C4K #8, #9, and #10

Ethan’s blog post was a summary of the series “Series of Unfortunate Events”. In his summary, he points out and describes who the main characters are. Then explains how the parents die and how the children now live with the uncle who just wants their fortune.

I commented that when I was younger that series of unfortunate events was one of my favorite series to read. He did a good job describing the three children.

In Tyson’s blog post, he was explaining his school’s first ever drive in movie night. He explained how there was going to be a truck with a giant screen to watch a movie outdoors.

I commented that I love to go to a drive in movie. I remembered in 5^th grade when my class held a drive in movie on the football field.

In Ethan’s blog post, he explains his plans of making a video game company. He was going to create a game that has a great game-play and a story. He is not greedy and is going to sell his games for semi-cheap.

I commented that I love to play video games with a great game-play. He also had a pretty solid business plan laid out. Neat idea he had was to allow people to work at home as long as they put in the hours. 

Blog Post #5 Part 2

Personal learning networks are a great tool to have and are very resourceful. I have been using the program Symbaloo. It is a great site that helps you remain organized; on your homepage you can have links to many different websites. For me, it was pretty simple to get started; I just connected to my Facebook and I was good to go. On my homepage, I have different health websites and blogs to keep me updated, also have different fitness blogs connected to my homepage. With the personal learning networks, you can obtain endless amounts of resources that are beneficial.  

Blog Post #16 Final Reflection

Project 12 SmartBoard Project

Blog Post #13

How can we incorporate Project Based Learning into Physical Education Classes?

Grade Level: 9-12^th

Assignment: Have the students group up into teams of eight and establish a timeline of completion for one week. Once in teams, have them come up with engaging limited-contact to non-contact activities for other groups to participate in and that are appropriate for their age level. Each activity must contain an object, equipment, and rules. Once the teams are done developing their activities, they must present it to the class on either PowerPoint, video, and/or live demonstration.

Lesson Plans during Activities

-          Students must dress out in proper clothing for activities.

-          Start with a slow to moderate pace jog, two laps.

-          Proceed to full body stretching. “10-15 second per stretch”

-          Brief students of what is on the agenda.

-          Have constant supervision of the students during the activities.

-          Have a cool down period “Water and light Stretching”

-          Have the students change back into their school uniforms.

Rubrics

Blog Post #12

C4T #4

In Ms. Erin’s blog she talks about this tool she recently found called homework help desk. She explains the features it has, where you can type in a math problem and within seconds it answers the math problem. She also goes through the features it has where it explains basic principles of both math and language arts.

I commented that it is a very useful tool to have. It is great for someone looking for extra help outside of the classroom. As she stated in her blog, they were still building this website and hopefully it will expand to more subjects. 

Blog Post #11

In Mr. Crosby’s’ video, “Back To The Future”, he talks about strategies to help students who are at-risk learn effectively through Project Based Learning. He gets the students full participation by letting them crush cans and by sending balloons to the atmosphere. Effective learning can incorporate activities the students will enjoy and using more hands on time.  In Mr. Crosby’s classes, whenever students have an activity they embed their videos of their learning into their own blog.

In the Video “Blended Learning Cycle”, by Paul Anderson, he talks about this blended learning that is based on online experience, classroom experience, and mobile experience. Then he explains the learning cycle which incorporates the 5 E’s: engaging, exploring, explaining, expanding, and finally evaluating. With these concepts the Blended Learning Cycle is created. Anderson uses the acronym QUIVERS to explain his blended learning cycle.

Qu- Question

I- Investigation

V- Video

E- Elaboration

R- Review

S- Summary

For one to become a Super Digital Citizen, one must use the internet safety, respectfully, and responsibly. This teacher teaches his students on why it is important to be safe on the internet. He states that it is everyone’s responsibility to become a Super Digital Citizen. His students have to create their own superhero and create a comic book story line that helps them get out of unsafe situations on the internet.

