Project #10 Finding the Right Tool

readwritethink.org
I found many websites to add to my PLN this week. I really enjoyed readwritethink.org. It offers help to the teacher, students, and the parents. The teacher can find lesson plans, print outs, interactive for the students, and many more useful tools. The teachers find strategy guides to help them teach different techniques. The website allows you to search by grade level, learning objectives, and theme. There is a section for parents and after school activities. The students can get extra practice and even play games to reinforce the lessons they learned. There are projects and activities for the students.
I really enjoyed this website. My degree will be in elementary education meaning that I will be placed in the grade level that is available. This website allows you to search for any grade level. Since my grade level will most likely change often I can continue to use this same website, as well as others, often. I plan on using the activities on this website for my son that is in the fourth grade.

Blog Post #6

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler:
The video was about connectivism. I researched the definition on Wikipedia so that I could understand it a bit more. It is the theory of learning based on the premise that knowledge exists in the world rather than in the head of an individual. This is very true. There are countless amounts of information and ideas in the world. We can look on the internet to find out how to do anything. Technology has become a necessity in our everyday lives. We should all learn to have a social network for our own benefit.
I really enjoyed how the presentation was presented. The simple hand placed designs kept my attention. It was simple yet very informative. The students are learning how to explore useful websites and blogs. Blogs often give you opinions and you can ask them questions. Students are able to contact and sometimes Skype with actual scientists. Things of this nature can make students very interested and keep them motivated. The students are learning to use a learning network so that they will be able to teach themselves anything. They have the tools to find out anything they want to know. The teacher in this class is used for guidance. I like being able to explore and learn on my own but I am thankful that we still have someone to go to for that reassurance.

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLN)
This video presentation was great. As I was watching this I was thinking of how amazing it is that a 7th grader produced it. When I was in 7th grade I didn’t have a clue how to do anything of this nature. I want my students to be able to do this. I had always hoped to teach lower elementary but the more I learn of the possibilities I am thinking upper elementary. I am really excited about using all of the technology that I have learned in my classroom. I feel like I may be able to do more of it with older students. I would like to have my students create a PLN at the beginning of the year and I would grade them on how well organized and how often they use it. I am excited to see how my PLN continues to grow as this semester goes on.

Blog Post #5

If You Built a School
Krissy Venosdale is very passionate about teaching and her students. She wants her classroom to be the most exciting place her students ever visit. Could you imagine students being excited to return to school on a Monday? I imagine her students are. She wants her classroom to be like the world: busy, chaotic, and always in motion. She wants her students to remember their time together. I hope to bring this excitement and joy to my classroom.
If I was able to build a school it would be big and colorful. I also would like signs welcoming the students in. I would want every teacher to make the students feel welcome at all times. I would require creativity and technology in every lesson. Students could be creative while using technology or have a separate activity using some type of art. The students would be allowed to make serious suggestions on what they would like to learn. I think it would be a good idea to have the students have a chance to teach a lesson at least three times a year. I would hope to make my students want to be at school and learn.

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir
This virtual choir was just pure brilliance. It is amazing that things of this nature can be achieved with the technology we have today. I would like to see this shared at every high school. There are so many possibilities with technology and each student needs to be aware of the possibilities.

Katie Gimbar on Flipped Classroom
The idea of flipping a classroom seems to be a great idea. I like how she focuses on each learning group. You will always have the three levels higher, middle, and struggling levels. The higher fast paced learners usually like to help teach the others. It is always a positive way for students to interact when they can help each other. In her flipped classroom she has the students engaged and actually working ninety percent of the class time while she is only lecturing for ten percent of the time. Students tend to get bored when a teacher lectures for too long.
The students are required to watch videos and take notes. This allows for the students to work at a pace that is right for them. If students do not watch the videos at home then they are allowed to make time during the day to watch them. Most students like to come to class prepared. If they are prepared they will be able to get in their groups to work collaboratively.

Dr. Lodge McCammon Dr. Lodge McCammon's FIZZ - Flipping the Classroom
Dr. McCammon states that we have to much lecture in the classroom. This is very true. Sitting in a classroom listening to someone is very boring and inefficient. We lecture the students and send them home to their no teacher parent. Most parents complain they can’t help their child with homework because they do not know how to do the work themselves. Having the videos would help the parents learn about what their child is learning. The students are able to work at their own pace and review the video again if they need to. This helps to create classroom time for the students to be hands on.

Ms. Munafo Flipping the Classroom - 4th Grade STEM
Ms Munafo expects students to watch the videos and fill out a form pertaining to the video. The students will watch the video and work a few problems. They will be able to ask questions and address problems they encountered while trying to work the problems. Some students may even come to class with ideas on how to help other students. I like the way this works. The students are able to get the lecture at home then going to school for the help. Most students today are getting bored during lecture at school and by the time they start their homework they have forgotten how to work it. The videos will be around for the students to review as needed.

Project #6 My Sentence

Blog Post #4

I loved the post Langwitches - Flat Stanley Podcast. I love the way she made the students choose a location and research it. The students were learning many different subjects at the same time. The students made their own Flat Stanley and mailed him to relatives or friends in the location they chose. The students were required to research many aspects of the location they chose. They had to decide how they arrived at the location. They had to decide what they did while they were there and how they came back home. They had to come up with things to do that were at that location. The students were creating an audio recording so they were required to think about the senses used while there also. I enjoyed reading about this project. This is something that I would like to do with my students. I feel that this would be very interesting to the students and when they are interested then they learn more.

