C4K Summary for February

Ellie
Ellie's story was about a shark at Shark Beach. She said it looked like a torpedo and then the teacher made everyone evacuate the water. I commented on it and told her that I enjoyed her story and was glad that the shark didn't attack. I told her I look forward to reading more of her stories.

Ja'Corian
Ja'Corian wrote about his life. He said he was 8 years old and in the 3rd grade. He told all of his favorite things and when his birthday was. He told who his family was and that his life was good. I commented on it and said a few of my favorite things. I asked what his favorite thing to learn about in science was because he said that was his favorite subject. I also asked if he played any sports. He said he liked basketball so maybe he plays basketball, too. I said I was glad his was good. Every kid's life should be good.

Taunese
Taunese told a story about a girl chewing gum so much that she looked like a cow. Taunese is from New Zealand!! Too cool. I replied and told her I loved her story and the fact that the girl would stick her gum on the elevator buttons and people would touch it. Why haven't I thought of doing that before? I told her to make sure she uses the correct for of the word, "there." Other than that, it was a cute story.

Ellie F
She wrote a story about a dog chasing a squirrel. The dog's name was Meatloaf. I laughed at that. She noticed the leaves had changed colors, and that they were "yellow, reddish-pink." I think that's cool that a little kid notices things like that. I commented and told her the story was really cute and that the leaves changing colors reminded me of where I'm from. I told her the dog in the story reminded me of my dog and I asked if she had a dog.

Blog Post #6

The Networked Student

I learned that we are not the only class that is sort of doing this whole network teaching thing. I learned that we are not the only students being challenged to learn and teach ourselves. Students have to use different conections to teach themselves. It's a great way to meet new people and get different opinions on everything. They can offer their own opinions to other blogs and know when they update it.

The students can listen to podcasts and support his learning. Itunes has podacasts from some top universities and anyone can listen to them. They can use skype and other social bookmarking tools. Students can share what they have learned with the world as well.

It's still good to have a teacher. They offer guidance when a student is confused or gets stuck. The teacher shows them how to communicate properly with the world. The teacher hopes that when the student leaves the classroom, they will maintain their network and use it in their future. She wants the students to "use it to solve the world's problems." I believe Dr. Strange has the same beliefs.

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment

I liked the girl's PLE. It was actually really cool. I liked the way the computer screen looked and how organized she was. I wish I could be that organized for this class. It would be a life saver! I think our PLN is a bit more advanced than theirs is obviously. But it's still advanced and makes the students have to be responsible. I'm glad that's what our educational system is doing these days. It's finally holding students responsible for their actions. It's also keeping student's from being able to get by with doing nothing in the classroom. I like how both of our classes keeps us involved and the teacher is just a supplement. We teach ourselves and if we have questions, the teacher is right there for us. I'm not sure how doing a report on an animal qualifies you enough to hold it, but I suppose it's a little different where she's from. I like the use of technology but then again, I don't. I wish things were more hands-on and interactive in the classroom. For instance, with our class I wish we could all be in class and do our podcasts together as well as our blogs and other videos. As much as I hate group work, I love the idea of us all being together and looking stupid together. I watched other My Sentence Videos and I would like to make a group one some day. I think that would be really fun and not lame at all.

Point of Interest :)


Kelly Hines, my C4T, put this on her blog. I love this. You'll love it, too if you love "Big Bang Theory" or "Blossom". I didn't know how to just make it a link. It's easier to watch this way anyways. ENJOY!

My Sentence Video

Blog Post #5

Who is Krissy Venosdale?

Krissy Venosdale has been teaching for 10 years and is currently teaching gifted children. She has been to Space Camp and has loved it every time. She decorates her classroom with a different theme each year. You can even take a tour there. (Who knew?)

She is a teacher that wants to have the coolest and most exciting classroom of all the teachers out there. She wants to be remembered by her students. She wants them to take something away from their time together, too. She wants her classroom to be busy like the world and for her students to be creative. She wants it to be a habit. She wants learning to come from experiences, not just pages in books. She wants a child's gifts and struggles to be recognized and addressed. Krissy Venosdale is exactly the kind of teacher I want to be.

