Final Report on PLN

My Personal Learning Network (PLN) has grown so much over the past few months. I never knew all the resources out there that can be used and applied in everyday life for school and social purposes. I love Symbaloo! That was the best thing I could have possibly gotten on my computer. It gives me immediate access to all the websites and links that I need with just a swipe of my fingers. That includes my educational websites and social websites.

Project #16

C4T #4

Neil Anderson Responds to Student Privacy Concerns

Ms. Heidi Siwak is a teacher from Ontario, Canada. Her latest blog post was a response from Neil Anderson. He is a member of the Association for Media Literacy. He responded to her concerns about a students right to privacy in this age of digital learning. He addressed her questions about com-modification. He explains that different companies solicit school liaisons and use their interactions to further sales. It was quite impressive.

    

21st Century Classroom

In this post, Ms. Heidi Siwak talked about integrative learning and her journey in becoming a 21st century teacher and learner. She is very excited about integrative and design thinking. It takes students to the next level. She explains the essential skills of a 21st century learner.

-Collaboration

-Problem-Solving

- Empathy

-Communication

-Digital Literacy

-Creativity

-Entrepreneurship

-Leadership

-Lifelong-Learning

She is correct. All of these are the result of 21st century learning. I liked what she said at the beginning of her post.

"Just because students are involved in inquiry and project-based learning doesn't mean they are engaged in disciplined thinking."

 

 

Blog Post #14

Teacher Knows

CourseSmart is a tool being used by Texas A&M teachers that let the teachers know whether the students are reading their textbooks. The teachers know what pages are skipped, whether something gets highlighted, or whether it just sits on a shelf and does nothing at all. CourseSmart is being experimented by other schools as well. It allows teachers to track the work and progress of students.

As a Teacher

As a teacher, I would personally reap the benefits of CourseSmart, but only to an extent. It wouldn't be a grade but to determine whether my students are studying or not. For example, if a student failed a test and they wanted to know why or there parents wanted to know why, then I could look back to show that the book was never opened or studied enough. But then again, how would I know that the book just wasn't left open and no studying was done? I guess like everything, it has it's pro's and con's.

As a Student

As a student, I would not like CourseSmart at all. Textbooks are already ridiculously expensive, now I would have to pay for an electronic textbook? No way. Secondly, most of the time, professors don't even use the required books for the course. Many times I have purchased a textbook for $100 or more and not even had to use it. Thirdly, just because I may not use the textbook, doesn't mean I don't know the material. If I do my work and make the grades I deserve, I don't see the reason in this book determining my grade or making me change my study technique in any way.

Questions

I would ask the Mr. Guardia from the article these questions:

-Isn't the point of college to get students to be held accountable for their own grades?
-Don't you think, in a way, this sounds like another way for the textbook industry to make more profit off students?
-Do you really think this is a reliable and trustworthy way to determine the studying habits of a student?
-Would this be something you would actually use to grade a student on?

Conclusion

In conclusion, I think most textbooks in general are a waste of money.Now they are wanting to track your studying methods and judge you by this electronic textbook. If anything, a textbook should be a guide for a teacher to plan their lesson. It shouldn't be required that students purchase them. I believe they can be helpful and informative. But necessary? I don't think so.

Blog Post #13

Back to the Future

I highly enjoyed watching Mr. Crosby's video, Back To The Future, which showed several projects that his students have completed and how he incorporates technology into his classroom to bridge the language and communication gap. The reason that I enjoyed Mr. Crosby's video was because I have developed such an appreciation for the wonders of technology in the classroom over this course. Mr. Crosby's teaching second language learners through technology has shown me that technology can be used to allow students to reach the their potential.

Mr. Crosby obviously cares about his students and their success. Mr. Crosby makes sure that all of his students, (including second language learners) learn reading, writing, and communication skills, and he does so with the use of technology! By writing wikis, posting to blogs, and recording videos, Mr. Crosby's students learn not only the subject material but also communication skills that would, typically, be difficult for ESL learners.Mr. Crosby's class is a perfect example of how technology, along with a dedicated teacher, can greatly affect the outcome of a students' success rate.

