Blog Post # 9

Mr. McClung's what I've learned This Year 2008-2009


During Mr. McClung's first year of teaching he basically learned the majority of the Do's and Don'ts as a beginner teacher. Mr. McClung explains how one should be able to read his or her crowd. He talked about how he was so worried about being   assessed by his superiors, that he lost touch with his audience and the delivery of his lessons. I often worry that when I become a teacher, I will worry so much about getting my lessons done on time and meeting all of the required standards, that I may lose the attention of my students. Mr. McClung believes that in order for one to be effective, he or she must be able to let their audience drive their instructions. With this being done, the students will feel involved and more interested in learning. Mr. McClung also mentions the importance of being flexible, reasonable and communicating; they will play a great role in teaching experience.


Mr. McClug also talks about the things a teacher should not do.  He feels that a teacher should "Not be afraid of technology" and "Never Stop Learning." I agree. Society is constantly changing and as a teacher we should stay caught up with it. In my opinion the world will be technology based one day and students should be taught the basics now. The use of technology will also give teachers more resources to explore so they will be more effective with their teaching methods and materials. Also, a teacher should always be willing to learn. As I stated before, society is constantly changing; therefore, there is much more to learn, constantly. There is always room to learn more.

Mr. McClung's what I've learned This Year 2010-2011
Mr. McClung has learned new things as a third year teacher. He is now a cross country coach and a computer applications teacher. One of the things he mentions as a teacher is to know who your boss is. He talks about how it is important not to lose sight of the students and not or get that they are the reason for teaching. We can not become so entertained in trying to please every individual. My favorite thing Mr. McClung talks about is "Don't touch the keyboard". The importance of this is to not be that person who does the work for students instead of helping them. Be the person who does more explaining and less taking over. Mr. McClung states it like this: "The idea is that if you touch the keyboard and take over the task that they are not trying to learn than they will never learn how to do it on their own and you end up doing all the work." This is a great concept. I have found myself doing assignments for students while trying to explain to them the steps and process of their assignment. So I think we all can learn from this.

SmartBoard Project #13 Part 1

Blog Post # 8

This is How We Dream Part 1 and 2


 In the videos This is How We Dream Part 1 and Part 2, Richard E. Miller talks about the way writing has changed in academy and in the culture.Mr. Miller talks about how he was a person who basically lived by books. Mr. Miller grew up in a house filled with book, and he dreamed of a career that involved working with books. He states how the end results are still books and the only difference now is, many of the books are virtual. He makes it clear that the way we work now is through our computers and not much with pencil and papers. This can be a good thing now because, back with only pencil and paper we were limited to creativity. One could write words, draw a few pictures, color them and basically be done. Now with the use of technology, we can use the creativity God instilled in us. With technology, we can teach better, use more animation, gather more information and  get instant feedback from others with in a few minutes. In these video, Mr. Miller constantly compare the use of technology(computer) to the use of the library. With some similarities, there are many more beneficial differences. In my opinion, the library's only  use  now days is to get access to a computer, realistically. Not many people use libraries for informational use through books.


Blog Post # 12

Carly Pugh's blog post # 12, her play list, and many of the related links were very creative and amazing to explore. The links I followed on her page had some really great videos that I think will be something I use in my  future classroom. This will give the students time to work with technology and learn something new while using their own imagination. The video that stood out the most to me was Think Different. Think different was about some familiar people who have had a great impact on the world today. Some of these people were, Martin Luther King Jr. Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, and others that I could not think of their names. Many of these people stepped outside of the box, payed no attention to the rules, were trouble makers and did what they thought or knew was right.(Think Different) They did not care about criticism and what people thought of them, they wanted to make a difference. The video describe these people as having no respect for the status quot, and the round pegs in the square holds. They thought differently from the average person. Look where they are now!!!  Famous,well known, and MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN SOCIETY.


