Project 10

Finding the Right Tool
I am a sophomore, majoring in Elementary Education. The tool I have found useful is Symbaloo. Symbaloo is set up with different websites I chose which are useful to me. The websites are set as icons which makes it easier to access them. The way I use Symbaloo now is I have all my icons listed in different corners, under specific categories. The grade level I want to teach is second grade. As a teacher I will add more icons to my Symbaloo organizer. Symbaloo is useful to a future teacher with grading, sharing information with other teachers and also allowing students to use resources from Scholastic news. Symbaloo is a very great tool to help anyone stay organized and also have everything at their finger tips.

Blog Post 6

The Networked Student
The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler is a video about teaching skills in the 21st century. Drexler's video was inspired by connectivism from a course called "CCK08". The idea of connectivism was formulated by George Siemens. Connectivism is an idea that learning occurs through the integration of principles explored by networking and self organization. It is to help students become independent learners and thinkers. In the video the student is from the 21st century. In the 21st century everything is based off of the internet and technology. The student is taking a class with no books, pens, or paper. He has to find information on his own. The student creates his own personal learning network, he uses Google Scholar, book marking and searches blogs. By doing this it helps him gain knowledge about his subject. The 21st century student shows that any form of technology can be used in a helpful way. For example he uses his Mp3 player and iTunes to listen to Podcast from teachers around the world. The 21st century student is learning how to use his resources to get a better understanding of his subject. The work he puts into looking up information can help another student in the future. Conncetivism reminds me of EDM310, the students are discovering new ways to utilize technology for their own good. This resources and techniques will always be useful in the future. A question was brought up in the video, why does a student of concetivisim need a teacher? There are many reasons teachers are needed. The teacher is there to guide the student to make sure they are on the right path. The student may be new to the subject when searching for information and lost on what type of information is actually valuable. The teacher can help the student stay on track and find credible information. The teacher is also a motivator. If the student is not pushed or motivated to do their best they will not produce quality work. The teacher wants to make sure the student is getting the right tools they need to further use in the students life. Teachers will always be needed in anything pertaining to school, they already have the experience to lead a student in the right direction. I really enjoyed the video by Drexler it showed how the world is expanding it's knowledge outside the classroom. 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment
Wendy Drexler's 7th grade science student made a video of her personal learning environment. The class is networked and paperless. The student's personal learning environment is not different from my personal learning network. Needless to say she is more organized than I am. She has all her school related networks on the top and her personal networks along the bottom. With her personal learning environment she works at her own pace which allows her to do the work she thinks is more important. The student really takes advantage of her personal learning environment by networking with scientist and also skyping with them to get their help with her school work. I really enjoyed her the video and I plan to be organized like her.

