Sunday, November 30, 2014
Final Reflection Video
EDM310 was seemingly difficult at first but I have learned a lot and will take a lot from it. I will be a LIFETIME learner. Good job everyone! We did it!
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Final Post for #5
My PLN progress throughout this semester, to be honest, has been rather slow. I have, however, met a lot of other students in the same boat as me (Secondary Education/English majors) and to me that is a huge success for my own career. It's nice to have someone to contact if I have questions about which path others are taking and what advice they can give me. Because unlike current teachers, these students are going through the same exact things I am and will have fresh advice to give me. I also believe that if I grow and learn with these people then I will have them as excellent PLN resources down the road when we all, hopefully, have teaching jobs.
Since learning about PLN resources, I have taken more interest in getting to know my professors and to even contacting some past professors that I particularly enjoyed being in their class before. I think this is incredibly important for future references I may need in order to get a good teaching job or just for advice in general with my teaching career and/or lesson planning. Dr. Strange even pointed out that it is a good idea to go to local school events in order to meet teachers from there just in case I ever need a good reference from someone. Going to these events expand your PLN and can really help you in the long run.
So all in all there has not been a spectacular improvement in my PLN. There has, however, been a change in my own perspective about just how important a PLN is and how to acquire a successful one. This class has really helped me understand how connections locally and even all over the world can help my own teaching career and lesson planning in the future. Thanks Dr. Strange!
Since learning about PLN resources, I have taken more interest in getting to know my professors and to even contacting some past professors that I particularly enjoyed being in their class before. I think this is incredibly important for future references I may need in order to get a good teaching job or just for advice in general with my teaching career and/or lesson planning. Dr. Strange even pointed out that it is a good idea to go to local school events in order to meet teachers from there just in case I ever need a good reference from someone. Going to these events expand your PLN and can really help you in the long run.
So all in all there has not been a spectacular improvement in my PLN. There has, however, been a change in my own perspective about just how important a PLN is and how to acquire a successful one. This class has really helped me understand how connections locally and even all over the world can help my own teaching career and lesson planning in the future. Thanks Dr. Strange!
C4T Final Summary Week 15
Allowing us to pick our own C4T's these last two weeks was very exciting! Of course, I picked two English teachers and it was fascinating to see the things my fellow English enthusiasts have come up with.
The first C4T instructor I picked was someone called "TeacherTom" Teacher Tom. It was in regards to kindergarteners possibly losing their recess completely. Recess has already almost become completely cut out. Most schools only allow them to have 15 minutes outside of the classroom setting and in the fresh air. Tom argues that recess is an absolute necessity. I agreed with him. Recess teaches children things that sitting in a classroom setting cannot. It teaches them how to socially interact and work together in different ways. They learn how to organize games and take up leadership roles. It also allows them time to get out and relax. It gives them some time to get their energy out so they're not so antsy in the classroom while trying to learn. I believe, like Tom, that recess being cut out is a horrible idea and it is absolutely necessary to have for kindergarteners.
The last teacher's blog I commented on was a woman named Mary Worrel. Mary was explaining a project she has been testing in her English abroad class. It is a multi-genre project she is improving from her first attempt of assigning the project. She provides a list of literature she included in the classroom reading material and some assignments she applied to each particular book. I commented and told her how exciting this idea was. It is implementing so much material into one project. I especially liked her poem assignment for one of the books. This allows the students to fully express their creativity towards what they have read and leads to deeper discussions in the classroom besides just what happened in the book. She even mentions that it lead to some philosophical ideas and discussions. It sounds wonderful and I complimented her on her improvement on the assignment.
The first C4T instructor I picked was someone called "TeacherTom" Teacher Tom. It was in regards to kindergarteners possibly losing their recess completely. Recess has already almost become completely cut out. Most schools only allow them to have 15 minutes outside of the classroom setting and in the fresh air. Tom argues that recess is an absolute necessity. I agreed with him. Recess teaches children things that sitting in a classroom setting cannot. It teaches them how to socially interact and work together in different ways. They learn how to organize games and take up leadership roles. It also allows them time to get out and relax. It gives them some time to get their energy out so they're not so antsy in the classroom while trying to learn. I believe, like Tom, that recess being cut out is a horrible idea and it is absolutely necessary to have for kindergarteners.
