Blog Assignment #11

What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

  

Back to the Future is a video of a lecture by Brian Crosby. Brian Crosby is a 4th, 5th, and 6th grade teacher. He discuses the many ways that he uses technology and project based learning to inspire his students. Crosby mentions how much more the students are learning when it is project based because they are having fun. He also mentions some of the projects that he did with his class. He did a balloon project in which they had professors from a university help them to release a balloon into the atmosphere. Because the balloon was equipped with audio, video, and a tracking device, students were able to see what happened to the balloon and where it all went. I personally think that this is a really neat project to engage students. From this video, I learned that it is important to actually work with students and inspire them to learn, instead of just making sure they make the teacher and the school look good through their test scores.

Paul Andersen's video Blended Learning Cycle discusses what exactly the blended learning cycle is and how Andersen uses it in his classroom. Andersen uses the acronym "Quivers" to explain how he teaches his class. "Quivers" stands for:

                                                                Question

                                                                 Investigation / Inquiry

                                                                 Video

                                                                 Elaboration

                                                                 Review

                                                                 Summary quiz

During the review part, Andersen goes around to his students, whether it be individually or in small groups, and makes sure that the students have really learned what the lesson was about. Andersen does not allow his students to continue on to the summary quiz, until they have demonstrated to him that they have learned and understand the material. From this video, I learned what a blended learning cycle is, and a way to possibly incorporate it into my future classroom.

In the video Making Things Visible, Mark Church shows how he has students make headlines for driving questions. Having groups of students make a headline about the subject that they have been talking about is a great idea. This allows students to really think about how to sum up what they have learned about that subject so far. This also allows students a chance to explain why they chose the headline they did. Explaining their answers may give new ideas or a better understanding to another student in the classroom. Mark Church also said that he was going to display all of the headlines somewhere in his room, and as they delve farther into the topic, make a new headline for that topic.

Super Digital Citizen is a video where Sam Pane, a 5th grade teacher, explains how important it is for students to be a good digital citizen. A good digital citizen is one who acts safely, respectfully, and responsibly. Sam Pane is teaching his students how to be safe on the internet and why it is important to be safe. It is very important for educators to teach children how to use the internet safely and how to protect themselves. After receiving a short lesson, the students get to make their own superheroes (how awesome!). Not only do the students get to create their own superhero, but they also get to create a story around their character. After everyone was finished, the students went around and read each others comics. I think this is a great idea on how to teach students to be a good digital citizen. It wasn't just a boring lecture that the students had to sit around and listen to; it was a fun, engaging way to learn. Because the students were able to make it their own project, they will be better able to remember what this lesson was about.

Project Based Learning is definitely an interesting video. This video is about how three teachers decided to combine their classes into one so that they could better incorporate project based learning. Combining the three classes also allows for a collaboration of projects to be done while meeting the standards for all three subjects. Having the three classes combined into one also allows the teachers more time to teach and give guidance and instruction to the students. I love how these teachers stepped up and found a solution that could better accommodate all of their needs.

Throughout the video Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program, parents and teachers are saying how beneficial project based learning is for their students. The students at Roosevelt Elementary are truly learning how to be independent learners and how to think and speak for themselves. At this elementary school, the teachers also incorporate public speaking into their lessons. I think that this is a wonderful idea not only because students are learning at a young age how to speak in public, but because it also reduces the amount of fear students have when taking public speaking courses later in higher grades and even in college. I would love to incorporate PBL into my classroom as much as possible.

Blog Assignment #10

What can we learn from Mrs. Cassidy?

After watching Kathy Cassidy's video Little Kids...Big Potential it became very apparent to me how easy it is to incorporate technology into the classroom. The first graders in Mrs. Cassidy's class are doing exactly what we students in EDM 310 are doing. Mrs. Cassidy's first graders have their own blogs that they regularly post on, and they also use Wiki pages and Skype to connect with other classes and people from around the world. In my classroom, I hope to not only incorporate blogs, but also Skype. Students will be more excited and inclined to write when hundreds of people from all over the world can see what the students have written. As Mrs. Cassidy mentioned, having a blog is also beneficial for the parents since they can track their child's progress and see how their child is improving throughout the school year. Skype would also be beneficial in my classroom because I can have people with different occupations talk to my students, and my students will be able to directly ask that person any questions that the students may have.

