Blog Post #15 Final Reflection Video

C4K Summary for April

C4KSummary from Christopher

I had the opportunity to read Christopher's blog post from Pt England School . In his blog post he wrote a paragraph of a story. In his paragraph his character was walking home after school, and all of a sudden someone was following him. Then there was gun fire! He turned around, and that was where he ended. It was written very well, and had me wanting to read the rest of it.



C4KSummary from Jonathon

I had the opportunity to read Jonathon's blog post from Pt England School . In His post he had an animation picture of a butterfly. He was in a group and each student had to create a picture of a butterfly in it's life cycle. His picture was very good and I thought that is was cool that it moved, in order to make it seem like the butterfly was flying.

C4KSummary from Vinolia

I had the opportunity to read Vinolia's blog post from Pt England School . In her blog post she talked about Fiafia. They celebrate it at her school. They have performances by the students. Their parents come and she talked about how much fun it was to get ready with her friends.

Project #16- The Learniing Tree

C4T Summary #4

In Joey Feith's blog post How I Teach: Matt Johnson he introduces a PE teacher named Matt Johnson. In Matt's class he teaches his students fun activities that they will use outside of school like skateboarding. He also uses apps and other tools to teach his class. They also teach their students about being healthy. I think that this way of teaching is very good and more PE teachers should do this, because it teaches the students real life activities and how to be healthy.

Blog Post #13

How are you going to get your class involved? Search for activities and educational games you could use in your classroom. Then, tell how you would use them in your classroom.

There are some examples bellow, do some research to add to the list.

Social Studies Learning Games

Jump Start

I can remember playing all kinds of educational games as a kid. My mom would by them for me and my brother to help us with our math and reading. The one thing I remember is how much I loved it. Part of our job as a teacher will be to come up with fun educational game for our students to play. The reason that we should do this is, students will love learning this way and want to learn. They are also more likely to retain what they learn. There are so many websites to go to that have multiple game to choose from, and you can also choose the grade level you want to do.

Social Studies Learning Games
There are plenty of math games, but I have not heard about a lot of history games. On this website there are all kinds of games for many different subjects in history. I could use this in my classroom to help students learn quotes, presidents, inventor, and so muck more. I think that this website would be very enjoyable for the students, and they would not even feel like they are learning.

Jump Start
On this website you get to pick whether you want games for reading, math, science, and other subjects. I would use this website for students who might be struggling with any subject, not just to make them want to learn and improve, but to give them an incentive to work harder. I would also use these games for children who might have special needs, because it is visual and they do well with visual learning.

Blog Post #12

Yanko Design

In today's schools there are all kinds of disabilities. There are physical and mental, but there are solutions to all. So many apps and electronics have come out in order to help students with disabilities. A physical problem could be a child being deaf. When there is something different about a child you do not have to tell them they already know. When these children get into a classroom setting it can make them feel even more different. Something deaf children have a hard time with is the sounding out of words. The VV-Talker helps with this. The child put one end up to their throat and watches the other end. It show the vibrations of the words and tells the child if they are saying the word properly. This device helps with children's speech and helps with their confidence in speaking to others.

Blind Children Use iPads Successfully

An I-pad can be used many ways to appeal to children who have disabilities. For the blind there are all kinds of apps that can be used to navigate around an I-pad without any help. This allows children to use an I-pad without them looking or feeling like the are visually impaired. This helps students to feel like they have power and also allows them to be in control of something. I-pads are also good for children with autism or children who have a Learning Disability. Both of these types of children normally respond well to visual things. The I-pad also them to be visual and learn at the same time. This tool brings joy to their world that might seem a little jumbled and confusing.

iPads Become Learning Tools for Students With Disabilities

The I-pads and other forms of tablets can also help children with autism, down syndrome, and who are deaf to communicate. Students who might have had trouble communicating before using there devices would get frustrated and give up on communication, now they can communicate with rest of their classmates. Tablets can help with disabilities where traditional media can't and leave children feeling misunderstood.

