Blog Post #10

Do You Teach or Do You Educate? 
Watching this video made me realize that I wanted to educate. I really did not know it was a difference between teaching and educating, but it is. I believe teaching is a way of instructing someone on something, not knowing if they really understand what you have told them. That is where educate comes in, I believe educate is instructing someone on something and the person understands and knows what you have told them. A teacher is someone who teaches but an educator is someone who informs and motivates their students to strive for the best.

 As a future educator, I want to educate my students. I want to be a mentor to my students by motivating and encouraging them to do their best. I also want my students to really learn from me and use the tools that I have given them and apply it to their lives. All while my students learning from me, I want to learn form my students. Being an educator is not all about teaching, it about being a huge impact to your students lives and making a difference.


Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home

What I gathered from reading this blog is letting students take home pencils are bad because it lowers their test scores on standardized tests. The argument I recognized in the blog was, students in low-income area schools don't have parents at home who are educated and they have jobs that do not require them to do much thinking. These students uses pencils as toys because they do not know what else to use them for. Even if you don't let these students take their pencils and paper home they are going to score low anyway. Tom and a colleague of his are going to develop a program to help parents learn skills that the teachers are teaching their children.

In my opinion, I think Tom is not trying to help the students in his school. Developing this program to help parents isn't the right thing to do. Before helping the parents you need to help the students. The students in low-income area schools need more help then others on standardized tests. The teachers in the school should come together and think of a way to better help these students on these tests. Assuming students that attend low-income area schools have uneducated parents at home isn't always true, in fact they may have some very bright parents at home who are involved in their child's education.

C4K October Summary Post

C4K #1
This week I was assigned a student named Alex and he is in the first grade. In his blog, he talks about how he is learning how to add numbers up to ten, he's subtracting numbers up to ten, learning hear and blending sounds in the alphabet.I could not comment on Alex's individual blog but I did comment on the main blog for the whole class.

My comment was I enjoyed reading Alex's blog and I look forward to reading more blogs from the class.

C4K #2
This week I was assigned a student name CJ and he is in the 6th grade in Mrs. Gregory's 4th period class. In his blog, he gives step by step instructions on how to use edublogs. He also gives great examples on why someone would want to use edublogs and why they should become an edublogs pro user.

I commented on his blog telling him that I enjoyed reading his blog post and it was very informative. I told him that he had great examples about why someone should use edublogs. I also told him to keep up the great work and I look forward to reading more of his blogs.

Using Mrs. Gregory's random name picker, I was assigned to Tabbey. She in Mrs. Gregory's 6th period class. Her blog was about her and another classmate named Payton did a science project on gum, 5 gum or Hubba Bubba. The videos that were posted on her blog were not really good. I could understand what they were saying or doing nor did I found out which one did they prefer.

I comment on her blog telling her that it was a great post and I enjoyed watching their video. I did not saying anything about not being able to hear or understand what the project was about but I did tell her that I like 5 gum because Hubba Bubba flavor do not stay in the gum.

C4K# 3
I was assigned to Mrs.Keri Banks Pt. England School Auckland, New Zealand Room 12 Year 4. I watched the video "Symbols of NZ".  The video lasted 11 seconds and there were two pictures shown. I really did not understand that was said but it was a great video.

I left a comment stating who I was and where I was from. I enjoyed viewing the video and I like the creative picture they had in the video. I also told them that I look forward to viewing more of their blogs.

C4T Summery Post

I had the pleasure in reading Andrea Hernandez's blog EdTeach Workshop. Ms. Hernandez's post on Re-thinking faculty meetings begins talking about how faculty meeting are a drag. In most meetings they are wasting time talking about the water machine in the teacher's lounge. Ms. Hernandez makes several good point about how to improve faculty meetings; points such as starting meetings on time and ending them on time, having teachers learn from one another, and having different teachers host the meeting. At the end of her blog she asked what are other schools doing during faculty meeting and what are other ideas to best use time?

I commented and told her they have great ideas in how to make faculty meetings useful instead of a drag. Getting the other teachers involved will not only help the productivity of the school but it will also help teachers learn from other teachers. I know one major thing being in education is never stop learning. I do not know what other schools are doing during their faculty meeting because I haven't been to one but an idea to help best use time is make it fun as well as educational.

Andrea Hernandez's blog post Plan, Do, Review iPad Exploration is about her school finally getting 20 new iPads. She talks about how she is inexperienced with using the iPad but she wants to do research to learn more about iPad and how she can better educate her 2nd grade students. With using her exploration skills, Ms. Hernandez refers to a model called "Plan, Do, and Review". She chose this model because it choose what they want to do with help from the teacher. First, Ms. Hernandez plans what apps she would like for her students to use; next, she tried the different apps with the students, of course there were some apps that she like more than others; last, she review by using a form for the students to use. Ms. Hernandez is  having more sessions with her students and the iPads and taking notes on what they have done and what they are going to do next.

I commented and told her she had a great idea. Using the iPad can be a little confusing when you first use it but as you use it more it begins to easy to use. I think having iPads in the classroom can help students to become more involved in their education and learning becomes fun. There are many apps that can be used for reading, writing, recognizing letters and much more.

