Sunday, February 24, 2013
Project #10
When I was in high school I had a teacher that made us use Wikispaces in her classroom. I really did not like it at first because it was different and created more work for me, but I eventually got the hang of it and enjoyed it. Wikispace is kind of like Blogger in a way. Our teacher made us add her to our Wiki so we could see discussion questions she posted. We could add our peers and have a class discussion online. It was pretty cool. I would like to use something like this in my classroom for discussions on books I assign or poems.
Blog Post #6
The Networked Student
The video The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler made me think about what teachers will be required to do in the future, and what will the role of teachers be. I do agree that technology is advancing, and we need to teach our students to use tools on the internet in order to better their education. On the other hand, I think we are getting away from traditional teaching too much.
Teaching students how to use search engines to better their knowledge is a great idea. By helping kids learn ways to attain knowledge is what we should be doing as teachers. We will soon play less important roles as teachers because people are forcing to turn everything into a technologically advanced way of teaching. I will include the use of search engines and other uses of the internet in my classroom to better my students.
Although I do like the idea of using the internet to teach my students, I think it is important not to stray to far from the basics of teaching. We can not expect a student how to learn certain things all through the use of the internet. Teachers are important because they teach kids social skills. You can not learn how to have a normal conversation with another human being if you stay on a computer to learn everything. A computer can not teach students the basics so I think we need to keep in mind that we do not need to stray too far away from the way we have been teaching students all along.
A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLN)
The video A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLN) made me think about The Networked Student video because the girls class was online and done all through the internet. I believe learning this way would be fun for a little while, but I would rather be in a classroom and engaging with my peers. When I am in a classroom, I can ask questions and get feedback from my teachers or other students right away. I feel more comfortable in a classroom learning environment, but that is just my personal opinion.
The video The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler made me think about what teachers will be required to do in the future, and what will the role of teachers be. I do agree that technology is advancing, and we need to teach our students to use tools on the internet in order to better their education. On the other hand, I think we are getting away from traditional teaching too much.
Teaching students how to use search engines to better their knowledge is a great idea. By helping kids learn ways to attain knowledge is what we should be doing as teachers. We will soon play less important roles as teachers because people are forcing to turn everything into a technologically advanced way of teaching. I will include the use of search engines and other uses of the internet in my classroom to better my students.
Although I do like the idea of using the internet to teach my students, I think it is important not to stray to far from the basics of teaching. We can not expect a student how to learn certain things all through the use of the internet. Teachers are important because they teach kids social skills. You can not learn how to have a normal conversation with another human being if you stay on a computer to learn everything. A computer can not teach students the basics so I think we need to keep in mind that we do not need to stray too far away from the way we have been teaching students all along.
A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLN)
The video A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLN) made me think about The Networked Student video because the girls class was online and done all through the internet. I believe learning this way would be fun for a little while, but I would rather be in a classroom and engaging with my peers. When I am in a classroom, I can ask questions and get feedback from my teachers or other students right away. I feel more comfortable in a classroom learning environment, but that is just my personal opinion.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Blog Post #5
Building My Fream School!
Krissy Venosdale's post If I Built A School opened up my mind to what I would do if i had the opportunity to create my own school. I believe the environment she depicted was amazing; I know if I went to a school that was designed like that, I would be much more willing to wake up every morning and much more willing to learn. She wanted her students to feel comfortable in their learning environment because she thought the students would be more willing to do their work on their own instead of being forced to do homework and assignments. I think Krissy Venosdale's school would be extremely effective, but we never hear of schools like these because we are forced to certain standards and a certain criteria we have to teach.
If I could create my own school, my school would be a lot like Krissy Venosdale's dream school. I would definitely want my students to be as comfortable as possible in their learning environment. I would have study lounges and computer labs accesible for all students. I like the idea of the cafeteria being like a modern day coffee shop. In all of my classrooms I would have comfortable chairs for the students and have the rooms decorated. I think students being involved in the school is very important so for every club or school group, I would have a room set aside for them. I believe student athletes strive to keep their grades up to play sports so they should be rewarded with the best gear, equipment, and places to practice and play. I think it would be really awesome if kids could pick a certain subject that they would like to focus on and take more of those classes after they retained all of the basics from other subjects. I would want my school to be a place where kids would be eager to come to too learn, and I want my school to be a place that makes the students want to push themselves to better themselves.