Project #10 Interview

Pine Apple Bolg Post #11

Brian Crosby- Back to the Future

By: William Taylor

I learned a lot of valuable information from Brian Crosby's informative and insightful speech about some of the effective methods and techniques being used by him and his students in the classroom. Mr. Crosby articulated the importance of allowing his students to be active and engaged in the learning process. Mr. Crosby is an educator who allows his students to express their knowledge, skills, opinions, and attitudes in the classroom. Mr. Crosby takes a non-traditional approach to teaching. Mr. Crosby allows his students to express their thoughts and ideas through blogs and videos. Mr. Crosby also talked about the value of creating personal learning networks. Personal learning networks are formed through resources and tools such as blogs and Skype. Mr. Crosby encourages his students to blog and share ideas and videos with students all over the world. The idea of collaboration between his students is also key because it allows students to seek out answers to questions and problems in the classroom. I believe this method is the best way for students to learn because it challenges them to work hard and stay motivated. I believe motivation is important because students get tired of paper and pencil in the classroom. Technology allows for students to embrace and share their creativity and express their knowledge, skills, and ideas. Mr. Crosby also harped on the importance of allowing students to express creativity and apply their unique skills to technology.

Mr. Crosby's class is composed of second-language learners, but that does not inhibit the focus of reading and writing in the classroom. As educators, it's important to understand our students come from diverse backgrounds and practice different cultures, beliefs, and traditions. It's key that we accept and embrace those traits and apply them in the curriculum. As educators, it's vital we provided our students with significant resources and tools to enrich and enhance their creative and innovative thinking skills. As educators, I also believe it's important to present a curriculum to our students in a way that is comprehensive, interactive, and fun. Mr. Crosby articulated that during a science lesson his students involved in hands-on experience in creating and investigating meaningful science concepts and experiments. I learned from Mr. Crosby the value of not taking a fast-food approach to education. As educators, we need to abandon the idea of linearity and conformity and promote project-based learning and creativity in our classrooms. We need to disenthrall our students and invigorate their passions, skills, and talents.

Sam Pane 4th Grade

By: Heather Marsh

There is so much to take away from Mr. Pane’s class in this informative and insightful video. The very first thing that I noticed was that all of the students were excited to be learning. Mr. Pane used a very interesting tool to teach his class about Internet safety. The students created a superhero and then created a story that showed their superhero protect people when come to computer safety. This innovative approach not only taught computer safety, but also taught dialogue and writing. His way of teaching should be an example for all teachers. He made the class interesting and fun, but also educational. The students were excited to learn and write. They also had other students read their comic strip, so they were teaching each other. The students wanted to share their work with each other and Mr. Pane. I liked how he had the students talk to each other before they started to get an idea of what computer safety was. Mr. Pane's innovative project also teaches the students about collaboration and communication.

Project Based Learning

In schools today, we are teaching collaboration between students. Not only is this important, but it is also important for teachers to collaborate, as well. What does this mean? In the video, it talked about how three teachers worked together in Canada to combine their classes. They had History and English combined with technology. The idea of collaboration enabled students to spend time creating projects. The teachers worked together to figure out how to combine their classes and create projects that fit the curriculum, and also allow the students to go beyond the required curriculum. We can learn from these teachers that we need to work together more. Two minds are always better than one. Not only do we need to give each other ideas, but also I like how they combined classes. I believe if schools were to implement this idea it would give students the opportunity to use critical thinking.

I think that most people today put a limit on what children can do. When I watched this video I thought, wow these students started young. When you think this way you are taking away from the students. From this video, we can learn that if we let the students do then they will surprise us. They had first grade students doing PBL, and they use collaboration on their projects. The teachers take real world problems and use them in their classroom. Project-based learning allows students to think for themselves. When I was in school, we did not have this, and to be honest, there was not much thinking going on. Project-based learning also will help students down the road when they are on their own.

