Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Blog Assignment #9
What I've Learned This Year by Mr McClung
Mr McClung makes some good points in this blog. No matter what education you get, only the classroom will prepare you for the classroom. It is about the students and helping them learn and not about the perfect lesson that we plan. If they're not getting it, maybe we have to come from a different angle. Being flexible is also good advice. The students will have an influence on how fast material can be covered or how much you must reteach. It's a fine line to walk though. If you go too slow, the smart kids get bored and restless. If you go too fast, the slower kids will just shut down and start misbehaving. Flexibility is important.
We must have a reasonable outlook on what we can accomplish in class and what the students can accomplish. We need to have high expectations for the students. Research has shown if we convey to students that we believe they can do something, often they will exceed what they have done in years past simply because we have expressed confidence in them. However, this will not always be the case. So if they don't make it the first time, instead of making them feel like failures, we need to encourage them to keep on trying.
He is correct in his belief that many teachers are afraid and resistant to technology. Most people are somewhat resistant to change to some degree. These teachers need to be convinced that technology can make their life easier, while also increase their chances of reaching some of the students of today. He made a good point about not expecting to master computer skills on our first attempt, we just need to keep trying and we'll get there.
Mr McClung advises that we listen to our students. Good advice, and he is correct when he says we may be the only one who does. In today's society (at least in south Alabama), there are so many kids living with one parent, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or even homeless (I know of a local high school that had several football players who were homeless), these kids don't really have anyone to be a role model or to take the time to know what is going on in their lives. It will take effort to build the trust and develop the relationships, but helping kids improve their lives is better than helping them improve their math scores. Lastly, he mentions we should never stop learning. We can learn more subject matter, new techniques, new technology, what the kids are really into. There is so much we can continue to learn on a daily basis. Why not!!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
C4T #2
Jenny's Learning Journey by Jenny She
Ms She is an elementary teacher in New Zealand whose blog I found while visiting an edublog called attheteachersdesk. The first post I commented on was Why Teachers Should Never Give Up On Any Students. In this post there was nice video of a boy going along the beach throwing starfish back into the water to save their lives as the tide was going out. A man explains to him that the beach is miles long and that he can't really make a difference. After listening respectfully, the boy threw another starfish back into the water and said to the man "I made a difference to that one". Sometimes education can seem this way. We can get overwhelmed by indifferent students, school system bureaucracy, and other things we didn't expect or sign up for. But if we can make a real difference in one more life, it's worth all the effort. Never give up!
The second blog I commented on titled What is Life to You, Ms She had just returned from a trip to Asia where she had a wonderful time and had visited her ill father while there. Now she had to return to the real world. She wrote about how sometimes our priorities get mixed up and then shows a short video that reflected some of the traps of life. A man offered his guests some coffee and brought out a variety of cups - some old, some new, some plain, some fancy or expensive. After the guests had their coffee, the old and plain cups had gone unused. He commented to his guests that they had wanted coffee but wound up being more concerned about which cup they had. The moral of the story: the cup doesn't make the coffee any better. Sometimes we can get caught up in the rat race, trying to acquiring more and better stuff that we lose sight of the really important things in life like God, family, good health, etc. Everything else is just a cup
Ms She is an elementary teacher in New Zealand whose blog I found while visiting an edublog called attheteachersdesk. The first post I commented on was Why Teachers Should Never Give Up On Any Students. In this post there was nice video of a boy going along the beach throwing starfish back into the water to save their lives as the tide was going out. A man explains to him that the beach is miles long and that he can't really make a difference. After listening respectfully, the boy threw another starfish back into the water and said to the man "I made a difference to that one". Sometimes education can seem this way. We can get overwhelmed by indifferent students, school system bureaucracy, and other things we didn't expect or sign up for. But if we can make a real difference in one more life, it's worth all the effort. Never give up!
The second blog I commented on titled What is Life to You, Ms She had just returned from a trip to Asia where she had a wonderful time and had visited her ill father while there. Now she had to return to the real world. She wrote about how sometimes our priorities get mixed up and then shows a short video that reflected some of the traps of life. A man offered his guests some coffee and brought out a variety of cups - some old, some new, some plain, some fancy or expensive. After the guests had their coffee, the old and plain cups had gone unused. He commented to his guests that they had wanted coffee but wound up being more concerned about which cup they had. The moral of the story: the cup doesn't make the coffee any better. Sometimes we can get caught up in the rat race, trying to acquiring more and better stuff that we lose sight of the really important things in life like God, family, good health, etc. Everything else is just a cup
C4T #1
Thumann Resources by Lisa Thumann
In the first blog, Utilizing Appointment Slots in Google Calendar, Ms Thumann had just returned from Google Days, a technology conference where ideas are shared and Google unveils their latest tools. She returned home excited about the capabilities and applications of Google Calendar. She was most excited about being able to operate with several calendars within a calendar, to help her keep track of lab usage and appointments. She gave step by step instructions on how to use the calendar within a calendar application. I commented that the calendar would probably be a useful tool, especially for me, because I need all the organizational help I can get.
