he have learned that hard-earned lesson? Do we over protect our kids to the point they have no life experience beyond a parent’s warnings to dictate their actions? I often think we walk a fine line and really need to be mindful of safety but also of allowing natural consequence to serve as teaching tools. In schools we talk a lot about protecting kids from adverse consequences and making sure they don’t fail. I just can’t help but think that if we let kids fall in the gravel more they just might learn more than if we simply tell them the gravel is slippery. Obviously, gravel can be a metaphor for failing a test, being cut from a sports team or being dumped by a girl/boyfriend. As the new school year draws closer I plan on looking for more opportunity to stand near and allow kids to fall down and help them make sense of it rather than making sure they never fall. Disclaimer – I don’t plan on allowing students to play with weapons grade plutonium, electric fences, or rabid raccoons in an effort to learn from failure/pain but simply those small failures we often try to protect kids from in school.

My 1st Comment:

Great Post! I am a student at the University of South Alabama majoring in Education and this is a great idea to have for when I become a teacher. We have to let the students learn the hard way sometimes or they will never learn!! Very interesting post I really enjoyed it!


Mr. Stumpenhorst post:

I Used to Think...
I used to think bad teachers needed to be fired. Now I realize bad teaching largely exists because of a lack of exposure to good teaching. I used to think homework was the way to reinforce learning. Now I realize it a tool used to coerce compliance and reinforce the notion of haves and have-nots in the home. I used to think punishing a student would change their behavior. Now I realize most kids need to be taught how to behave and punishments reinforce a cycle of misbehavior. I used to think we did not need administrators. Now I realize how valuable an effective administrative team can be and the impact it can have on teaching and learning. I used to think parents were something to be feared and I only had to contact them when things were going badly in school. Now I realize the vital role parents play in creating strong partnerships between home and school and how impactful their involvement can be. I used to think the more work I piled on a kid the more they would learn. Now I realize the more valuable the work I ask kids to do the more they will learn. I used to think that modeling for students was always the best way to teach. Now I realize modeling can lead to copying and can rob students of true learning experiences. I used to think Captain Crunch was a good breakfast food. Now I realize how horrible that is and defer to more healthy choices…like Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I used to think I could be a superhero and was responsible for saving the kids in my classroom. Now I realize I can’t do it alone and my responsibility reaches far beyond the walls of my classroom. I used to think having technology in my room made me a better teacher. Now I realize technology will not transform my teaching without me first shifting my teaching. I used to think kids were motivated by grades and that could increase engagement. Now I realize grades are often less a reflection of academic abilities but rather an indication of prowess at playing the game of school. I used to think the kids that always raised their hands were the smartest ones in the room. Now I realize the ones who rarely speak have the most to say and are often the ones worth listening to. I used to think I was a good teacher. Now I realize that good is not good enough and I must to keep working to be better

My 2nd Comment:

Interesting post! I think this is a really interesting post for me as I am majoring in Elementary Education. It gives me a lot to think about and what I need to do. It also reminds me to never stop and always improve myself!! Thank you!

Overall, Mr. Stumpenhorst has a wonderful blog to read. He has many great post to read for future and present teachers!! I had a great time reading them and I will continue to read them!

Project #3 Presentation

Blog Post #4

Flat Stanley Podcast

The first podcast I listened to was Flat Stanley Podcasting that was from a first grade class that had just got done reading about Flat Stanley by Jim Brown. They made their own Flat Stanley's and sent them to their friends and family around the world and had them write stories and take pictures and send them back. These students were encouraged by the worldwide success of another first grade class's podcast that they wanted to make their own.

Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting

The second Langwitches post I chose to read was Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting. I never knew until now that to learn a new vocabulary word you have to hear it at least seventy times. This was very shocking to me because I had no idea and I would have thought the number would have been a lot lower. I also learned that when a person is learning a new language it is helpful to attach a feeling to the word. Podcasting is very important in the learning development as it allows students to read the sounds, see their voices, and interact by manipulating the arrangement of sentences. Students have the skill to edit, delete, emphasize, and much more to their podcast.

The benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom

The last one I learned about was The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom by Joe Dale. This video focuses about how helpful and effective podcasts in classrooms can be. Podcasts can be viewed by anyone at any time and this makes podcasts very suitable. Students that have to miss school can watch their podcasts from home and keep up with their classmates. Podcasts are an exciting way to get students further involved with the classroom. The students now have never lived without personal computers around and handheld technological devices. Podcasting is the perfect way to get the students understanding while making learning more fun and including a use of technology that they are most acquainted with. Students absorb best when they get to participate and have fun. Podcasting is a cherished tool that students can use regularly.

Blog Post #3

What Is Peer Editing and Peer Edit with Perfection Tutorial

In the videos What is Peer Editing and Peer Edit with Perfection Tutorial tells you the meaning of what a peer is, what editing is, and then the full explanation of peer editing. There are three steps to remember when peer editing someone else's writing. The first step is compliments. It is essential to stay optimistic and think about the way you would want someone to proof your work. The second step to remember in peer editing is making suggestions. You can make suggestions about pretty much anything just stay positive. The last step of editing is corrections. Make sure to check for punctuation, grammar, and spelling. Important things to remember while peer editing is stay positive, be precise about what you are correcting and complete all the steps of compliments, corrections and suggestions. It is very important to do all three of these steps so that the writer knows what he or she messed up on and they can fix it next time and not make the same mistake but don’t forget to compliment as well and stay Positive!