Langwitches - Podcasting with 1st Grade was very interesting. I am eager to have my own classroom. I am excited that first graders are learning how to do these things. The students had watched podcast from a second grade class. They were amazed at all of the comments from around the world that it received. They were then eager to do one themselves. The teacher read them a book and the students had to act as if they were interviewing two of the main characters. The students were using many skills. They were listening, speaking, presenting, and using comprehension just to name a few. The students were more excited about hearing themselves on the web than anything. They wanted to listen to it over and over.

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom by Joe Dale was also very interesting. The students are able to be more creative in my opinion. Students today are aware of computers and the internet and things like this are normal for them. When I was a child we didn’t have things like this but kids today use computers on a daily basis. My children Skype often with my dad while he is away working in Canada. Podcasting makes it easy for parents to see what their child is learning in school. The students are usually very proud to show their parents what they do. This is a way that students can show everyone their work even if a parent or relative lives out of town. I definitely will be using podcasting in my future classroom.

C4T #1 Post and Comment

C4T #1 Comment #1
Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano’s blogersphere is called Langwitches. Learning in the Classroom Part 2 is the first post I read. She is teaching her students about collaborating, participating, communicating and creating. The students learned about Mike Fisher, a poet. The students were assigned a poem to illustrate. They were able to learn about skyping when they skyped with Mr. Fisher about their individual poems. They were given the opportunity to ask him detail questions about their poems so that they can fully understand what it means. While the students were asking questions other students were tweeting about the skype call. Some students were creating Google documents to share about the call. It was very interactive. The students were learning many techniques at one time.

I was very impressed that the students were figuring out how to use Skype. The students were learning to tweet and learning how to do it correctly. They were also opening, creating, and sharing documents. I am amazed at how technologically advanced they are. They are completing tasks that I am just now beginning to figure out.

C4T #1 Comment #2
The second post from Langwitches was Assessment in the Modern Classroom Part Three - Blog Writing. This post was explaining that she uses a rubric to grade the blog post that the students post. She still expects the students to have correct writing skills by using a traditional writing assessment. The students are to post pictures and the pictures must support the content of the post. The post must be fluid and detailed. The students are required to post to blogs and they are still at times expected to write in their paper based journals.

I hadn’t thought about using a rubric to grade a post but I feel that it is most likely the easiest way. I was excited to see that the students at times are still required to write in their paper based journal. I really like and enjoy technology but feel that students should be taught how to write and use writing skills.

Project # 5 - Google Presentation

Special Blog Post #1

Many Students Misinterpreted the Data in Did You Know?

I found the WolframAlpha website to be very interesting. I found out that China is the most populated country at 1.35 billion people with India being second at 1.21 billion people. The United States ranks third by population with 309 million people. The facts from the video show the population difference of the two top ranking countries to the third top ranking country. Knowing the population difference I would hope that their numbers are bigger on some calculations.

I did a comparison of the population in Mississippi and Alabama with a college degree or above. Only 28.6% of Alabama’s population has a college degree or higher while 27.1% of Mississippi’s population has a college degree or higher. Those numbers to me are very low. I wish more people had the opportunity to continue their education. I also did a comparison of Mississippi and Alabama’s population. The population in Mississippi is 2.979 million people. Alabama has 4.803 million people.

WolframAlpha is very useful for anyone needing to look up anything. I found it very interesting that you can compare anything even apples and oranges. We often do not think about how many people actually live in the world. The world population is 6.79 billion with a life expectancy of 64.8 years. This website will tell you anything like that. I would like for my students to use this website at least once a week.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count

This was also very interesting to me. I sat there amazed as I watched the numbers change so very fast. I was amazed but at the same time knowing how many people live in the world not that surprised. This goes to show us how fast technology is. We as teachers must stay up to date with everything when it comes to technology. Our students will be eager to learn the newest bit of technology available and we must be there to teach it to them.

Blog Post #3

Peer Editing
Peer editing is something that I plan on using in my classroom. I feel that if you use the techniques that Paige Ellis uses then you can be very helpful. I like that she starts off with compliments. I feel that if you start with being positive that your peers will be likely to listen to your ideas and opinions. Suggestions are always a good thing also. If you feel someone hasn’t done something just right I believe you should have suggestions to offer on how to improve it. Corrections can sound rude to someone if you aren’t positive and polite when you offer them. I do not feel comfortable in correcting someone openly about their mistakes so I will stick to private messaging on those issues.

Assistive Technologies
I enjoyed learning about the assistive technologies. I was amazed at the Mountbatten and the way they used the iPad to teach the vision and hearing impaired students. They are many different apps out there to help them learn. I really liked how the in one video the mom was learning to use the iPad as her child does. It is hard for impaired students to learn but sometimes t is even harder for us to realize how hard it is for them until we put ourselves in their situation. As a teacher I will take the time to research and understand the impairments that a child has in my classroom. I feel that before you try to teach someone with an impairment you should first understand their impairment. I will keep up with the latest devices and support to be able to help them reach their fullest potential.

Digital Smarts
Vicki Davis has her rural area students communicating with people all over the world. This is amazing. When I was in high school I remember taking a computer class but it was nothing like this. She teaches them about wikis, podcast, blogging, and many other media tools. I feel so far behind the college students of today because I was not taught these things in high school. I will admit all of this new technology is intimidating to me. I am not sure how to use it and I am sometimes embarrassed to ask for help. I want to use every piece of available technology that I can in my classroom. I want my students to be up to date on their technology skills so they don’t fell left behind.