Roosevelt Elementary PBL Program

The term that keeps popping up is the idea of collaboration between peers in the classroom. Not only collaboration between students, between teachers. As educators, it's important to understand education is evolving, and we have to work together with not only our colleagues but our students, as well. The idea of educators working together is productive and it also allows them to assign collaborative assignments to their students. A good teacher will receive help and ideas from other teachers and give some of their own. I was talking to a friend the other day, and she is currently a second grade teacher. She was telling me that there were a lot of new teachers at her school, and she was one of them. The principal had the older teachers and younger teachers work together, but the problem was that the older teachers did not want to work with the younger teachers. The approach was counterproductive because there was no communication among them. It's difficult for my friend because she does not have anyone to go to for help and guidance. It's necessary for teachers to work together not only for themselves, but for their students, as well.

Blended Learning Cycle

By: Brionna Brown

Blended learning is combining online, mobile, and classroom learning into one situation. Technology is a powerful tool that allows educators to connect and communicate with their students. There are five E’s incorporated into the learning cycle: engage, explore, explain, expand and evaluate. By following the five E’s, it is a great way to present and learn new material. Mr. Anderson created an acronym to develop parts of blended learning-QUIVERS. He has six arrows in his quiver that symbolizes that there are six parts to his blended learning cycle. The first part of his cycle is to have a good question. A good question is the hook that grasps the students' interests in the material being taught. An investigation always begins with a good question. Inquiry learning allows the students to experiment with a question. Another approach to teaching the given material is through videos. Mr. Anderson uses educational videos as a way to differentiate the lecture but still deliver the necessary information. After further information has been given, elaboration is necessary. Mr. Anderson elaborates on essential details before moving on to the next step, which is reviewing. During the review process, Mr. Anderson meets with the students individually or in small groups. Each student is not allowed to move on to the last step until he is confident with his or her responses during the review. The final step is a summary quiz, which tests the students’ knowledge and understanding of the material. By using Mr. Anderson’s approach to blended learning, the students are able to experience a well-rounded style of education.

Making Thinking Visible

Mark Church is an educator who encourages the idea of collaboration in his classroom. Mr. Church assigns his students to work in groups to come up with a headline about the search for human origins. Mr. Church used headlines as a way to force the students to think about the challenge behind the given material. This assignment allows the students to focus on how their thinking was extended and go beyond the obvious answers in the text. After time has passed, Mr. Church will have his students return to the material, creating another headline. The second headline should show growth in the students' thought processes and provide a significant difference in understanding the material.

C4K Summary for March

C4KSummary from Room 6 First Capzels

I had the privilege of reading Room 6 First Capzels on Little Voices, Little Scholars. Their class had just gone on a field trip to a farm. They illustrated what they saw, and then put their illustrations on capzels. They also put pictures of their class at the farm on it. I told them that I loved their illustrations, and I thought it was really creative how they drew the same animal, but it was all different.

C4KSummary from Semi

I had the opportunity to read Semi's blog post on Pt England School. In this blog post Semi is working on five times tables. First Semi gave the problem and then the answer. After that Semi explained how you get the answer. I told Semi that he did a great job explaining his answer, and that I understood his thinking.

C4KSummary from Christopher

I had the opportunity to read Christopher's blog post from Pt England School . In his blog post he wrote a paragraph of a story. In his paragraph his character was walking home after school, and all of a sudden someone was following him. Then there was gun fire! He turned around, and that was where he ended. It was written very well, and had me wanting to read the rest of it.

C4T Summary #3

Have you ever heard of a flipped coach? Well I had not, until I read Jason Hahmstadt's blog post Flipping in Physical Education 2.0: It’s all about the videos!. He talked about how videos have been around for a long tom, but only now are people really using them. He talked about how it is so much easier to get information out to his students, because they all have iPod touches or some kind of electronic. He talked about having students watch videos is a good way for them to understand movements. I enjoyed reading his blog post! It opened my perspective on how Physical Education classes can be run. I always thought that all you do is go out and play some kind of sport. This way is so much better, in that you can learn how to play the game before you go out to actually play. You will be able to have some clue of what you are doing.