One problem that I might encounter with the use of technology in my classroom is teachers who are completely against the use of technology in schools. These teachers might be opposed to the idea of technology because they do not want change, or because they do not know how to incorporate technology into the classroom. I could overcome this issue by stressing the importance that technology has in our everyday lives now. I could also show these reluctant teachers just how much children learn when they have access to an unlimited amount of information. 

In Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1, Dr. Strange asks Mrs. Cassidy various questions related to her use of technology in the classroom. One question that Dr. Strange asked Mrs. Cassidy is if she believes that all teachers need to be technologically literate. Mrs. Cassidy answered immediately by saying yes. She mentioned that technology is here and that it isn't going to go away; it is only going to continue to advance. I completely agree that teachers need to become technologically literate so that we can help our students learn more information. As teachers, we have to be willing to constantly learn new things so that we are able to effectively guide our students in their educational journey.

Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 2 is a video in which Mrs. Cassidy suggests using something that you are interested in so that you can begin incorporating technology into your classroom. An example she gives is if you like photography then join Flickr, and you can begin to build your personal learning network through that. Another example she provides is if you enjoy writing then perhaps blogging is for you. Mrs. Cassidy also stresses how important it is to have a personal learning network (PLN). PLN's allow us to connect with others who could possibly answer any questions about anything that we may have  PLN's also allow us to help others in the same way.

During all three parts of the interview, some of Dr. Strange's EDM 310 students were able to listen in on the conversation. In Part 3 of the interview, the students even had the opportunity to ask Mrs. Cassidy some questions of their own. One question that was asked was how to incorporate technology into a physical education class. Mrs. Cassidy suggested blogs and even sending texts to the student's phones to let the students know important information, instead of having to use the intercom system to alert the students. Another question that was asked was if Mrs. Cassidy believed that cheating was becoming more of a problem as blogs become more accessible. Mrs. Cassidy replied by saying that things are becoming more collaborative and that teachers need to be more creative with the way they ask students to present their ideas. She also believes that students should use other people's work as guidance, but present it in a way that would make it their own work.

C4K Summary for March

For my first C4K for this month, I was again assigned to Adan P. from Mrs. Weil's Fourth Grade Froggies. Unfortunately, Adan still does not have any posts, so I chose to comment on Alondra C.'s post Writing Fiction. 

In her post, Alondra discusses how she struggles when writing fiction. She begins her post by saying that it's easy for her to write in the beginning, but once she gets to the middle she finds it difficult to think of what she is going to say. She believes that the hardest part of writing is when she gets writer's block. 

In my comment to Alondra, I told her that I am the opposite of her when it comes to writing. I have a hard time starting my papers, but once I get started I can usually finish my papers quickly. I agreed with Alondra that the most difficult part of writing is when you get writer's block.


Per 6 David from Moments that Matter with Mrs. Masloski was my second C4K for the month of March. When I first went to David's blog, I was amazed at how neat it looked. Just by looking at David's blog, it appears that he likes science. 

David's post is about the meaning of Valentine's Day. David describes Valentine's Day as a day when people spend time with their loved ones and also give those special loved ones gifts. He also explained that on Valentine's Day many people express their feelings for others, only to get their feelings hurt in the process. After this happens, David believes that it gives the rejected people confidence since they came out of their comfort zone to express their feelings for someone else. Overall, David believes that Valentine's Day is both a happy and sad holiday, but that it can sometimes create special memories.

I started off my comment to David by explaining who I was and why I was commenting on his post. I then told him how I thought that his post was interesting. I told him that I have never really thought about Valentine's Day as being a happy and sad holiday, but after thinking about it I agreed with him that the holiday can be both happy and sad. Lastly, I told him that I agreed that Valentine's Day can generate special memories for people.


My last C4K for the month of March was McKenzie T. from Mrs. L.'s Awesome 7th Grade Class 2014-2015

McKenzie's blog post, Book Project, is about a book that she read entitled The Kill Order. McKenzie explains that this book is a prequel to the Maze Runner series. She gives a short, detailed synopsis of The Kill Order. She also mentions how she enjoyed reading the book and recommends it to anyone who likes action stories or who are fans of the Maze Runner series. McKenzie believes that The Kill Order was a great prequel to the Maze Runner. Because one might get confused, McKenzie advises reading the Maze Runner series before reading The Kill Order.