In the video “Project Based Learning”, one Canadian School combined English, History, and computer class. It has allowed to students to go more in-depth with their material in project based learning. The three teachers explain how they were allowed to combine class a make project based learning happen.

In Roosevelt Elementary’s PBL program, it is explained how project based learning is encouraged. PBLs allow the students to go more in-depth with the topics. In the video the teacher gives her own definition of project based learning and incorporates thematic instructions into real-world problem solving skills into the classroom. The parents of the students really like the idea of project based learning because it allows the students to become more engaged and helps them with social skills. 

Blog Post #10

In “Little Kids…Big Potential”, Mrs. Cassidy made a video with her students using technology in the classroom setting. They are already using blogs in the elementary school class. They have their own class webpage that already has safe search, which allows the students to look up anything education wise. The can access their class webpage at school and at home. In the classroom they use blogger, wikis, skype, and their Nintendo DS. With all these tools that Mrs. Cassidy has provided her students, they now can collaborate, share, and learn inside and outside the classroom.

In Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1, she explains how she got her start using technology and ways to use it effectively. Her number one rule is to protect her student’s identity. When one of her student’s blog they only use their first name and with no picture connected with the name. Mrs. Cassidy likes when her students use blogs because it allows them to get an opinion of their writing that is not from the teacher.

In Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 2 along with Interviewwith Kathy Cassidy Part 3, she explains how far technology has come and where you should start using technology for yourself. One of the points she made was for students that want to become teachers should start using their own network like twitter. She gave wonderful tips for future educators coming into an education system that’s technological-advanced. Technology is going to get more advanced and we as teachers need to embrace it and teach our students how to use technology more effectively.   

C4T #3

In Ms. Klein post, she previewed the program Prodigy. It is a free program that allow students to practice their math skills both a home and at school and it is based for common core. It is an interactive program that allows students to become more engaged that will improve their math skills. The program is tailored to each student.

I commented that Prodigy seems to be a good tool to have. It is awesome that there is now an interactive program that allows students to practice their math skills both at home and at school. The best part about Prodigy is that is free.  

C4K #5, 6, and 7

La’Cora wrote a blog post about Kevin Durant and why it is his favorite basketball player. He goes on to explain why Kevin Durant is beloved both on and off the court. Also, he talks about how Durant is an entrepreneur. At the end he makes a statement saying Durant isn’t just a basketball player, he is a role model.

In my comment, I said that Durant is a great role model for children with at-risk behavior from low-income backgrounds; He has his own charity that is meant for that. I agreed with La’Cora and stating that one day Durant will be in the NBA hall of fame.

In Mario’s blog he posted about the book divergent. He stated that the book was boring and that he was not interested in it anymore. Also, the more he read into the book, the more he was not interested in it. He finished the book and realized that he actually enjoyed the book more than he thought.

I commented, when I first read divergent I was not really into it. Like him, when I got to the end of the book I realized it had a pretty good story line to it. Some books just have to grow on you, the more you read the more engaged and interesting it becomes.

Katy K’s blog post was about tennis. I can tell that she enjoys playing tennis. She mentioned that sometimes you get to miss school because of matches. The best part about tennis is that you can play indoors or outdoors.

I commented that tennis was the first sport I picked up when I was in middle school. I used to love going to practice and talking to my teammates. I never really enjoyed playing on dirt I’d rather play on hard surfaces. I wished her luck on her upcoming tournament.  

Project #9

Blog Post #9

In the John Larmer and John Mergendoller article, Project-Based learning was broken down into seven essential sections. In Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning, they go in-depth about how to make a group project more effective.

1. A Need to Know

2. A Driving Question

3. Students Voice & Choice

4. 21^st Century Skills

5. Inquiry and Innovation

6. Feedback and Division

7. A Publicly Presented Project

In each section, the teacher picks out a topic that the student will be engaged with; if the student is not engaged in the topic then they will most likely not want to learn about it. Each of the seven sections is designed to get the best performance out of the students. It allows them to use their own creativity to finish their project while interacting with other groups. As they go further into the project they should come up with more questions, which makes them want to learn more about the topic and allows them to take charge of their learning. At the end, they give feedback amongst their classmates and peer edit ones’ work and present their finished project to the class.

