C4K Summary for February

For the month of February I was assigned four students for our C4K (Comments for Kids)project in EDM 310. I had the opportunity to read and comment on student blogs from different places around the world. I was assigned students from Alabama, Nebraska, Missouri, and even Canada. These student blog posts were very entertaining and eye opening. The posts ranged from current events to words of inspiration. It was nice to read what kids at various ages were thinking about. For my first C4K assignment I read and commented on Alex's blog. Alex is in the fourth grade and his teacher is Mrs. Geldes. Alex's blog post was titled "Sochi Olympics 2014". He explained that the sport he found to be interesting was snowboarding. Alex acknowledged that because the Olympics were in Sochi, Russia there was a time difference and that because of the difference he got to watch some of the games. He then went on to talk about a particular snowboarder by the name of Jamie Anderson. He listed some statistics about her snowboarding career and some personal facts. Alex ended his blog by asking his readers who they would want to win the Olympics and what team they want to win. I replied to his post by first introducing myself and telling him where I was from. I then proceeded to talk about how amazing it is that he is so excited about the Olympics. I complemented him on explaining in detail why snowboarding is his favorite sport. Finally I answered his two questions and told him I wanted to see Shaun White and Team USA win. I have been waiting to see if Alex has replied but nothing so far.

My second C4K assignment was to read and comment on Brooklynn's blog. Brooklynn is a student from Saskatoon Canada and her teacher is Ms. Scott Lindsay. The blog post I commented on was titled "Keep Trying...". In her post Brooklynn gives what she calls a pep talk. She is telling her readers to always try. She explains there are things that you will never know if you do not try. In the post, she writes "People say 'don’t stop in till it is achieved' but as long as tried you know you have achieved something." In my comment after I introduced myself I complemented her on her enthusiasm for this particular subject. I told her that I completely agreed with her and that people should always try. I encouraged Brookylnn to continue writing inspiring posts like this one. I was lucky and Brooklyn replied to my comment. Brooklynn thanked me for my comment. She then went on to tell me about how there are people who still to this day try to end war and how war is wrong.

For my third C4K, I was able to read and comment on a students blog who goes to school just across the bay in Baldwin County. The student's name was not revealed therefore the student's blog was called Rainbow Skittles' Blog. Rainbow Skittles' teacher is Mrs. Miller and she is an EDM 310 graduate herself. In Rainbow Skittles' post "Text vs. Film" the student gives their opinion on which is better text or film. Rainbow Skittles writes that films are more enjoyable because it gives more details and does a better job of explaining things. The student also believes film to be easier to understand. In my comment I first officially introduced myself. Second, I complemented the student on explaining her position clearly. I gave my opinion on the topic of film vs text and I sided with Rainbow Skittles in that film is easier to understand.

For my final C4K, I was able to read and comment on Zack N's blog. Zack is a seventh grader from Missouri. The post I was able to comment on was titled "3rd Quarter Book Project". In the post Zack talks about how he did not finish his book by the deadline but he knew he needed to do something rather than nothing at all. He then tells his readers that all he did was stand in front of the class, introduce his book, and then made a joke by saying his project was only worth 2 points. He goes on to tell his readers that if he would have completed the assignment he would have used keynote to discuss the themes of the book. In my comment, I first introduced myself and then complemented him on doing something rather than nothing at all. I then encourage him to try and not miss any other deadline and wished him good luck with his future assignments.

Project #13 - Project Based Learning Plan #1

For this project, our group created a Lesson Plan titled DIY (Do It Yourself) Ending. This lesson plan addresses the Alabama State Standards for third grade English and Language Arts. It refers to learning about key ideas and details in which the students should be able to determine the main idea of a text, recount the key details, and explain how the details support the main idea. This project covers a period of two weeks in which the students will be actively engaged. The students will read a book titled, 2030: A Day In the Life of Tomorrow’s Kids. This is a great, age-appropriate book for the kids in today’s society. Technology and our environment is constantly changing, so it’s fun for kids to think about what the world will be like in 20 years from now. Here’s the catch: the students will only read half of the book and at the beginning of the second week, they will come up with their own ending (before they know the real ending). The students will work on this project collaboratively in groups of 4. They will work together to discuss the main idea of the story and come up with a few key details. They will also do some individual work in writing a blog at the end of each week. The main part of the project is that they will be creating/writing their own ending to the story and presenting them by using either a Google Site, a Prezi presentation, a poster, or iMovie. We think that the students will really enjoy this project. After all, there is always that one book that we wish we could go back and rewrite the ending to. Here’s the chance.

