Project 12 Part A

C4K Summary for October

Gabriel 6th Grade's blog

In Gabriel's post on Play Makers he wrote about “the championship game” between the Rockwell Rams and Darpy bears. He was asked to answer a few questions. How did the author end the story? Was that a good way to end the story? He goes on to tell about the game and the rivalry of two boys, Ben McBain and Chase Braggs. Gabriel said it was a good way to end the story because he would have never expected the Ram's to be knocked out of the playoff's. He ended his post saying, “Finally, that was a great way to show readers that you don’t have to win, to have the true heart of a champion and to show you that winning isn’t everything”. Over all it was such a good post of his response to this book.



Lexi- Mrs. Ripp's Class Blog

Although it has grammatical errors, it was too adorable not to share.

"My grandparents are AWESOME they are wonderful people and i love them sooooo much there kind, sweet, gentle, and calm. NO cause the older I get the sooner i get to see my BEST FRIEND his name is JESUS. In the Bible it says that you used to be able to live until you were 1000 even but God said that was to long to see his children and so he decided we could live up to 120 years old.     And he loves us sooo much.  I think in the book “The fourteenth goldfish”  that the grandpa is going to sleep over and that the might  steel something in the house cause he has to talk to the police  officers cause he was naughty.  What do you think is going to happen in the book?  Why don’t you read along with us? Can you spread the word of God around to 10 people? Are you a believer?  Did you know god loves you??"

I politely told her to watch out for errors, but she wrote such a good post. It was very comical to read. It made my whole day getting to read Lexi's post.


Kaiya's Blog

In Kaiya's blog post she simply was introducing herself, and telling a little bit about her family. She is eight years old, has three sisters, and one foster brother. She is an animal lover. She has three dogs, Elsa, Emma, and another one she did not name. She also has fish, three cats, and horses. Kaiya goes on to say that she has a big messy house, but she loves her house. It was a good get to know her post.

Melaia's Blog

Melaia wrote her blog post about a sunhat. She wears a sunhat when it is a hot day outside, or when they go to the beach. It helps keep your skin dry, and also protects from sunburn, she explains. Melaia ends with if you wear no hat you will get in trouble from your mum or dad, but if we wear a hat you will not get burnt from the sun. She had a few grammatical errors I nicely pointed out. I also told her that her post was very informative because I love the beach, and I love my sunhat.

Blog Post #10

"Technology is here to stay!"
I think she has a very influential teaching style. She uses technology effectively throughout her classroom. She started a webpage that helps students stay focused on what the good sites are, and what will help them learn. The parent's are able to keep up with how their child is doing in the classroom all year round, instead of just parent teacher conferences. She moved into blogging a few years after playing with technology. She expressed that the students love blogging and making videos. They can show their parents when they are at home. They also can comment on other students blogs when they are home. The students have a way with technology that we do not. It is a part of their world. We grew up in different times. She stated that we are handicapping our students and ourselves if we do not let technology into our classrooms. It gives the students an audience, not just their peers, but around the world as well. They tend to do better when they know others will be looking at their post or work. Blogging also tells you how many people view your blog and shows a map of where they are located. They get excited to know someone from another country or state looks at their work. It keeps them engaged.
Every teacher needs to learn how to use technology. It is so much more than spreadsheets and a word document. There are so many ways to use this as a tool to help teacher collaborate on ideas. Using twitter as a teacher has been proven to help in so many ways. Creating your personal learning network is something you should start while in college. You will use and need those resources one day. Everyone need advise at some point, what a great way to get fresh ideas.
In the part three video Mrs. Cassidy was asked many questions by Dr. Strange's students via Skype. One student asked how many times a day or week do her students blog? She replied, they usually blog about once a week, sometimes twice. It also depends on the class size, and what they are covering. This is one of the things I would really like to incorporate into my classroom. I think the parents would find this very interesting. This blog is something that you could pull up and watch their child's progress, or look up later down the road when they want to just go back to when they were "little". It is a great way to keep parents more involved in their child's learning. I would also like to use the wiki she talked about as well. I think that is a very neat resource for my future students. Lastly, I want to use Skype conversations to help my curious students engaged in the subject they want to learn more about. Giving them the opportunity to ask real scientist or historians questions is a great way to keep them focused.

Links to the conversations between Dr. Strange and Mrs. Cassidy.


Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Blog Post #9

Teachers and students can teach us many things about project based learning. The teachers become students and students become teachers. Everyone is learning. In the links below we really learn the essentials of project based learning from both students and teachers from all over the country. They all have so many great ideas, I can not wait to use them in my future classroom.

7 Essentials for Project Based Learning

What every good project needs:
1: A need to know. Launch a entry event. For example start with a video of beautiful beaches and end with photos of closed beaches due to water contamination. It will spark students to discuss and interest students to why they do such things and if they have had any experience. Then the teacher will introduce the project.
2. A driving question. ex. "How can we reduce the number of days Foster's Beach is closed because of poor water quality?"
"A good driving question captures the heart of the project in clear, compelling language, which gives students a sense of purpose and challenge. The question should be provocative, open-ended, complex, and linked to the core of what you want students to learn."
3.Student voice and choice. The project needs to be meaningful to the students. It will keep them more engaged in their topic if they have an interest in what they are doing.
4. 21st century skills. "A project should give students opportunities to build such 21st century skills as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and the use of technology, which will serve them well in the workplace and life."
5.Inquiry and Innovation. "Students find project work more meaningful if they conduct real inquiry, which does not mean finding information in books or websites and pasting it onto a poster. In real inquiry, students follow a trail that begins with their own questions, leads to a search for resources and the discovery of answers, and often ultimately leads to generating new questions, testing ideas, and drawing their own conclusions. With real inquiry comes innovation—a new answer to a driving question, a new product, or an individually generated solution to a problem. The teacher does not ask students to simply reproduce teacher- or textbook-provided information in a pretty format."
6.Feedback and Revision. One of the most important thing the students need to learn is that most times your first attempt does not result in high quality work. It takes trial and error to make things perfect. This is real world application.
7.Publicly Present the project. It is good to have the students present their work to an audience. They seem to care more about quality when they know they have to present it to others. They are more likely to really research their topic so they know exactly what they are talking about.



Project Based Learning for Teachers

In this video you learn many things. These are a few key points that stood out to me:
-Collaboration, communication and critical thinking
-Students take charge of their own learning
-Albert Einstein said, "I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn."
-Always have a purpose
-Addressing an audience
-Crafting a driving question
-Identifying the learning standards
-Creating a rubric
-Brainstorming branching questions
-Meeting deadlines
-Focussing on the product
-Refining the end product



What Motivates You to do Good in School?

This video was a recording of many different students explaining what motivates them. Their answers were all good. Some were serious and others were funny. Everything they said can be looked at from a teachers point of few in a great way. Every teacher needs to hear what motivates their students. It will help everyone in the end. Here are a few examples:
-Receiving positive feedback from teachers.
-Wanting to do well in life. Have a good job to take care of a family.
-Thinking of their future careers.
-Incentive to do good to be able to do the extra things they like to do in their free time
-Classroom incentives, a chart that keeps up with their behavior throughout the day and rewarded at the end of the week.

High School Teachers meet the Challenges of Project Based Learning

These high school teachers become the learners of project based learning. It is a mental shift from regular style teaching, and takes brainstorming and collaboration. They have to figure out how they can apply their ideas to real world applications. Math and english are said to be the hardest subjects to use PBL. By giving the teachers the choice to make their own course in pbl helps them better understand the process, and how to use pbl in their classrooms. They learn how to use these tools where they fit most in subjects, and it will never be the same in every classroom. Project based learning is not only exciting for students, but also exciting for teachers as well.



Two boys and their Project for Project Based Learning

In this video two senior boys are explaining their project for project based learning. They chose to evaluate why water comes out of a ketchup bottle when you squeeze. Why did they choose this project? They LOVE ketchup. Giving students the power of choice is key to them learning through pbl. They said they spent about a week brainstorming ideas, and created a model of a solution for under the cap on the computer. After they created this model they used a wax printer to print their fix to the old age problem, water with ketchup is nasty. They were engaged in what they were learning, and seemed very proud of their end product. This is just another way that pbl sparks interest in all of its projects.

Project #14

This week, my EDM 310 group created a lesson plan for a 3rd grade English class! The lesson is to help the students better understand the main components of a story and use their imagination and creativity to create a story of their own. The lesson for this is in the Project Based Learning Format where the students will be put into groups in order to create a story using StoryBoardThat.com! Check out our Google Site to see the lesson plan, calendar, checklist, and rubrics for this project.