If I Built a School

Like she said, I have no idea how a school would even be started. Maybe one day I'll get the sticky note and can build my own school. Honestly, I think my school would be a lot like hers. It would be so colorful and exciting. It would have a cute WELCOME sign for the students. The principal, secretary, and all the teachers would be friendly. There would still be rules the students would have to follow, but kids wouldn't break them. The library, of course, would have the huge tree house. That is a wonderful idea. I want my school to be a lot like the Children's Hands on Museum in Tuscaloosa and like the McWayne Center in Birmingham. How cool would that be? I don't think the students would ever want to leave. Movie time in an Imax theater? YES PLEASE! I know I would be in Heaven. There would still be homework and tests to make sure the kids were still learning. Technology would be integrated into the curriculum. The lunches would be healthy and yummy at the same time. All students would be included in everything. No one would be left out. There would be classes on learning to tell the truth and trusting people. There would be field trips to all the cool places in the state, maybe some even out of state. I want the students to enjoy learning and being there. There would be NO SAT's or OLSAT's or any of that. No way. I liked her idea of the parking spot and having a student write what the teacher meant to them on it. That's definitely going to happen at my school. I guess I'm going to start buying lottery tickets so I'll have a chance at winning and actually building this school now.

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir

If that's not amazing, I don't know what is. That blew my mind. I think that is a great use of the internet. I wish more people would do incredible things like that instead of putting garbage on there. Stuff like this could change everything if more people would be open to the ideas. I love this and I think he should do more of these!

Teaching in the 21st Century

I feel like Kevin Roberts is on the right track. I believe he is correct. I think all teachers should think and teach the way he does. He made some good points about entertaining and engaging. School should be engaging and students should have to put some effort into it. They should constantly be learning. This is going to affect me in the future by making me want to be a better teacher. He has already given me the motivation to be a better teacher than the ones I had growing up. I want students to enjoy my class and take something away from it when they leave. I know technology is going to be a big deal as the years go on. Now I am looking forward to being able to use it in my classroom. It will make for some interesting discussions and some pretty awesome projects made by students.

Flipped Classroom

I like the idea of flipping the classroom. It's a good way to get student's to engage in the material and in learning. I think it was really cool that Katie Gimbar actually Frequently Asked Questions videos for the parents, students, and whoever else had questions. I don't know how well some students would benefit from this if they are the type of learner that is a visual and hands on learner. I understand that they can watch the video and do the problems at home, but personally, I would have a hard time learning like that. I like being in the classroom and having the teacher physically there to teach and help me throughout the class time. I might use it in my classroom. I might not use it 100% and have all the learning material on videos. I will probably use the videos to maybe add some bonus questions on tests or for other things. I like the idea, but I wouldn't want someone to not learn because that's all the teacher does. It does save time, but I'm still old fashioned about teaching in the classroom.

Project #5 Presentation

Blog Post #4

Podcasting with First Grade

This blog talked about how the teacher went about creating a podcast. It was really cool. I lliked how she took a few students out at a time to record them talking. I also liked how it helped the students follow along if they got lost. It's a much easier way for students to learn how to read and it keeps them interested in the story when they are the ones reading out loud. I will definitely be using this type of style in my classroom. The more I can get my students to interact with me, the better the school year will be for me and them. Learning about all this new technology makes me excited to become a teacher even more than before!

Langwitches Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting

After reading this blog I realized that teaching styles have changed dramatically since I was in elementary school. I absolutely LOVE the way this teacher taught these students. I would have loved to learn Hebrew when I was young. Having them read a story and then having to put it back together in the correct order is just one of the many ways they are having to use their brains to get things finished. They are even learning a new language and learning how to use context clues. It's easy to read a story to children and then have them tell you what it's about. They might remember for a few hours but when it comes test time, they might forget. I just really like this idea and hopefully I'll be able to use this one day. It's one of my favorite things I have learned about so far.