Virtual Choir
I think it is incredible where technology has taken us today! None of the singers have ever rehearsed or even met before is what amazes me. They sounded perfect together; I didn't here one mistake in the whole show. If this can be done only via internet, just imagine what all the internet can do and offer us. Honestly, I am just in shock over this video. It was amazing!I could maybee even use a technique like this and make a class assignment.
What Does It Mean To Teach In The 21st Century
If Roberts is correct about the information in Teaching In The 21st Century then one can infer that the way teachers teach now is useless. Students can get information from so many sources now that the role of today's teacher can be repleced with the internet. Roberts believes that teachers can only provide students with the following: content, facts, dates, formulas, research, theories, stories, and information. All of these things can be obtained from the internet so what is the purpose of being a teacher? The students still need to learn the right way to use tools and search engines on the internet. Roberts asks the question "with all this information available [on the internet], should our curriculum be focused on facts and content or skills?" It could be possible as a teacher in the future I would have to focus more on teaching skills to students because they can get all of the facts and content they need on the internet. As a teacher my job will be to get the students to engage in activities as I teach them the skills that they need to know.
Flipped Classroom
I think the flipped classroom approach of teaching students is different and pretty awesome. I think as a teacher you would be able to make sure all of the students know the material because you would have more class time to work individually with each divided group. My concerns with this approach is if all the students will actually do their at home review on their computers or electronic devices. Every child may not have a way to view the material at home, and If the kids did watch the assignment when they got to school that would still cut into the class time that you were trying to create to help the students individually in the first place. Also, the kids that are further advanced in the subject, I don't see how it really benefits them in any way. They further advanced kids will go home and learn the assignment quickly, get to school finish their assignment quickly, and then just sit there while the other kids take their time to finish their work. I can see see how the flipped classroom approach would help kids that struggle in a certain subject if they do have a computer or electronic device at their home, but if they didn't I don't see how it would help them that much. I can see how this aqpproach would help in math or maybe even science classes, but I think it would be a lot harder for this approach to work in a history or English/literature class. If you gave students a certain assignment or project to work on some of the ideas from this approach could be useful in history and English/literature, but I don't see how it would help with giving reading assignments or assigning a paper. I might would use it in my classroom under certain circumstances.
Krissy Venosdale's post If I Built A School opened up my mind to what I would do if i had the opportunity to create my own school. I believe the environment she depicted was amazing; I know if I went to a school that was designed like that, I would be much more willing to wake up every morning and much more willing to learn. She wanted her students to feel comfortable in their learning environment because she thought the students would be more willing to do their work on their own instead of being forced to do homework and assignments. I think Krissy Venosdale's school would be extremely effective, but we never hear of schools like these because we are forced to certain standards and a certain criteria we have to teach.
If I could create my own school, my school would be a lot like Krissy Venosdale's dream school. I would definitely want my students to be as comfortable as possible in their learning environment. I would have study lounges and computer labs accesible for all students. I like the idea of the cafeteria being like a modern day coffee shop. In all of my classrooms I would have comfortable chairs for the students and have the rooms decorated. I think students being involved in the school is very important so for every club or school group, I would have a room set aside for them. I believe student athletes strive to keep their grades up to play sports so they should be rewarded with the best gear, equipment, and places to practice and play. I think it would be really awesome if kids could pick a certain subject that they would like to focus on and take more of those classes after they retained all of the basics from other subjects. I would want my school to be a place where kids would be eager to come to too learn, and I want my school to be a place that makes the students want to push themselves to better themselves.