Blog Post # 9

What I've Learned This Year (2008-09)

What I've Learned This Year (2008-09). This is first year of Mr. McClung's teaching and he states he was young and inexperienced as a teacher. He taught in Noel, Missouri as an elementary school teacher. Mr. McClung talks about the different things he has learned during his first year of teaching. The things he has learned were: "how to read the crowd; how to be flexible, communicate and reasonable; how not to be afraid of technology, how to listen to his students and how to never stop learning". He describes some of his experiences with the things he learned and a way to help others not make the mistakes he made. 

Mr. McClung's post is great for first year teachers to read. It is a guide in helping teachers through their first year of teaching. I enjoyed reading this blog post because it was not just a normal post about teaching, Mr. McClung uses his own experiences to explain what he is talking about. I will look out for and use the things he talks about in his post to help me in my first year of teaching. 

What I've Learned This Year (2010-11)

What I've Learned This Year (2010-11). This is Mr.McClung's third year of teaching. He says this is the first year he is at the same school for more than a year. This is also the first year he coached cross-country so he experienced many things this year. The things he learned were: "know your boss, don't expect others to be as excited about change as you are, don't be afraid to be an outsider, don't touch the keyboard, don't get comfortable". 

Mr. McClung talks about being an outsider and not being part of the crowd. I think many teachers find themselves going along with the other teachers in hopes of making friends. Sometimes its better to be an outsider then to be part of the crowd. Mr. McClung states not to lose sight of the reason you become a teacher, which is the students. Teaching is not all about making friends with the other teachers but its about your students and better your knowledge so you may be a better teacher.
What I've Learned This Year (2009-10)

Smart Board Instructional

Blog Post # 8

Randy Miller: This is How We Dream Parts 1and 2 is about a world where teachers are teaching using multimedia. Some time in the future Mr. Miller believes that textbooks will be our computers. Students will no longer bring books to class and their work area will become just their computers.

In Part 1, Mr. Miller talks about how he got started with writing.  Mr. Miller states that "we now have to capability of communicating globally ". He takes you on a journey how he wrote an article without having to go to the library. This article was done on the computer, he used different websites to find research on the topic he had to write about. This is the future of writing.

In Part 2, Mr. Miller began to talk about using multimedia our ideas do not only belong to us. He states that "we as educators must share ideas". If you have an idea or a way to better educate someone, why not share it? We can produce different things on the computer helping teachers and students to better learn.

My reactions to these video are I feel like we are already in the time where students are writing in multimedia. Schools are now investing in buying students ipads and different tablets so the students can use them in the classroom. I do believe that I am prepared to write in multimedia. I use different word processes everyday to take notes, write papers and do my homework. I am sure that my students will be able to use multimedia. With such advances in technology, there isn't a reason why they should not be able to use it.

In Blog Post #12 by Carly Pugh, she begins with her personal thoughts of what she is doing. Like most college students lay around doing their homework in pajamas. She also talks about how she looked over previous blogs doing the semester before to get a better understanding of the assignment. She tells the instructions Dr. Strange gave for her assignment. The instructions included making a "you tube" video about your teaching philosophy. Ms. Pugh continues her blog telling about what her playlist consisted of and what her video was about. At the end of the blog she makes a video asking 6 questions.

I believe that the bases of Carly Pugh blog was for future educators to make use of "you tube" video. She gives great examples of different ideas of playlist that may will help explain your teaching philosophy. This is a good way to create different videos with your class or let your students make their own. This is one way to get students to start working with multimedia tools.  I will use different videos in my future classroom, not only to teach my students but also to help my future employers to know what my teaching style is.

The Chipper Series and EDM 310 for Dummies were two different videos based on common problems that students have when they take EDM 310. The Chipper Series were on a students who did not want to do her work but wanted to learn. She did a lot of procrastination. She tried to find ways around not doing her work. One idea she told Dr. Strange that "she was going to change the definition of procrastination on the internet so she could turn in her work late". This video was the journey Chipper went through in EDM 310.EDM 310 for Dummies was based on how students felt in the first two weeks of being in the class. A lot of student thought it was hard and they did not understand the class. These students made a book, like a help guide through the class and help understand the different tools that are used in EDM 310.

I would create a video like The Chipper Series but not only use my jounery, other students as well. It would be based on the average workload and things that students have to do in the class. Not only the blog posting but the videos and comments that Dr. Strange assigns us.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn is many different educators discuss on how they would change the classroom of today. They talk about what teachers should be and what students should have. They go on to talk about how we can change the classroom today.

I really did not understand the arguement that was made or maybe I missed it. I gather from the video was that we, the United States, need to increase how we teach and what students learn in our classrooms. It was said in the video that we are one of the lowest states when it comes to education.I do believe that we as teachers and future educators should try a little harder in what we teach.