C4T#2

Wright's Room

#1
In her blog post The Mcdonalization of Education: the rise of Slow, Shelley Wright proves her point about education needing to be a slow process. Learning does not take five seconds. It takes time and practice. Many students today, I for one, need to review things over and over again until I fully understand. The rise of fast pace learning in this world is a major set back for all education. In her post she states, ""Unfortunately, our education system, at least in North America, has been deeply influenced by the “need for speed”, or what George Ritzer has termed “McDonaldization”. She is exactly right. Her blog post was very inspiring and full of little things I would never have thought of.

#2
Shelley Wright said it best in her article, "The Gift of Failure, "Nobody really knows what the world will look like 10 years from now. We’re preparing students for jobs that don’t exist, using technology that hasn’t been invented, to solve problems we don’t know about." We simply cannot learn things if we do not fail. Wright said we have one of two options, blame it on an external factor, or we can look inside our selves and figure out what we did wrong. It is important for students to fail, to figure out how to fix themselves, all because they need to learn what it feels like to accomplish something on their own. They do not need to rely on someone else to pick them back up. An A in a class is a goal, you may fail a few times getting there, but there is always room to improve. Shelley Wright also said, "I think if our students make it through school without ever failing, we’ve failed them. Badly. Because life involves a lot of figuring out how to do something a different way. It requires a lot of problem solving. And sometimes when things go wrong, it is other people’s fault, but getting stuck there isn’t going to help us. Instead, we need to learn, unlearn, and relearn". That being said, let your students learn from their mistakes. It only makes them better in the end.

Blog Post #8

The Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

What an inspiration! Randy Pausch is an unbelievable role model to look up to. His outlook on his situation and life is how we should all be. He's a very positive person. This video had a lot to offer, I learned a lot of different things. The one thing that stood out the most to me, which seems to be an ongoing theme to my learning here in EDM310. Being a teacher is not an easy job. It never will be easy, and it is not for everyone. We will always mess up, we will run into problems, and we will be setback in many things. "Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things." As teachers, we want nothing as badly as our students to succeed. Our job is to give it our all, even if it does not go as smoothly as we want them to.

When Pausch was telling his stories about working as a professor. He assigned his students a two week project. When they came back in two weeks, their projects were amazing. He called his mentor and asked what he should do. He replied, tell them that was good, but they can do better.You don't know where the bar should be, but you're doing them a dishonor by setting it somewhere. This can be applied to every day teaching as well. Do not set a standard because they will not go beyond that. Encourage them, make them be thinkers and doers. We humans are not meant to be alone, we are meant to help one another. I want to be the kind of teacher who truly helps my students become a better version of themselves.

Randy Pausch is such an inspirational person. For anyone who truly wants to better themselves, especially teachers and future teachers. He was lucky enough to have many people who inspired him, therefore he is returning the favor to his students, fellow Disney Imageers, and by posting this video. Throughout his life he never gave up on his childhood dreams. He is evidence that anything is possible if you give it your all. Even though he only lives to be 47 years old, he has left a lasting impression. I recommend this video for anyone and everyone. Teaching will not be easy, but it is worth it all to inspire the people in your life.

Implications and Teaching Opportunities for Camera Use in Teaching and Learning

Part A

Technology has become essential to learning in todays modern world. Education is changing as a whole because of the use of technology. The classrooms today are completely different than they were when we were in grade school. Technology is an important part of todays society. Jobs require computer knowledge and some even further than just computers. Teaching in the 21st century constantly changes with the demands on technology in our lives. Our goal is to prepare our students to be able to do the things needed in todays world, and prepare them for jobs in their future.

According to Zobgy Analytics, I am one of those people that my cell phone does not leave my side. Many others fall into my habits as well. It is important to teach your students how to use them properly. It is no longer a problem to have tablets and cell phones in today's classrooms. It is a key factor in keeping students engaged in their learning. If they are engaged, they will learn more than they could ever dream. They question things, they broaden their horizons on those topics, which in turn makes them better learners. Bottom line is, technology is a part of our lives. We can not escape how it is constantly changing our lives for the better.


Part B

-Students can record themselves reading, helps with fluency and public speaking.

-Students can video record themselves to act out a part of history.

-Students can create iMovie presentations about books, movies, and art.

-Students can have a facetime chat with teachers or scientist all over the world.

