Blog Post 16

Here is my final reflection video!

Project 14

Project 14 was a collaborative project between Daphnie Pugh, Brittany Stanchio, and Amber Warren. Below are sharable links of our Project Overview, Project Calendar, Individual Performance, and Group Project Performance Rubrics.

Project Calendar

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GwxataqUmlyIhwERqLXFNezDv8WvlnwlTm3h8HVFV2Q/edit?usp=sharing

Project Overview

https://docs.google.com/a/southalabama.edu/document/d/1NflKExbypLCjZYI5k_Wt9FMqlOqEFQUqtmU5AEfieKk/edit?usp=sharing

Individual Performance Rubrics

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fh_ydefoE5_d2Cx4bjAiO9PmU1uXczTqjreXNZi53tc/edit?usp=sharing

Group Project Performance Rubric

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wkiauUA6b-rHH0hIlgjpZK7781t_81HHbx0eBAY3VBU/edit?usp=sharing

Project 13

Project 13 was a collaborative project between Daphnie Pugh, Brittany Stanchio, and Amber Warren. Below are sharable links of our Project Overview, Project Calendar, Individual Performance, and Group Performance Rubrics.

Project Overview

https://docs.google.com/a/southalabama.edu/document/d/1uFaJd4Y-9KMkf5vyQcC2kMQGvn4SJqjLmzHmHfW5whc/edit?usp=sharing

Project Calendar

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kml56eyKtukFDNSk9bnlXSXfo7Q5F9WCHsiLIzFlaDM/edit?usp=sharing

Individual Performance Rubric

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fh_ydefoE5_d2Cx4bjAiO9PmU1uXczTqjreXNZi53tc/edit? usp=sharing

Group Performance Rubric

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wkiauUA6b-rHH0hIlgjpZK7781t_81HHbx0eBAY3VBU/edit?usp=sharing

Project 12 Part B

Here is my group's SmartBoard lesson!

Blog Post 13 What Did I Leave Out?

Blog Post 13

Read these articles. Write about what you think will the best and the most difficult part about being an elementary education teacher. Explain why you want to be a teacher.

  

http://teaching.monster.com/careers/articles/9638-what-its-really-like-to-be-an-elementary-school-teacher  

http://teaching.monster.com/education/articles/1794-why-teach-a-teachers-prospective

This blog post is to be done individually.

Upon completion:

Post to your blog and post the link in Sakai under assignments.

Completed Version of Assignment:

         

          After reading these articles, it really made me think about what teaching is truly about. Being a teacher is not going to be an easy job, and it is not going to be a job that you are amazing at the very first day. It takes a lot of work and sacrifice along the way to truly become a great teacher, but in the end it is a very rewarding job that most people will never get to experience. Personally, I think this is the perfect job for me because there will always be challenges for me to overcome, and I will get to help students become successful.

          There are many things that will be difficult about being a teacher. One thing that many educators found to be difficult were the parents. When a parent sees their child is not doing well in school, some are very quick to blame the teacher and not their child. This can be very stressful for the teacher, and it can result in bad situations. Another thing some educators had issues with is the focus on standardized testing. With the focus being placed on these tests, it makes it hard for teachers to really teach in the way that the students need. In my opinion, memorization is not the key to learning. You want your students to be able to learn how to think outside of the box, which is why I talk about Project Based Learning so much.  

Last but not least, I am going to talk about the best part about being a teacher. There are so many good things that come out of teaching. For instance, you get to witness that “A-Ha!” moment that students have when they finally figure something out. Most teachers find that this is the one of the greatest feelings because it makes all of the hard work that you put into teaching feel like it is worth something. Another great part about teaching is being able to interact with the students. You get to be around these students for most of the day, and teach them things that will probably stick with them for the rest of their lives. You become their role model, and you can actually help mold students into having a successful life. In my opinion, the most rewarding part of being a teacher is having the opportunity to change a student’s life for the better. 

Picture from Susana Fernandez.

Project 12 Part A

Here is my video on how to use SmartBoards!


   

Blog Post 12

There are many useful Assistive technology tools that I can use in my classroom. Every student that goes to school have different needs. Some students may not be able to hear well or see well. That’s why it is useful to know about the different Assistive technologies available for students with disabilities to use.