Project #12 SMARTboard Project Part B

Project Based Lesson Plan #15

Tour of the Galaxy


In this week and a half lesson plan, 3rd grade students will obtain knowledge and information about a particular planet. There are eight groups. The objectives are to research, collaborate, share important information and create an iMovie. The groups will then present their presentations on the assigned day. Students are expected to use appropriate online tools including iQuiro and iMovie. My driving question is: What are the important and interesting facts about a certain planet?

Blog Post #10

I learned so much from Sir Ken Robinson. He talked about reforming education, and how every educational system is doing it. He said that instead of evolving it we need to revolutionize it. When he said this my question was, how? Well, he answered it later in his video. First he explained why it needs to be revolutionized, instead just evolving it. We need a complete new system, not an evolved broken one. The world has changed, so it is natural that education must change with it.

Sir Ken Robinson talked about two kinds of people. The people who love their job and what they do, and the people who hate their job. He said that we should strive to do something that is part of us and makes us happy. When I think about this not only do I think of myself, but I also think of the students I will teach one day. If they love what they do they will work really hard at it, and it is my job as the teacher to use tools and technology to engage them. He also talke3d about how we need to find things that work best for us and our classroom. Each student is different and we need to determine their strengths, and use them to help them learn.

He also talked about not living in the past. I have just recently understood what this means for education. I have been thinking that when I get in a classroom I will be teaching the students the same way I was taught, and this is completely false. Things have changed so much since I was in school and it is naive to think they have not. We need to focus on the future, and working to make our education system better.

Project #12 SMARTboard Project Part A

Blog Post #9

I loved the videos for this week’s blog. There were so many different things to learn from in in the videos Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1, Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 2, and Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 3. I would love to use a blog for my class one day, and I would teach the children how to post and comment just like Ms. Cassidy did with her kids in the video Little Kids...Big Potential. I would create a web page also, in order to make sure the children are in a safe place on the internet. I remember when I was in elementary school the teachers had to monitor us whenever we went in the computer lab to do research for a project. Now there are so many safe places for students to look up information it is not as bad. I liked Ms. Cassidy's comment about how she does not ever post anything that is not appropriate on the class site so nothing pops up that would be questionable. In elementary school children are a little young to be using Twitter and Facebook, but if they were older I would get them to create a PLN, using these tools, so that they can get help with projects and studying. In working online the problem was brought up about safety. Ms. Cassidy said that the student’s identity needs to be kept safe, as well as their mind. There are so many horrible people in the world today and almost every one of them has access to a computer, and the way you keep children safe is by not using their last name and not putting their name with their picture. One thing that I thought was interesting was that the students used Nintendo DS' in class. I have never thought that you could use hand held games to learn in a class room, but her students do in order to read better. This also makes the children want to learn.

When she was talking about all the technology that she used in her class I understood how it is constantly a learning process for the teacher and the student. No two people are the same, and what works for one person may not work for another. This goes for classes as well. Teacher's need to change up what they do over the years, because as the world advances the teaching needs to advance. Teachers who refuse to change are only hindering their students and causing them to be behind everyone else. This means that as children learn new things teachers should learn new things, in order to keep the education system advancing. These videos showed me that it is possible for teachers to learn new things and use them in their class room.

In doing all of this there are going to be problems. The first step would be to take each problem one at a time. Some of the problems might be parents, students, and principals. All of these potential problems can be solved with communication. I would explain beforehand what the children would be doing in my class, and even let them try it out to see how it can be used in a safe way. The biggest thing is to not give up, and work hard to advance the learning system. Once everyone is on board there are so many wonderful things that can be accomplished. Students would be excited about learning and want to learn, which would make them retain more information. Students would have good collaboration skills, and parents could get more involved in their child's life, by seeing their blog and what they are doing online.