Top Ten Peer Review Mistakes

In this video the students did a remarkable job at describing the mistakes that can be made during peer reviews. The mistakes said in the video were: Picky Patty, Whatever William, Social Sammy, Jean the Generalizer, Mean Margaret, Loud Larry, Pushy Paula, Off-Task Oliver, Speedy Sandy, and Defensive Dave. A mistake I could definitely agree with is getting off topic because I have done it plenty of times. It is very easy to do by just talking to your friends instead of being concerned with your paper. This mistake is done every day because students would much rather talk to their friend instead of doing work. I hope other students get the chance to view these videos as well to realize all the mistakes being made so that they can try to correct them too.

Blog post #2

Mr. Dancealot
(Chelsea Hadley, Anna Kern, and Kayla Christie)

While watching the video, my first impression was, “so this teacher, Mr. Dancealot, does not dance?” After trying to wrap my head around the question, the moral of the video came to me. What good is it to teach anything, especially dance, when the students are not required to honestly learn?

To learn is defined as knowledge or a skill you acquire by instruction or study, but it is really much more than that. We truly learn after we are truly taught, but what does that mean? "Mr. Dancealot" demonstrates the importance of hands-on learning. The instructor in the video is trying to teach the students (unsuccessfully) how to dance by lecturing using a power point. He then expects them to dance as their final exam. Many teachers use this method of lecturing and reciting facts to their students, and then expect them to be able apply and retain the information. The problem with this method is it does not engage the students. A better way would be to give the student the opportunity to learn hands-on, and make some mistakes along the way.

Well, unlike Mr. “undancealot”, as educators, we must get away from the basic PowerPoint presentation, and get our students involved! Let’s get those students dancing! Honestly, an open book and note test after just lectures? That is not teaching. To me, teachers make this common mistake all the time. We always wonder why students lack the motivation to do work, but we are not giving them much incentive when the only think we are teaching them is that they do not have to try.



This video brings out how to be a true “anti-teacher”, and I think that is great reason for Dr. Strange to show it to us. It reminds me of the quote we shared in class, “Never Tell, Always Ask.” We must break away from traditional teaching, and get the students involved! Students cannot absorb dancing by showing them on a PowerPoint presentation, behind your desk, or by giving them open book and note tests. STUDENTS CANNOT TRULY LEARN THIS WAY. We have to be proactive as educators and have our students involved in their own learning. We must stop spoon-feeding our students and propel them into active learning by being a part of the activity.

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students Digital Smarts
(Chelsea Hadley)

Vicki has her high school level students really getting involved, interacting and truly learning. If I would have had more teachers who would have taught through technology and student interaction when I was growing up, I might have paid a lot more attention and learned much more information because hands-on is the best way of learning to me. In the video Ms. Davis talks about all the ways the students are learning and mentions how awesome it is to the students when they figure things out together and alone. I agree because when I work really hard and figure stuff out on my own it makes me feel great about myself. It makes you feel like you have accomplished something on your own instead of someone helping you and that is how this EDM310 class makes me feel. Vicki Davis states that "Not all students can learn with just pencil and paper." I so agree with her because I am one of them students. Not only does it make you learn and makes you do it on your own but students are also able to become comfortable with technology. I think making students think it out on their own and solving it on their own is an awesome strategy and other teachers should really try it.

Flipping the classroom - 4th grade stem
(Chelsea Hadley)

Flipping the classroom is a wonderful idea that I wish we had when I was in school. It gives children the opportunity to start their day prepared and ready to learn. Students can watch lectures online before the class so that they can learn and know what they will be learning about before they actually learn and talk about it in class. This opens up many doors for one-on-one learning at school. I think it is a great idea and would save a lot of time in class learning about it unless some students don’t watch the videos before class which means to me that really don’t care. This whole idea seems motivating, exciting and effective and I would love to use this in my classroom one day!


Teaching in the 21st Century by Kevin Roberts (John Strange version)
(Kayla Christie)

To me, Roberts thinks in order to teach in the 21st century, we must venture away from standardized teaching and learn how to adapt with the technological changes happening around us. As an elementary student, I do not ever remember other kids having cellphones in school, but now, it seems as if every child has one! He sees teaching changing in a way like the world. The world does not stop moving and changing and neither can we as educators. He is saying we must change our forms of teaching according to the new changes in the availability and use of technology. Along with Roberts, I agree we must make our lessons engaging with the technology as well as challenging. Roberts’s point of view tells that we should change our teaching from “why is the sky blue?” to “why is the sky blue? Explain, justify, and evaluate your opinion and research.” We have to change our forms of teaching from objective to subjective, and get the children to think about the answers to the question instead of just finding the answers. I think Roberts’s point of view on 21st century learning and teaching is spot-on, and as an educator, I will have to think more critically about my lessons as much as my students will have to think critically about their answers because of this point of view. As educators, we are constantly learning, and I think acquiring this new skill set of teaching will improve the students’ abilities to learn. I think this, because they are so easily able to look up the answers to the questions that teachers commonly ask. With this new way of teaching, the students cannot just look up any answer. They have to think outside of the box and use their creativity. In conclusion, we must stray away from being just like the economics teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day off, and become teachers of engagement!