For instance, apple I-Pads are very useful to have while teaching a vision impaired student. Apple I-Pad has a Voice-over control that speaks before you click on an app. It also has shortcuts that are easy to remember which help vision impaired students access the I-Pad without having to look at it. There are also some great apps that you can download that are easily accessible for visually impaired people. One app that I thought would be very useful is called Ever-note. It supports Voice-over and can store voice notes and text so they can be accessed over any device. Another great app that can be used by the visually impaired is LookTel Money Reader. LookTel Money Reader allows you to take a picture of paper money, and tells you what the monetary value of that bill is. To find out some more useful apps check out this link.  http://appadvice.com/applist_ipad_client_view/apps-for-the-visually-impaired

Braille Note Takers are another useful tool for the visually impaired. Braille Note Takers can help the visually impaired student type up documents using a braille keyboard. This product can connect to your computer using a USB port. I think this is a very helpful product because visually impaired people can easily tell which letter is which, and it allows them to type up documents for school or work. Find out more about Braille Note Takers at this link. http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/products/blindness/braillenotes

Many children who wear hearing aids still have difficulty hearing and understanding a parent or teacher’s words when there is lots of background noise and over short distances. This communication challenge also applies to many normal-hearing children who suffer from concentration-related disorders. A useful tool that can be used in the classroom to help solve this problem is a personal frequency modulation system or an FM system. FM amplifier is an interesting tool that helps eliminates background noise and transmits sounds directly to the student’s hearing aid.  A personal frequency modulation system consists of a transmitter microphone that the speaker wears, and a pair of headphones that receives the information the speaker is saying. This is useful if you have a hearing impaired student, or a student who has trouble concentrating with noise in the background. The child hears the speaker’s words directly in their ears, without any distracting background noise, allowing them to enjoy and participate fully in every conversation. I think this is a great way to include every student even if they have a disability. http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/FM-Systems/

Brittany Stanchio did the PowerPoint on Assistive Technology.
Amber Warren and Daphnie Pugh did the written part of the blog post.

Project 10

My interview with music teacher Rebecca Smith!

My Book Trailer.

Here is my book trailer for Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister.

Blog Post 11

Mr. Brian Crosby is a teacher that utilizes technology and project based learning in his classroom. He created projects that engaged all his students, and really made them want to learn. He used technology by allowing students to write blog posts about all of the projects they were doing. He even had the class create a Wiki where people from all over the world could ask them about the projects they were working on. After they created the Wiki, he had students from different schools asking him to teach their teacher how to do these projects! I think that is a great indication of how wonderful these projects can be. They promote curiosity in students about the topics they are learning which in turn helps the students learn more.

Mr. Paul Andersen is a biology teacher who created an acronym to go along with blended learning in his classroom. His acronym is QUIVERS: Question, Investigate/ Inquiry, Video, Elaboration, Review, and Summary Quiz. I like this method a lot because the teacher stays involved with the students throughout the whole process. For instance, he gives them a good question, he helps the students investigate the topic, he gives the students a video to watch, he gives the students problems to elaborate on the subject, and then he reviews the material with each individual student before they are allowed to take the quiz. I think this is a great way for the teacher to feel confident that their students really learned what they were supposed to learn.

Mr. Sam Pane is a teacher who taught students about internet safety using a comic generator. I really liked this idea because the students got to work on their writing skills as well as learn about internet safety. Plus, you could tell in the video that the students were really enjoying creating these comics. Here is the link for the video in case anyone wanted to check it out.

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-digital-citizenship

The rest of the videos I watched today had to do with Project Based Learning. The teachers in these videos were using project based learning with students as young as 5 years old. I thought this was a great idea because it will make it easier for students to do different projects in the future. It will also help them with public speaking since they are presenting projects at an early age. 

Image found on a creative commons website. 

http://blendedlearning.wikispaces.com/Setting+up+for+blended+learning

What I learned from Ms. Cassidy.

          For this blog post I get to write about a fascinating teacher named Ms. Cassidy. Ms. Cassidy is a first grade teacher who often uses technology to help her students learn in the classroom. You read correctly, she uses technology with 6 and 7 year olds. I think this is a step in the right direction. Children can learn so much from technology, and it is something that is not going to go away anytime soon.

          Ms. Cassidy uses technology as a tool for her students to learn. One technique that I think is very beneficial for the students is allowing her students to make blogposts. By allowing her students to write blog posts and publish their ideas, she is enabling them to be able to think about what they are putting on the internet. The students get excited about knowing people from all over the world are paying attention to what they write. Writing the blog posts also helps students with their writing skills and spelling. I also like the idea of teaching the students how to respond to other people’s blog post on the internet. She also utilized skype which allows her to have guest speakers like a Geologist talk to her students.