The Blended Learning Cycle

Mr. Paul Anderson is a high school AP Biology teacher in Bozeman, Montana. He explains how he is using the blended learning cycle in his classroom. Blended learning is taking classroom, online, and mobile learning and blending them all together. He explains the learning cycle. The 5 E's: Engage, Explore, Explain, Expand, and Evaluate. I think that it a great way to present material and a great way for material to be learned. You take the blended model of the classroom, mobile, and online learning, stick them with the 5 E's and you have the Blended Learning Cycle.

There are 6 parts to Mr. Anderson's learning cycle. He reviews them using the word QUIVERS.
Question (the hook in learning)
Investigation
Video
Elaboration
Review
Summary Quiz

I think that his QIVERS method is really good. It is something I would definitely consider using in my future classroom and teaching methods.

Progress Report on Final Project

Me and my partner, Jana Sharpe, have worked very hard and planned a lot in advance on our final project. We used Skype to connect with each other. We also communicated through e-mail, Facebook, and twitter. We met in advance to plan our final project twice before recording our movie. We each took equal and fair parts in our final project.

Project #15 SMARTboard Instruction Part 2

C4K April

Shay J

Shay told me about Nebraska. He talked about the state bird and the state fossil. He told me about the badlands and how much fun rock climbing is. He asked about where I lived. I told him that I was from Bayou La Batre, Al and I hoped that he would look it up.

Kylie M

Kylie is an 8th grade student. She wrote about her school's basketball team and her trip to their tournament. It was so hilarious. I forgot what it was like to be an 8th grade girl! Her post was supposed to be about her schools' basketball team, but was really about her problems of who to sit with on the bus, and the cute boys on the upper floor of the hotel where they were staying at. I commented and let her know how much I enjoyed reading her post and I told her to enjoy 8th grade because it goes by so fast!

Shaun

Shaun is a student in Australia. He told me things about himself like how  he has 5 siblings, a dog, how he likes McDonald's, and how he likes football. At the end of his post, he asked did anybody have anything in common with him. I commented and told him that we had a lot in common! I have a big family. I have one dog named Max. I like football, and I like McDonald's. I really enjoyed reading his post.

Blog Post #12

1. If you are planning in going into the history or social sciences field look over this website, educationworld.org. There are plenty of useful links and strategies to research.
2. Tell me what you thought about the website and click on at least 3 links that could help you as a future educator. Would they be helpful? Would you use them in the classroom?

I loved Education World! It's an educator's best friend,(or so it advertises.) It has plenty of links. Links for teachers, administrators, lesson plans, technology, worksheets, subjects, etc. Links for almost everything. I plan on using this website for future help in my teaching area. There is also a link for an ED World Community. You can connect with and talk to other professionals from your own area of study. 

Blog Post #11

Ms. Cassidy

Ms. Cassidy is a first grade teacher from Moose Jaw, Canada. I watched her YouTube video, "Little Kids..Big Potential." She taught her children how to use blogs, video, Skype, the Nintendo DS, wikis, and a webpage to communicate and learn in her classroom. My main thought is, WOW. When I was in the first grade, the only interaction I had with any type of technology was with my mom's old Dell computer. And all I did was play PAC-man. These 6 and 7 year olds are are learning, communicating, collaborating, and becoming these technologically literate people. I would love to incorporate blogs into my classroom. This is the way these children are learning to read and write. I find it truly amazing. What a way to learn!

C4T #3

Students as Change Agents

Jeff Delp was having some doubts in the beginning of his post. Until he watches his students become great difference makers. He stated, "I can not help but marvel at the learning experiences derived from truly empowering students — allowing them to recognize their potential to work as agents of change." I respect and admire him for being such a strong and loyal educator.

When Teaching Gets Tough 

"Teaching, while potentially very rewarding, is an extremely challenging profession." This is something I already accept and know to be true about teaching. Jeff Delp pointed out wonderful things for me to remember and realize through this journey on becoming an educator.
Live as if there is no tomorrow, and don't worry about things that you have no control over and cannot change.

If you want your life to be a magnificent story, then begin by realizing that you are the author and every day you have the opportunity to write a new page.  ~ Mark Houlahan (from When Teaching Gets Tough)