"The Networked Student" by Wendy Drexler
(Anna Kern)

This video is a great representation of the countless learning opportunities available to students through technology. These days, many classrooms are primarily meeting virtually and don't even use text books. These students rely on the limitless possibilities of technology to find opinions and information from all over the world.

The author of this video, Wendy Drexler, describes herself as a student of connectivism, which is the theory that learning happens as a part of a network of many different technological agents and connections.

It's amazing how many educational resources the 21st century student has at his or her fingertips. The world's best instructors, limitless data and opinions-- all at the click of a button. Helping sort through this immense amount of material is one reason instructors are still such valuable assets to the 21st century student. Instructors also connect the student to new technological tools and sites, allowing the student to then make further connections. This prepares the student for a lifetime of learning and building networks. Instructors also teach proper blogging and social networking etiquette, and provide motivation and guidance.

Blog Post 1

“If I Built A School”

Krissy Venosdale is a third through sixth grade teacher who teaches gifted students. She loves technology, photography and learning. She is very creative and fun. Krissy’s blog post “If I built a school” was very inspirational. She wrote this post about her dream school. She defines every feature of the perfect school she even mentions that she would create values built on rooms and subjects. The library would have a tree house in a huge tree where students could read. Math would take place in a problem solving atmosphere. Science would take place in a real laboratory where students could do experiments. Art would be in a real art studio. Also she would advance technology in the school and allow students to be able to use their laptops, phones, ipads, tablets etc. She also mentions that the cafeteria would be like a coffee shop, which is very creative to me. Ms. Venosdale's also would not have usual grade levels in her school but would have a system where students advance based on their personal readiness and skills. In Krissy’s dream school students would love to learn because it would be a blast and the teachers would love to teach, which we definitely need more of. I think her dream school is extremely creative and that’s how I would want mine because I would not want mine like every other school. I would like for my students to have a lifetime experience and never forget it and especially love to come to school and be ready to learn because that is the most important thing. I then watched the video On Sugata Mitra’s “Build A School in the Clouds.” This video is very interesting as well. Mitra reminds everyone just how smart and amazing children are by showing their development with technology. Based on Sugata Mitra's experiments in less-fortunate, foreign-speaking countries around the world, if children are given something that puzzles their brain the children will figure out not only just how to use it, but how to use it proficiently, and teach others how to use it as well. Mitra poses an idea of a school that is computer based. Where there is only a computer, a question, and someone there to motivate them. They find the answers themselves by using technology instead of being lectured by a teacher. I believe that if we were to use the ideas that Sugata and Krissy express, we could build a better educational system for the future.

My classroom

In my Education career I would like to teach kindergarten or First grade and due to me wanting to teach them grades I would want my classroom set up with A,B,C'S, Shapes, colors, and etc. I would want my classroom to be colorful and fun because a positive and colorful classroom would be a more productive place to learn rather than a plain and boring room. I would like to have many books and activities in my room but not too many to distract the kids when I am teaching. I would want a fun, colorful, positive, and organized room so my students feel comfortable, positive, and ready to learn. I would want my students to know the essentials. There is so much in school that we have to learn that we never use. I would like to focus more on the things that we will have to use and make sure my students know them and know them well. The primary way that I would like to teach my students is by hands on. I feel that engages te students and motivates them to get involved and learn and especially at a young age. I learned in school that the more you are attracted to something the more you’re going to learn and the easier it is. There are many tools I would like to have to help the learning process but I am going to just name a few. The first one I would like to have is Learning Centers set up in my classroom. Learning Centers are important to me because while a child is in a specific learning center it keeps them focused, exploring, imagining, and learning to play with others. The second tool I would like to engage in my classroom is a seating arrangement. It is important all the kids can see what I am teaching at all times. A seating arrangement also keeps students from leaving another student out or arguing about where they want to sit and who they want to sit by. I also think it would keep the classroom organized and friendly. The last tool I am going to mention is a book area. I would enjoy a book area that I could stock with many varieties of children books. It is extremely important to me that students have a book area that is comfortable and calm so they can read. Furthermore I think it is important that all classrooms have an area to calm down and read because some students might not get that at home.

Time Management

The video by Dr. Pausch was primarily about time management and the value that time has in our life. He was very clear on how Americans do not value time management in the same way that they value money management. If we can learn how to manage our time in the ways that Dr. Pausch described, then we can reduce our stress level and live a better life. What I learned from this video is that it is very important to make a plan but also to be flexible enough to allow the plan to change and evolve. This is especially true in the field of teaching as we make plans for ourselves and our students. The main points that I took away from this video are that if we can learn to set goals on a daily and weekly basis, then we will start to learn how this process will help us reach and go beyond our goals. It's not as important to do everything perfectly, buy it's more important for us to do it from the perspective of doing things with integrity. We need to ask ourselves, "Why am I doing this?" and “What is my goal?" whenever we are setting goals as well and learn to prioritize our plan according to our goals. Also, whenever setting goals we need to understand that when making plans know that plans have a way of changing. I, personally, liked his analogy of, “If we fail to make a plan, we plan to fail" because planning is such an integral part of teaching children and it is something we must do to help our students reach their own goals.