Flat Stanley Podcast

I am a huge fan of Flat Stanley. I had one when I was younger that was taller than I was. My friends mailed it to me after I moved so they could see all of the places and things I was seeing. Like the children in this podcast, I wanted to be turned into a Flat Stanley and I really didn't see why I couldn't be. I think this is another great idea to get the kids interacting in learning. They are having fun and don't realize that this is school and that they are being taught something. I'm sure they will talk about this when they are seniors in high school. Listening to them tell the story made me smile. I love their creativity and them using different tones of voices to tell the story. It's like I was actually there. This was great. They each have such cute voices and accents. Jasmine has got the cutest little voice I have ever heard. I loved her story, too. My favorite was Emily who went to Alabama. She said "Roll Tide." I definitely like this teacher!

My Podcast

I learned to put emphasis on some words as I'm telling the story. It has to be like the person listening is really there. You don't want to be monotoned. I know I can be creative and be myself in my own podcast. I can't wait to do one!

C4T Blog Post #1

Steven Anderson wrote about Formative Assessment in his Web 2.0 Blog. He talked about different kinds of ways to get students to tell the teacher when they didn't understand something. They could use Post It notes on a wall or several different kinds of web-based formative assessements. He explained the assessments. There is Wallwisher, Lino, TodaysMeet, UnderstoodIt, and many more.

The Wallwisher and Lino provide an online corkboard for students to put virtual sticky notes on it. UnderstoodIt is a free website the teacher can set up. The students can go to the specific website and check if they understand a topic or not. If they don't, they click the button that says they don't understand and the teacher can see it in real time. TodaysMeet is interactive as well. The teacher put certain questions about the subjects they covered in class that day and the student goes to the website and answers the questions.

I responded with a comment about how it would have been very nice if I had had those types of assessments for students. It would have kept the amount of kids from failing and dropping out from being so high. The Post It notes is a great idea because it is annonymous and keeps the students from being made fun of by other students. I said it would be difficult for students without internet at home to participate in the interactive assignments on the internet, but that it couldn't be an excuse because the schools all have computer labs now.

2nd Post

In Steven Anderson's January 30, 2013 blog, he talked about spending time at the Florida Educational Technology Conference. He was a speaker. He left links on the post so we could see what he talked about and what his presentation looked like. He also left us a few links to other presenters' websites and presentations. I looked at a few and it was a bunch of links to web tools.

I responded with a comment telling him thank you for posting all of the links for us to use and view. I also said they would come in handy when I become a teacher someday. There wasn't much I could comment on.

Special Blog Post #1

WolframAlpha

When I did the search, I found that India is bigger than both China and the United States. I must have missed school the day we went over that because I sure thought India didn't have that many people. They have 1.21 BILLION people and China has 1.35 BILLION people. The United States only has 301 million. I thought that was a lot. I can't imagine what their shopping centers are like. I also found that the US's population has stayed about the same throughout the years while the other two countries' populations have increased dramatically.

I compared Mississippi and Alabama. It told me the states' full names and when they joined the Union. It told me the capital of each state, too. Alabama had 4.803 million people and Mississippi had 2.979 million people. That's quite a bit of a difference. Alabama has 69.9% White people and 26.1% Black people. Mississippi has 59.9% White people and 37% Black people. It told a bunch of other stuff about the states like how many businesses they had and how many voters. It told about the schools and the state symbols, too.

I compared apples to oranges. Apples have 91 calories and 482mg of protein. Apples have 45mg of saturated fat. An Orange has 71 calories and 1.4g of protein. They have 36mg of saturated fat. Oranges have way more vitamin c, iron, and calcium than apples. I learned that oranges are just so much better for you than apples. However, apples are easier to eat.

I think this tool would be helpful in a classroom. If students had to do a research project, they could go to this site to answer some questions they had about a certain topic. Or even if they are curious about something, they could find the answer. It could be useful, too, in helping them study for a test. Some information might not be covered in a textbook. They could go to that website and look it up. It could be useful on a test.

I could make up quizzes from certain searches on that website. I could make up homework assignments that aren't so boring. I could make it interesting. I might have a question about something and need to look it up. It's just simple and fast. It's not difficult like having to go to the library and get an encyclopedia. However, I will probably ask my students to use one at some point in the year. I think every student needs to know what they are and how to use them. I say my students my get curious about certain things, but I'm the same way. As I was doing my comparative searches, a little box popped up on the side of the screen and it asked me what was on the other side of the world from my city. Of course I had to know. Unfortunately on the other side of the world from where I'm from is nothing but an ocean.