In Tony Vincent’s video “Project-Based Learning for Teachers”, during the Project Based Learning the students should be trying to answer the driving question. The driving question should be deep and should take the students an extended time to answer; it gets them to think about the topic. It allows the students to take charge of their own learning. At the end of the project, the students should present their end product to the class. In the video, it has valuable lifelong skills for the students,

-          - Communication Skills

-          - Career and Life Skills

-          - Critical Thinking Skills

-          - Collaboration Skills

In the Video he quoted Einstein, “I never teach my Pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” It means that the student should take charge of their own learning and as teachers we should lay down helpful guidelines.

In Andrew Miller blog post,”Project-Based Learning and Physical Education”, it basically states how PBL and PE correlate together. In his article, he references Larmer and Mergendoller’s “Seven Essential of Project-Based Learning”.  He uses the example of high school students who are presented with a letter from the middle school principal to create the best workout for the middle school students. This is a great example of how PBL and PE work effectively together using the seven sections.

In the Blog Post, “Project Based Learning in PE”, the author used the same criteria that Miller’s post used, but gave ways the student could benefit from creating an exercise program for middle school children. It allows the students to collaborate with the middle school students and apply their teamwork skills. Along with teamwork skills, it helps the high school students to practice role modeling and physical fitness.

In the video, “PBL: What motivates students today”, students were asked what motivates you to do good in school?

-          POSITIVE feedback from the teacher.

-          To be successful later in life.

-          To get good grades to get into college and get a degree

-          To have more freedom if doing well in school

I remember in elementary school, my biggest motivator was to get good grades in school so I did not miss my soccer games on the weekends. Also, my sister and I used to have a competition to see who had the better grades; even though we are both in college we still have the same competition. Positive rewards are a great way to encourage the students to keep up their work. 

Teacher Summary #2

For the past couple of weeks I have been looking at Kleinspiration. In this blog, Ms. Klein gives creative ideas from project-based applications. She gives tips on how to create a 21^st century learning environment.

In the first blog I read, it was talking about the Intel 2 in 1 computer /tablet. She gave six reasons why it was a perfect fit for a classroom setting.  I had commented saying that I think that it should be a tool for the students to use in a classroom. It is both a computer and a tablet. It is very mobile and also has a 7.8 hour battery life. The 2 in 1 can have all the teachers’ lesson plans, lesson ideas, and many more.

In the second blog, she was talking about the Lexia Core 5. It is an online literacy program. It helps the students with the six areas of reading instruction. I commented that I thought Lexia Core 5 is a helpful tool for students to learn how to read effectively. It automatically places the student in a category based on how they performed on the base test. It saves the teacher a lot of time and it is a very useful tool to have.  

Blog Post #8

Dr. Randy Pausch was one of the most significant and motivational people in the education field. He “Last Lecture” was very wonderful lecture to observe. The way he composed himself during the video, you could tell how much compassion he had for the education field. He taught computer science and focused on project based learning. One of the classes he created was “Building Virtual Worlds”’. This project based learning course that helped designers and scientist, focused on getting the most out of his students. During his Last Lecture, he made a great point, follow your dreams and never give up on them.

What I learned from Dr. Pausch,

-          When teaching, give your best and make it fun.

-          Never give up on your dreams.

-          Talk to your students when they mess up, it show that you care about their future.

-          Work hard.

-          Find the best in everybody.

-          Tell the truth

Project 7 Part B

Introduction to Parent Video

Introduction to Student Video

Blog Post #7

In “Using iMovie and the Alabama Virtual library in Kindergarten,” Ms. Davis, Ms. Bennett, and Dr. Strange; the students in kindergarten were already using iMovie and wanted to use it more often. I think it ensures that the teacher is using their tools effectively i.e.; when they first start reading a new book they would have to make a book trailer. I remember when I was younger we would have to use the AVL for books and looking up things in the dictionaries. It’s a great tool and it is free to everybody.  