          I most likely will utilize skype in my future classroom. I love the idea of being able to have a specialist talk to my students. They could inspire my students in a way that maybe I would not have been able to, and the students could learn a lot about different aspects of the specialist’s field. The only impediments that I might have with this is being sure that I have a good enough internet connection for skype, and finding people that would be willing to talk to my students. I also really like the idea of having a classroom blog or webpage that students can access from home to help them with their schoolwork. It would also be beneficial for the parents to stay updated with what their child is learning each week. 

Picture from: Christian Schnettelker; http://www.manoftaste.de/ 

What Teachers and Students can Learn from Project Based Learning.

Project Based Learning (PBL) differs from typical methods of teaching in that it allows students and teachers to interact with each other as a team, instead of simply being “led” in their education. Teaching is more than simply reciting a text book or showings slides on a presentation, and PBL helps to reinforce this understanding. Not only do projects help students become more involved in their own learning process, they also help to reinforce strengths such as critical thinking, and a sense of accomplishment in their own work. Reading a book and then taking a test is a very straightforward approach, but it can also be highly mechanical. Education has a serious side which includes deadlines, mandatory reading, and testing, however this should not overwhelm the potentially enjoyable (and even fun!) aspects that help to keep students involved and motivated.

Teachers, for instance, can learn:

•         How their students feel about different topics of discussion.
•         If their students are truly learning the material presented to them.
•       Individually how their students think.
•         Which students work well together and which do not!

Students can learn:

•         How to engage themselves with projects.
•       How to present their idea.
•         Collaboration with others.
•         How to go in-depth with a project.
•         How to ask the right questions.
•         How to improve social skills.
•         How to think critically.
•         How to reflect on their work.

As students and teachers work together to complete projects and learn about each covered subject, teachers can then take the lessons learned from each class, and apply it to new classes. Another useful aspect of PBL is that when students complete projects, their work and research can be critiqued and improved as part of a process, instead of simply receiving a “correct/incorrect” response from a teacher after submitting a test. Since teachers will have to evaluate projects more closely, it will help them to stay involved in the teaching process.

Project Based Learning isn’t necessarily the perfect solution to every student’s needs, however I think that it is something that should be strongly considered when developing lesson plans.

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Video:


   


My Passion Video:




Video to the Parents:





Video to My Students:

What I learned from Randy Pausch.

         Have you ever had a childhood dream that just seemed so incredible, but you felt like you would never achieve it the older you became? Well, Randy Pausch believes that everyone should try to live out their childhood dreams no matter how crazy they are. He believes we should be enablers of childhood dreams and I agree. Who are we to tell children that their dreams are impossible? I want to be the type of person who tells her students to go after the impossible. I want them to realize that they really can live out their dreams if they put their minds to it.

          For this blog post, the main thing I am going to talk about is what I learned from Randy Pausch about teaching and learning. Randy Pausch talked about a lot of things, but one of the things he stressed was making connections and working together. He taught a class that was only group projects, and it reminded me a lot Project Based Learning. I’ve talked about project based learning before, and I think it is great that this professor taught a class that was strictly project based. It really helps you learn, and connect with other people who you may have never talked to beforehand.  

          Another thing that Randy Pausch talked about was teaching your students how to be self reflective. I believe this is an important thing for students to learn because it is always good to be able to critique your work after you finish it. Being able to be self reflective helps you do better the next time you have a similar project. For teachers, I believe this is very important because you constantly have to change your lesson plans based on what worked and did not work. Teachers can reuse lesson plans for the next year, so they need to be able to critique their lesson plans to better the lesson quality.

         Lastly, I want to end with a quote that Randy Pausch said during his last lecture, “Find the best in everybody, no one is completely evil.”

Technology in Elementary Classrooms.

I recently read an article called “Should Kids in Primary Grades Use Computers?” I found this article to be very interesting because I did not realize how much computers could help even at a young age. Almost every teacher they interviewed for this article agreed that technology should be implemented into the curriculum for K-3 grades.

          I personally agree that students should use computers at a young age so they can get more familiar with the technology that will eventually be a huge part of their lives.  I think that if teachers teach that technology is a tool rather than a toy, then it is completely acceptable for the young students to use computers. Essentially, a computer is a tool just like a calculator or a pencil. Students will have to learn how to use computers eventually, and the earlier the better.

          I also feel like we should start letting our children learn how to type earlier too. I believe that practice makes perfect, and with typing you have to continuously practice to stay good at it. I learned how to type when I was in 6^th grade, and after I learned it I rarely used it again. When I was in high school, I had forgotten everything that I learned about typing in the 6^th grade because I had never practiced it. That’s why I think typing is an important skill, and it is something that you will most likely have to use for the rest of your life. 