Practice Blog Post

Hello my name is Chelsea Hadley. I live across the bay in Loxley and I am twenty two years old. I have two siblings that mean the world to me. I have one sister that is twenty and her name is Cierra. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee to precede her career in modeling. I also have one brother that is nineteen and his name is Chase and he lives in Troy, Alabama and goes to Troy. We have always been a really close family so with them gone I do not know what to do. I have the most amazing parents anyone could ask for I am who I am today because of them. They have always been there for me and supported me in anything I have wanted to do. I love them so much and could never thank them enough for what they have done for me. I also have a wonderful boyfriend named Camp and we have been dating for three years. I could not ask for a better hardworking, handsome, and supportive boyfriend. I have two dogs named Bella and Cash that I love to spend time with. I also like to swim, tan, shop, and hangout with my friends, boyfriend, and family. I am from Robertsdale, Alabama, where I graduated from high school in 2009. After graduating high school I attended Faulkner State Community College in Fairhope, Alabama. From Faulkner I transferred to South Alabama majoring in Elementary Education. I chose to major in Elementary Education because I love kids. Not only do I love kids but it is also that feeling you get when teaching and you see the children gather all of the information and actually put the information into play. It is a successful and rewarding job and I could see myself doing it for a long time and enjoying every minute of it. I would like to teach kindergarten or first grade but it really does not matter as long as I am teaching children and being the best teacher I can be.

Test post 2

Test post 2

My Test Post Title

This is my first post. I clicked the HTML button which I should always do in EDM310.

Final Reflection Video

April C4K Summary

I had Miss. Julia W. from Ms. Feldman's 4th grade class

Julia W. Blog


Julia W. Blog Post: Husker state
Categories: Blog March 26, 2013 @ 1:56 PM 5 Comments
I am a forth grader in Bellevue ne
Did you know? Nebraska has the biggest indoor rainforest and dessert in the wold well it does. It also made the 911 calling service it is the second biggest producer. Of corn and soybeans it is a really cool place to live. With the corn and soybeans it produces sweet corn corn on the cob and more. With the soybeans it produces candy animal feed paint fuels and paint it is cool how so many things it can make.the zoo is also very cool it is were the biggest rainforest and the dessert is with crawling with wildlife .Did you know that Lincoln is the capital of Nebraska but is wasn’t a long time ago it was Omaha but they changed it because Omaha is to close to the border and Lincoln is in the almost center of Nebraska .well hoped you learned somthing new. Thanks for reading



My Comment:
Chelsea Hadley (Guest)
April 9, 2013 at 2:04 PM Wow!! This is a very interesting post!! I really enjoyed reading this and learning new things. My best friend moved here to Alabama from Omaha Nebraska and has told me about it but she has never told me about the rainforest and the desert but I will ask her about it. Thank you for the information I really enjoyed it. Great job on posting and keep up the great work!

I really enjoyed reading Julia's blog post. She did a great job and had some very interesting blog post!

Project #13

For Project 16 my group used Email to communicate. Using email to communicate was stressful at first but then I started checking my email regularly and then I didn’t mind so much. Over email we discussed a time and place to meet to do our project. It turned out perfect and we met and did our project and it turned out great!

project #16

Blog post #14

Teachers know if you have done the E-Reading describes a new technology called, CourseSmart. This technology is letting the teachers at A&M know if their students are reading their textbooks or not. CourseSmart also gives teachers the ability to know when students are skipping pages, failing to highlight, significant passages, not bothering to take notes, or simply not opening the book at all. This can be a good thing and bad for both teachers and students.

I think this technology could be really useful. As a teacher I would like to know if my students were actually reading the parts they are suppose to be reading. I also think it is very useful because you can also see who is trying and who isn’t. That is important to me because a child could be struggling and I might think they just didn’t do their reading but with this tool I can see it and know if a child is really struggling or just not reading what they are suppose too. As a student it makes me feel pressured to read everything because my teacher can see everything I am doing. I am the student that listens in class and makes my own notes and highlight important things but I am not the kind to go home and read the whole chapter. In certain situations though I think this is a great technology but for the students it is not. Some students it could really help and for others it could hurt.

Questions to ask the teacher:

1. Do I get graded on what I read and what I don’t read?
2. How much does this affect my grade if it is for a grade?
3. Do we still have to read even if we are studying a different way?

Questions to ask the students:

1. Does this program pressure to read?
2. Does this program help your grade?
3. Does this program help you or do you have another way of studying?

What Comment Would I Leave on this Article?

There is good and bad about this technology. I would like it as a teacher to see who is struggling and who just isn’t reading. The bad part about this is I feel it pressures a lot of students and I also feel like it change a lot of students studying habits because for like students that play sports they really don’t have time to read but as long as they pay attention in class and are studying another way that would be fine with me. So I think there is good and bad parts for this program.

Final PLN report

Final Report on Personal Learning Network

For my Personal Learning Network I use 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 follow 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!

Last C4T

For my Last C4T I had Mrs. Dorothy Burt. She had some really educational and motivational post and I really enjoyed reading them and glad I got to experience Mrs. Dorothy's blog.
Mrs. Dorothy's Post:
Rolling Over Individual Blogs
I have spoken a lot about the benefits for children when they have their own blog to use as a record of learning. In the last few months I have presented workshops at two Google Apps Summits on how to manage a quantity of individual blogs. A question I was asked from at both GAFE Summits by teachers was, "Why go to all this effort managing the individual student blogs?". They would like to simplify matters by simply getting each student in the class to set up their own blog for the year and the teacher have no responsibility for what happens the following year.
There are three parts to my response:
1.In our Manaiakalani schools the teachers take delight in supporting the children build their record of learning - an ePortfolio - and our original child bloggers are entering their 6th year of having a personal blog. So we do need to be able to track the blogs and support the children as they transition from class to class.
2.If we create the blogs with an accurate naming structure the posts and comments feed through to Teacher Dashboard - a fabulous way to monitor them for the teacher.
3.We are able to ensure the settings are all completed in the way we have discovered gives us maximum accountability for the online supervision of minors. (More about that at this link)
As we enter a new academic year I have updated the workflow for a school managing the transition of a set of student blogs onto the next teacher(s).
I will headline the stages below, but the full process is available for anyone to use at this link.
Blog Rollover - Workflow
Step by step to transitioning the student individual blogs at the end of the academic year to their new class/teacher.
Stage One Getting Organised Get all the documentation sorted BEFORE starting the rollover process so it happens in a methodical fashion
Stage Two Passing on a class set of blogs to the new teacher(s) This really should be done by the teacher who taught the class in the PREVIOUS academic year.
Stage Three Updating information on the new set of blogs The classroom teacher has just been made Admin of a whole new set of student blogs. Now the header information, which displays publicly, needs to be updated.
Stage Four Publicity Spreading the word about the children’s blogs is an important way of supporting their learning.
I do hope this is of use to others!


My comment:
Chelsea HadleyApril 16, 2013 at 9:04 AM
Hello Mrs. Dorthy, My name is Chelsea Hadley and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I enjoyed reading your post. Your post are very helpful in many ways. I like the idea of rolling over students blogs to their next teacher. I love blogging and think it is important that students know how to blog. Thank you for laying out the steps on how to roll over students blogs. I enjoyed reading your post and plan on reading many more!


Mrs. Dorothy's Second Post:
Kids share their Summer with the world
There is nothing like a good Summer holiday at a beach enjoying the sun, surf and family to re-energise and clear the head. The things we read and the conversations we have (lots of educators or people who have been educated visit our beach campsite!) inevitably lead to plans about how we can do things differently to lead to better outcomes for the kids we teach in the coming year.
A paragraph in one of the magazines I took away with me to read got me thinking again about what a huge team effort is required in our Manaiakalani schools as so many of our students start school two years behind academically in year one: “Most new entrants turn up to high decile schools well-prepared for learning. Research suggests that they will have heard some 32 million more spoken words than a child turning up to a decile 1 school...” And various pieces of research kept popping up about the Summer Drop-off and how it inevitably impacts Decile 1 kids far more than high Decile kids. This relates directly to the amount of exposure children will have during their holidays to experiences (including print and conversations) that will continue their learning.
This could have been a depressing train of thought to entertain during the holidays, but thanks to the Flipboard app on my iPad and the @clusternz Twitter feed it was far from it. Why? Because everyday I saw Blog posts from our kids being tweeted. Children who were writing in their Summer holidays. This Summer there were dozens of Manaiakalani children posting online yet we still do not have all our children taking their netbooks home, nor have we completed the Tamaki Learning Network which will deliver free wireless connections to all their homes. Imagine what it will be like next Summer when they are fully connected!
Some of these posts brought tears to my eyes, some were funny, some were clever, some were well written and some would have had a teacher using up an entire red pen back in the old school days of ruthless corrections. But all were indications of children intentionally sharing with the whole world snippets of what they had been learning at the time.
While some were clearly posted quickly in a Facebook announcement style, many showed signs of careful thought and planning: Iisa who is writing a serial story; kids who took the time to draw graphics to illustrate their stories; kids who must have taken photos while on an outing specifically to post with a piece of writing they had in mind; students who obviously were recrafting their writing to use the English conventions they had been learning during the year; students doing online Maths activities and capturing screen shots to ‘prove’ their achievements; ditto kids keeping up with their typing tutorials.
Most made it clear in a variety of ways that they were intentionally posting for their audience. Some thought about creative 'hooks' and included graphics, photos and movies. Willy went so far as to create a ‘Spot the Difference’ game for his readers with photos he had taken.
I know that some of our children have been keeping in email contact with their teachers during the holidays too.
If we can build on this enthusiasm our young people have to Learn, Create and Share regardless of whether it is ‘school time’ or ‘holiday time’ - if we can inspire them to become life-long learners, then surely we can help them overcome the circumstances mentioned in the first couple of paragraphs.
Finally, because they took the time to connect with us, I am going to share links to as many of their posts as I could collate - you might like to dip into one or two and leave them some feedback.....
Many children shared Christmas highlights - with a couple of lowlights amongst them: Roezala, Cheyanne, Ane, Lesieli, Sela, Josephine, Sarona, Rave, Lorenzo, Kingston
And Boxing day was big too, especially for those who got money to spend!: Willy, Cheyanne,
New Years was big: Kaycee, Sela, Jordenne, Quasia, Roezala, Makerita


My second Comment:

Chelsea HadleyApril 29, 2013 at 10:01 AM
I loved the post and really enjoyed reading it. I really like how your students stay connected with blogging through their holidays and how you keep up with what their sharing and not only do they stay connected with blogging but they stay connected with you and that's amazing!!