I would be willing to try anything in a class room to get my students involved and excited. These videos just showed me it does not matter how young you are, you can use any cool tool to learn as long as people are willing to let you.

Blog Post #8

There are so many different tools for teachers to use for themselves and for their classroom. I did not realize, before I started to research for this blog, how many tools there are. There are tools only for teachers, tools for students, and tools for both to use. I found several that I like. The first one is Animoto, and it is a tool that allows you to create videos and presentations for your lessons or it could be good for projects. In my class I would use this to teach and also to get the students interested in projects by using this. The students could use it in a project to teach the class. I chose this tool because it would be a good way to liven up a classroom and a lecture. In Mobile County things move slower, so not every student has an iPad or MacBook to do fun things on to learn. This would be a good way to get kids interested in the class.

The second tool I found is OpenStudy, and it is a study site where students can go to, and get in a study group. This allows students from all over the world to connect to each other and learn from each other. You can study for a test or just do homework. I would use this in my classroom for the connections it will give students. I will also use it, so that students have to think in order to help other students. I chose this tool because some students might be afraid to ask questions, but they are more likely to ask other students. This is a good tool for students to get help and make friends doing it. If they had this when I was in school, I would have used it all the time to study with people who are learning the same thing as me.

The third tool I found was Planboard, and it is a site just for teachers. As teachers, we need to be organized, and one of the things we need to organize is our lesson plans. We are not perfect, so of course some of us might not have the best organization. This site helps teachers organize their lesson plans so that the day runs smoothly and there is no panic about getting everything done. This site allows teachers to share their plans and ideas, and help each other teachers out. We all need help and this is a wonderful way to expand a teachers PLN. I chose this tool because I like being organized, and when I am not organized I feel lost. This site will help me make sure my lesson plans are in order and I can get ideas to make my teaching style better.

The last tool I want to talk about is Donors choose, and this site allows teachers to sign up and raise money for their classroom and projects that they might want to do. We all know that everything cost money, and school supplies are not cheap. This site is a good way for donors to give money for students. This allows teachers to involve their students in better projects that are exciting, and the teacher does not have to spend a great deal of money on supplies. I chose this tool because several people I know have used this, and it has worked well for them. I may not be a teacher yet, but I do know teachers go out of their way for their students. If that means spending money out of their own pocket then, so be it. This tool helps, so that teachers can keep their small paycheck and still get the supplies they need for their students.

C4T Summary #2

This week I had the opportunity to read Julie Reuter's blog post Passion for Padlet. Her post was all about Padlet and how she uses it in her classroom. Padlet is a virtual wall that you can use to put your thoughts and opinions on topics. Julie Reuter uses Padlet in her classroom to assess what the kids thought of their lesson, and to see if they understand their lesson. She also uses Padlet in workshops that she has done in order for teachers to see how they could incorporate it in their classroom. This is definitely something I will do in my class room when I am a teacher.

Project #14 Lesson Plan

Macbeth- Lesson Plan

In this 2 week project based-learning lesson plan, 12th grade students will work together to use their creativity to make an iMovie from the play Macbeth. Through this project students will have to understand the characters and the plot of the play. Students will need tools like a video camera and iMovie in order to create their video. The driving question for this project is: What is the plot behind the play Macbeth?

Project #13 Lesson Plan

Befriend a President- Lesson Plan

In this week and a half project-based lesson plan, 5th grade students will obtain and share knowledge and information about a particular and interesting United States president that their group selected. There are five groups consisting of four classmates to a group. The objectives are to research, collaborate, share important information and create Google docs presentations. The groups will then present their presentations on the assigned day. Students are expected to use appropriate online tools including iQuiro and YouTube. Our driving question is: what were some of his most successful accomplishments during his presidency, as well as fun facts about his life?