What I Learned From Anthony Capps. (Blog Post 6)

One of the major things that I have learned while watching these videos is that it is possible to have students learn by using technology on their own. I was taught using a traditional approach to teaching, so the idea of all of my future students being able to use technology on their own is fascinating to me. I also love the idea of using Project based learning in the classroom. I know that students learn the best when they are engaged, and project based learning really hits on that perspective. The students can really research a topic and express their ideas through PBL, and they feel prideful of their project because it is something they created.

I also learned about two tools that I can use in my classroom called iCurio and Discovery Ed. The program iCurio is a tool that students can use as a search engine to find information about different topics. They can also use it to find pictures and videos. One thing about iCurio that I thought was really neat for students, is if they find an article or picture that they want to use in the future they can just save it into a folder in iCurio. I think this is a great tool because they will not forget where they read the information they needed for the project they are working on. Discovery Ed is a tool students can use as a search engine as well, but this website focuses on science. Plus with Discovery Ed, There are pictures with every article the student looks at. Children are visual learners so this helps what they are learning about to stick in their head.

Another thing that I learned is how important it is to be flexible as a teacher. Not every project or assignment you give to your students is going to work. There will be mishaps, and you as a teacher will have to be prepared to improvise. I liked what Mr. Capps said about lesson plans, “You want to start with an end goal.” You have to think about what you are going to be teaching for the whole year, break it down into units, and then think about what you are going to be teaching each week within that unit. This is a great way to think about lesson plans, because you will be more prepared if you have a bigger goal to look forward to.  

Going Green!

          Going green is a relatively new saying that we hear all the time, but what does it really mean? Our society is very fast paced, and constantly moving. Most people do not have time to think about things like recycling or conservation, and that is completely understandable. The thing is every day we are losing more and more animals, and we are hurting our environment due to waste, especially plastic waste. For instance, we are losing a lot of birds due to them eating the plastic caps from plastic bottles. The birds will think they are full, but they can’t digest the plastic so they end up dying of starvation. Other animals are affected too. Such as turtles, marine mammals, and multiple big species of fish. I am very passionate about recycling and conservation, so today I will be talking about the different easy ways we can, as they say, Go Green.  

          I recently read this article called “15 Easy Ways Students Can Go Green”. The article had some great advice that anyone can do. I also felt like it would be easy to teach this to my students one day. Here are some ways to go green that I found to be very useful:

1.     Adopt reusable bag practices.

I think this idea will come in handy for me when I become a teacher. Most teachers have a low budget for supplies for the classroom, and reusing plastic bags year after year can really save money, and the earth! All you have to do is wash the bags out and they are almost like brand new.

2.     Say Goodbye to Bottled Water.

If you do not have the means to recycle, then you can stop buying water bottles. All you have to do is reuse plastic bottled water, or just buy a simple water bottle from the store.

3.     Think About Your Water Usage.

Ever heard of the old saying, “Save some for the fish.”? Well, you can easily do that by turning off the water while you brush your teeth, and by reducing your shower time a little to help save water.

4.     Recycle, Recycle, Recycle.

If you have the means to recycle, then recycle plastics, aluminum, and paper products. That is the best way to help the environment.

My Thoughts on Bullying.

I recently read an article about bullying that really helped me get a better understanding of what to look for when I start teaching. The article was from http://www.scholastic.com. I liked this article because it gave me an idea of what to look for in the victims of bullying, and what can happen if the bullying continues.

          The article states, “Bullying is a behavior that is prevalent throughout the world and it cuts across socio-economic, racial/ethnic, and cultural lines. Researchers estimate that 20 to 30 percent of school aged kids are involved in some form of bullying.” That is a pretty big statistic to me. I feel like we as a society should teach our children that it is wrong to bully another person. I understand that it has a lot to do with the child’s background, but I think we need to be more proactive about teaching our children about how it is wrong to bully someone. I also feel that we should teach our children that even though they do not physically abuse someone, they could be being a bully by just excluding certain kids or calling people names.

          For teachers and parents, there are some different ways you can tell if your child is being bullied. One thing that will likely happen is his or her grades will drop. The grades drop because instead of listening to the teacher the student is worried about what they did wrong, and who will sit with them at lunch. If the problem persists, they could grow up and have self-esteem issues or depression. Bullies are affected too, research shows that they have difficulty forming positive relationships, and are more prone to criminal activity.

          There are many ways you can help a child who is being bullied. One thing you can do is give the child some space to talk. Once you give them space to talk, get them to explain what has been happening. After you find out what the problems are, teach the child how to respond to the bully, and go through scenarios with the child about how to respond if something like that happens in the future. 