-Students can record reflections to what they are learning in class.

You are not limited as a teacher or a student with having cameras in your classroom.

Project 9: Video Commentary

MW4
Group 5

Project #7: Four Movies Part Two

Blog Post #7 How Do We All Become Learners?

In How to Make An Audio QR Code, I learned it is actually a simple task. Students enjoy recording their voices and creating a code that anyone can scan and listen to them. It is as easy as recording your voice, create a URL, going to the QR code monkey website, clicking create code, and sharing with everyone. Anyone can download a QR scanner on any smart phone or tablet. It is also a free app, which is always good news. The video mentioned that the kids love when their parents can listen to what they did, and also leave notes and comments. It is always important to show off what they do.



In the Ipad Centers video, the teacher shows how her kindergarden class records themselves reading. They set the iPad at an upright position, and record themselves reading a page in their book. After reading a page, they go back and listen to it. They then follow along on the page to make sure they did not mess up on anything. This is a good example of how children can catch their own mistakes and learn from them. If they do mess up, they can record it again until they know they got it all right.


In the Polet as a Center video, the teacher is showing us how her kindergarden class uses this app on their iPads. It is a free app to download, and it is very helpful. The students chose from an assortment of books provided to do their project on. They take pictures of the pictures in the book and write a description for each picture. This helps with writing sentences, grammar, learning to be descriptive. For example, they used the book about veterinarians. She took a picture of the vet helping a bird, then wrote in her caption. The teacher looks over their final product and screenshots it. That way they can go back to it later and refresh their memory, or to show others what they have accomplished.

In the Alabama Virtual Library as a Kindergarden Center video, it shows you how the students use this tool. They are able to log in and start searching whatever topic they need to know more about. This is a great tool to use with children because it monitors what they are able to search, for their grade level, and keeps it simple. The usual activity has a word like transportation, under that word the teacher has several examples. As they search for those topics, Alabama Virtual Library provides them with images, videos, and even text that they can press audio to listen to the description. For their assignment, they take those words and draw a picture of it on paper. They search things all week and draw them. The the next week they take those pictures and write a sentence about each one. In this way, the teacher and the student know exactly what they learned. These objectives are to keep the students engaged, teach them research skills, and writing techniques.

Discovery Board Builder is such a great tool that I knew nothing about until this video. They use the Discovery Education website to do research on their topic, and to create their board. They are able to watch videos on the topic, see images, and facts. They create this presentation by choosing a background, titling the work, and add examples. They are then able to share with the class, teachers, and even family and friends. The children in videos Board Builder Oneand Board Builder Two show how excited the students are about their work they created themselves. It sparks fascination and builds passion for students of all ages. I can not wait to use this tool in my classroom.


In the video Using iMovie and Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarden, we are able to see how these media specialist use technology in their settings. Michelle Bennett explains about how kindergardeners use iMovie to make a book trailer, just as we college students did last week. She says it is unbelievable for five and six year olds to create their own iMovie by themselves. “You get the students started and once that is established the students take off and make it a project of their own”, says Bennett. They start out with their name and the title of the book, then that later turns into sentences for the images they have inserted. This is a great tool to teach your students and keep them engaged. She goes into how she can hardly get them to change subjects, or move on to something else. When you publish their work, as soon as they see it they want to edit it more all the time. They do not want to show it to anyone unless it is to their standards.
Elizabeth Davis goes into how she uses Alabama Virtual Library. It is free to anyone in the state of Alabama, and you can purchase a card at any local library. It is a great way to teach your students basic research skills. A great example is to type in “dog”, it pulls up images, encyclopedia text, really anything you need. She also gives her students a list of animals to look up each week. It gives them practice doing research. Davis also said that all of the students are eager and excited to do research on their own.


In We All Become Learners, Dr. Strange is interviewing with Elizabeth Davis, and Michelle Bennett. They explain how everyone is a learner and everyone is a teacher. Teachers teach students, students teach students, and students teach teachers. They were on the topic of using Padlet, another great free app, in class one day. She wanted to teach her students how to use this effectively so they could in return go show their teachers how to use it as well. She was trying to figure out how to take a picture on her macbook when a kindergarden student comes over to help. They knew all about how to do it. The student taught her how to take the picture and even insert it into padlet. We are all learners. The old saying, “You learn something new every day” is true to all situations, especially in education.