Blog Post #10

I’m a Papermate. I’m a Ticonderoga.

This is a very cute comic. As in many computer commercials the author is saying that papermate is cheaper but it breaks more often, while the Ticonderoga is more expensive. He is comparing the pc and the mac. He is saying cheaper isn’t always better in my opinion. We seem to buy the item that has the cheaper price. The Ticonderoga may seem to cost more upfront but will last longer in the long run.

Why Were Your Kids Playing Games?

The principal in the dialogue is asking the teacher why the students were playing games, the principal feels that students should be only drilled and tested over and over with the material each week. He doesn’t care how the parents feel or if the students are so bored that they are not learning anything, playing meaningful games to learn is very effective. The game must have meaning to fit in this idea. The students must know the material in order to play the game correctly. If the students know that they will have a chance to play the game they are more likely to study and be prepared I have said this many times and will continue to say it but when students are having fun they are learning more.

Don’t teach your kids this stuff. Please?

Scott McCleod is telling parents, teachers, administrators, and board members not to teach our students to use technology. He says do not teach them how to research information or to make videos. He states that pen and paper aren’t going anywhere. He is saying that kids do not need an audience. Mr. McCleod talks about them hooking up with predators online and how they cheat or share ideas.

 He is being sarcastic in my opinion. He is saying that we should not keep our children and students from learning to research the web. He is trying to show us just how we look to others as we seen. The internet and technology are very important and useful today. We can use social networks daily. I do not think that pen and paper will ever become extinct however I do believe that we should keep up with technology. Technology is growing and moving very fast. We need to realize that all knew things are not bad. We as humans have a fear of the unknown.

Project #11 Short Green Screen Movie

Project #12 Book Trailer

Blog Post #9

What I’ve Learned this Year (2008-2009)

This was Mr. McClung’s first year of teaching. He says an important decision he made this year was to be positive. When he first started teaching he was so worried about how his supervisors thought he did that he didn’t focus on teaching the students how they needed to be taught. He says that teachers come so focused on the delivery of a lesson that they forget to check for comprehension. Being flexible is another aspect he learned. Lesson plans do not have to be one hundred percent perfect. You must be able to adjust your lesson plans as you see fit depending on your students. If something is not working when you are teaching then change it. Each student learns different. Communication is very important in everyday life. He says you must have a good communication line with fellow teachers and students. He says being reasonable is important. We can set high expectations of our students but we need to be aware that sometimes some of them will not make them and that is okay. He says they are not perfect and neither are we. We should encourage them to do their best. Mr. McClung says do not be afraid of technology. Sometimes it takes a little effort to learn new technology but it is well worth it. If we don’t succeed the first time we shouldn’t give up we should just try again. Listening to your students is very important. He has the student’s complete end of the year surveys and one student said he knows his teacher cares for him because he listens to him. He says in order to build a good relationship with your students you have to take interest in their lives. The last thing on his list of things he learned is to never stop learning. Mr. McClung says we almost beg our students daily to learn and some still refuse to learn. We should continue to learn ourselves so that we can find a new way to spark their interest on learning.

 

I have a fear of not teaching my students in a way they need to be taught in fear that someone is watching over my shoulder. I can read aloud to students but if another adult is in the room I get very nervous. I worry sometimes too much about the delivery instead of sparking their interest. This is something I will get over but will need help with. I have children of my own so I know being flexible is very important when dealing with students. Each individual is different and they will respond and learn different. Lesson plans are a base in my opinion. They can be added to or adjusted as the teacher sees fit. The teacher will be able to determine very quickly if the students are learning. If they are not then something needs to be fixed at that moment. Setting high expectations of ourselves and students can be a good thing but we do need to understand that every student will not be able to meet them. Some students will go beyond our expectations and some will meet them as we planned. We should always encourage everyone regardless of how much of our expectations they are able to meet. Technology in the classroom is new to me as I am older going back to school. When I was in school we didn’t have that much technology. I am excited to learn about these new things but I do admit that I am scared that I might not catch on as fast. I have a feeling that my students will be able to help me. My two year old plays on my ipad everyday with no problems. Sometimes I think that kids these days are born with a technological brain. Listening to your students is very important. I worked in an elementary school and the children are very eager to tell you about their pets, parents, grandparents, favorite toys, and everything else. We should show an interest in them. They need to know that we care about them as a person not just the kid in the classroom. We do have to remember how to act in a professional way and not be too personal but we can have a relationship with our students. We should always be looking to learn new things. We benefit ourselves and our students when we learn new things. I think it would be a neat idea to have the students and the teacher to make a journal. Each Friday they would have to write one thing that they learn that week. I as a teacher would do the same thing. This might make the students eager to learn something so that they could put it in their journal. We could also share in small groups what we learned.   