The last teacher's blog I commented on was a woman named Mary Worrel. Mary was explaining a project she has been testing in her English abroad class. It is a multi-genre project she is improving from her first attempt of assigning the project. She provides a list of literature she included in the classroom reading material and some assignments she applied to each particular book. I commented and told her how exciting this idea was. It is implementing so much material into one project. I especially liked her poem assignment for one of the books. This allows the students to fully express their creativity towards what they have read and leads to deeper discussions in the classroom besides just what happened in the book. She even mentions that it lead to some philosophical ideas and discussions. It sounds wonderful and I complimented her on her improvement on the assignment.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
C4K November Summary
My first Comment 4 kids this month was a young girl named Alessia. She had been assigned to show the life cycle of a frog. It was a brief post that included a diagram of the life cycle transitioning in a clockwise pattern. She then described each step at the bottom of her post. There wasn't much of her own originality that I could comment on because she was really just posting facts. I did however mention that I remember learning about that in school and that it is really interesting. Biology was always a fun class when I was younger and it was a lot simpler.
My second C4K this month was a young man named Cade from Michigan. He posted a creative project of an altar ego of himself. This altar ego's name was Michigan Man. He included his background story and some hobbies of Michigan Man's (which I believe were some of his own). I told him that this was very interesting! He had drawn a picture of him and everything! I told him that he should further his story and get some more details of Michigan Man's life. It would be a really cool comic book idea to run with.
Overall, the kids did a great job making their post. As usual, it is always very interesting for me to see just how advanced, smart, and creative kids are. I can't wait to be a teacher!
My second C4K this month was a young man named Cade from Michigan. He posted a creative project of an altar ego of himself. This altar ego's name was Michigan Man. He included his background story and some hobbies of Michigan Man's (which I believe were some of his own). I told him that this was very interesting! He had drawn a picture of him and everything! I told him that he should further his story and get some more details of Michigan Man's life. It would be a really cool comic book idea to run with.
Overall, the kids did a great job making their post. As usual, it is always very interesting for me to see just how advanced, smart, and creative kids are. I can't wait to be a teacher!
Blog Post #14
In Joel Klein's article Teaching our Kids can be a Profession, Mr. Klein discusses the problems with our education system and how teachers should take control of their careers by making their jobs more like a profession.
His list of problems consisted of:
-Better academic training is needed
-There needs to be a new approach for recruiting teachers
-A reward system for teachers is needed
Solutions:
The solutions are basically the problems worded differently. For the first point I do believe that this statement is extremely important and should be taken into affect immediately. I remember countless coaches (history teachers), wannabe high school math teachers, and just overall not good teachers that attempted teaching I and my fellow students. I feel like with better training and school these teachers could have been more effective and would have made a better impression. But for example, I remember a new "physics" teacher who would come in my physics class when class ended so she could be tutored by my brilliant teacher everyday. She was your typical blonde, high heels, and tight clothes that really made me step back and say, "I can't believe they let her graduate with her teaching certificate." I mean, they were actually letting her teach children. Come to find out she was marking students' quizzes wrong when they were actually right once rechecked by my own physics teacher...
By using Klein's method of allowing the teachers to create their own standards to rate teachers on then I know for a fact this woman would have been removed. I completely agree with this solution and wish it would come into affect immediately.
The next problem sort of goes hand in hand with the last one. If the teachers had a set of standards handed down by fellow teachers, as Shanker suggests, then recruiting new teachers would not be so difficult because the school would get it right the first time. I also agree with Shanker's take on the beginning of a teacher's career at a new school. He says that there should be an internship process of a 1-3 year span to evaluate possible future teachers. Alongside his proposition of a national exam, I do not think that incompetent teachers would prove to be a problem anymore.
The last problem I have mentioned is the nonexistent reward system for our teachers. Let's be honest here, some teachers are ALOT better than others. It's just a basic fact. But the real problem here is that sometimes it is due to laziness and the unwilling attitude to really take any initiative in their job to help students. This is where the reward system would come in as Shanker suggests. Those teachers that do a better job and are really connecting with their students should be rewarded and start the process of working on a promotion. This will get teachers motivated to do better, even though they should already want to, and give them a sense of gratification that their job doesn't normally provide. Teachers do a lot and so I agree with Shanker and think that their hard work should not go unnoticed or unrewarded.