The Clipper Series/EDM 310 for Dummies


 The Clipper Series, was a very funny, yet very eye opening video. There are many students in school like Chipper, and I can honestly say I have found myself to be a "Chipper" on some occasions. "Procrastination"!!  Waiting to the last minute to do assignments is not a good idea. When we procrastinate, there are always issues to face such as: technological issues, emergencies and forgetting to do parts of the assignments. I pray to God, I never end up totally like Chipper. She really missed the entire point of being in school, which is to learn and abide by certain rules. As a future teacher, I do not wish to have any students such as Chipper, but I Know I will. So because of this, I hope to be able to create a great teaching pattern and give the students an environment they will be willing to learn in. 
Now lets discuss EDM 310 for Dummies. This video was amazing!!! I think I can put myself in the shoes of the actors in this video. I have realized, that with discipline, determination, and a little guidance anyone can make it in EDM 310, and any other class. The first step to surviving is disciplining yourself, and MANAGING YOUR TIME wisely. If I had to come up with ideas for my own video, I would find a homeless person on the streets, who desire education but lacks resources. I would pay their tuition for a semester in EDM310 and give them a copy of EDM310 for dummies for an entire semester. At the end of the semester, I would write a summary on how well the homeless person did in EDM 310, using the book and its resources for help. This idea will compare an average student with an homeless person, and determine how well anyone can actually learn.
JUST AN IDEA!!!!


Learn to Change, Change to Learn

Learn to Change, Change to Learn  was a very interesting video. One of the first statements that was made in the video was, "Education is ranked # 55, and that's below coal mining."  My first thought was "REALLY???" This is horrible. The group of teachers who made their statements and short speeches, all had interesting views. I personally find it true when realizing that kids do have a richer environment outside of school. The things they are familiar with such as texting and social networking are prohibited in many schools. To me this is not allowing their creative minds to exploring their own way of learning, nor giving them a more realistic learning environment. Technology and Children are like peanut butter and jelly, these days. So why not incorporate more technology into schools and give the kids a more modern learning environment?

Project #12

Project #10

I created my PLN using symbaloo. I enjoyed creating it and fund this to be a great organizer to help with my time management problems. My PLN consist of websites, from C4T, and other great sources such as ALEX and many social networks. I have them all arranged according to their importance by color. I have all of my Social networks in Blue. My class websites are in Red, and sites I shop on are in Green. I also have other random websites in White. This is a great tool that anyone can use!!!! I plan to continue expanding my PLN.

C4C Summary

Stephanie
I was assigned to a student by the name of Stephanie from Pt. England school. In her blog she talked about Silly Sports day at school. On this day the students age 7 and  had the opportunity to play silly games. They played a game where they had to carry a tennis ball on a spoon, sling shot, and they had to carry a bucket with water and a sponge and try to keep as much water as possible in the bucket until they reach the finish line. Stephanie was excited her team won the game.

Desirae
In this post, I was assigned to Mr. Anthony Capp's P.A.C.E. student, Desirae. The class wrote letters to Ms. Lucy who gave their class an iPad and granted the students an opportunity to visit the Exploreum . Desirae mentioned the class enjoyed using the iPads and Mr. Capps uploaded apps for them to use. The class can now learn Spanish with the app.

Shweta
I was assigned to a student by the name of Shweta. Her post was written on  the topic of, "Where I Would Like to Visit". In here blog post she talked about how she would like to visit Paris one day. She want to visit the Eiffel Tower, visit Disney Land and eat authentic French food. I commented and told her to dream big and never give up on her dreams.

Podcast Project

Blog Post # 6

 The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler was an interesting video. The video started with a definition of connectivism. Connectivism was described as a theory that presume that learning occurs as part of a social network of many diverse connections and ties. This network is made possible through many tools of technology.  I myself am in a learning stage when it comes to using different sources of technology and networking. Networking allows an individual to communicate with different people of similar interest and ideas.  Networking also allows people to work together to come up with new ways of learning and teaching. 


In the video, this question was asked, "Why does the network student need a teacher?”
I believe a teacher is needed, in the classroom, to show students the proper and most effective way to use and understand networks. Teachers should be aware of better ways to find certain resources and excellent ways of organizing data, for the students. The use of technology is a great source, but I do not think the teacher should ever be excluded completely. Everyone needs guidance. Networks can be very beneficial and I want to learn more about them. This way, I will be able to teach my students the benefits of networking.


 A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment 


A PLN (Personal Learning Environment) is a great organizer to arrange all of your different networks and links to great sources.  The student  in this video has a very organized PLN with everything she needs in color codes.  She is able to pull up links that associate with her classwork, and links of social interest. In the video she showed us, step by step, how to get to certain cites through her plan. Just as our EDM 310 class, her class is also paperless. I find that going green is better than keeping up with a stack of papers and finding places to store them all. This is why a PLN is a great tool to use for organization. My PLN is similar to the PLN of the student in the video. I have all of my links color coded and sectioned off according to their importance. I use my PLN for almost every website I visit.