 

Version 4 Post (2011-2012)
Mr. McClung has been writing reflective blog posts describing what he learned from teaching that year. The previous years he learned much more than he did this year. He only had two lessons that stuck out in his mind. Over the years he has never worried too much about what his fellow teachers thought about him or his teaching style. He usually only worries about what his students and supervisors thought. This year was different he was worried about what his peers thought about how he taught his students. This had an effect on his mood. He later realized that he can’t change himself to please others. He needs to stay true to his way of teaching. Making sure that his students are learning and enjoying learning that is the most important.

 We tend to worry too much about what others think. Sometimes we have great ideas and are scared to pursue them because of what others may think. As teachers we need to be able to be confident in what we know and just teach it. We learn how our students learn and we can make it enjoyable for them. Our students will learn much more when they are having fun.

Mr. McClung has been teaching in the same school and teaching the same subjects for three years. This year he was a bit more lazy. He used the same old lessons plans he had used each year. He didn’t put much thought into anything. He didn’t add any new things to the classroom. He had got comfortable in his class and felt it was okay as it was. The students were not assigned anything fun or interesting.

 Many teachers are guilty of being too comfortable in their lesson plans. They reuse lesson plans each year and change nothing. With sites such as pinterest we can always add something to our lesson plans. They always have many fun easy ideas that be incorporated into any classroom. Students talk to other students about what they did in class and if it was boring or fun. I hope that my students leave my classroom talking about how interesting my class is. I say this all the time but I believe it very much, students that have fun learn more.

 

Blog Post #8

Dr. Miller This is How We Dream

He talks about alternatives to paper and pen.  He discusses the ways that you can add audio and visual aspects to publications. We can research online and find many up to date resources to use. When you use the web you are searching globally. This brings the world together in the most wonderful way. This allows the students to have more and better resources on hand at all times. Students are more interested in watching and learning something when it is interesting. The students are allowed to use their imagination and creativity. Students that are not as creative are able to research ways to be creative. Some students can learn by just reading plain text but others learn better by having visual aids to watch and some need to hear things to learn. While using the web you are allowing each student to learn in his or her own way.

I have really enjoyed learning how teachers across the world are bogging with their class. This is collaboration to me. They are letting their students have contact with other students around the world. I believe collaboration like this is one way Dr. Miller is discussing.

I am willing to learn to write with multimedia but don’t feel that I am prepared just yet. I plan to use writing with multimedia in my classroom. If my students do not know how then we will research it and teach them how.

Carly Pugh’s Blog Post 12

Carly put a lot of thought into this.  As future teachers we should always put a lot of thought into everything that we do. I love the video playlist. This would be a great must have for future employers. They would see more about you than what they would learn from asking you a few questions.  The playlist would be a great tool to help you as you teach. It would be a great resource to look back to. This is a great way to use multimedia. I plan to have my students make an about me presentation.

Jamie Lynn Miller’s Project

Organization is a must. We must be organized with every assignment. When we are organized we most likely will not procrastinate. Procrastination is a huge problem for me. I usually wait until the last minute on things and then do not have time for errors. These videos shows how crazy we look when we are not organized and wait until the last minute.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn

Technology is a mjor part of every students lives but we are not allowing them to have these things at school. I feel that in the world we live in today we need to allow the students to use these devices to learn. They are learning to explore the world with the devices. They can expand their learning environment. The school systems need to be updated. They need to be redesigned using techniques that would fit today’s world. Schools can teach students about different cultures and how they learn. I believe bringing in all types of diversity into your classroom will help students. They can see that everyone is different and learns different.