Virtual Choir
I think it is incredible where technology has taken us today! None of the singers have ever rehearsed or even met before is what amazes me. They sounded perfect together; I didn't here one mistake in the whole show. If this can be done only via internet, just imagine what all the internet can do and offer us. Honestly, I am just in shock over this video. It was amazing!I could maybee even use a technique like this and make a class assignment.
What Does It Mean To Teach In The 21st Century
If Roberts is correct about the information in Teaching In The 21st Century then one can infer that the way teachers teach now is useless. Students can get information from so many sources now that the role of today's teacher can be repleced with the internet. Roberts believes that teachers can only provide students with the following: content, facts, dates, formulas, research, theories, stories, and information. All of these things can be obtained from the internet so what is the purpose of being a teacher? The students still need to learn the right way to use tools and search engines on the internet. Roberts asks the question "with all this information available [on the internet], should our curriculum be focused on facts and content or skills?" It could be possible as a teacher in the future I would have to focus more on teaching skills to students because they can get all of the facts and content they need on the internet. As a teacher my job will be to get the students to engage in activities as I teach them the skills that they need to know.
Flipped Classroom
I think the flipped classroom approach of teaching students is different and pretty awesome. I think as a teacher you would be able to make sure all of the students know the material because you would have more class time to work individually with each divided group. My concerns with this approach is if all the students will actually do their at home review on their computers or electronic devices. Every child may not have a way to view the material at home, and If the kids did watch the assignment when they got to school that would still cut into the class time that you were trying to create to help the students individually in the first place. Also, the kids that are further advanced in the subject, I don't see how it really benefits them in any way. They further advanced kids will go home and learn the assignment quickly, get to school finish their assignment quickly, and then just sit there while the other kids take their time to finish their work. I can see see how the flipped classroom approach would help kids that struggle in a certain subject if they do have a computer or electronic device at their home, but if they didn't I don't see how it would help them that much. I can see how this aqpproach would help in math or maybe even science classes, but I think it would be a lot harder for this approach to work in a history or English/literature class. If you gave students a certain assignment or project to work on some of the ideas from this approach could be useful in history and English/literature, but I don't see how it would help with giving reading assignments or assigning a paper. I might would use it in my classroom under certain circumstances.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Blog Post #4
The Beneļ¬ts of Podcasting in the Classroom
This link was created by Mr. Joe Dale, and it tells the benefits of students podcasting in the classroom. Some of these benefits include promoting creativity and innovation, creating project-based learning, and creating an effective way for the teachers to interact with their students. Another great thing about this link is how he ads a video that explains all of the ways that podcasting benefits the students.
Judy Scharf Podcast Collection
This link is provided by Ms. Judy Scharf. Out of all of the other links, this one is my favorite! It is perfect for one who is new to podcasting and may not understand what it is. Ms. Scharf tells exactly what a podcast is, and explains why using a podcast in ones classroom would be a great idea. She then provides teachers with tips that will help them to become successful at teaching their students about podcasting.
Langwitches - Podcasting With 1st Grade
This link tells about the benefits of teaching younger kids in elementary school about podcasting and the skills that it provides them with. It tells how the 1st graders get excited about podcasting, and they begin to open up and become more active in class projects. Podcasting helps the students speaking and presenting skills get better, and these skills will help the children throughout their lives.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Special Blog Post
Compare population of India, China, and the Unite States.
What is the population of India?
*1.21 billion people
What is the population of the United States?
*309 million people
What is the population of China?
*1.35 billion people
Compare the internet usage of India, China, and the United States
What is the internet usage of India?
*125 million people (10.07% of population)
What is the internet usage of China?
*516.1 million people (38.4% of population)
What is the internet usage of the United States?
*243.8 million (78.24% of population)
Compare the the mobile cellular subscriptions of India, China, and the United States
What is the mobile cellular subscriptions of India?
*893.9 million (2011)
What is the mobile cellular subscriptions of China?
*986.3 (2011)
What is the mobile cellular subscriptions of the United States?