So, I agree with Shanker's suggestions completely. I feel like their needs to be a huge shift in the education world we have today. Too many people are getting off easy and becoming teachers just because they can and not because they deserve to be. This isn't fair for our students and should not be taken lightly. If we do not take a stand now and fight for professionalism in our career of teaching then teaching will always be treated as second class when we know we deserve a better reputation. When people find out I am going to be a teacher I get the same spill everytime, "Aw, well that's a rewarding job." Excuse me, this is a professional career that is raising up the next generation of your planet. Sounds a lot more important than most other careers to me. Because of this, I feel teachers need to be reevaluated and rewarded throughout their teaching careers so as to keep our teachers at the highest level possible for our students.
His list of problems consisted of:
-Better academic training is needed
-There needs to be a new approach for recruiting teachers
-A reward system for teachers is needed
Solutions:
The solutions are basically the problems worded differently. For the first point I do believe that this statement is extremely important and should be taken into affect immediately. I remember countless coaches (history teachers), wannabe high school math teachers, and just overall not good teachers that attempted teaching I and my fellow students. I feel like with better training and school these teachers could have been more effective and would have made a better impression. But for example, I remember a new "physics" teacher who would come in my physics class when class ended so she could be tutored by my brilliant teacher everyday. She was your typical blonde, high heels, and tight clothes that really made me step back and say, "I can't believe they let her graduate with her teaching certificate." I mean, they were actually letting her teach children. Come to find out she was marking students' quizzes wrong when they were actually right once rechecked by my own physics teacher...
By using Klein's method of allowing the teachers to create their own standards to rate teachers on then I know for a fact this woman would have been removed. I completely agree with this solution and wish it would come into affect immediately.
The next problem sort of goes hand in hand with the last one. If the teachers had a set of standards handed down by fellow teachers, as Shanker suggests, then recruiting new teachers would not be so difficult because the school would get it right the first time. I also agree with Shanker's take on the beginning of a teacher's career at a new school. He says that there should be an internship process of a 1-3 year span to evaluate possible future teachers. Alongside his proposition of a national exam, I do not think that incompetent teachers would prove to be a problem anymore.
The last problem I have mentioned is the nonexistent reward system for our teachers. Let's be honest here, some teachers are ALOT better than others. It's just a basic fact. But the real problem here is that sometimes it is due to laziness and the unwilling attitude to really take any initiative in their job to help students. This is where the reward system would come in as Shanker suggests. Those teachers that do a better job and are really connecting with their students should be rewarded and start the process of working on a promotion. This will get teachers motivated to do better, even though they should already want to, and give them a sense of gratification that their job doesn't normally provide. Teachers do a lot and so I agree with Shanker and think that their hard work should not go unnoticed or unrewarded.
So, I agree with Shanker's suggestions completely. I feel like their needs to be a huge shift in the education world we have today. Too many people are getting off easy and becoming teachers just because they can and not because they deserve to be. This isn't fair for our students and should not be taken lightly. If we do not take a stand now and fight for professionalism in our career of teaching then teaching will always be treated as second class when we know we deserve a better reputation. When people find out I am going to be a teacher I get the same spill everytime, "Aw, well that's a rewarding job." Excuse me, this is a professional career that is raising up the next generation of your planet. Sounds a lot more important than most other careers to me. Because of this, I feel teachers need to be reevaluated and rewarded throughout their teaching careers so as to keep our teachers at the highest level possible for our students.
 |
| "Add Amazing Teacher Name Here" |
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Blog Post #13
So, what made you want to be a teacher?
1.) Watch this video Why Become a Teacher.
2.) Watch this video 7 Reasons Why Becoming a Teacher is Awesome.
My answer to my created blog post assignment...
I feel like this is a very important BlogPost assignment to include because it makes your students really reflect on why they are doing this in the first place. To my fellow future educators, this is not a profession you can just choose and expect to be happy with. It really does have to be your calling. Let's face it, there is no real money to be made in teaching. It is all about the rewards that come from it.
In Why Become a Teacher. , several teachers are interviewed about why they became a teacher. They really touched base on a lot of my reasons for wanting to be a teacher. I too had a high school teacher that really influenced me to go into teaching. She was an English teacher as well. English was my favorite class to begin with, but she really showed me just why I love English so much. I love the creativity and imagination behind every book I read. I want to share my love for reading with my students. My teacher really narrowed my focus into literature and classic novels. Grammar is great, but I feel like the literature aspect is more important. This teacher had such passion behind her lessons. As the video says, my teacher also took her teaching to a college level and that really pushed me to try harder. I accomplished more than I thought was possible and that is my goal for my own students. I want to push my kids to their full potential and beyond. Being a teacher means making an impact on a child's future. I don't see how any other career could be as rewarding.
7 Reasons Why Becoming a Teacher is Awesome. is a very simple video that says a WHOLE lot.
As a teacher you will...
#1 Be a Leader. To your kids, you are Superman. You know all and can help any situation. I remember being a student in high school and just thinking how brilliant my teachers were. A lot of that is due to their passion about their work and their own research that they put into their subject. Like Dr. Stranger says, "We are all learners." It is great though to feel as if you are leading these kids into their future.
#2 Give kids the skills they need. This is a VERY important role of being a teacher. We shouldn't just teach at our kids. We need to give them the important things they need to succeed out there in the real world. The real world is not about grades and test scores. That was one thing I did not like about my own education. I felt so helpless once I really got out there. What did I really learn at all?
#3 Create New and Innovative Lesson Plans.. This relates to all the other points. To be and do all these "Awesome" things as a teacher, we have to create new and exciting, awesome lesson plans that keep our students engaged and constantly finding new ways to succeed.
#4 Become an Expert. This correlates with what I commented on in the first video. Being a Secondary Education major I will have the opportunity to become an expert in my own subject: English. Teachers must take advantage of this. WE ARE ALL LEARNERS. I will never stop learning new things about my subject so I can find new ways to teach it to my students.
#5 Be the most important person to many families. This statement really hits home with me. Growing up with two working parents and being an only child, I didn't have many people to turn to for answers. But I did luckily have a few pretty amazing teachers who I could always go to. They were way more than just teachers. Even on a non-personal level, all teachers have children more hours of the day than the child's own parents do. We have to make the most of that time they are spending at school.
#6 Fulfill your true calling. This one took a little work on my part and it is one of the main reasons why becoming a teacher is so special to me. Because at first, I planned on going into the medical field (Big money right?) I soon became depressed all the time and hated all of my classes. How could I do something I hated for the rest of my life? I had to choose what really made me happy: teaching. So, I made the tough decision of switching majors after two years and finally felt like I fit in.
#7 SHAPE OUR FUTURE. We are teaching tomorrow's leaders! This is a HUGE deal. Don't make light of this particular aspect to teaching. In our classrooms are future teachers, doctors, lawyers, and maybe even the future president. Give them what wisdom you can to lead them in the real world and never forget what a difference we make!
1.) Watch this video Why Become a Teacher.
2.) Watch this video 7 Reasons Why Becoming a Teacher is Awesome.
Answer the driving question and other questions specific to the assignment in a post that adheres
to the standards found in the ACCRS and in Writing A Quality Blog Post.My answer to my created blog post assignment...
I feel like this is a very important BlogPost assignment to include because it makes your students really reflect on why they are doing this in the first place. To my fellow future educators, this is not a profession you can just choose and expect to be happy with. It really does have to be your calling. Let's face it, there is no real money to be made in teaching. It is all about the rewards that come from it.
In Why Become a Teacher. , several teachers are interviewed about why they became a teacher. They really touched base on a lot of my reasons for wanting to be a teacher. I too had a high school teacher that really influenced me to go into teaching. She was an English teacher as well. English was my favorite class to begin with, but she really showed me just why I love English so much. I love the creativity and imagination behind every book I read. I want to share my love for reading with my students. My teacher really narrowed my focus into literature and classic novels. Grammar is great, but I feel like the literature aspect is more important. This teacher had such passion behind her lessons. As the video says, my teacher also took her teaching to a college level and that really pushed me to try harder. I accomplished more than I thought was possible and that is my goal for my own students. I want to push my kids to their full potential and beyond. Being a teacher means making an impact on a child's future. I don't see how any other career could be as rewarding.