Blog Post #7

I learned so much from watching Randy Pausch's video Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. He talks about dreams that we have as children. All of the dreams that he had as a child he went after in some sort of fashion. He talks about having brick walls get that get in the way, but he does not let them stop him. He says that the brick walls are there for the people who are not dedicated. This keeps the people who are serious and really want something separated from the people who give up. He talks about our dreams and how they need to be specific. This shows me that when dreams are specific there is a better chance for us to follow our dreams, and know how to go about following our dreams.

Randy then goes on to talk about setting the bar for students. He is saying that when we set the bar in our mind we are restricting the ability of the students. When students work hard on something they love to do, they will give their best. What we need to do is find where the bar is by letting the students show us. He talks about how his course does projects, and that is how they learn. This is project based learning, which is what we do in EDM310. They do not have books to read from, they work together to figure it out. He says the best way to teach children is by them having fun while they are learning something hard. If we do it this way the students will want to learn and be excited about learning.

He then goes on to talk about what lets you achieve your dream. It is all about your support system like your parents or mentors. This is important because as we grow up everything around us models and influences us. We have to be willing to accept help in order to get to where we want to go, and when we help other people then they will help us. He goes on to say that we need to have fun, and make it fun for our students. I love the end when he is saying that living your dreams is living your life, and we need to live our life the right way.

C4KSummary for February

C4KSummary from Luke

I had the privilege of reading Luke's blog post on Ms. Toals Class. Their class was learning to Skype with others to learn information. Luke was very informative in his blog post, and had very important details about sharks. I learned that 1,000,000,000 sharks die a year, and that some lip sticks are made from a shark's fin. I agreed with his teacher that I would check my lip stick the next time I buy some.

C4KSummary from Zoey

I had the opportunity to read Zoey's blog post on Kidblog. Her blog post was a survey question. Her question was "What would you do if you were locked your favorite department store overnight?". She wanted to be locked in Target and so did I. She wanted to do all kinds of things like eat ice cream, ride bikes, try on clothes, and ride a wave of movies, I thought that was funny. I would want do most of the same things Zoey would, especially trying on clothes.

C4KSummary from Michelle

I had the opportunity to read Michelle's blog post from Ms. Ruiz's 3rd period. Their English class is reading a book and they were supposed to talk about appropriate titles of the chapters. I really liked what she had to say. She was saying that when you finish a chapter you know why the chapter was give a specific title. I agree with her, titles always have something to do with the book or chapter you are reading.

C4KSummary from Michele

I had the opportunity to read Michele's blog post from Mrs. Long's Class. Her blog post was about young children, and how you have to constantly keep an eye on them. I completely agreed with her about this, and about how children have a lot of energy and are running all over the place. She gave some very good advice as to not turn your back on children, because you don't know what could happen.

I really enjoyed reading all of the C4K blog posts. I liked being able to see what different teachers are doing in their class rooms in all different grade levels.

Project 9 Book Conversation

Project #8 Book Trailer

The Butterfly

Blog Post #6

We all need people in our lives to help and support us. A personal learning network is just that. In PLN you are able to connect with people who are in the same field of work as you are, and they are there to support and give you ideas. It works the other way as well, the people in your PLN ask you for ideas and support. How do we start our PLN? From the video PLN by Michael Fawcett, he talks about how to start your network. There are many different outlets that one can use to create their network. In Main Tools Used in PLN by Vicki Davis there are many different outlets to use in order to communicate. Examples are twitter, blogs, google docs, facebook, and photo sharing. Your network will not be large at the beginning, but over time you can add more and more people. To start off with you ask questions, and contribute to other conversations, then over time you network base will grow.

Having a personal learning network benefits you as a teacher in that you can get wonderful ideas from teachers all over the world. You can also tell other teachers about things that you have done in your classroom that are successful. Your network is also for support. If you are the only one in your school who is teaching with technology how can you get help? This is when you turn to your personal learning network.