In the second blog, Harnessing Social Networks in the Classroom, Ms Thumann had video with stats showing how prevalent technology is with young people today. One point made was that mobile devices (laptops, cell phones, iPods, etc) and social media are not passing fads. She also introduced me to Edmodo, described by the students in the video as sort of an educational facebook. Edmodo is used by teachers and students to place and retrieve assignments on line, in case you forget to write it down in class or miss class. I know there are variations of this type of setup because my elementary school son can get his assignments on line at Faith Academy using Edline. The best part of her post was a list of social network links that I will explore while trying to develop my PLN.
In the first blog, Utilizing Appointment Slots in Google Calendar, Ms Thumann had just returned from Google Days, a technology conference where ideas are shared and Google unveils their latest tools. She returned home excited about the capabilities and applications of Google Calendar. She was most excited about being able to operate with several calendars within a calendar, to help her keep track of lab usage and appointments. She gave step by step instructions on how to use the calendar within a calendar application. I commented that the calendar would probably be a useful tool, especially for me, because I need all the organizational help I can get.
In the second blog, Harnessing Social Networks in the Classroom, Ms Thumann had video with stats showing how prevalent technology is with young people today. One point made was that mobile devices (laptops, cell phones, iPods, etc) and social media are not passing fads. She also introduced me to Edmodo, described by the students in the video as sort of an educational facebook. Edmodo is used by teachers and students to place and retrieve assignments on line, in case you forget to write it down in class or miss class. I know there are variations of this type of setup because my elementary school son can get his assignments on line at Faith Academy using Edline. The best part of her post was a list of social network links that I will explore while trying to develop my PLN.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Blog Assignment #8
This is How We Dream Parts 1 & 2 by Richard Miller
Richard Miller is an English professor that teaches writing at the university level. These videos are about how writing has changed in so many ways in recent years. He recalls how it was we he came up, reading books, researching at the library and writing with a pencil and paper. More recently, writing was and is still done on word processors. He then goes on to talk about how writing has changed from libraries and pencil to laptops and a world library that is found on the world wide web.
There is almost no end to documents, books, and resources that can be found on the web. Also, in our world today of instant global communications, collaboration can be done between people who are far apart. Materials on the internet are updated constantly. Documents produced on the web feature text, visual and audio components. With these new avenues of composition, the restrictions are largely the ones we place on ourselves.
Even with all of these new possibilities, Dr Miller realizes that an educational system of this nature is not readily accessible to all. But, he does believe he can foresee when composing using today's digital resources will be used. Composition and production will be different, but he feels this is a way to push ideas into our culture and that educators should be at the front edge of it. To create this type of education we need inspiring teachers and spaces and pedagogies that foster creativity and collaboration. These objectives can only be reached by combining and sharing the best of the sciences and the best of the humanities. The goal is not the technologies but what the technologies make possible.
I actually enjoyed Dr Miller's video and talk. Maybe I should call it a digital book or a podcast. Anyway, I could relate to a lot of what he said. Neither of us grew up with this technology and we were both raised on books and libraries. I still go to the library and read books, but it's more for pleasure than for research. To find an answer or information it is so much easier and faster to go to the web library where there are countless resources to explore. I also appreciated that he acknowledged that education based on the digital age had not yet arrived but was possibly in the foreseeable future.
Blog Post #12 by Carly Pugh
I found this post interesting, creative, and very energetic. Some of the videos were inspiring, some were thought provoking, some were educational for me. I felt like "Creativity to the Rescue" was spot on because we need some creativity or something to fix our society and world; whatever is being done now is not working.
I think Carly's use of videos which had text, music, voices speaking, and images are exactly what Dr Miller had in mind. These types of tools would appeal to all the senses and all different types of learners. I would really like to try some of this in the classroom. Some of the stuff we heard about this semester I have difficulty seeing it work any time soon, but a YouTube video is something I know could be done in classrooms now.
The Chipper Series by Poppy Bednorz
I thought this video was entertaining and well put together. If I understood it correctly the moral of the story is nothing worthwhile comes easy. Chipper appears to be searching for the path of least resistance for the majority of the video, but nothing ever seems to work out. I would definitely side with Dr Strange about flying with a pilot with one month of simulation training. Finally, after all else fails, she has a cleansing of the mind and decides to go back to school. Whatever you do in life, to be successful at it you will have to be responsible enough to do what you need to do. There really are no shortcuts.