Blog Post 5

If You Built A School
Words can not explain how fascinated I was by Krissy Venosdale's blog! It really encouraged me to stay with teaching and give it my all. Venosdale has been teaching for 10 plus years. Venosdale is a GATE teacher and teaches grades third through sixth grade. Venosdale's school would be every student and teachers dream school. From the neon sign to welcome students to the coffee shop cafeteria. One can tell Venosdale is passionate about learning and opening up her students eyes on learning also. She wants learning and teaching to be fun and not make it feel as if it is something you have to do. Venosdale's school the students where not in grade levels they were moved up based on their readiness and ability. This is an awesome idea because all students do not mature at the same level. If I could build my own school it would be full of love, hope, and determination. Once people walk into my school I want them to realize we are doing more than just learning, we are reaching our dreams. It is a place where students are encouraged to be GREAT. The classroom will be a place where the student and teacher have an awesome relationship. Also, the school will be equipped with the latest technology. Since reading is my favorite subject the library will have couches, bean bags, and music playing so everyone will be comfortable reading. The cafeteria will have the coffee shop vibe so people can be comfortable sharing ideas with each other. If I could build my own school it would be awesome. Erin Whitacre's Virtual Choir
The video by Eric Whitacre's virtual choir was beautiful. The choir consisted of 185 people from 12 countries, thees people have never met each other. I think it is amazing how they did not have to leave their place to create a choir. Technology is growing rapidly and there is nothing you can not do. Technology really helps a person think outside the box and create different ideas. Listening to the way Whitacre put the video together on YouTube was phenomenal. The editing and making sure everyone started together on time was very creative. The video was beautiful and an eye opener for technology. Flipped Classroom
I was amazed at the Flipped Classroom idea and videos. Flipped classroom is when the teachers teach the lesson and record it and put the video online so the students can watch the video. The lesson the teachers are teaching is the lesson the class will go over the next day. I really liked Gimbar class set up she would have her students in different sections in the class on how fast the students are learning. I feel this way focuses on all the students needs. Yes, of course this is taking a big step with education, especially for younger grades. Flipping is putting more responsibility on the student and making sure they do their part. There are some concerns to the flipping for example, what if the child does not watch the video? If the child does not have access to the video or does not watch it they can watch it at school. I think that is a great solution so the student can stay with the rest of the class. Also, it is giving parents the opportunity to see what is going on in the classroom. I would definitely use the Flipped classroom approach if I feel the need. The flipped classroom is also what some professors do in their classroom. The students watch videos and take notes on the video and the next day ask questions. It leaves room for more time to figure out where a student is struggling and how to help them. I feel that it would be needed in math because, not every student learns at the same pace. When I was growing up math was not my strong subject. If teachers incorporated the flipped classroom into the classroom then it would help them tremendously. The project is great way to make sure teachers reach out to all the students and all needs are met. Teaching in the 21st Century
Teaching in the 21st Century by Kevin Roberts was a very great video and an eye opener. Roberts wants to show that students do not have to be passive learners in the classroom. He wants to students to be able to use technology in an educated form to answer real life questions. Students should learn how to engage in learning and process the information they are given. Teachers should not be scared to allow students to use technology in the classroom they should learn how to incorporate it in the classrooms. The position Roberts took on the video is so true technology is rapidly expanding and it should expand in the classroom. As a future teacher my goal is to make sure the students learn how to use technology in an innovative way. By doing this I will use laptops, iPad to incorporate in my everyday lesson. My students will blog, have a twitter and other necessary instruments to fulfill their learning desire. By doing this it will help the students connect with other students to learn to use their resources for good and not for entertainment.

My Sentence Movie

Blog Post #4

Podcast
I am excited to be doing a Podcast, I love learning new ways to do projects, especially working with the green screen and creating something for others to see. Podcast is a very creative way to communicate with others across the world. I really am fascinated by how children in elementary school are using technology to learn and communicate with others. I found it to be very interesting on how the teachers and parents can stay connected by podcast by recording what is happening in the classrooms. One idea I would keep in mind while doing my podcast is how I punctuate each word in the podcast. I will make sure I give my words feeling, and meaning so people who are listening to it can get a sense of how I feel about the subject. Another great way to do a podcast is by creating a script like the first grade class. By creating a script each student was able to see all the work that is put into a podcast and also be apart of the podcast. With podcast students are learning how to think at critical level and expand their learning.

Comment for Teacher C4T

Comment for Teacher
Mike Vaughn is the teacher I am assigned. The first article I read by Vaughn was about students from working-class families are limited by financial resources and lack of economic safety net. My comment agreed with the article because, first generation students are held at an disadvantage because some schools are not giving enough financial aid. My friend her parents make too much money for her to receive the full amount. Even though she can apply for grants and scholarships it will still be nice to get financial aid. The next blog post I commented on by Vaughn was about how technology has changed what students need to learn. The article talks about how technology has a great impact on students. Technology is being incorporated into schools more, which is a positive thing for the students. The article brought up the issue on how important are the basic subjects in the classrooms. My comment to the article was I agreed with how fast technology is growing. I also think it is a great idea implementing technology into the classroom. I do not think the basic subjects such as math, English, and reading should be taken out of the schools. Those subjects are the foundation for education. I enjoy going to Mike Vaughn's blog he has a lot of witty and interesting topics.