Check out the few resources below:
Calender
Overview
Checklist
Rubric

As a group we utilized Buck Institute of Education forms to help create our lesson plan.

"If You Give A Moose A Muffin" Book Trailer

Blog Post #6

A personal learning network (PLN) sounds big, scary, and complicated when in reality it is simple and wonderful. After researching and looking at the materials provided by Dr. Strange I have fallen in love with the idea of having a PLN. A PLN is best described as a group of people and tools available to help you at any given moment. PLNs allow free access to professionals all around the world. A PLN can be comprised of anything from social media, pod-casting, and even blogging.


As I begin to develop my own PLN I have noticed how much information I can obtain through social media, especially Twitter. I spend a substantial amount of time on twitter reading topics ranging from hairstyles for rainy weather to opinions on whether or not our government is efficient. Now with the guidance of Dr. Strange I am now following educators and professionals all across the world and obtaining information from them one tweet at a time. With one simple search I am able to have answers almost immediately. As a future educator this will be beneficial. There is not a single person on this earth who is all knowing. There will be times when I do not have all the answers for my students. What would be a better or more efficient way to obtain those answers than through my PLN?

Creating a strong PLN will take some time but with the help of people like Dr. Strange and Michael Fawcett I will eventually have an incredible network to rely on. In order to organize and keep track of my PLN I chose to use symbaloo. After watching Welcome to My PLE I really liked how simple and efficient the program was. I set my internet browsers to open straight to symbaloo so that I am only one click away from any part of my network. I cannot wait to see how detailed and helpful my PLN will become as time goes by.

Blog Post #5

After watching the videos of Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange I learned a tremendous amount of valuable information. The first two videos I watched were Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher and Project Based Learning Part 2. Anthony explains that project based learning is a form of learning not showing what you learned. He also addresses what a "good" project is. A good project is one that has an authentic audience, promotes student interest, and has driven content. The examples discussed in the video involve all of the above. Anthony goes onto explain two crucial parts of project based learning: opportunities to reflect and revise their work and the students' ability to have a choice. These two parts will empower students and allow them to have pride in their education and work.

The second video I watched discussed the online tool icurio. This tool is a student friendly search engine that is filtered for educational purposes. The icurio tool also has a storage function that allows students to learn how to virtually organize information. This tool also has a directory function for historical figures. I feel that out of all the other tools I have been introduced to thus far in EDM 310, icurio is the most beneficial. This tool can be used for all grade levels and appears to be user friendly.It also has the capability to help students who may have hearing or learning disabilities through the read aloud function. The video about Discover Education left me very intrigued. From what I saw in the video, discovery ed. is an educational research engine that allows students to visually enhance their learning experiences. I am interested in learning more about discovery ed and seeing it used in a classroom setting.

The Anthony-Strange list of Tips for Teachers was my favorite video. I felt that the tips listed are extremely important and are things that every teacher should strive to do. The six tips that Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange came up with were

1) Be a constant learner yourself.
2) Teaching never ends. It is hard work and it is very rewarding.
3) Be flexible. The unexpected will happen.
4) Start with a goal.
5) Engage 100% of your students 100% of the time in 100% of their projects.
6) Reflect,revise, and share work with an audience.

The final video was Use Tech Don't Teach It. This video just stresses the importance of using technology to help the learning process for your students but not spending valuable time teaching them the technology itself. Obviously the students need to know how to use the technology but it is more important how they use the technology to learn. Teachers should focus on one technology tool at a time. They should not expect their students to master imovie, icurio, and discovery ed all in the same lesson.

These discussions between Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange were interesting and taught me a lot of new things. It was very intriguing to see how 3rd graders are ahead of college students. I hope that as a future teacher I will be able to help my students the same way Anthony and Dr. Strange have.

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Is...



My Passion Is...

Blog Post #4

If you type in "What is a question?" in the google search bar you will find that a question is "a sentence worded or expressed so as to elicit information". Questions can be thought provoking and extremely beneficial to students or they can be nothing more than words with a question mark at the end. As a teacher it is important to ask questions that will help students learn. According to Maryellen Weimer's blog post Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom "good questions make students think, they encourage participation and I think they improve the caliber of the answers students give and the questions they ask." I agree with Dr. Weimer about how important questions are I found her 3 way approach helpful.

