Report on Collaboration

I am a member of Team Confused and my group consists of myself, Ariel Robinson, Jessica Bonner, and Alex Mayfield.  For our collaboration we decided to use Google Docs as our form of communicating with each other.  We shared a document with each other and each decided on a color we would type in.  Whenever we had an idea or thought, we could write it to the group in our specific color then we knew who was typing.  I enjoyed collaborating this way.  It's a great way to stay organized by being able to see all of our writings in one place instead of tons of separate e-mails.  I plan to use this tool and others in the future for online collaboration.

Project #15 SmartBoard Lesson

Blog Assignment 13

For this weeks blog assignment we were told not to use any type of technology for 24 hours. This included watching TV, using computers, listening to the radio, using my cell phone, etc. For me, this was painfully tough. I didn't realize how much I rely on technology throughout my day. Without this technology, I was able to read some of my textbooks that I normally don't read because I am so entranced with all of my technology that I use throughout the day. The hardest part of this "media fast" was not being able to use my cell phone. My iPhone has everything that I need on it.  From my apps to text messaging to e-mail, I was lost without it. Since I live in an apartment on campus, I do not have a land line, so getting in touch with my parents was not easy. The BCM (Baptist Campus Ministries) thankfully has a land line that I was able to use to contact my parents. I realized how nice it is to be able to shoot your friend a text message instead of having to locate a land line to make a phone call. I definitely take technology for granted and I am very thankful that I get to use it every day and I plan to continue to use it all the time.

Update on my PLN

As the semester has progressed I have continued to update my PLN.  Whenever I find a website that I think will be helpful one day as a teacher, I will make a space for it on my PLN.  The tiles that are pink are websites that are useful for presentation tools and collaboration.  The green tiles in the bottom right corner are blogs that I think will be useful.  I also have found people on Twitter that I follow who I am able to contact.  The educators that I follow post insightful material and useful resources.  I plan to continue to use Twitter and continue to find new educators to follow.

C4T Summary #4

Comment #1
This month my teacher is Dorothy Burt and she is a teacher in Auckland, New Zealand.  In her post, she blogs about the idea of using computers to take exams.  Each of her students have their own personal netbook that they are able to use for classroom activities.  From her research, she found that the students score higher when using the netbooks for written exams.  I think it's a great idea because I know most students do well typing and they can type faster than they can write with a pen or pencil.  The problem with this idea for our area though is the cost.  Most public schools in Mobile (or should I say all) do not have the money to purchase a netbook for each student.  The students could use the public computers in the schools to take certain exams and see if their scores improve.

Comment #2
This week I commented on Mrs. Burt's post titled, "Student Reflections."  90 students between the grades 5 through 8 chose to respond after using Netbooks in the classroom for 1 year.  There was a lot of positive feedback regarding the use of Netbooks for their school work.  Most of the students seemed to dislike the act of physically writing, but enjoyed doing their work more then they were able to type.  This even applied to the poor typists.  Netbooks allow the students to be able to post more to their blogs and they are doing so because they know others are able to read their work.  Before the use of their Netbooks, the only person reading their work was their teacher which doesn't give them much inspiration.  There were few negatives, mostly dealing with slow internet and battery life.  In my comment, I told Mrs. Burt what a great idea it is to allow the students to reflect on their use of the Netbooks.  I hope that one day the school that I work in will be able to incorporate some type of technology into the classrooms.

Progress Report on Final Project

This is an update for "Team Confused."  For our final project, we plan to create a video on how to survive EDM 310.  We are still in the process of planning exactly what to do, but so far we know that we need to include:

1. Time management

2. Read the class blog...DAILY!

3. Submit all your work...ON TIME

4. Constantly be creating your PLN (Personal Learning Network)

5. Go to the lab...you get more work done when you do!  Plus, people are there to help.

The list is continuing to grow and we hope to maybe incorporate Dr. Strange somewhere in the short video.

Creativity and Curiosity: My Thoughts - Special Post #12A

Creativity and Curiosity

This week we were assigned an additional, special blog post.  About a week ago, while in class, Dr. Strange brought up some questions regarding creativity and curiosity in the classroom.