Project #5

Special Blog #1

WolframAlpha
Dr. Strange was absolutely right, I clearly misinterpreted the "Did You Know" video. The video is comparing the population of each country. The video also shows how technology is becoming more prominent in today's society. Also, how fast the population all over the world is growing at a rapid speed is also amazing. WolframAlpha is a great website. The site gives valuable information on comparing different countries and shows the statics for the comparison. I did two of my own searches to give the site a try. The first search was compare the population of the United States, India, and China. The site is useful because, it gives you more information than you asked for example it gives you the rank of each country on where they stand all over the world. This gives you a better understanding and overview to compare easily. My results for this search is China is ranked number one with 1.35 billion people. Although, China is number one out of the three country's, India's population growth is higher at 1.44% a year. The second search I did was compare which country has a better education system. The results varied throughout all levels of education. India is ranked number one for both primary and secondary education. The United States has 18.25 million for college students. I did these two searches because, the population is going to continue to grow and so is education. I feel as a student going into the education field I need to be up to date with the growth in order to accommodate my students. Also if the population rate continues to grow then the classrooms will get bigger will make the student to teacher ratio go up.
Gary Hayes
Gary Hayes website is AMAZING I literally sat for a good ten minutes just watching the numbers go up and the money increase. The site showed you that time is valuable. You should not waste time doing something you do not want to do because, you can not get the time back. Everything is constantly changing in our world and Hayes did an excellent job capturing the moments in life. The site also shows nothing is private. It showed how many likes Facebook is getting every minute. Hayes captured moments from last month to the very last second and counting. What this site means for my professional career is I have to adapt to the change in the world. Also, to be careful what I put on social media websites because anyone can see what I post, tweet, or what picture I like. When people are looking at my background it shows what type of person I am and who I portray to be. The site also taught me time is valuable to teaching. If the world is changing at a fast pace so will the classrooms eventually. Time is of the essence and everything will continue to change.

Blog Post #3

Paige Ellis

Paige Ellis really came up with an outstanding assignment. I know as a student, who is a teacher in the making you do not think about others helping you improve. As a teacher you know it is your duty to help others be their best and encourage them. Peer Editing is very essential part to being a great teacher. I learned it is very important to be a good peer editor. The video "What is Peer Editing" was very helpful because, it taught you how to be positive, when doing constructive criticism. Staying positive is an exceptional trait because, it will uplift your peer and will motivate them to do better and give them insight that you are really trying to help them. Constructive criticism is to make a person better at writing. I like when someone my age corrects my work. I can relate more to them because, I can get an idea of where they are coming from. There are three ways to becoming a good peer editor it is compliments, stay positive, and give suggestions. Following these rules can ensure you are doing a great job and the person feels you are helping them. The Mountbattern

The Mountbattern is a great instrument for vision and hearing impaired students. I like the fact it is very up to date with technology in today's society. The Mountbattern can save, transfer, and receive files from a computer. The reason this is very helpful for teachers because they can upload the school material onto the instrument for the children to keep up with class assignments.As a teacher I will use it in my classroom because, I do not want any students to feel as if they are not getting the same opportunity as the other students. I will already have my lesson for the child ready for them to learn what I teaching. The Mountbattern is a great tool for students. Assistive Technologies

The issue being raised throughout classrooms now is how to assist children who are vision and hearing impaired. The first video raised the awareness of this issue. Children all over the world are being born everyday and have vision and hearing issues. Scientist are becoming more involved with creating different ways for people to deal with their gift and feel like a "regular" person. To handle the gifted children in my classroom I would want to keep the technology updated as much as possible in the classroom. I want the children to feel comfortable and enjoy learning. The one tool I was fond of was the IPad. The IPad was very accessible for gifted people because, when you slide your finger across the top it reads the applications out loud to you. Another accessory I liked was the two different ways to type. I thought those were convent because, a person could make sure they were spelling words correctly. The tools Apple company are making to assist everyone is amazing. The different products are helping the students have more knowledge on technology than some adults. Technology is improving everyday and of course the school system has to keep up in order to have the best quality tools to assist the students. Harness Your Student's Digital Smarts

In Vicki Davis "Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts" the video gave great insight how technology is improving everyday. I am amazed of how her class is equal between the student and teacher. Davis enjoys learning new ideas from her students. This practice is good because, it helps her classroom stay open minded to new ideas. My classroom may not be technology savy but, my students will have the resources they need to improve. I want a teaching style like Davis where she allows her children to teach also. I think this method helps the child build confidence, and also this way the child really knows what they are learning. Davis is enhancing technology learning by letting her student's engage with other students around the world. The students will be well rounded, up to date with technology and willing to learn new things. Technology is growing and teachers and students are learning how to grow with technology.