Book Trailer

Blog Post # 7

Randy Pausch' s Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dream is about what he dreamed he as a child he would become when he got older. Randy Pausch begins his lecture talking about what his dreams were and how he achieved them. Mr. Pausch's dreams as a child were: being in zero gravity, playing in the NFL, authoring an article in the World Book encyclopedia, being captain kirk, winning stuffed animals, and being a Disney Imagineer.

This is a line Randy Pausch  kept repeating in his lecture "brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things"; he means that brick walls are put in your path to stop you or hold you back, they are put there for you to prove that you are willing to do what ever it takes to achieve your goal. Mr. Pausch was able to achieve all of his dreams except one. The dream that he was not able to achieve was playing in the NFL. Even though he was not able to play in the NFL, he learned the fundamentals of football which are equally important as playing in the NFL.

While helping others enable their childhood dreams, Randy Pausch and another professor named Don at Carnegie Mellon University started a course called Building Virtual Worlds. It contained 50 students from different departments of the university, They were set up into teams of three people per group to come up with a virtual reality world. Mr. Pausch learned some lessons while being a educator, these things were respect authority while questioning it, learn from your students, have fun, never lose the child-like wonder, help others, and loyalty is a two-way street.

I enjoyed watching this lecture. It was a lot of good and valuable information that will help future teacher in achieving there goals. Randy Pausch brought up a lot of good points about childhood dreams.One point that he mentions is "never forget to have FUN". Even though sometime you go through a lot to achieve your dreams always remember to have fun.

Project # 11

Project 9b- Timeline Instructional (Inventions)

Project # 10- My PLN

Before this assignment I did not know what a PLN was, how to use it, or how to create one. Creating the PLN was easy once I got started. I  really like how I can personalize the PLN by adding and deleting tabs; and changing the colors and icons on the different tabs. My PLN contains some of my social networks, e-mails, USA accounts, and travel site. I've added the teacher's blog and the kid's blog I was assigned to for this week. Using this PLN, I am able to keep up with all of my teachers, kids, and classmates' blogs that I am assigned each week. This PLN is a quick and convenient way to keep up with everything for EDM 310.

C4T Summary Post

This week I was assigned to Ms. Racheal Saucier "Synthesizing Education" and Mr. Aaron Eyler blog about "E-readers: Does Anybody Else Have This Problem?" Aaron's blog was about the kindle and the ipad. He has a problem reading a book on the ipad because it only has enough power for 10 minutes and that isn't enough time to read a traditional book in that amount of time. Another problem he has with using an ipad is while he is reading a book, he is constantly checking his e-mails and twitter tread. This is a distraction. Schools are now investing in getting students ipad or tablets for the classroom.  A kindle is better for students to have because it just only has the e-book on it and children can't get side-tracked or distracted. Mr. Eyler states that even though a kindle is better for students to have than ipads, how do we keep them from not getting distracted? 

My comment to Mr. Aaron Eyler's blog was I find myself with the same problem of getting distracted on an ipad by checking my e-mails, facebook, and twitter. I tend to re-read a page over because I've gotten so distracted that I have forgotten what I just read. Some children today do not enjoy reading, they think its boring and they don't want to do it. I suggested that teachers should keep their children engaged in reading. One way to do that is since schools now have smart boards in the classroom put the book on the board and have the children reading and answering questions.   

Blog Post # 6

The Networked Student  by: Wendy Drexler

The network student is based on connectivism. Connectivism is a theory that presumes learning occurs as a part of social network of many diverse connections and ties. This network is made possible through various tools of technology. A teacher of connectivism empowers students to take control of their learning and make new connections with others to strengthen the learning process. The question "why does the network student even need a teacher?" came up in the video. The answer to that question is simply this a network student still needs a teacher to show them how to build this network and take advance of learning opportunities. The teacher offers guidance when the student needs help, show the students how to communicate properly, how to distinguish between good information and bad information, and help the student to organize a lot of information.

I think the "network student" idea is good to use in the classroom for the upper grade levels. This idea will help students to understand and use the power of the internet. It will also help them to know how to properly search information. Its a great tool to use to learn how to connect with others and share information.

Am I ready to teach a "network student"? I am ready to teach a network student, this will be a great experience for the student as well as myself. It will be good to see what information the students come up with and how they use and connect the information with others.

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment

This video a 7th grader gives a tour of her personal learning environment, PLE or PLN. She shows how all of her classwork tabs are together and all her personal tabs are together. She also has all of her tabs color-coded so that she knows where to look for what she needs. This student talked about how she had to do a research on a box jellyfish. She opened one of her tabs and showed how she had all of her information on the box jellyfish together. As a part of this research she had to e-mail a specialist on the jellyfish. One specialist didn't e-mail her back so she found another one, but that one hasn't e-mailed her back so she is still waiting for the response. Some students have used skype to talk to their specialist. 

C4K Summary Post

In the month of September, I had the pleasure of commenting on a couple of students blogs. Students ranging from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. These students wrote about many different things. Some wrote about school, books they were reading, and other things that were happening around them.I really enjoyed reading and commenting on these students blogs. It was really interesting to see and read what 1st, 2nd, or 3rd graders thinking and how they are using technology.