7 Reasons Why Becoming a Teacher is Awesome. is a very simple video that says a WHOLE lot.
As a teacher you will...
#1 Be a Leader. To your kids, you are Superman. You know all and can help any situation. I remember being a student in high school and just thinking how brilliant my teachers were. A lot of that is due to their passion about their work and their own research that they put into their subject. Like Dr. Stranger says, "We are all learners." It is great though to feel as if you are leading these kids into their future.
#2 Give kids the skills they need. This is a VERY important role of being a teacher. We shouldn't just teach at our kids. We need to give them the important things they need to succeed out there in the real world. The real world is not about grades and test scores. That was one thing I did not like about my own education. I felt so helpless once I really got out there. What did I really learn at all?
#3 Create New and Innovative Lesson Plans.. This relates to all the other points. To be and do all these "Awesome" things as a teacher, we have to create new and exciting, awesome lesson plans that keep our students engaged and constantly finding new ways to succeed.
#4 Become an Expert. This correlates with what I commented on in the first video. Being a Secondary Education major I will have the opportunity to become an expert in my own subject: English. Teachers must take advantage of this. WE ARE ALL LEARNERS. I will never stop learning new things about my subject so I can find new ways to teach it to my students.
#5 Be the most important person to many families. This statement really hits home with me. Growing up with two working parents and being an only child, I didn't have many people to turn to for answers. But I did luckily have a few pretty amazing teachers who I could always go to. They were way more than just teachers. Even on a non-personal level, all teachers have children more hours of the day than the child's own parents do. We have to make the most of that time they are spending at school.
#6 Fulfill your true calling. This one took a little work on my part and it is one of the main reasons why becoming a teacher is so special to me. Because at first, I planned on going into the medical field (Big money right?) I soon became depressed all the time and hated all of my classes. How could I do something I hated for the rest of my life? I had to choose what really made me happy: teaching. So, I made the tough decision of switching majors after two years and finally felt like I fit in.
#7 SHAPE OUR FUTURE. We are teaching tomorrow's leaders! This is a HUGE deal. Don't make light of this particular aspect to teaching. In our classrooms are future teachers, doctors, lawyers, and maybe even the future president. Give them what wisdom you can to lead them in the real world and never forget what a difference we make!
 |
| *An.. awesome teacher. |
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Blog Post #12 Collaboratve Group #4
Blog Post #12 Collaborative Group #4
A. This video is just about introducing what Assistive Technology is and why it is important to have the classroom. For example, you could have a blind child in the classroom and as a result they will require a different approach to learning. They are just as smart and able and their able-bodied counterparts. They just need a different kind of help.
By: Sterling Spencer
B. Apple has a range of technological options to help those who have disabilities live their lives to the fullest with their technology.
For the users with vision problems the “Voice Over” will read the screen to them. For those with hearing problems they can access the “Face Time” feature on the phone and can then converse with people face to face. For the users who have diminishing motor skills can utilize the “AssistiveTouch” features in the IOS. The IOS also has features to assist those with attention deficit or cognitive disabilities stay on task.
By: Sterling Spencer
- The Mountbatten brailler is introduced to be a way to incorporate the blind into the classroom curriculum. This device allows the student to type what he or she is trying to say and the device prints the message in braille and reads the message back to the student in the process. The Mountbatten saves files and is able to transfer and receive files from the computer. This gives the blind an opportunity to achieve all academic goals they have set for themselves.
By: Paula Holt
- Technology never ceases to amaze me!! In Teaching Math to the Blind, Professor Karshmer discusses the difficulties of teaching math to the blind while he demonstrates how to use his innovative device that will make it simple and easy to teach math to the visually impaired.
For sighted children, it is very easy to explain a math problem on the board because
they can see how the numbers line up vertically. They then can add/subtract/divide/
multiply accordingly. But for blind students, Braille does not line up just so. Their
numbers stay linear and they can only read them from left to right. This makes math way
harder for them to figure out. But with Professor Karshmer’s device, students can scan
numbered tiles which tells them what number each tile is. They then can place it
anywhere on the board and line up tiles to make problems easier for them to feel
and figure out. Such a simple creation but it has a remarkable impact on it’s particular set
of students. I personally have a very close friend who is blind and just from talking to
him I know that it is extremely difficult to get a job if you are blind. With math skills your
chances increase drastically. That’s why technology is such a huge must for students
with special needs.