In “We All Become Learners,” Ms. Bennett stated that one of her students taught her a feature on the iPad and she used that information to teach her class that week. With technology in the classroom only being around for a couple of years, everyone is sort of a learner when it comes to new technology. Students become more involved in activities when technology is being used. Students usually learn from one another when learning about technology, so you would only have to teach it once. When I become an educator, I will listen to the students and get their input on ways to use technology.

In the Video “iPads in the Classroom,” the iPads are such a great tool to have when being a teacher. It has so many functions and apps, which allows the student to become more engaged in their own learning process. When the students use their iPads they tend to pay more attention to the lesson in the classroom.

From part of the opening quote from “Top 10 Reasons to UseTechnology in Education,” teachers who don’t use technology will be replaced with teachers, who do use technology. I could not agree more with that those 10 reasons the video stated; from number 10 - remove obstacles to number 1 - the students love it. Today’s technology is changing the future of education. As teachers we need to adapt to use technology is our lesson. 

C4K February

My first C4K, Jordan S previewed “The Girl That Was Supposed to Die” a story she was previewing. The story is about girl who does not know who or where she is and the first thing she hears is “take her out back and finish her off”. Jordan did a great job previewing the book. In my comment on her blog, I commended her on the outstanding job she did. Secondly, her opening sentence was great and it really grabbed the audience. With just a few grammatical errors, I thought she did a great job previewing the book.   

My Second C4K, Makayla talked about horseback riding with her friend and her sister over the weekend. She has two horses, Cherokee and Dusty. I commented that I had never been horseback riding but I have heard from some of my friends that it is very fun.

In my Third C4K, Owen overviewed the first couple of scenes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. One of the scenes he went over was when Dobby appeared in Harry’s room and told Harry not to return to Hogwarts for his second year. Dobby says bad things are going to happen to Harry. I commented that it was my favorite book in the series and how he did a great job reviewing the first couple of scene in the book.

In my Fourth C4K, Diangelo overviewed the new movie Selma. Selma is a movie about Civil Rights in the State of Alabama, led by Dr. Martin L. King Jr. I commented he did a great job on his post. I also told him the movie Selma has a powerful message and if he ever gets a chance to visit the Selma/Montgomery area, he should go to the Edmund Pettus Bridge where Bloody Sunday occurred.

Blog Post #6

After watching the seven videos assigned for this week, I can say that I learned a lot about project based learning and the value it has. In “Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade teacher.” Anthony and Dr. Strange helped me learn what the true meaning of project based learning was. It is to know that every student understands the concept of each lesson. The concept of project based learning is always evolving. And as he mentioned in Part 2, is that to never limit your students because you are always going to get more than what you expect.

ICurio, Is an online tool that allows the students to search the internet safely. It allows students to search the internet that is restricted to safe websites related to educational purposes only. It is a great tool for both the student as well as the teacher. When the student uses ICurio, they do not have to worry about their student logging onto inappropriate websites.

Discovery Ed, is a wonderful website that allows students to go more in-depth about what they are learning. Like Anthony stated in the video, about the flowers, it allows the students to learn more about the flower by an expert via video. It also allows the students to learn more information because they are connected to experts from around the world that can explain it a little bit more in-depth than the teacher could. When the students see pictures and watch videos, the information may retain a little better than them glancing through a textbook.

Use tech Don’t Teach It, We are immersed in technology. We as a society “in some parts of the world” rely on technology just to do simple tasks. I would agree that technology comes naturally to kids.  When it comes to teaching technology in a classroom setting, it should not be on the list of things that the teacher has to do. 

Project #7a

My Sentence Is.

My Passion Is.

Blog Post #5

A PLN or Personal Learning Networking is anything that aids, helps, advises professionally, or offers ideas via tools and people. When used right, they can be useful and effective.

In education, methods of teaching are forever changing. With a personal learning network, it is an easy way to stay connected and updated on what is trending.