Social Media

The numbers just kept going and going. I actually sat and watched them change for a few minutes. It's unbelievable how much technology has influenced our lives. It's only going to be even more important to us as time goes on. As for me, I think I'll be able to stay with the constant changing in technology. I think I was introduced to it at the right time. As young adults, we have had to familiarize ourselves with everything and that has only helped us in the education field. Teachers are having to switch over to smart boards and those overhead projector things and honestly, some of my teachers in high school had no idea what they were doing.

I'll be able to use the technology in the classroom as well as explain it to students. I can incorporate Facebook and Twitter into my classroom if I chose to. I am excited and nervous about the technology and how it will effect the students. I know there will be negatives but hopefully the positives will outweight the negatives.

Blog Post #3

Peer Editing

I offered a a few suggestions on my C4C's blog post. I was just really confused by some of the things she was talking about. If there were any embarrassing mistakes I would have emailed her and told her about them. I don't like to point out things like that in public. There were a few positives. I liked how she told the story of her being in school and the teacher trying to get her on ADHD medicine. I know that's terrible, but it kept her post interesting. Otherwise, it would have put me to sleep.

I learned that there is a good way to critic someone's writing and a bad way. It's always good to stay positive and not negative. I am an optimistic person so staying positive is easy for me. I hate it when someone is very vague with me so I try to stay specific. I learned that is a good way to be.

The top 10 mistakes video was too cute! It's good to have some of the qualities each of those students had. I'm not picky but I am social. I've been in those situations before where I didn't really care what my friend was telling me. I learned the hard way to pay attention to what my peers tell me.

The Mountbatten

I learned that this resource would be very useful in a classroom for the blind and deaf students. It's a great tool to keep the students included on a daily basis. I didn't realize teachers were using this sort of technology already. When I was in school, the special children had their own classroom and we never saw them except during lunch. They didn't have any classes with us and they didn't each lunch with us either. I'm glad to see that this technology is helping them be part of a normal classroom because that's all children want to do these days. They just want to fit in. I also learned that it can transfer and save files. I am just amazed at how a simple machine can do so many things. If I had a student with a disability such as being blind or being deaf, I would use this resource everyday. I would make sure they knew how to use it and were comfortable with it. If it's possible then they would do their schoolwork on it. I might even suggest other students use it as a way to learn braille. It would benefit them in the long run.

Assistive Technologies

After watching these videos, I've come to realize that the school systems are actually improving. People really do want to help children feel more included and normal. I don't think the problem is solved 100% yet, but it's getting there. There will always be children with disabilities. We'll always need some way to teach them the things we teach the children without disabilities. Professor Art Karshmer said teaching math was one of the hardest things to do. It certainly looks like it to me. His way of teaching easy to complex math is just the start of other ways to teach students. It's going to take a lot of experiments and trials to figure out the best way to teach them.

If a student has a learning disability in my classroom, I will make sure he or she is learning at their level. I won't take away from the students without a disability, but I will make sure I'm doing all I can to help that student. I don't want the students without a disability to feel like they are dumb and I'm trying to teach down to them. It will be a learning process for me as well as for the students. I'll definitely have to learn as I go and maybe watch other teachers do it, as well. I am open to any ideas for how to teach students with a disability in the same classroom as students that don't have one.

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smart

This video completely opened my eyes to a whole new way of teaching. I realize now that I don't really have a choice about whether or not I want to incorporate technology into my classroom. The decision has already been made. Ms. Davis has probably changed many students' lives just by being the kind of teacher she is. She's helping them teach themselves and learn from themselves. By asking the students to teach the class something, it's helping the students be more confidents with public speaking. I wish more teachers were like her. It's also keeping students from being lazy and not paying attention in class. It's keeping learning interesting.

I like the idea of the flat classroom and the other teaching tools she uses. I like how she makes almost everything interactive. I think the Flat Classroom Conference that the students attended helped open the students' to so much more. Things like that will make students more well-rounded and open to new things in the future. Ms. Davis is ultimately preparing these students for the future and they will be better prepared for the technological advances.