The first question is: Do schools undermine curiosity and/or creativity in students?  Personally, I believe that schools today inhibit the creativity of students.  I know that some teachers try to help their students excel in creativity, but with standardized testing it is difficult to do this.  Teachers are told that their students must pass these tests, otherwise the schools will not receive the proper funding and such.  This puts tremendous pressure on the teachers to "teach the test."  No longer are the days of students being creative and curious, but students are being shoved information down their throats and being forced what to think.  This puts limitations on their creative minds.

The next question asks: Can a curriculum be developed that increases the curiosity of students? If so, what would be the key components of such a curriculum?  I think such a curriculum is possible.  One way that could help stimulate the students curiosity would be to encourage them to ask questions.  I know in the past I've shied away from raising my hand because of what others would think of my question or answer.  Teachers need to make sure the classroom is inviting and let the students know that it's perfectly okay to ask questions.   I feel that when students ask questions, not only are they learning, but others, including the teacher, will learn as well.  In addition to encouraging them to ask questions, we need to allow the students to work together to come up with solutions on their own.  Whether they work in pairs or on their own, brainstorming and problem solving will allow them to open up that curiosity of learning.


Question three asks: Can a teacher's actions increase the curiosity of students?  If so, what would be those actions?  I think we need to allow the students to think on their own.  I've had teachers in the past who expect me to write down their "answer" otherwise it isn't correct.  This may or may not be the right answer, but it's what they (the teacher) think to be true.  As teachers, we need to open up the doors to allow students to use their creativity freely.  One day as a teacher, I don't want to put words into my students mouth.  I want them to think and act on their own.

The last questions asks: What would help you become more curious?  What role would teachers and/or schools have in that process?  I have always struggled with being creative and curious.  I've always wanted to please my teachers so I've always done what I thought they wanted out of me.  I need to not be afraid of trying new things and to not be afraid of being let down.  I think that teachers and schools need to have more projects that allow the students to show their creative side.  Allow their imaginations to run wild!

Blog Assignment 12

For this weeks blog post we were asked to come up with our own assignment that deals with our area of specialty.  Since I am going to be a math teacher, I decided to obviously focus on math.  I remember back at the beginning of the semester when we used Google Docs to create a presentation which is a convenient way to create a presentation through the internet and it was free.  I found another place to create free presentations online, called Empressr.  On this website you can find other students presentations and create your own from scratch which you can share publicly or privately with a password.  You're able to embed audio, video, pictures, and much more into the presentation.  From playing around with it for awhile I found that it seemed that you were able to do more than with Google Docs.  So, if I were Dr. Strange, I would make it a requirement for students in EDM 310 to create a presentation that they could use in a classroom setting.  The students would need to create their presentation for the field they are planning to teach, whether it be math, science, history, special ed, elementary education, etc.

C4K April Summary

C4K #1
George is a 12 year old student from New Zealand.  In his post he wrote about his home country of New Zealand.  He included the islands that it is made up of and the population.  I don't know much about New Zealand so it was neat to learn some about it.  Sign Language was first made an official language in New Zealand, which I did not know before reading this post.  In my comment, I let George know that I was interested in learning about his country and I hope to visit there one day.  He also taught us some simple words in one of the main languages, Maori.  I look forward to keeping up with his blog.


C4K #2
This week I was given a new 4th grade student named Noah who is from Vermont.  In his post, he writes about his love for cats.  He inserted a very cute picture of a cat and even put a source to it.  I was amazing by his ability to insert pictures into his blog post since I just learned how to do this recently! In my comment, I praised him for this.  It is so great that these students are able to use this technology and that their teachers' encourage it.  I hope one day to be able to incorporate that into my classroom. 


C4K #3
This week, Noah blogged about his concern about the trees being cut down in the rainforests.  He is worried about the animals that live there.  When the trees are cut down their shelters are taken away from them and they are dying.  In my comment, I let him know that I feel the same way about cutting down the trees in rainforests and in our own communities.  In my 8th grade class we raised money to help the rainforests and got the school involved by building a rainforest in the hallway at school.  I encouraged Noah to continue to blog and to fight for what he believes in.