EDM310 for Dummies
I can totally relate to the first part of this video. For the first 2-3 weeks I was floundering big time. I was not being like Chipper; I was just lost every time I turned around. When I finally started getting the hang of some things, new things kept popping up. If the book was available, I would absolutely own one. I have not reached the point shown at the end of the video. I hope that I will. If I don't it won't be from lack of effort. I thought 16 hours a week was excessive the first day of class. Now I would feel like I was coasting if I only worked on this class 16 hours a week. Maybe it will all come together.
Learn to Change, Change to Learn
I'm in agreement with pretty much every thing said in the video. Most of it we've heard before. The schools and the way we teach need to change. I wouldn't argue either of these points. Incorporating social networks into the learning process sounds like a great idea if someone can find a reasonable way to implement it. I'm sure it would work with the kids that try hard and can see a reason to learn. There is no doubt that the classroom is generally boring and the student's experiences outside the classroom are more exciting and entertaining. I agree that if these things could somehow merge with learning, our students would achieve more. Once again, I still think that the learning, no matter what the methods, is in large part dependent on the student's desire to work to learn.
The Chipper Series by Poppy Bednorz & Jamie Lynn Miller
Richard Miller is an English professor that teaches writing at the university level. These videos are about how writing has changed in so many ways in recent years. He recalls how it was we he came up, reading books, researching at the library and writing with a pencil and paper. More recently, writing was and is still done on word processors. He then goes on to talk about how writing has changed from libraries and pencil to laptops and a world library that is found on the world wide web.
There is almost no end to documents, books, and resources that can be found on the web. Also, in our world today of instant global communications, collaboration can be done between people who are far apart. Materials on the internet are updated constantly. Documents produced on the web feature text, visual and audio components. With these new avenues of composition, the restrictions are largely the ones we place on ourselves.
Even with all of these new possibilities, Dr Miller realizes that an educational system of this nature is not readily accessible to all. But, he does believe he can foresee when composing using today's digital resources will be used. Composition and production will be different, but he feels this is a way to push ideas into our culture and that educators should be at the front edge of it. To create this type of education we need inspiring teachers and spaces and pedagogies that foster creativity and collaboration. These objectives can only be reached by combining and sharing the best of the sciences and the best of the humanities. The goal is not the technologies but what the technologies make possible.
I actually enjoyed Dr Miller's video and talk. Maybe I should call it a digital book or a podcast. Anyway, I could relate to a lot of what he said. Neither of us grew up with this technology and we were both raised on books and libraries. I still go to the library and read books, but it's more for pleasure than for research. To find an answer or information it is so much easier and faster to go to the web library where there are countless resources to explore. I also appreciated that he acknowledged that education based on the digital age had not yet arrived but was possibly in the foreseeable future.
Blog Post #12 by Carly Pugh
I found this post interesting, creative, and very energetic. Some of the videos were inspiring, some were thought provoking, some were educational for me. I felt like "Creativity to the Rescue" was spot on because we need some creativity or something to fix our society and world; whatever is being done now is not working.
I think Carly's use of videos which had text, music, voices speaking, and images are exactly what Dr Miller had in mind. These types of tools would appeal to all the senses and all different types of learners. I would really like to try some of this in the classroom. Some of the stuff we heard about this semester I have difficulty seeing it work any time soon, but a YouTube video is something I know could be done in classrooms now.
The Chipper Series by Poppy Bednorz
I thought this video was entertaining and well put together. If I understood it correctly the moral of the story is nothing worthwhile comes easy. Chipper appears to be searching for the path of least resistance for the majority of the video, but nothing ever seems to work out. I would definitely side with Dr Strange about flying with a pilot with one month of simulation training. Finally, after all else fails, she has a cleansing of the mind and decides to go back to school. Whatever you do in life, to be successful at it you will have to be responsible enough to do what you need to do. There really are no shortcuts.
EDM310 for Dummies
I can totally relate to the first part of this video. For the first 2-3 weeks I was floundering big time. I was not being like Chipper; I was just lost every time I turned around. When I finally started getting the hang of some things, new things kept popping up. If the book was available, I would absolutely own one. I have not reached the point shown at the end of the video. I hope that I will. If I don't it won't be from lack of effort. I thought 16 hours a week was excessive the first day of class. Now I would feel like I was coasting if I only worked on this class 16 hours a week. Maybe it will all come together.
Learn to Change, Change to Learn
I'm in agreement with pretty much every thing said in the video. Most of it we've heard before. The schools and the way we teach need to change. I wouldn't argue either of these points. Incorporating social networks into the learning process sounds like a great idea if someone can find a reasonable way to implement it. I'm sure it would work with the kids that try hard and can see a reason to learn. There is no doubt that the classroom is generally boring and the student's experiences outside the classroom are more exciting and entertaining. I agree that if these things could somehow merge with learning, our students would achieve more. Once again, I still think that the learning, no matter what the methods, is in large part dependent on the student's desire to work to learn.
The Chipper Series by Poppy Bednorz & Jamie Lynn Miller
Friday, June 24, 2011
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