Personal Learning Network

Personal Learning Network is a website where educators can go to connect with other educators, and learn about different topics. Having a PLN is about being able to connect with experts all over the world at any time of the day. People post about different topics every day, so you are constantly able to learn about many different things. 

Let’s dig a little deeper…..

The Personal: In a Personal Learning Network, you want to make your connections personalized to your profession. If you teach English, you would want to follow English Professors or Administrators. You could also follow other teachers. It is always nice to see what other people are doing in their classrooms. One thing that I find interesting about PLN is you can connect with people all over the world at any time. In my opinion, being able to access the PLN at any time is great because you can always work it into your schedule.

The Learning: Having a PLN is about sharing ideas and resources, collaboration, and learning. I think this is a great tool for educators to use because everyone has different ideas, and I think this is a great way to share ideas with each other. You can learn from many things on a PLN in many ways. Educators share through videos, articles, and different media tools.

The Network: The defining part of PLN is that it is a global learning network. There are many people on this network, so the odds of you finding a professional in that shares your interest is very high.

In the future, I think I will definitely build myself a Personal Learning Network. I think it will be beneficial to have one when I am a new teacher. I could learn from other teachers, and get ideas for my lesson plans. I think it would also be very helpful if I had any questions. The people in my connections could answer any questions that I have. If they did not know the answer they could take the question to their connections, and eventually the question would be answered.  I think this is a great idea, and I will definitely be trying this in the future. 

The video below further explains PLN.


            

Are Teachers Agents of Change, or Agents of the State?

I recently read an article in a blog called “Agents of the State”. This article really made me think about the teacher that I want to be after I graduate. Do I want to be a teacher whose primary focus is state testing, or do I want to branch out and teach children about life. I think it is still important to get the students ready for the state tests, but I do not want to lose the chance to inspire my students. My high school English teacher was actually the person who inspired me to want to teach. She was so passionate about what she taught, and she made learning fun. I wanted to inspire children like that.

In the blog article, the author also talks about change. He says, “Discomfort is the means by which things change. Without that agita in our seats, we never reflect or see ways to change our practice.” I love this statement because it is very rare that people want to change. We get so comfortable in our everyday lives that when it is time to make a change we do not want to go along with it. We want consistency and normalcy, and that is perfectly understandable. The only problem with that is we live in a world that is constantly changing. I believe that we have to be open to change to be able to teach effectively. Teachers should be used to change due to the new students, and new protocols every year. In a way, I think that is a part of the job description. 

My thoughts on teaching with technology, and Padlet!

Technology is an integral part of our lives, and that will not be changing anytime soon. Many teachers are finding it hard to integrate the abundance of technology into their classrooms. Some teachers would prefer to just teach the old fashioned way and not worry about using technology at all while teaching. Well I say why not use technology? There are so many useful resources with technology that teachers can use to help students learn in a completely different way. Teachers can utilize these resources, and easily share them with their students.

 I recently stumbled upon a blog called The Teaching Palette. The author of the blog is a Nationally Board Certified Art Teacher and she works as an Apple educator. On her blog she posts about different ways she can teach Art better, and most of the articles she has involves using technology to teach. She also blogs about Apple product too, but I think that is mainly because she works for Apple. You can read more about her here: http://theteachingpalette.com/

I am mentioning this Blog because she had one article that I thought was really interesting. The article was called “Padlet: Engage and get them Thinking.”. This article was about a program called Padlet which allows you, as a teacher, to post a topic in a board, and allow each of your students to respond to the topic. It is kind of like a discussion forum, but it is more personalized. I think this is a great tool to use because you can engage a discussion with your students, without the pressure of being called on in class. A teacher could easily make this a homework assignment, and I honestly think most students would want to participate in it. If this does not work for your students, then I’m sure there is something else that will. That is part of the great challenge of being a teacher, finding out what works best for each of your students.  

Project #3 Presentation

For project #3 we had to make a presentation using Google Slides. The presentation was about Project Based Learning (PBL), and Alabama College and Career Ready Standards (ACCRS).

Project Based Learning is about students working collaboratively to achieve a task. This helps the students retain the information they learned better than memorization.

Alabama College and Career Ready Standards is a website that helps teachers and parents understand the Alabama State Standards. The State Standards are to help teachers know what exactly their students need to to learn for that year. Each grade level has their own standards, and students have to learn the set standards in order to pass onto the next grade level. I posted two videos in my presentation that I thought helped explain PBL and ACCRS very well.

I learned a lot while working on this presentation. For example, I learned that Project Based Learning is a lot more effective than memorization. I also learned that the ACCRS is a great tool to use to have a better understanding of the Alabama State Standards. I hope you enjoy my presentation!