I mentioned to McKenzie that I thought she did a great job describing The Kill Order.  It sounds like an interesting book. I also told her that I am glad she mentioned it was a prequel to another book, otherwise I would have never known. Lastly, I told McKenzie that I think it was a great idea to mention that anyone who is interested in reading The Kill Order needs to read the Maze Runner first so that they will not get confused.

Project #9 - Video Book Conversation

Blog Assignment #9

What can teachers and students teach us about Project Based Learning?

The article Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning begins by describing the difference between busy work and project based learning. The article then continues by stating what every good project needs. Every project needs to not only be meaningful, but it also needs to fulfill an educational purpose. Next, the article lists the seven essentials for project based learning.

1.  A Need to Know - This part is saying that the project should have an "entry event" so students will feel a need to know the information. This way the students can get excited about the project.
   
2.  A Driving Question - The authors of the article compare this part of the project to a thesis statement in a paper. Without a thesis, it is difficult to determine the main point of the paper. So without a driving question, it is difficult to determine the main reason for the project. The driving question is the most important part of the project.
3. Student Voice and Choice - This part is also very important. The project will be more meaningful to the students if they are allowed to choose what they will create, what resources they will use, and how they will use their time to work on the project.
4. 21st Century Skills - The project should provide opportunities for students to build 21st century skills. These are skills that will benefit the students later in life as they get jobs.
5. Inquiry and Innovation - We need to guide students in real inquiry which is where "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 the technology available, students can do so much, and it is important that we do not limit them.
6. Feedback and Revision - This is important because it teaches students that most of the time, first attempts don't result in high quality work. We need to make sure that students understand the importance of quality work, and that it sometimes takes multiple revisions before something is considered high quality.
7. A Publicly Presented Product  - Student's work is more meaningful when it is presented to others, not just the teacher. Also, when students present their work to others, the students care more about the quality of their work. 

Project-Based Learning for Teachers is a short video that explains what PBL is. For it to be such a short video, it had a lot of information. The video explains what a driving question is and how students will work on that driving question. The video also has information about Common Core State Standards, Project Based Learning, and the skills that students will develop from PBL. The video describes PBL as inquiry-based, open-ended, problem-solving, and personalized. The video also instructs us to think of PBL as questioning, investigating, sharing, and reflecting. By using PBL, students will gain various skills such as collaboration skills, communication skills, critical thinking skills, and career and life skills. I think this is a great video for anyone to watch who is not sure what exactly PBL is.

Two Students Solve the Case of Watery Ketchup by Designing a New Cap is an article that includes a video about two students who used PBL to design a new cap for ketchup bottles. I think that this was a unique problem to address. Like these two students, I do not like having watery ketchup. However, as the students' teacher pointed out, one can simply shake the bottle to get rid of the watery part. The two students were convinced that they could find some other way to prevent watery ketchup. The students researched several ideas and even created a new cap using a 3D printer. After watching the video that accompanies the article, you can tell that these two students seemed to be very engaged and had a lot of fun working on their project.

The video PBL: What Motivates Students Today asks a few students two questions. One of those
questions asked students what motivated them to do good in school. One student said that he is most motivated when the teacher compliments him in front of the class. Another student said that he was motivated because if he didn't do good in school, then his parents would punish him. The other students surveyed in the video had the same response for being motivated to do good in school: so that they will be successful in their future endeavors. The second question that the students were asked was about rewards that work. One student said that in his classroom they have a color chart. Depending on what color the students are on they either receive money or have to pay the teacher money. The students can use their money at the end of the week to buy miscellaneous items. Another student said that their teacher rewards them with candy. A third student said that his teacher rewards them with "brownie points." Another student said that he would like to be rewarded with food, but when he was younger he enjoyed receiving rewards such as pencils, colorful notebooks, and stickers. The last student mentioned that her teacher rewarded them differently every day. I think that it is a great idea to interview students so teachers can discover what works and what doesn't work.