Justin Cometti’s Scavenger Hunt

Polleverywhere.com is a great free website to create polls. Anyone can sign up and create polls. This tool can be used with parents and students in your classroom. The parents can be sent an email with questions about how they feel the teacher and or their child is doing in the classroom. The students can answer polls that the teacher can use to see how much they are learning. I am excited to use this website many times and have added it to my symbaloo.

EDU 2.0 is a social media site for teachers. The teachers can share lesson plans, ideas, quizzes, videos, and much more. They can give advice to one another and ask for help if they need it. Sharing ideas among teachers is a must for me. I believe teachers should always share with other teachers things that work in their classroom. If something doesn’t work that can also be shared. This is a free site that is hosted in the cloud to be used anywhere.

Animoto is an easy to use video tool. You can choose the style and add captions. You can create thirty second videos for free. You can purchase plans that allow your videos to be longer. Video tools in the classroom are a must this day and time. We must use every available tool possible for our students. They are depending on us to receive the best education they can. Students are able to communicate with others across the world. They can learn from others through videos also. Multimedia will be used in my classroom.

  

C4K Summary for February

Detric
Detric wrote just a few sentences. He said he saw the birds gliding, a man taking a picture, and he saw ice cream.  I told him I imagine that the sails are very colorful.  I asked him his favorite ice cream flavor. I told him I think he was looking at a picture of the beach or a pier.

 Benniasia

Benniasia is eight years old.  She is in Ms Mckeller’s third grade class. She has six brothers. She has a dog and wants to be a dog modeler when she grows up so that she will have the best life. I couldn’t imagine have six brothers. I told her about our dog Ringo. I told her happy birthday since it was close to her birthday.

 Lukis

Lukis is a fifth grade student in Aukland, New Zealand. He made a netbook presentation about himself. I really enjoyed seeing his presentation. It was like our about me video. He likes pizza, sports, and music. I told him I like pizza and asked him his favorite toppings. I told him about the music I like also. I told him how much I enjoyed his presentation.

 Ameer

Ameer is from Miss Mac’s Outstanding Owls.  She likes Bugs Bunny.  She did research on him and found out many facts. She asked if we knew how old Looney Tunes were.  I told her about me being able to meet Bugs Bunny at Six Flags over Georgia.  I told her how nice he is and hope that she can meet him one day.

Project #8 Podcast

C4T #2 Post and Comment Summary

C4T#2 Comment #1

Amanda Ooten is a science teacher at Catholic High School in Ohio. The teacher was discussing how she has flipped her Honors Biology classroom. The students are adjusting very well. She is also an active member on her schools technology committee. She is hoping in the next two years for each student to have their own device.  Since they are a private school she is hoping to help find grants to help her school.
I commented to Amanda that I was still learning about the flipped classroom technique.  I believe that the flipped classroom will help the parents or caregivers help the students.  The caregivers are able to watch the lessons the students are assigned. Technology is a big deal in education these days and it would be great for every student to be able to have their own device.     

C4T#2 Comment #2
Mrs. Ooten talked about her flipped Honors Biology class.  When school started she went 100% with it.  The students in reality were struggling with the work.  A few weeks into the class she realized the students were overwhelmed.  She decided she needed to make it flipped 50% of the time since it is an honors class.  They still watched the videos and had discussions but at times she still lectures.  She has seen an increase in students emailing and coming before/after class to ask for help. I commented on how I liked her lecture time. She has the students in groups and the discuss and ask each other questions.  It is more of a whole class lecture. The students are very interactive with lectures. I really enjoyed her posts because she was willing to admit that she had to kind of do a trial and error.  She went into it full out and realized her students needs and worked with what helped them the best.

PLN Progress Report #1

I have started using Symbaloo and really enjoy how organized it is.  I have many tiles started and I am anxious to get more started.   I am using Pinterest and twitter on a daily basis.  Facebook also has a few educational pages I like to watch.  I am following many educational websites. I am really excited to continue to add to my PLN.