After reading about PLN and watching videos it's time to start creating a PLN. Since I am a student I will have students in my PLN, but that will grow to educators as well once I get started. To create my PLN I will use twitter, my blog, and gmail in order to communicate. The first people I will add to my PLN will be the people who are in my group for EDM310. Then next step will be to add the lab assistance and then educators. In doing this I will be able to get feedback and help with any questions that I have, and I do the same to them.

Blog Post #5

There is so much information in the conversations It's Hard Work: A Day in the Life of a 3rd Grade Teacher, The Anthony - Strange Tips for Teachers Part 1, Project Based Learning Part 2, iCurio Anthony 070113, Discovery Ed Anthony070113, UseTech Don'tTeachIt Anthony070113, Additional Thought About Lessons Anthony 070113. In watching these conversations with Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps I have more interest in project based learning. It gives me more excitement in learning more about it. I am one of the students who wanted to teach the way I was taught. When I found out that things were changing I was very hesitant in project based learning, but now I look forward in learning how to use it myself. I like using creativity to create all kinds of things, and I can remember loving doing projects in elementary school. The projects were not like todays projects, but it gave me the opportunity to do something for myself. Listening to Anthony talk about his class and all of the projects they have done makes me look forward to doing it myself.

From watching these conversations I learned that children like to participate in project based learning. I was worried about have to teach kids how to use everything, but Anthony said that we do not need to teach technology. The question then is how do they learn then? Well, children learn technology faster than adults do, because it is the generation they grew up in. Our job is to introduce technology to children slowly. It is like a building block, children learn how to master tasks on the computer one step at a time. In the conversation about iCurio they talk about this search engine that allows children to look up information that is credible and safe for them to look at. I learned that you can save everything you search for as well as use other information that other people have searched for. This tool is good for any grade level and it seems like it would be easier to find good information that is usable. I also learned that teachers have to work hard and be creative in order to create projects that also fulfill the requirements that the students must meet before they go onto the next grade level.

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Is...

My Passion Is...

Project #3 Presentation

Blog Post #4

Are there dumb questions? In reading The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom, Asking Questions to Improve Learning, Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom, and watching Asking better questions in the classroom, and Questioning Styles and Strategies I have come up with the conclusion that there are questions that make people feel dumb, or can insult their intelligence. I did not give this any thought at all until I started reading. I work at a daycare, and even at their young age I find teachers doing this, and I realize that I do it myself. The step to take after realizing that we ask simple minded questions is; to advance our thinking, so that we advance the thinking of our children.

Knowing about asking simple minded questions, how can I change and use questions to be an effective teacher? Well, first I need to talk with the children not at the children. No one, even young kids, likes to be talked at like they know nothing. When asking questions to the children I need to keep away from yes or no questions, because no real thought goes into them. When you call on a child's name and then ask a question no one else in the class is thinking about the question; they are simply thinking "I am glad it is not me". In order to prevent this we need to ask the question, then wait a few seconds to give the whole class a chance to think about it, and then call on someone to answer. It is also a good idea to call everyone in the classroom, instead of just the kids who raise their hands, this gives everyone a chance to be involved in the class discussion. A good example in how to do this is have a cup and put the children's names on popsicle sticks, and pull them when it is time for questions. When you have pulled someone's stick you put it in an empty cup, and start all over when everyone's name has been drawn. Some of my teacher's did this in high school and it kept everyone tuned into the teacher.

When students answer questions, another effective way to get them talking is to ask them to elaborate on their answers. When we do not get the elaborate answers that we want it's probably because we do not ask the right kind of questions. We need to ask questions that require a thought provoking answer. What kind of question is that? Well, it is a question that causes the student to think about their response, and it is up to them how they answer it. Dr. Chesley calls this an "open ended question" in her video Asking better questions in the classroom. All of the information given leaves me thinking about the questions that I ask, and the responses that they get. It shows that we need to think more before we say anything.