By:Taylor Gray
- Another more familiar piece of technology that is becoming increasingly important for the blind is the Ipad. It’s so refreshing to see something so popular being put to good use
done! Using the Ipad for the blind is simple and so easy for them to hear and understand
what they are doing while they are using their Ipad. This opens so many doors for them.
Now they can create and store all kinds of information and easily access it without any
outside help. I know that there are other forms of technology that have been made
accessible for the blind, but according to my friend who is blind, most of these devices
are very expensive. An Ipad isn’t cheap but it is attainable. It is also being used more
and more in schools. This gives special needs teachers an easy tool to interact with
with their blind students and give them a chance to feel in control! By: Taylor Gray
E. In this video we see someone showcasing the “Voice Over” feature on the Ipad. You can turn it on and the screen will read everything on it to you. It will even tell you when there is nothing there. It will even offer suggestions to help you out.
By: Sterling Spencer
- Denise shows us how learning on the ipad is simple and easy for someone who is blind. By simply running your finger over the screen the ipad tells you what app or program you are about to click on. It is set to double tap, so when you are over the app you need you can double tap anywhere on the screen and it opens the app. The keyboard is the same way making it easier to send messages for someone who can only hear. This is a great tool for a blind person to communicate with the world. I feel this is a great aspect and will go a long way for the people who simply can’t see, but have all the dreams just like the ones of people with vision.
By: Paula Holt
Special Education isn’t for everyone. It takes a calm, cool, collected, organized , and confident person to work with the special needs. Teaching can become overwhelming, so it is great to have a variety of options in your PLN. Working with parents and other teachers can offer many new ideas to help the special needs. Jeff Dunn has created an article 50 Must-See Blogs For Special Education Teachers. This article provides 50 blogs for you to add into your PLN. Jeff has broke them down into different groups making them easier to find what you need. Special Education Teaching Tips and Strategies, Technology and Assistive Technology, Special Topics, Special Education News and Policy, Special Education Law, and Various Topics on Special Education. Expanding your PLN allows you access to many ideas you can incorporate in your lesson plans.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Project #14 Collaborative Lesson Plan #2
Calendar
Lesson Plan
Rubric
Group #4 did an English project that revolves around taking classical literature language and editing a modern song with this type of language. It's a humorous activity that will get the students creatively involved and excited to present such a project to the class through some form of media.
Lesson Plan
Rubric
Group #4 did an English project that revolves around taking classical literature language and editing a modern song with this type of language. It's a humorous activity that will get the students creatively involved and excited to present such a project to the class through some form of media.
Blog Post #11
What Can We Learn From These Teachers?
Brian Crosby from Agnes Risley Elementary School is a very up-to-date educator. You can tell he is very proud of his students. I learned a lot from watching his video Back to the Future. In his assignment about balloons, he found a way to incorporate every subject into this lesson plan. It's amazing how involved students will become when you include things like science, creative writing, skyping, and blogging into a lesson. I have always thought that students need to be exposed to "what's out there." Because it is all too normal for people to be unaware of what is happening in the real world. But by having your students skyping with other students from all over the world they really become aware of just how small they are and of things that truly matter. I loved their idea of "High Hopes" and how it connected them to students all over the world and it really gave them a sense of pride when other classrooms got involved. It was very sweet of his class to include the girl who had leukemia into their classroom and to give her a feel for what it is like to be in a real one. From this video I learned that there are simple ways to get students thinking and learning without them even realizing it. I also learned that I need to keep it in mind to find ways for my students to connect with the world.
In the Blended Learning Cycle, Paul Anderson talks about his innovative process of teaching. Anderson discusses his acronym for teaching which he calls Quivers: QUestion, Investigation, Videos, Elaboration, Review, and Summary quiz. The key part to this process to me is that he didn't allow his students to take the summary quiz until he felt like they had a real grasp on what they had learned. It happens too often that students get left behind in class and then have a test thrown at them that they have no chance of even passing. Even after allowing his students to take the quiz he would send them back to the beginning of "quiver" if they still didn't understand it. This way he is ensuring that the student is actually learning and not just trying to pass a test. A lot of blended learning sounds like Project Based Learning and in a way they're extremely similar. They engage students, they use technology, and the teacher evaluates their "end product" to see if they really understand it. I will definitely incorporate this in my classroom.
