Blog Post #5 Part 2

Before taking EDM310, I had absolutely no idea what a PLN was. When we were learning about what a PLN was, I knew that it was going to be very useful to me in the future. Every week when Dr. Strange assigns us to our C4K or C4T, I follow the teachers on Twitter or follow their blogs. I also follow all of the staff of EDM310. These people are great additions to my PLN. I really value my PLN, because it allows me to have great connections with others that are interested in the same things that I am. I am very grateful that I was taught about PLN's and how to start one.

Photo Source:www.tldevelopment.net

C4T November Summary

In Laura Gerin's blog post, Five for Friday-Short and Sweet, she was talking about all the neat things that her class was doing in the month of November. Her class was doing so many neat things in just one month. She was definitely a busy woman! She encouraged her class to participate in dressing up everyday for red ribbon week. She posted some cute pictures of her students outfits. They wore anything from silly socks to making their own hero capes. They also counted how many seeds were in a pumpkin, as a math project. Her class also participated in a trick or treating activity at their school. I commented on her blog, I loved the pictures that she posted.

Photo Source: www.inspireteaching.org

In Deb Frazier's blog post Shelfari-Another Reading Tool in Building Wild Readers, she shared a really cool tool that she uses in her classroom. It is called Shelfari. Shelfari is an iPad app that her students use. They add the books that they have read to their Shelfari. What is really neat is that students can share their Shelfari's with other students. Students can also borrow books from other students. This is a very neat thing that I will definitely be using in my classroom in the future.

C4K Summary for November

In Ethan's blog post, he talked about how much he loved writing. He enjoyed writing about things that he enjoyed to do. He thought it was so neat that other people could see and read what he was writing about. I commented and told him about EDM310, and how I was not a fan of writing when I started this class. I told him that I have learned to love writing on my blog, and I also think that it is neat that other people are reading what I write.

In Bryson's blog post, he shared about a project that he was working on. He was using a computer program to change physical objects into animation to tell a story through a picture. He was very creative with his project. He posted great pictures of the project progression.

In Ms. DeBuhrs 8th grade class, one of her students wrote a blog post called Quarter One: Mission Complete. In this blog post, the student is talking about how he loves to write on his blog during "silent writing time". He loves to incorporate his vocabulary words into his posts. He is very smart. He uses them so that he can increase his vocabulary. He is also starting to write his very first novel. This kid is very motivated!

Photo Source: www.edtechroundup.org

Blog Post #14

In Joel Kleins article,Teaching Our Children Can Be A Profession, the thing that he thought needed changing the most was professionalizing teaching. The problems he saw were not having good enough academic training for prospective teachers, approach to recruiting teachers was not good, how teachers got awarded, and how seniority was a distraction in schools.

The first thing he said was that we needed better academic training for prospective teachers. His solution to this problem was to have better teacher programs. I do agree with him, teachers do need the best programs that can teach them how to do their job to the best of their ability.

The second thing he said was that we need a better approach to recruiting teachers. His solution to this was not to let every one that graduated with an education degree become a teacher. Instead, he said to only let top third education graduates become teachers. I do not agree with this at all. Just because you did well in college and were the top in your graduating class, does not mean that you will be the best teacher.

The third thing he had a problem with was the way teachers are rewarded. His solution was to reward teachers on their performance and not their seniority. I agree with this solution. Teachers need to be rewarded when they are doing a great job. It does not need to matter how long they have been teaching, it should matter how they are teaching.

The fourth thing he had a problem with was how seniority created a distraction in schools. His solution was to get rid of the teachers that were not getting the job done instead of getting rid of new teachers that had been recently hired. I agree with this. Teachers who are not doing their job the way they should be, should be laid off. It should not matter how long they have or have not been teaching.

I think that this was a great article. Anyone who is trying to become a teacher or who is thinking about becoming a teacher should read it. It really opened my eyes to some problems that may actually be taking place today. I think that almost all of his solutions will better a teacher.