C4K #4
In this weeks C4K, a student named Latu posted a video collage of photos from a trip to Butterfly Creek which is a butterfly garden.  It was fun to watch the video of the photos of the students in her class.  It looked like they all had a great time!  A video of pictures is a great way to remember a fun event like that.  In my comment, I expressed how much I liked the video and also that I love that there are so many different colors of butterflies.  I'm sure that the students saw many different types and colors of butterflies on their trip to Butterfly Creek.  

Blog Assignment 11

Ms. Cassidy's First Grade Class

A first grade teacher named Ms. Cassidy from Canada made a video which included her students called, "Little Kids...Big Potential."  In this video the students tell us how they use technology to learn in the classroom.  They use an assortment of different tools like: blogs, Wikis, Skype, a classroom webpage, videos, and even a Nintendo DS.  I could not believe how much these first graders knew about technology.  I need them to help me out!

Dr. Strange and some of his students in 2010 recorded a Skype conversation with Ms. Cassidy where they asked her questions about her teaching strategies.  She insisted that we get plugged into something that interests us whether that be blogging, Twitter, videos, etc.  She wanted us to realized how important it is to make contacts with other educators around the world.

I love Ms. Cassidy's enthusiasm for helping her students learn through using technology.  Ms. Cassidy, along with myself, both feel that students will be more interested if technology is incorporated into the classroom.  She mentioned that when the students blog they feel like their work matters when people from around the world are reading and commenting to them.  It gives the students a sense that the work they are doing matters and that other people are interested besides their teacher.  I thought her use of Skype was awesome.  Her class would meet face-to-face with other teachers and professionals to accompany with their lessons.  To me, this definitely makes learning fun and interesting!

I think the technique I would most likely use is blogging or having a webpage for my class.  I could post assignments and links to websites that could help the students learn and be interactive.  Blogs will also allow the students to interact with each other and with others around the world.  When they have questions they can post them on their blog or ask another student.  An issue I can see myself running into is the students taking advantage of their freedom of the internet in the classroom and going on sites which aren't beneficial to their learning.  I want my students to be independent, but I will need to have rules that they must follow and consequences if they break those rules.

With using technology in my classroom, I hope that my students will have a drive to learn.  I hope that I can make learning fun and interesting besides me just lecturing to my students all day.  They will have a sense of freedom that will hopefully allow them to excel in their work.  I plan to implement some of Ms. Cassidy's techniques into my own classroom and I'm really excited to do so!

Blog Assignment 10

Do you Teach or Do you Educate?
This video was a great wake up call to the difference between being a teacher and being an educator.  When you "teach" the material you are instructing or explaining how to do something.  When you educate you inspire, enlighten, and empower your students.  I want to strive to be this type of educator one day.  I don't want to drill the information into my students brains so that all they do is memorize it.

I will have interactive activities that will keep them involved in their learning.  I want to be there for my students when they need to be advised.  Questions will be fully welcomed in my classroom.  I don't want any question unanswered.  If I don't know the answer to their questions, I will for sure find an answer.  I want my classroom to be inviting and to be a place that my students will enjoy to learn.

Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home
This was a very insightful post.  The blog post is an argument about whether or not children should be allowed to take pencils home from school with them.  One argument is that if you let the student bring the pencils home that it will lower their standardized test grades.  The woman, Gertrude, who is against the students bringing pencils home says that they just will play games with the pencils and not learn.  Johnson retaliates by saying even if they are playing games, they can still be learning.  Games like hangman help students writing letters and to spell out words.

This is not just some random blog post about pencils, there was a message behind it.  As teachers we often look at the problem, rather than looking for a solution.  We need to step back and look at the problem because if we don't then it will just keep occurring.  Johnson was optimistic about the pencils.  He knew that even if all the students at home were playing games with their pencils, at least they would be learning something.

As a teacher, I want to be a problem solver.  I want to be able to find solutions to problems in the classroom, like the case of the pencils.  If I have a positive outlook, I feel that I'd be able to find a good solution.  Any way to keep the students motivated to learn is good to me.  I know I will face times that are so tough to get through and frustrating, but I will have faith that my students are willing to learn from what I have to educate them in.