Report on Final project

Our group has met one time to discuss the project and decide how and what we are going to do for our final project. We have decided to make a video tutorial on steps to setting up a blog on blogger. We meet again this Tuesday to finish it up and record it.

Blog Post #13

Back To The Future -- Brian Crosby

This is a video of Brian Crosby during a seminar in which he speaks about how he promotes and values technology in his classroom. Most of Mr. Crosby's class was made up of students who used English as a second language. He talked about how his students were taught on a narrow course, which hinders their learning abilities. A narrowed course only brings down the creativity level of a student. Each student is required to have a blog and record everything they do in it. He also required his students to set goals, but not only for themselves but also set them for their community, their school, and their country. He challenges his students to better the world around them through their own goals. He then managed a hot air balloon experiment with his students, this experiment engaged attention from all over! Mr. Crosby's class then assembled their own hot air balloon, it floated into the sky until it exploded. The students put all the recorded hopes inside the balloon. This experiment made students want to learn on their own. It also helped to break the language obstacle because so many students had to learn how to decipher written and spoken English. Mr. Crosby's classroom is very inspirational to me, as an future teacher. His balloon experiment developed a higher sense of confidence in the children and an overall sense of importance. It showed what kind of influence a sixth grade class can make. With a classroom like Mr. Crosby's the possibilities are limitless. If there were more teachers like Mr. Crosby, there would be a better future for our students.

Paul Anderson -- Blended Learning
In this video by Paul Anderson, Blended Learning, he explains how he unites the Blended Learning and the Learning Cycle into his own structure called QUIVERS. This includes six components he uses in all of his lessons. 1. "QU" for questions. 2. "I" which is investigation/inquiry. 3. "V" for video. 4. "E" is elaboration. 5. "R" for review. 6. "S" is summary quiz. The QUIVERS technique is extremely student focused and efficient. Mr. Anderson's techniques keeps his students energetic in their learning. This approach of teaching can be introduced into any classroom.

Blog post #12

For this blog post assignment we were giving the opportunity to write our own blog post. I would like to teach anywhere from K-2. So I thought what would be a great idea for K-2 and I thought of a wonderful activity. This activity is very important for a student in K-2 to do. It is an easy activity but it will make a student smile one day. The activity I choose is to do a Time Capsule. I never did a Time Capsule in my classroom when I was younger but my brother and sister did in their classroom and it was really neat. For a Time Capsule you have each student’s family member like mom, dad, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, and grandparents, or someone very close to them write a letter to the student for their graduation day. Then, you have your students write a letter to their self for what they would like to say to their self on their graduation day. You can also put other things in the boxes that would be neat for the students to see one day when they open it. You then gather all the letters and whatever else for each student and put them in the student’s shoeboxes and let the children decorate the outside of the shoebox. Then wrap the shoeboxes with wrapping paper and send them home to the parents. Once the parents get them they store them somewhere until that student graduates. Finally on the student’s graduation day they can open the box and read all the letters and see whatever else they put in there. This activity is really important and powerful. I will definitely do this activity when I become a teacher.

C4K SUMMARY FOR MARCH

My three C4K's that I had for the month of March were Lottie from Mr. Huebe 6th grade class in Adelaide Australia, Joe B. from Mrs. Lentine's class, and Brittany Lee from Mr. Boylen's class. I enjoyed reading all their post and commenting on them.

Lotties post that I commented on I could not find nor the summary I wrote about her post that I commented on.

My second C4K was Joe B. from Mrs. Lentine's class

Joe B's Post:
Right now the government is discussing about more gun laws because of the incidents in the past year.From the second amendment of the U.S constitution to issues around people who are mentally ill, I think they shouldn’t pass any more gun control laws. Our current gun control laws are fine.
First, gun laws should not be put in place is because its not consistent with the U.S constitution. The second amendment of the U.S constitution says: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” It is an important right because self defense of the country is important. For example, if another country or terrorist group invade America the people would need weapons to defend themselves and their country.
A second reason is that people could lose their jobs and their business because companies that make firearms (assault weapons and semi auto weapons) would be shut down and the people working at them would lose their jobs. The unemployment rate in America is 7.7% and if they pass more gun laws it might go up a little.
My last reason is that we shouldn’t blame weapons we should blame the killer because most of the incidents with firearms the killer was mentally ill for example, the incident in Sandy Hook Elementary the killer was mentally ill as was the man at the Colorado movie theater the Dark Knight movie. People should have better background checks before buying a gun.
In conclusion I think more gun restrictions should not be put in place but they shouldn’t give weapons to mentally ill. We also need to have a better background check before buying a weapon, and the gun laws we have in place now are perfectly fine.

My comment on Joe B's Post:

Chelsea Hadley (Guest)
March 28, 2013 at 11:55 AM Hey Joe my name is Chelsea Hadley and I go to the University of South Alabama. I think you explained the second amendment and your opinion very well! I totally agree with you and everything you said! We should not take away the gun control due to what happened with these shootings in the past year like you said it is not the gun it is the ill people doing it and we should blame them! Great and interesting post! I enjoyed reading your blog. Keep up the great work!!