1. Prepare Questions
Dr. Weimer explains that it is important to carefully prepare your questions to remove unnecessary confusion for your students. By preparing your questions ahead of time, it is easier to word the questions so that the students will understand and it is clearer.
2. Play with Questions
According to Dr. Weimer, playing with questions allows students to think longer and be more engaged. To play with questions means to ask a question and not immediately answer. Dr. Weimer states that typically most students stop thinking as soon as the question is answered. In order to avoid this teachers can do multiple things. They can ask the question at the beginning of the class and answer at the end or possibly have the students write the question in their notes and write down their ideas.
3. Preserve Good Questions
Dr. Weimer suggests that not every question need to be answered immediately. It is acceptable to save good questions for a later date. It is quite possible that the question can be used more effectively at another time.

The Teaching Center at Washington University in St. Louis has listed twelve reasons to ask open ended questions:
1. To asses learning
2. To ask a student to clarify a vague comment
3. To prompt students to explore attitudes, values, or feelings (when appropriate
4. To prompt students to see a concept from another perspective
5. To ask a student to refine a statement or idea
6. To prompt students to support their assertions and interpretations
7. To direct students to respond to one another
8. To prompt students to investigate a thought process
9. To as students to predict possible outcomes
10. To prompt students to connect and organize information
11. To ask students to apply a principle or formula
12. To ask students to illustrate a concept with an example

Also a good guide for asking questions is Bloom's Taxonomy.

Before reading these materials, I never thought of how great of an impact a question could have. I mean I thought a question was just a question and an answer was just an answer. After being exposed to how beneficial questions can be I now realize that as a future teacher I need to be prepared. I will definitely use these resources to help make my future classes thought provoking and exciting.

Project #3 Presentation

C4T #1

My first C4T (comments for teachers) blog I was assigned to was Ms. Turbiville's blog Walking In Mathland. Ms. Turbiville is an algebra teacher at Martist School in Atlanta Georgia. The first time I visited her blog she had a post about test review days. In her post "Test Review Day" she had two examples of review days and detailed schedules for each of the examples. Ms. Turbiville believes in a structured class rather than a study guide class. In my comment, I first introduced myself as a EDM 310 student at the University of South Alabama. I then proceeded to comment on how I enjoyed her post and how she conducts review days. I told her that the structure her classes held was something I admired. Finally, I left my contact information at the end of the comment.

The second post from Ms. Turbiville's blog I read and commented on was "Friends, Vegas, and Probability". In this post it warns people about the controversy that can come with teaching probability. Ms. Turbiville writes that most activities involving probability are "games of chance" and can cause people to associate it with things like gambling. She then gives a link to an excellent alternative way to teach probability. The game is called Beano. Ms. Turbiville has everything needed to successful utilize Beano in a previous blog post. Also provided in the post is a comical example of probability. Within her post is a clip from the hit show "Friends". In the clip Monica is playing craps. Ms. Turbiville states that she would never use the example unless her students were out of high school; however, in the clip it presents an opportunity to discuss probability. In my comment I agreed with Ms. Turbiville about how controversial the topic. I also told her I loved her suggestion of the game Beano and thanked her for the wonderful idea.

Blog Post #3

Peer Editing has always made students moan and groan in agony. It was always that thing your teachers forced you to do and it was just annoying. As a student, I was never taught the correct way to peer edit therefore I hated doing it. Also I never knew how beneficial it could be. Peer editing should be taught at the early stages of school and implemented a lot more. Peer editing is an easy process that can help a student's writing tremendously.

After watching What is Peer Editing? I learned three easy steps to follow when peer editing. When you are given the task of peer editing it is important to give compliments, suggestions, and corrections. The number one thing to remember when editing is to ALWAYS stay positive. When editing a student's work one should never start with anything other than compliments. You never want the person to feel attacked or belittle by the way you edit their work. After giving compliments, you can then offer some suggestions. And remember a suggestion is nothing more than something for the other student to take into consideration. You should never force your opinion onto them. Finally you give corrections for things such as grammar, sentence structure, and spelling.

The adorable, hilarious video Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes does a great job of showing people what not to do. Out of the ten mistakes they demonstrated I found being mean, pushy, and defensive were the worse. The other mistakes are important but these seem to be the most unproductive. Cutting down other students by being rude and hateful is not only going to not help their work but is going to hurt them as a person. As someone who is preparing to become an educator I hope that I will be able to foster productive and helpful peer editing in my classes.