*331.6 (2011)
WolframAlpha
WolframAlpha could be completely useful to me and my students. If I give an assignment out, this tool would be a convenient tool for my students. Teachers do not want their students asking them a billion questions about one specific assignment. Teachers expect students to find some information out on their own; using WolframAlpha would be a quick and efficient way for students to get quick information. Teachers can also check information from their students quickly by using this tool.
Gary Hayes Social Media Count
Gary Hayes invented an app that observes social media count. This app is really cool because it lets people keep up with the rate at which new technology that comes out. The world is changing so fast, and technology is becoming such a major part of living that Gary Hayes's app could be very useful in allowing people to see this increase.
I am going to be a teacher so keeping up with technology is extremely important for my job. I am in charge of making sure that the students I teach know how to use technology to better their studies for the subject I teach. It is always important to stay on top of new technology because new stuff is being invented everyday; Gary Hayes's app should be very helpful to me.
What is the population of India?
*1.21 billion people
What is the population of the United States?
*309 million people
What is the population of China?
*1.35 billion people
Compare the internet usage of India, China, and the United States
What is the internet usage of India?
*125 million people (10.07% of population)
What is the internet usage of China?
*516.1 million people (38.4% of population)
What is the internet usage of the United States?
*243.8 million (78.24% of population)
Compare the the mobile cellular subscriptions of India, China, and the United States
What is the mobile cellular subscriptions of India?
*893.9 million (2011)
What is the mobile cellular subscriptions of China?
*986.3 (2011)
What is the mobile cellular subscriptions of the United States?
*331.6 (2011)
WolframAlpha
WolframAlpha could be completely useful to me and my students. If I give an assignment out, this tool would be a convenient tool for my students. Teachers do not want their students asking them a billion questions about one specific assignment. Teachers expect students to find some information out on their own; using WolframAlpha would be a quick and efficient way for students to get quick information. Teachers can also check information from their students quickly by using this tool.
Gary Hayes Social Media Count
Gary Hayes invented an app that observes social media count. This app is really cool because it lets people keep up with the rate at which new technology that comes out. The world is changing so fast, and technology is becoming such a major part of living that Gary Hayes's app could be very useful in allowing people to see this increase.
I am going to be a teacher so keeping up with technology is extremely important for my job. I am in charge of making sure that the students I teach know how to use technology to better their studies for the subject I teach. It is always important to stay on top of new technology because new stuff is being invented everyday; Gary Hayes's app should be very helpful to me.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Blog Post #3
Peer Editing
I learned in the Peer Editing video that Peer Editing is actually "working with someone your own age to help improve, revise, and edit his/her writing." when you are peer editing it is very important to stay positive so that your peer will be more acceptable to the mistakes he/she has made. The followings steps are essential in peer editing: compliments, suggestions, and corrections. You want to be positive when editing someones work because nobody wants to hear how poorly they did; tearing someone's confidence down isn't going to help anybody, which is the whole point. You should focus on how to make their grammar, organization, sentence structure, word choice, etc. better.
It is important to stay positive, be specific, and complete the three steps of peer editing while reviewing someone's paper. Peer editing can be useful for people of all ages if you know the correct way to do it. You need to be specific while being kind to your peer, or they will not know what to correct and not care that they need to. It is also important for a person that is getting their work edited to stay open minded and try not to be offended by the mistakes their peer pointed out.
The Mountbatten
The Mountbatten video taught me about this device that blind students can use to type with in the classroom. The machine tells the child what they are typing while they are typing it. It also prints out what they typed so they can tell what all they have written. This device also can save and send the child's work to another computer. This device would allow a teacher that did not know braille or sign language the ability to communicate with the student. It would also allow the child to be able to communicate with other students. I think it is awesome; I would definitely use the device in my classroom.
Deaf/Blind Awareness
It is important that deaf and blind kids receive the same knowledge that every other kid receives. The problem with keeping deaf and blind kids on the same track as a kid that doesn't have these disabilities, is that they have trouble communicating or interpreting the way other students do. Now we use technology as if our life depends on it to obtain knowledge; it is important for deaf and blind kids to use the same technology available to other kids. It is very important that we keep making advancements in the technology for deaf and blind kids to use because I imagine it is tough enough doing basic things, much less doing things electronically.