C4T summary #1

In David Warlick's blog Middle School 2014: A Future Fiction – Installment 4 he is writing installments to a book he is writing. He tells the story of a teacher named Mrs. Crabtree, who teaches a Biology 2 class. The students are given a project, and it is presentation day for the reptiles group. Before she allows the group to present she checks roll from her tablet. The students have name tags with a chip in them that allows the teachers to know who is in their class; that way they do not have to call out the roll. Mrs. Crabtree can also check assignments with her tablet, and see who has not turned them in. Before the group presents Mrs. Crabtree tells the students their new assignment, and explains where to find it. She then lets the group present.

Blog Post #3

Peer Editing is a very useful tool in editing a students work. In the videos Peer Editing, Tutorial Peer Editing, and Writing Peer Review (Peer Critique) TOP 10 Mistakes they cover many different ways to peer edit correctly. The first thing to remember when peer editing is that your peer is someone your age and in editing you make suggestions and comments. In the videos there are three steps to follow when peer editing, first you need to give compliments, second you need to give suggestions, third you need to give corrections. It is important to remember this order because you do not want to offend anyone while trying to help them.

There are different ways to let someone know about their mistakes. When you are helping someone, do not embarrass them by letting everyone else know their mistakes. When editing keep in mind that you are making suggestions, and telling them ways they could fix their mistakes, not forcing them do what you want. The decision is still up to your peer. Also when letting someone know that they have made a mistake, it is important to give them some way to fix that mistake. Peer editing could really help someone if it is done correctly and effectively.

Post #2

In the video Professor Dancealot the central message is addressing how teachers teach students and how students learn. It is saying that teachers need to give students a chance to practice what they are learning in the classroom in order to insure that they grasp the concept. An example in the video was how Mr. Dancealot was teaching a dance class, but did not allow his students to dance in his class until the final and the students did not know what they were doing. Students need the opportunity for hands on experience. If all the student is allowed to do is listen in class and study their notes how would they have complete understanding of what they are being taught without practice. I agree with the author's conclusion. It is not possible to learn how to dance without dancing, just like you will not know how to do math without practicing. Everything that you learn you have to first practice.

In the video Teaching in 21st Century the author Kevin Roberts is making the point that teachers need to use every available resource in order to teach their class. Not only does he talk about the students learning new technologies, but he also talks about the teachers learning in order to teach effectively. I agree with Roberts proposal of how teaching should advance. In the world today, we are advancing so it only seems natural to advance in our education system. If this is the case, then as an educator, I would teach in a way that is very different than how I was taught as a child; I would constantly keep up with technology in order to be an effective teacher.

When I first started watching the video Networked Student by Wendy Drexler, I thought that the class would be hard, but as I got further into it I learned that it is very beneficial. It is similar to EDM 310 because everything is done on computer, and you are completely responsible for your work. Being able to go to class three days a week, and having the other two days online reminded me of college and how this is a good way to prepare students. I wish my high school had something like this in order to prepare me. The class emphasizes being connected not just to the computer, but also to other people and it allows you to work together. It makes me think that of the future and how one day there will be no such thing as pencil and paper. Everything will be done on computer where children can communicate with each other all over the world, and learn from each other.

In Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts by Vicki Davis they explain that students working together on the computer is more effective than a pen and paper. I agree that students can learn from other students in ways that they are not able to learn from a teacher. Pen and paper is fading out and technology is the new buzz and the fact that kids are connecting to each other all over the world is fascinating. It also proves that students are able to work in ways that best fit them and gives them options that help them in what ever area they are struggling in.

When the term flipping the classroom was said I was unsure what it meant, being that I had never heard it before. In the video Flipping the Classroom by Hilburn Academy I thought that it would be very beneficial to use this in my classroom. It would help the students have more access to their lessons and it allows parents to get involved in what their children are learning. It helps the teach to have more time to teach more if the students come in with some sort of understanding of the information they will be given.