My third C4K was Brittany Lee from Mr. Boylen's class

Brittany's Post:

Hello,
My name is Brittany and I am 14 yrs old and in 8th grade. I have lived in Iowa, USA for two yrs. I enjoy doing volleyball and hanging out with friends. My favorite subject in school is math . I spend my free time texting, hanging out with friends, and riding horses. I have ten horses, three dogs, and barn cats but I don’t consider them pets. Do you have any pets? What do you on your free time?
My comment on Brittany's Post:

Chelsea Hadley (Guest)
04/06/2013 at 7:37 PM Hello Brittany Lee My name is Chelsea Hadley and I go to the University of South Alabama. I am a huge animal lover and I love all animals!! I have 3 dogs and one of them are a Jack Russell and his name is Cash, I have a yellow lab and his name Sage, and I also have another dog and we don’t know what she is because we picked her up off the side of the road but her name is Bella. I also have a cockatiel and his name is Pete. When I have free time I like to hang out with my friends, family, and boyfriend and I also like to layout on the beach and relax! I also saw you like Blake Shelton and I am huge Blake Shelton fan!! I love country music! Well nice blogging and I enjoyed reading your post! Kepp up with the great work!

Blog Post #11

Mrs. Cassidy's First Graders

In Mrs. Cassidy's first grade classroom they use many methods to technology. Some of them are blogging, websites, Wiki, Skype, smart board, and etc. Mrs. Cassidy set up blogs for her students and this allows them to work on their writing skills. Her and the students for the most part like this because it is not just their teacher reading their work but it is everyone! The students write usually about a sentence or two a day and get feedback from lots of viewers and also they can view how many people view their blog. That is really neat to me because not only does it help the students with their writing skills but it also makes them more motivated I feel because they are getting all this feedback and they are seeing all these people view their blog. If I could have had that in my classroom when I was younger I can promise you I would have been more interested in writing. It also allows them to be more concentrated on what they are writing. Another advantage of using technology in the classroom is that the parents are allowed to see their children’s development. The students do not get to post everything online, but most of their writing is online and their parents have access to see it. The children have been taught by their teacher that safety is very important while using the internet. They only go by their first names and no last names are shown and if their picture is up, their name is not directly beside it for privacy concerns. Before the students can use technology in the classroom, papers are sent home to the parents explaining what their children will be doing. Another item the students use are Wikis and this helps them ask questions to others about topics. I think technology in the classroom is a wonderful idea and will help children with their future.



In the Skype video Mrs. Cassidy tells us how she got involved with technology. She got involved with technology because she was given five computers and she thought if you have five of something then you can create a center and she did! She understands that there are some teachers who still like the old fashion way of teaching, but as she said, the students love it and that’s what you want. I think there are many advantages to having technology in the classroom. By allowing students to have their own blog, access to a class blog, or learn how to work a website is useful to them. I had never blogged before this class and now I love blogging I think it is so neat and will continue blogging. The students would have to be taught what is right and wrong when it comes to browsing the internet because we know there are many unnecessary things on the internet. Ms. Cassidy also talks about how long she used technology in her classroom, how she got her ideas and how the parents responded to their children using technology in school. It excites me to know that when I have my own classroom in the future how much technology will be available for the students to use. If our students understand why they are learning specific skills in school they will better know how to use those skills and carry them with them! Technology is what modern children know, they are programmed to understand it from birth, and if we learn to apply that technology, then our students can better grow.

C4T #3

For my C4T #3 I had teacher Mrs. Edna Sackson. I really enjoyed being introduced to Mrs. Sackson's Blog and commenting on it. Her blog post are very helpful and motivating. I really enjoyed reading her blog and plan on to keep reading it in the future!

Mrs. Edna Sackson's blog

Mrs. Sackson's first post:

‘There is never enough time‘ is a frequent cry by teachers around the world.
It was one of the reasons for handing over ownership of our PD day last week to the teachers. After an initial survey on effective professional learning , it was clear that teachers would value an entire day to pursue their own learning.
The teachers’ reflections are a clear indication of the day’s success.
Thanks to Kath Murdoch for suggesting that we ask what they noticed about themselves as learners… I am very focused when I am genuinely interested.
My learning is more effective and enjoyable in small groups.
I’m still learning new things after many years of teaching – there’s always something new to try. I’m becoming more confident in using computers as I get time to try out new ideas for the classroom.
I am best with with like minded people that work at my pace. I am quite easily intimidated when i am unsure of what I am doing. I need to practise what I learn as much as possible, just like the students..
Today I tried really hard when working with a group to sit back and let them lead the discussion rather then coming with my own agenda. I get flustered easily when I do not believe in the essence of something. Maybe some of my students have the same issue and I will try to understand them better.
If I am motivated the learning is easy. If I find something overwhelming or daunting I need to break it down and take one step at a time.
I am being a risk taker which I usually am not. Even thinking of starting a blog is quite scary as it is very new.
I was really looking forward to our PD today because I was able to choose what our learning was about and what was relevant to me. I am calmer and more patient in my approach. If it does not work, I try again without getting flustered.
We learn much better collaboratively. We become more inspired by bouncing different ideas around.
I like to read something over and process it on my own before really talking about it with others. Happy to talk/chat after about it, but prefer to absorb/take it all in on my own.
I think more slowly than most people I work with, and I require the time to contemplate things. Once I have allowed myself that time, I can think as clearly as others.
I wouldn’t have survived today without a certain flexibility and ability to change some of the plans as we went. When I direct my learning I become responsible for it.
I love collaborating. It is great to learn with others and to throw ideas around was very refreshing and reassured me that I am on the right track.
Thank you for today for having the opportunity to go on personal journey and a time to catch my breath and move forward in the areas I needed.
There is much for teachers to take away, not just from what they worked on, but from their process, their challenges and from what they noticed about themselves as learners. They can apply what they learned from all of those in their classrooms.
Messages to take back to the classroom:
Learning is enhanced when…
Learners have a say in their learning.
Learning is meaningful, purposeful and engaging.
Learners choose when to work alone and when to collaborate.
Learners have enough time to think, learn, practice and apply…
…which takes us back to where we started: ‘There isn’t enough time’.
And there will never be enough time, for as long as…
Governments dictate crowded national curricula .
Schools introduce too many new programs which teachers need to master and integrate.
Administrators exert pressure and demand results in national standardised tests.
School days are divided by bells into arbitrary chunks of time between which students often have to move classrooms.
Schools don’t stop to reflect on the things they have always done and how much learning time each takes.
Teachers don’t stop to reflect critically on the way learning time is used.