Symbaloo.com is a great way to start your own personal learning network. It is incredibly easy to use and a very useful tool. After a short tutorial, you can start using your personal learning network. It has icon “websites” that you can easily access and you can add or delete to your liking. Stated by, Welcome to My PLE, personal learning networks are a great way to stay organized and are very useful. The students are allowed now to adventure out on their own with the guidance of the instructor.

I just simply connected my facebook to my symbaloo.com account and now I am already using it. I have personalized it to keep me updated on what is new.   

Project #15 Search Engines

1) Wolframalpha- is a great website. I used to use this when I had trouble with my math homework. It is a great website that allows you to ask a question and it will give you an answer, and also calculates math problems.

2) DuckDuckGo- is a wonderful search engine. It is very simple to use. It promotes itself as a search engine with less spam.

3) Answers.com- Their motto, is the most trusted place for answer life’s questions. It is a great search engine that gives advice for any type of situation.

4) Yummly- is a search engine that allows you to look up any recipe.

5) Dogpile- produced cross link results with what’s being looked up now. It is a great website to use for up to date information.

6) Bing- is a Microsoft company that competes with google. On it homepage, it has what people have asked recently. It uses your search history to give you related information.

7) Aol- was the internet I started on when I was younger. It is easy to navigate around on.

8) Ixquick- is the world’s most private search engine. They do not record any of your search history, they were the first to do so.

Project #2. (Team Rec)

Student Name:

Group:

Document:

Individual Performance In a Group Activity

Component	0 Unacceptable	1 Acceptable	2 Good	3 Excellent
Good cooperation with group members/ Good attitude	Failure to communicate.	Very little communication.	Decent communication.	Great communication. Good attitude.
Skill; Brought their own strengths to the project/assignment.	Brought nothing constructive to the project.	Brought little contribution to the assignment.	Brought good information/ contributed well to the assignment.	Brought an abundance of information and skills for the assignment.
Participation	Did not participate.	Little participation. Attended one session or less.	Decent participation. Attended a few sessions, but not all sessions.	Excellent participation. Attended every session.
Resourcefulness	Did not use time effectively. No commitment.	Little time was spent on project. Lack of effort.	Effort was applied, but did not excel in material.	Awesomeness. (Overall exceeded).

Comments:

Student Name:

Group:

Document:

Evaluation of a Project

Component	0 Unacceptable	1 Acceptable	2 Good	3 Excellent
Creativity/Effort	Showed no creativity or effort.	Displayed little creativity.	Showed sufficient effort.	Excelled in effort.
Attention to Details/Organization	Very scattered. No complete thought.	Provided little detail, slightly organized.	Some organization, good detail.	Expertly organized, showed great attention to detail.
Accuracy/Knowledgeable	No knowledge applied to project.	Little knowledge, many errors.	Few errors. Showed applicable amount of knowledge.	No errors. Showed a plethora of knowledge.
Resourcefulness	Did not use time effectively. No commitment.	Little time was spent on project. Lack of effort.	Effort was applied, but did not excel in material.	Awesomeness. (Overall exceeded).

Comments:

Student Name:

Group:

Document:

Evaluation of a Blog Post

Component	0 Unacceptable	1 Acceptable	2 Good	3 Excellent
Creativity	Showed no creativity or effort.	Displayed little creativity.	Showed sufficient effort.	Excelled in effort.
Attention to Details/Organization	Very scattered. No complete thought.	Provided little detail, slightly organized.	Some organization, good detail.	Expertly organized, showed great attention to detail.
Grammar/Mechanics	10 or more errors. Used no mechanics.	6-9 errors. Used minimal mechanics.	2-5 errors. Used average mechanics.	1 or less grammatical errors. Used proper mechanics.
Multimedia/Cites Sources	Did not use multimedia.	Used multimedia, improper use of citations.	Used some multimedia and properly cited sources.	Used an abundance of multimedia and perfectly cited sources.

Comments: