Blog Post #3

Peer Editing

The video, "What is Peer Editing", explained what peer editing is and informed on the three major steps to peer editing.

1.) Compliments: Stay Positive! 2.) Give Suggestions. 3.) Corrections: spelling, punctuation, etc.

 It is important to remember these steps. The whole point to peer editing is for you and your peers to improve your work together. No need to be negative! In the video, "Top 10 Peer Review Mistakes", it gave you the classic mistakes people make while peer editing. The kids in the video did a wonderful job at portraying their roles. I have known a few "Whatever Williams" and "Mean Margerets" in my school days. If you're not careful you can really offend or hurt someones feelings.

In my C4C #2 it was my job to critique a girls blog. She had very good thoughts and I agreed with a lot of her personal opinions about technology. I remembered to look back at the three steps that was taught to me in the videos. I followed all three! I suggested to her that she could use a little bit more organization in her sentences, because some of them were a little confusing.

Assistive Technologies

Assistive technologies are important and do impact children and their learning experience. Especially if the children are vision or hearing impaired. In the first video it states that assistive technologies enhances learning, removes barriers, pushes boundaries, gives hope, and challenges the way we think. It is important the we are prepared to not just teach children without problems but with problems also. Every child should have the same opportunity to learn, discover, and explore. Some examples of assistive technologies are ipads, text telephones, and sensory aids.

The Mountbatten Brail writer is an amazing tool for the blind. It lets the learner give audio and textile feedback. It's so advanced that it can receive, send, and transfer files from a computer. If I could learn to use this machine myself, it would definitely be something I would try to incorporate into my classroom. I believe it's important for every child to have the right to learn and grow in the same way.

Watching the video on teaching mathematics to the blind blew my mind. I can't even learn to do math with great eye sight. Learning with no sight must be the most challenging thing. I loved the video for ipad usage for the blind. I can believe that it is a wonderful resource for the blind. There are so many different Apps and ways to learn. It's simply amazing. Gotta love Apple!

Harness Your Students Digital Smarts

I think that Vicki Davis must be an incredible teacher. She wants so much for her students to learn and teach themselves and even teach her! In her video, "Harness Your Students Digital Smarts", it's clear how much the children are learning, and how much they are enjoying learning. I, myself, have never had a teacher like that! Maybe besides Dr.Strange! But I mean growing up. It was always a pencil and paper world. Never cellphones, computers, or other forms of technology. Which I feel is very important.

I believe children really want to learn, but can't because when they walk in a classroom and it's just completely boring, it's also completely useless. I love that not just the children are learning, but the teacher is too. Technology is growing more and more everyday and all we can do is to try to keep up.

Blog Post #2

Did You Know?

Well I must say that I didn't know. The video, Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version, clued me in on some information that I wasn't aware of. Like how the Chinese will have more English speakers than the rest of the world combined. Or the number of people that are on YouTube at the exact same time. Or the number of Google searches in a minute,(1,398,498). Now that's just hard to believe! The cellphone and computer facts don't surprise me as much. It's not hard to believe that most people have computers in their homes these days. I think it is more uncommon if you don't.

But the question still remains. Am I ready to be an educator? The answer is YES, I AM. I believe I can keep up with the technologically advancing world. In fact I think it is my duty too. I know I will do my best and try my hardest to prepare my students.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

I thought Mr. Winkle Wakes was hilarious. This video was made so you could see just how many things have changed, and also how some things haven't. So many things have changed in one-hundred years you couldn't possibly even begin to list them. Yet, the traditional school setting really hasn't. The methods are all generally the same. Are the students still learning? Maybe to an extent. I believe we should use different tools and technologies to not just teach them, but to really make them learn. This can only happen, if we as educators, make it happen.

The Importance of Creativity

Does school kill creativity? In Ken Robinsons' video on TED website he gives many different insights on education and its importance. The quote that stuck with me the most from him is that we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it. I find that very true. Why is math so much more important than dance? Or science more important than art? We limit children from doing these things that society frowns upon, when we should really be encouraging it. We should create a system that helps creativity grow instead of pushing it to the side because "it doesn't pay enough", or "you will never get a job".

Thinking back that may have been what happened to me. My mama told me all of my life,"You will be a teacher. You will go to college." It was always engrained and pushed into my head. And yet it is still something I feel passionate about. I feel as human beings, we all have a creative side. It is a matter of what we choose to do with it that counts. As Mr. Robinson said,"The gift of Imagination should be used wisely."