My comment to post:

Chelsea Hadley permalink
March 22, 2013 1:14 am
Thank you so much for your blog!! I am a college student majoring in Elementary Education and your post are very inspiring and helpful as I am trying to become a teacher!! As a college student I am always saying there isnt enough time in a day to get all these assignments and everything else done but I manage to do it somehow! Once again thank you for your blog! I enjoyed reading all your post and plan on reading more!!

Mrs. Sackson's second post:

A brief letter to young parents about choosing a school…
Dear Mums and Dads,
I’ve heard from a few of you lately about the schools you have chosen for your children. I was a little taken aback to hear that you did this by checking online for the schools’ Naplan scores.
What matters to you?
An environment where…
your child’s curiosity is nurtured and inquiry is encouraged?
her unique abilities and preferences are taken into account?
social and emotional needs are addressed as much as intellectual and physical?
your child feels secure and valued, able to take risks and build resilience?
learning is engaging and purposeful, relevant to the future in which she will live?
creativity and initiative are valued over mere compliance?
understanding, empathy and compassion are fostered?
your child learns to be reflective and understand herself as a learner?
education looks different than it did when you went to school…?

Naplan scores won’t reveal any of these.
Edna
PS. Try visiting the school, talking to students, teachers and parents and asking questions about the things you really care about…

My Comment to post:

Chelsea Hadley permalink
April 6, 2013 10:12 am
Thank you! I am a college student and I am glad to read your post because they are very helpful. They also teach me plenty of things I will need to know to become a teacher and a successful one at that! I really enjoy reading your post!

Blog Post #10

Im a Papermate Im a Ticonderoga

I honestly have never heard of a Ticonderoga before seeing this cartoon picture so I googled it. I knew it had to do with some kind of supplies or something because I had heard of papermate before and knew that was a type of pencil. Well after I googled it I found out that Ticonderoga is also a type of wooden pencil but a more expensive pencil. After looking at the picture, I assume Ticonderoga is better and more expensive and the ‘hipsters’ must only use Ticonderoga’s because it is more expensive and the best. After researching and reading John T. Spencer’s blog comments I figured out that this picture goes deeper than just a preference of a wooden pencil. He is describing the relationship between a PC and a MAC in the cartoon picture. The PC is the Papermate and the Mac is the Ticonderoga. The papermate is less costly than the Ticonderoga thus; the PC is less costly than the MAC. This is saying “you get what you pay for” and when it comes to technology that saying is so true!

Why were your kids playing?

In this post by Mr. Spencer, I think he is trying to make a point of instructive/learning games in the classroom using technology. Mr. Spencer talks about the strategy of using advanced simulation as one if his teaching techniques to teach the students everyday life skills. He relates this to doctors and soldiers how they use this type of learning to perform their important daily skills. The principal in this conversation was not happy about the games used in the classroom and reminded Mr. Spencer that he needed to follow the state based methods of learning, this shows you right here that the principal is not up to-date on her technology and still has her old fashion teaching styles. I think the principal over reacted about the games being in the classroom. I don’t think the principal should have worried about it because the games are engaging and helping our students learn, there should be no reason to complain about this!

Don't teach your kids this stuff, Please?

I love Dr. McLeods irony in this post. The point he is trying to make in this post is that you are completely insane to not allow your kids express themselves through technology. There are many parents and teachers out in the world that shelter their children or students from this. Truthfully, I think it delays their learning experience. Children should be allowed to express themselves with their classmates and teachers freely. If we do not allow them to do this, how will we know what their potential is? I think Dr. McLeod makes a wonderful approach to this subject in the way he worded his post. It just sounds extremely ridiculous to not allow our children/students the option to explore and learn with the technology that is available to them right now because it will help them with their learning experience and also in life because you have to know technology these days.

Who Is Dr. Scott McLeod?

There are many wonderful things to know about Dr. Scott McLeod. He currently serves as the Director of Innovation for Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency 8. He was a co-creator of the wildly popular video series, Did You Know? (Shift Happens). Dr. McLeod also is the Founding Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education. He has also received several national awards for his technology leadership work. He also blogs frequently about technology leadership issues and he also just completed his first book, What School Leaders Need to Know about Digital Technologies and Social Media.Dr. McLeod is a very successful man with great knowledge! I enjoyed reading his post and comments and I plan to continue reading them!

Smartboard project #14