Many people do not think of utilizing PBL in a PE class. However, the article Project Based Learning in PE discusses a way that high school PE teachers can use PBL in their class. The teacher had his high school PE students create a physical fitness program for middle school PE classes. This required the high school students to know the standards of middle school students so that they could plan the fitness program accordingly. The students then collaborated to come up with different exercises for the middle school students. I think this is a great way to have students involved in PE, instead of just having them only do exercises. This idea would also be great for middle school students to make a fitness program for elementary students.

Blog Assignment #8

What can we learn about teaching and learning from Randy Pausch?

I was not too enthused about this assignment after I saw that the video Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams was over an hour in length. After all, I am a busy college student who is currently taking 5 other classes. However, there was no way to avoid watching this video. After I sat down and watched the video, I discovered that it wasn't that painful to watch. I actually enjoyed watching this video, despite it being over an hour long. I highly recommend everyone to watch this video. 

Randy Pausch seemed like an amazing individual. He did not let the discovery of cancer in his body stop him from living his life and being happy. I learned so much from watching this video. I learned the importance of teaching children to have childhood dreams. Even if some of your dreams may be impossible, you will still learn something from the process.

The video begins by Pausch telling everyone that he has been diagnosed with cancer, and that he is dying. However, had he not informed the audience of this, I'm sure no one would have ever known because he was a very energetic, funny, and healthy-looking individual. Pausch said "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." When I become a teacher, I hope that I am able to teach my students not to feel sorry for things that they do not have. Instead, my students need to be happy and find a way to change the situation.

I think that my favorite quote from Pausch's lecture was "When you screw up and no one is saying anything to you anymore, that means they gave up." I have never thought about it that way before. Our parents and teachers are constantly correcting us when we do something wrong. They do this because they care so much about us that they want to see us succeed rather than fail. I hope that when I become a teacher that I will have the patience and willingness to constantly push my students to succeed.

Another thing that I learned from Pausch's lecture is that Project Based Learning (PBL) is not a new thing. Pausch and his colleagues were utilizing PBL in the 90's when they created the class Building Virtual Worlds. PBL is not only fun, but it works. Pausch's students were extremely engaged and surpassed his expectations with each project they did. Pausch said "Millions of kids having fun while learning something hard. That's cool." I agree that is is very cool. We need to make learning fun so children will continually have the desire to learn more.

C4T #2

In her blog post It's Been Awhile...Lessons Learned as a New Administrator, Jennifer Brokofsky discusses how she has not blogged in a long time. She isn't exactly sure why she hasn't blogged in so long, but is glad to be back at it. She also mentions that she has obtained her Master's degree and is now a vice principal. Brokofsky continues by stating all of the lessons she has learned as she has transitioned from being a consultant to becoming a vice principal. The first lesson that she has learned is that all students are different, and it is important to address student's individualized learning needs. Secondly, she has learned that it is okay if a lesson takes longer than anticipated because everyone learns differently. Another lesson that Brokofsky has learned is to appreciate her students and all of their unique skills. Brokofsky has also learned that she can't do everything at once. She came to the realization that she does not have all of the answers, and she is okay with that. Lastly, Brokofsky learned that while it is a tough job, being an educator is extremely rewarding.

In my comment to Brokofsky, I congratulated her on getting her Master's degree and told her how I someday hope to obtain a Master's degree myself. I then continued by telling her how much I enjoyed reading her post. My favorite part was how she mentioned that we need to be able to adjust our lessons to our student's needs. I believe that it is important for us educators to be able to cater to our student's learning needs. I also enjoyed her statement about how she doesn't know everything. Many people are under the assumption that educators know everything when the truth is we are still constantly learning new things ourselves.

In her second most recent post, Three Acts Math Movie - Candy Colours, Brokofsky has three videos. These three videos are part 1 of the problem, part 2 of the problem, and the solution to the problem. During these videos, a young boy and girl are trying to figure out how to equally split packages of Skittles between them. They both only want to eat certain colors, so this poses a problem. Since there are not an equal number of colors in each bag of Skittles, the children have to open more bags until they finally get the colors they want and both have an equal amount of Skittles.


I left a comment on Brokofsky's post and mentioned how I thought what she did was a great idea. I told her that it is always a good idea to use fun and engaging ways to teach children. I also told her that I believe that children learn more through hands-on learning than from the traditional lecture method. Lastly, I mentioned how I like that the videos not only demonstrated math, but also demonstrated how to get along with others.