Photo Source: www.usatoday.com

Blog Post #13

This blog post assignment was to create your own assignment. We had to write about something that we have not had a chance to write about this semester. The technology world is ever changing, and teachers have to stay up to date on it all. I have included two articles and video on great tips for teachers to keep up with with the always changing technology.

5 Tips to Help Teachers Who Struggle with Technology

How Teacher Can Keep Up With Changes in Education

Tips for Teachers to Learn New Technology

In the first source,5 Tips to Helo Teachers Who Struggle with Technology, it listed five ways you can help teachers who struggle with technology. You, as a teacher, may learn how to use all the newest technology really fast. Other teachers may not learn as quickly, and might need your help. This articles shares tips on how to help other teachers. The first tip is to build a tech team. To do this, you will need to have a group of teachers or administrative staff that know how to work with technology. This group of people will be able to help troubleshoot any problems that some teachers may have when learning how to use the newest technology. The next tip is to scaffold effective professional development. What the tech team would need to do, is to educate the teachers on the new technology. After doing this, the tech team can give examples of how to teacher could use this technology in the classroom. The third tip is to make time. The teachers could meet or talk to their Personal Learning Network, to get their insight on the new technology. The teachers need to make time to really learn about the new technology, and research how other teachers might be using in their classroom. The fourth tip is to make the technology relevant. This goes with the earlier tips on how to make use of the technology in the classroom. The fifth tip is to encourage those teachers who might be struggling with the use of technology in the classroom.

Photo Source: www.edutopia.org

The second source,How Teachers Can Keep Up With Changes in Technology talks about how kids come to school so digitally savvy. This means teachers have to know the newest technology to keep up with their students. This world is coming to the point where students do not even know what a physical book is anymore. Everything is on a tablet, iPad or a computer. Teachers need to research the newest technology, on their own, to be able to really engage their class. It is the teachers responsibility to be a continuous learner.

The third source,Tips for Teachers Learning New Technology gives tips on how teachers can learn new technology. In this video Katie Knight says that teachers must always tinker with the new technology. She advises that every month take a new technology and play with it. Learn everything you can about that one technology. After you feel that you have learned all that you can about using it, then you can start incorporating it in your classroom.

I learned so much on how to keep up and help others keep up with the newest technology as a teacher. I will definitely take these tips with me as begin teaching. I think this was a great blog post assignment, because I got to research something that I think will help me down the road.

Project #14

Blog Post #12

iPad Usage for the Blind
by Hannah Armstrong


Teaching Math to the Blind
by Patrick Rhodes


Mountbatten Brailler
by Natalie Thomson

Project #10 Interview Movie

I interviewed Mrs. Cathy Pouncey, a second grade teacher at Nan Gray Davis Elementary.

Project #4 C4T Summary

In Mrs. Becky Goerend's first post,If-Then-Do, she talks about learning experiences. Her blog post was a little hard to understand, I had to read it a few times to really understand what she was saying. The first thing she explained was what she meant by "if-then-do" in the learning experience. "If" meant something has happened. "Then" meant decision making process. "Do" meant the action that was taking place. Another thing she said stuck out to me when I was reading. She said, "provide learners with experiences that are situated within games and hat learning in the physical and cognitive domains should be on par with one another". I took away that you should get your students engaged in what they are learning, and by doing that your students will take away a lot.

In Mrs Goerend's second post, Reflections on my first year as an elective teacher, she talked about her transition as an elementary teacher to and elective teacher. She said one thing that she really loved about being an elementary teacher is the deep connections with her students. She doesn't feel that she can have that same deep connection with her students as an elective teacher, because she has 300 students in and out of her classroom in two days. I commented and said that all teachers have some kind of impression on their students, whether the teachers know it or not. I believe that she can still have a connection with her students as an elective teacher.

Project #14

Group 6 -- Natalie Thomson, Patrick Rhodes and I -- did the Project #14 PBL lesson plan revolving around the growth of plants for a 3rd grade class. I hope you enjoy.

PBL Lesson Outline

PBL Week Plan

PBL Group Rubric

PBL Individual Rubric