Brian Crosby from Agnes Risley Elementary School is a very up-to-date educator. You can tell he is very proud of his students. I learned a lot from watching his video Back to the Future. In his assignment about balloons, he found a way to incorporate every subject into this lesson plan. It's amazing how involved students will become when you include things like science, creative writing, skyping, and blogging into a lesson. I have always thought that students need to be exposed to "what's out there." Because it is all too normal for people to be unaware of what is happening in the real world. But by having your students skyping with other students from all over the world they really become aware of just how small they are and of things that truly matter. I loved their idea of "High Hopes" and how it connected them to students all over the world and it really gave them a sense of pride when other classrooms got involved. It was very sweet of his class to include the girl who had leukemia into their classroom and to give her a feel for what it is like to be in a real one. From this video I learned that there are simple ways to get students thinking and learning without them even realizing it. I also learned that I need to keep it in mind to find ways for my students to connect with the world.
In the Blended Learning Cycle, Paul Anderson talks about his innovative process of teaching. Anderson discusses his acronym for teaching which he calls Quivers: QUestion, Investigation, Videos, Elaboration, Review, and Summary quiz. The key part to this process to me is that he didn't allow his students to take the summary quiz until he felt like they had a real grasp on what they had learned. It happens too often that students get left behind in class and then have a test thrown at them that they have no chance of even passing. Even after allowing his students to take the quiz he would send them back to the beginning of "quiver" if they still didn't understand it. This way he is ensuring that the student is actually learning and not just trying to pass a test. A lot of blended learning sounds like Project Based Learning and in a way they're extremely similar. They engage students, they use technology, and the teacher evaluates their "end product" to see if they really understand it. I will definitely incorporate this in my classroom.
In Mark Church's video Headlines, he has a simple idea that every teacher should use in every lesson plan. Ask your students what they think about a topic that they don't know much about. Later, after you have finished the lesson, ask them again what they think and see how their ideas have changed since the lesson began. By telling his students to create a headline with their initial idea they made something of physical evidence that they can refer back to later so they can see just how much they ideas have changed. This really is a way of making thinking visible. The students are actually presented with their thinking on a paper and they have a way to compare initial thoughts to their ending thoughts. I think this helps students understand the learning process and just how drastic the change in themselves can be. It's a way to spark their interest in learning.
Super Digital Citizen was probably my favorite video to watch for this blog post. This was a super creative way to implement not only writing skills but technology and real world skills as well. I think it is extremely important to educate our kids to be smart on the internet. This is one of the most pressing matters for our generation of children today. Misusage of the internet is a constant concern for our students and forming a project around it is just genius. These students were so engulfed in the project that they were actually having fun creating their own characters and putting them into a comic book. This is very inspirational for me as a future English teacher because this is a wonderful idea to use for any book we may read in class.
Project Based Learning was very similar to many videos we have watched in the past about PBL. This just added to our understanding of the difficulties that come with learning how to incorporate PBL into your classroom. This is especially true for veteran teachers who have become adjusted to their teaching styles without it and are now trying to change all of their tactics. I do however think it's rather important to try and include different subjects under a single project. This way the students isn't just learning a subject but instead how it ties into to everything else as well.
Roosevelt's Elementary PBL was mostly about a small community and the group of kids in this Elementary school and just how project based learning affects them as a whole and individually. It focused less on the actual process of PBL but the outcome of it. Students are becoming more engaged in their community and in their classroom. They're becoming excited about learning and proud to show what they have learned to their community. The best part about PBL in my opinion is how it relates to real world problems. It gets kids active in places like their community, the classroom, and sometimes they even have an affect on students in other parts of the world. Students are taught how to work collaborate together, how to speak in public, and how to research a subject to learn about it on their own. Project Based Learning gives the students self motivation and a sense of ownership in their learning environment. It is empowering for them and I believe this is the best environment we can provide for our students.
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