In my class, if I have a deaf or a blind kid I will do everything I can to see that that kid receives the same education as the rest of the students. The device in the Mountbatten video would be very helpful for a blind kid or even a deaf kid to use; it would make giving and turning in assignments so much easier. Blind kids could use an iPad to read the assigned books that they needed to with the help of the voice control option. I am sure there are many other helpful tools i could use to help these students as well.
Digital Smarts
The teacher, Vicki Davis, reminds me of Mr. Strange in the video Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts. They believe that you don't have to be told everything in order to learn something. Vicki expected her students to look things up instead of asking her things every time they had a question which forces them to actually LEARN something. I thought it was really cool how she assigned them something that she didn't even know how to do, and three day later her students were teaching her something that she assigned that she had no idea how to do.
As a teacher, I would love to implement some of the techniques that Vicki Davis uses in her classroom. I want my students to have to think and use their own minds so they will remember how to do stuff instead of me constantly having to repeat myself. I expect to give my students assignments where I will have to learn from them and them learn from me as well.
I learned in the Peer Editing video that Peer Editing is actually "working with someone your own age to help improve, revise, and edit his/her writing." when you are peer editing it is very important to stay positive so that your peer will be more acceptable to the mistakes he/she has made. The followings steps are essential in peer editing: compliments, suggestions, and corrections. You want to be positive when editing someones work because nobody wants to hear how poorly they did; tearing someone's confidence down isn't going to help anybody, which is the whole point. You should focus on how to make their grammar, organization, sentence structure, word choice, etc. better.
It is important to stay positive, be specific, and complete the three steps of peer editing while reviewing someone's paper. Peer editing can be useful for people of all ages if you know the correct way to do it. You need to be specific while being kind to your peer, or they will not know what to correct and not care that they need to. It is also important for a person that is getting their work edited to stay open minded and try not to be offended by the mistakes their peer pointed out.
The Mountbatten
The Mountbatten video taught me about this device that blind students can use to type with in the classroom. The machine tells the child what they are typing while they are typing it. It also prints out what they typed so they can tell what all they have written. This device also can save and send the child's work to another computer. This device would allow a teacher that did not know braille or sign language the ability to communicate with the student. It would also allow the child to be able to communicate with other students. I think it is awesome; I would definitely use the device in my classroom.
Deaf/Blind Awareness
It is important that deaf and blind kids receive the same knowledge that every other kid receives. The problem with keeping deaf and blind kids on the same track as a kid that doesn't have these disabilities, is that they have trouble communicating or interpreting the way other students do. Now we use technology as if our life depends on it to obtain knowledge; it is important for deaf and blind kids to use the same technology available to other kids. It is very important that we keep making advancements in the technology for deaf and blind kids to use because I imagine it is tough enough doing basic things, much less doing things electronically.
In my class, if I have a deaf or a blind kid I will do everything I can to see that that kid receives the same education as the rest of the students. The device in the Mountbatten video would be very helpful for a blind kid or even a deaf kid to use; it would make giving and turning in assignments so much easier. Blind kids could use an iPad to read the assigned books that they needed to with the help of the voice control option. I am sure there are many other helpful tools i could use to help these students as well.
Digital Smarts
The teacher, Vicki Davis, reminds me of Mr. Strange in the video Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts. They believe that you don't have to be told everything in order to learn something. Vicki expected her students to look things up instead of asking her things every time they had a question which forces them to actually LEARN something. I thought it was really cool how she assigned them something that she didn't even know how to do, and three day later her students were teaching her something that she assigned that she had no idea how to do.
As a teacher, I would love to implement some of the techniques that Vicki Davis uses in her classroom. I want my students to have to think and use their own minds so they will remember how to do stuff instead of me constantly having to repeat myself. I expect to give my students assignments where I will have to learn from them and them learn from me as well.
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