Pinterest

I just have to say first that I absolutely love Pinterest. It's a wonderful website that inspires creativity and let's just say it, keeps you very occupied. I have found myself staying on there for hours at a time. Before reading the article, "Four Ways to Use Pinterest in Education", I had already planned to use this website in my teaching strategies. There are just so many different things on this website that are offered. I have had my account created since last year, and I have to warn you, if you don't have one now, prepare to get addicted.

I followed a lot of the boards that were suggested in the, "Top 20 Pinterest Boards for Education." I really liked Jenny Hoffmans. A lot of her pins connected me to very useful websites. Pinterest will definitely be a resource I use when I become a teacher. It's helpful and inspiring. It's different and creative. It will help the students and myself with technology, projects, and fun activities. I look forward to using this resource in my everyday lesson plans and organization skills.

Project #2: My Wordle

Blog Post #1

About Me 

My name is Rachel Lee McGuff. I am 20 years old. I have lived in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, my whole life and I love it. It’s a small fishing community in south Mobile. I graduated from Bryant High School in 2010.  I have a big family. I am the 7^th of 8 children, and I have the best parents. I love my big family! I wouldn’t have it any other way. My boyfriend’s name is Cory. We have been together for over 3 years now. We have been through so much with each other and I look forward to our future together. I’m an Auburn football fan. War Eagle! I attend a small church in our town and am a Christian. I believe in Jesus wholeheartedly and thank God every day for all of my blessings.  I only really have one talent and that is archery. I started shooting my freshman year of high school and, in my junior year, won the top female shooter in the whole state of Alabama! My other hobbies don’t consist of much. I like to read and write, and hang out with my friends and family.

A bigger part of who I am right now involves my sister, Sarah. She attended the University of South Alabama, also majoring in education. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, and was the absolute sweetest and caring person I have ever known. In my senior year of high school my whole world changed. She was involved in an awful car wreck that claimed her life. Since then, I have grown and matured, and learned to be the person she would want me to be. I do my best to love life and to never take it for granted. I work hard at my job and at school, and to do the best I can. I believe she would be proud of me.

This is my 2^nd semester at the University of South Alabama. I completed my first 2 years of school at Faulkner State Community College.  I am majoring in Secondary Education: Social Science. I guess you could say teaching runs in my family. This year is my mother’s 25^th year in the Mobile County Public School System. She taught English for 20 years, and has spent the last 5 as a media specialist. My brother is a history teacher, my sister-in-law is an English teacher, and my cousin is an elementary school teacher. It’s something I’m very passionate about. I want to touch lives and be the kind of teacher kids can really learn from and connect with. I want to be the teacher that students look forward to seeing every day.  

Me in the Classroom  

 I plan on using many methods in my teaching, and that way it’s always something different. I remember being in high school and watching power point presentation after power point presentation and wondering if there were people who actually died of boredom. I plan on mixing it up a bit. I plan on using many different resources and tools. My goal is to teach 8^th grade history. I think 8^th grade would just be the best : not too young, but not too old either. They are in their “in-betweens”. I think it’s important for them to not have to just go in another boring class where they stare at the wall for an hour. I want them to learn. I want to see interest and amazement. I want to be the one to prepare them for high school.
 

 I want to make my classroom lively. I want posters to cover the walls and I want to fill it with the students work. To make it something that, not just I, but they can be proud of as well. Projects are important to me! They were the basis of my learning in middle school. It taught me to remember the people of the past and what they did and accomplished. It taught me about myself, and how perseverance and determination can pay off. I want to give weekly small projects on the area of interest, and let the students find out how much they can do with their brains.

 I would give a different student each week an assignment to become a historical figure and introduce themselves to the class. I want to have movie days. Once a month watch a history movie in the area of study and give popcorn and drinks to the students, granted I had their participation and good behavior. School should be a fun, learning environment for students and teachers. There are so many different things and activities that are available I see no reason for a child to have, as Dr. Strange says, “a burpback education”. 

Randy Pausch on Time Management  

It’s amazing what you can learn in a short 4 minutes. Robert Pausch said some very enlightening things about time management. My favorite quote and the one that will probably help me the most is, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” It makes complete sense, and is something I take to heart. Another thing I liked that he said is, "Do the ugliest thing first." If you did the worst thing on your list first, seems to me you would be more likely to get the most stuff done and have a better time doing it. After I watched his video on time management, I "googled" him and found out that he was an astounding professor at the University of Virginia, and he was involved with many different projects involving Adobe and Walt Disney engineering. He was also known to be a very loving husband and father. He sadly lost his fight with pancreatic cancer in July of 2008.

Practice Post #1

Test Post #1